Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 2 gun battery?

M-70,

What are the best shooting sticks to get?

I've seen several types and wonder which ones you'd suggest.

DF

African Sporting Creations sells excellent sticks. They are here in the U.SA. Their sticks are what you would expect to see in Africa. You can even bring them with you in your duffle or rifle case. Check out their web site.

I would give anything to go to Africa but that will never happen.
If I won the lottery and could go I would use what I already
have now.......
Ruger 77 RSI stainless 7mm-08
Winchester 1895 405 WCF.
AMRA

Well I never shot a 458 Lott, but I was dumb enough to get conned into carrying a 577 Nitro that a friend had at the time, it was a Double and it came in at about 18 lbs. One day was enough, and I knew I would not be able to shoot it accurate enough to even matter. I had a 375 H+H for a rifle on that hunt. He had the double and a 404 Jeffery. I killed every thing I wanted to shoot. I had 60 rounds of ammo, and took home 45, ten head of game and 5 shots to check zero. over ten days. My first run to africa I just took a 7mm RM with hand loaded 175 gr Nosler Partitions back in 1971 and shot every thing with it and what I could not, my PH was gracious enough to let me shoot one of his 375 H+H. With so little DG hunting being done these days, I question the need for anything more than 375 or one of the 416's in a hunters battery. Any combo you could think of 7mm RM + 375 H+H or 416 Remington/ Rigby, 30-06 + 375 H+H and well the 416 or 338 Win Mag/ 416 Remington/Rigby or any other combo you can think of. The main thing is to go. If I was in the position to go again, I would just take a 7mm RM and some good bullets we have a lot more of them now than in 1971 and just enjoy the fact that I am on Safari ! Most only get to go once or maybe twice in a life time.

.416 Rigby; .338 RUM. You can use the Rigby for plains game if you have to out to 250 yards; the .338 is flat and hits the large, hard to stop animals (zebra; hartebeast; elan, etc.) like a hammer and you could shoot a buff with it in a pinch. Every ph I've hunted with has marveled at how the .338 RUM nails plains game.

First, don't give up on ever going. Join SCI and go to your chapter's annual auction. I have seen african PG hunts go for under $1K at auction. Usually 5 days, 5 animals.

Second, your 7-08, with a decent bullet, will do just fine on a PG hunt. Ask Brittany Boddington. The 7-08 is her choice and she is deadly with it.

I have no personal experience with a .338 RUM, so I can't comment.

I agree with you regarding the versatile .416 Rigby. It has served me well on multiple safaris as a primary rifle. Sighted in an inch high at a hundred yards, mine is 3.5" low at 200 yards.

I recently looked at a .577 by Westley Richards for an upcoming elephant hunt. It was quite large and very heavy, not to mention extremely pricey. Decided to stick with my tried and true .470., which has served me well in the past.

I have never shot a .458 Lott either. My friend has a Kimber Caprivi in .458 Lott and I have offered to hold his coat while he shoots it, but have no desire to do so myself.

IMO, shot placement is much more important than caliber (within reason). If you have a pet 7-08 or .270 that you shoot well, bring it. Be precise in where you place the bullet and the animal will die. If you are contemplating buying a new rifle for a leopard or PG safari, you won't go wrong with a .30/06. You don't need a .375 (or above) unless buff, elephant or lion is on the menu.

I helped a friend get a .500 NE, double ready for Africa. He just needed some help with reloads. I got to shoot it and it wasn't that bad. I was able to put two relatively fast shots into 2" at 25 yds. Big push back with barrels up at around 45* in full recoil, but no slapping like a Wby. or other high pressure, fast shooter.

And that 10# gun was pushing 570 gr. lead at about 2,150 fps.

DF

I am a big Swift A-Frame fan with one exception, and that exception is cat hunting. Two years ago I shot a large male lion with my .416 Rigby loaded with 400 grain A-Frames. The cat took off at the shot and the followup was, shall we say, exciting. We found him dead some time later and the necropsy revealed the bullet just zipped on through, with no apparent expansion. If I had to do it over again, I would have selected a .375 with Partitions for the task. Much more likely to open up quickly and fragment. A leopard I killed the following year fell to a 225 grain Partition with a MV of 2,850 fps out of a .338 Winnie. Boom-Plop!

For cats, a quickly expanding bullet that sheds fragments are, IMO, a better bet than an A-Frame. For the first shot on buff, eland or crocs, an A-Frame for sure.

Good shooting!

I have also found that shooting a well fitted double from the offhand position is more of a big push than a hard slap.

I learned to shoot my .470 with hard cast lead reduced recoil loads from Superior. Then I went to the full charge stuff.

I shot it sitting from a shooting bench once with full charge ammunition and never made that mistake again.

Best 2-rifle battery? .375 H&H and leave the second rifle home. Kills ele, buff, hippo, lion, zebra, impala DRT. Did that last time.

I forgot who the sage was that said this, but as near as I recall it went "beware of the man who brings only one rifle--he likely knows how to use it".

The .375 is never a bad choice for a one rifle safari. Your experience certainly confirms that.

This was off hand.

I've about enjoyed all the seated bench rest shooting of big guns I want to. My .404J jumps out of the rest, even with me trying to hold it.

I just recently got some long pipe legs for my shooting bench to bring it up to chest heigth. I'll start shooting it from the standing position.

BTW, thanks for the tip on those African Sporting shooting sticks. Just order a set in hickory. Not exactly cheap at over $200, but they look like the real deal.

DF

Did you have different loads for different tasks, like 225's for light stuff, 300's for big stuff?

I was wondering about different POI's with a diversity of bullet weights.

DF

You're welcome. They are the real deal. Mine are also made from hickory and they have lasted for years.

Great idea to raise your shooting bench. Wish I could do that, but I shoot at a public range and they don't permit any modifications to their benches.

I have seen doubles regulated in England and they shoot from a well padded standing rest as well. The hand goes on the padding and then the rifle fore end is placed in the hand.

I just got a Caldwell DeadShot set on sale at MidwayUSA. Here's the link. I think this is going to be perfect for big guns. I'm going to use the stand up bench and gripping the forearm tightly, rest my hand on top of this rest. It's rather solid feeling and fairly heavy, but soft enough to do the job without skinning up my hand.

DF

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/79...ooting-rest-bag-set-nylon-unfilled-green


Edited to say, the one I got was already filled with heavy sand. I see this one is unfilled, but I'd get the filled one if I could.

Please let us know how it works for you.

Best to select one loading and stick to it. .375's have a reputation for shooting to the same point of aim with different bullet weights. I have three of them and none of them is blessed with coming remotely close to doing that.

IIRC, I saw a report that the 260 NAB's were really accurate. That would be a good choice for general use. Sometimes the lightest bullet isn't the best for precision shooting.

I'd look at the 260 NAB and NPT. Then see how close they'd hit to the 270 TSX. With the right loads, it may be possible to have one POI with a couple of different type bullets designed for different application.

DF