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Sako is Sah-ko Blaser is Blah-ser

A friend’s son bought a Sako 85 that wouldn’t shoot near MOA. The rifle was sent back to the importer and the report came back that the ammo he was using is too fast. He went to a slower factory load and it still wouldn’t shoot MOA. The rifle was sent back again and this time, the report came...

450 Rigby shooting a 500gr solid

Art... Zero the .308 Norma at 200, the 6.5x55 at 100 and sally forth. Both are outstanding cartridges for plains game. 99% of your shots for Cape Bushbuck will be under 100 and the 156gr Norma is the perfect medicine.

Beautiful!!! Still a popular and very capable cartridge for plains game.

Beautiful old rifle in an exceptional cartridge! I reckon if more 7x64's made it to the USA back in the late teens and early 20's, some of the most popular American cartridges today might never have seen the light.

@ Hunter-Habib, Thanks for a great write-up! My first rifle was a BSA air rifle. I still have it and it’s fully functional. Also has a better trigger than 99% of todays production rifles. @Boela… that’s an amazing collection!

@ Sarge, The new Rhino factory is 10 minutes from OR Tambo airport.

Thanks Sarge... I can't say that I've seen MR2000 around, but I'll look a little closer next time I'm at a large gunshop. VV N140 is readily available here. I also read with interest that Bob and Co. are getting good results with CFE223 in their 35 Whelen's. GRT seems to think that it will work...

Thanks BrenGun. How is the accuracy out to 400 or so? We do a lot of hunting in hill country where the SOP is to shoot across valleys. I had a look at my load development notes from when I tried them in my 30-06, and I see that I made a note about large discrepancies in bullet weights. Could...

A buddy wants me to help him with 9.3x62 loads... Think I'll try the Rhino's.

Great article! 99% sure that the late oryx was fighting with another, and bobbed when it should have weaved.

What is the SD of the bullets tested?

I really need to spend more time with them. A hunting buddy uses them in his .303 and when the old Enfield goes bang, the skinning knives come out.

Amen brother!

100% Mike. In my experience, the A-Frame is too much bullet for smaller plains game species like Impala. Delayed kills seem to be more common, but on the flip side, meat damage is usually less. This year, I’ll be using Partitions for the first time ever and looking forward to seeing the results.

If I was limited to using only one bullet weight for the 06 to hunt everything from Dik-Dik to Eland, it would be 180gr.

I’ll second that! A few years ago I came across an eland bull that someone in our group had wounded the day before with his 375H&H (Shot was too high) Had my 6.5 Swedemoor in hand with 156gr Norma ammo in the magazine. Hit him low in the chest and it was over in seconds.

The sub 0.5” load work up I did for this hunting season, took less than 30 shots to accomplish. Used a powder and cases that I know well. The rest was easy.

Shootist43, The Rhino's are excellent hunting bullets! I've played with them using some of our local powders, but my 30-06 seems to prefer A-Frames or Partitions. I think I'll give them another try with some of the imported powders.

Hi everyone. Swift contacted me on Friday and helped me with some load data. The best news, is that Swift will once again be available in SA by the end of the year.

@David G, Really good Swift A-Frame loads take time. Most of your other data points to higher loads than the manual with H4381but, I’ve found that Swift bullets respond well to old school, load development methods that result in excellent accuracy. Start at 0.020 / 0.030” off the lands or...

Here in the good old R.S.A, the 300 PRC is catching on in some circles, but it’s far from popular. Loaded with premium, controlled expansion or monolithic bullets, it’s plenty for ANY plains game.

I don’t know the cartridge very well, but a RWS TOG bullet will flatten any plains game species at reasonable distance and impact velocity. RWS make exceptional bullets, brass and ammo. The .308, 184gr RWS Evolution bullets are just as good as Swift A-Frames. I was never able to recover one.

Been using them for donkey years. They were originally thought out by a mechanical engineer from SA. We make our own at home and it literally takes 10 minutes to put a set together. If I remember, I’ll take photos of our “original”, non-adjustable model, but here’s the shopping list. 4 x 16mm...

Thanks everyone!! You've all been a great help. I see a RL22 load for the old 300. It's a powder I've never used, so it might be something to explore. @ Fryeguy... I'll drop back a few percent from max, load up 2 of each, going up in 0.5gr increments and run a ladder / pressure test at 200m...

Thanks everyone. @ Aimsmall. I have most of the powders available locally. IMR 4350, H4350, Win 760, H 4381, H4381sc, VV N550, VV N555 etc. I must say… The VV N555 makes a 300 H&H hum with a 200gr bullet. Thanks @ Troubleshooter. I’ll have a look.

Hi Matt, Yes, I have. I'm awaiting a reply. It's a real pity that their bullets are no longer available in South Africa. I've spoken to most of the firearms wholesalers, but none of them are interested in importing Swift. They're the most expensive hunting bullets by quite some margin, so they...

Good evening everyone. Swift A-Frame bullets are no longer available in South Africa. I have a box or two of 180 and 200gr A-Frames left from the good old days. The only thing more scarce down here than Swift bullets is a Swift manual. (Only seen 1 in nearly 30 years) Can someone please post...

Due to my past life, I have a lot of experience with rifles from the L&O stable. Sauer, Blaser & Mauser. The range days in Germany went something like this... 16 Shooters 8 x .308 Blaser, Mauser or Sauer rifles (mostly a combination of all three), scoped with Zeiss optics. A case of RWS ammo...

I shoot a lot less than before. As mentioned already, component supply and cost have become a real problem. I love reloading and shooting, so I’m thinking about picking up a .223 Rem. They’re inexpensive to load and shoot compared to larger cartridges.

That’s an old Bloemfontein Musgrave Model 98, in what looks to be almost pristine condition. As mentioned, Musgrave built the Model 98 using a variety of surplus Mauser style actions. BRNO, Santa Barbara and VZ24’s being the most common. It was basically South Africa’s Pre-64 Winchester during...

If your rifle likes them, Peregrines are exceptionally accurate and terminal performance is as good as any reputable monolithic. My two favourite rifles won’t shoot them at all, but for some reason love Barnes TSX / TTSX mono’s.

The Garmin is a slick little unit! If I was developing loads every weekend, it would be at the top of my list. For fiddling with a few new loads a year, or checking velocity for old loads with a new batch of powder or bullets, my MS v3 is perfect. Our Grandpa’s never had access to, or money...

I sold my R93 and picked up a Mauser M03 with very nice wood. After a single hunting trip in thick thorn scrub and rocky ravines I bought a synthetic stock. I now have two M03's. The rifle I show my buddies and the rifle I hunt with.

This thread was started in 2013 but I'll chime in... The heaviest eland bull I've ever shot (996kg hanging in the skinning shed) fell to a single 150gr Core-Lokt bullet from a 30-06. Back then I had no idea that the Core-Lokt was a non-performer. Simply took aim and put the bullet exactly...

Used to own a Blaser R93... A bit of dust getting into the "little fingers" of the bolt head caused one or two issues. Other than that, no complaints at all. Well built and very accurate. With the R8, the worst problem I can think of accidentally leaving the trigger / magazine at home...

With eland possibly being on the menu... Swift A-Frame or Barnes TTSX

I've used the Swift A-Frames almost exclusively since the 90's, but here in South Africa they've been unavailable since 2019. I've since loaded and tested a number of bullets from various manufacturers, and found that our locally produced Rhino Solid Shank bullets have virtually identical...

Best value for money depends on the customer... A Swaro, Zeiss or Leica is great value for an oil sheik. Leupold are still pretty good value but there are a number of new scopes on the market that offer excellent value for money. My personal favorite at the moment is the Hawke Endurance or...

Agreed! A free range eland hunt is not the time to break in a new pair of boots, or forgetting the water bottle back at the vehicle.

Also check out ARU in Namibia. Gysbert has an area or two up north for truly wild eland hunting. Very similar to hunting buff. Find a big bull’s tracks and follow them until you finally get a look at him or not. It’s one of the best hunts, if not the best hunt for plains game in Namibia.

Hopefully I can clear up a point or three with regard to scopes. 1: The average adult’s eye pupil diltates to a maximum of 7mm in the dark. This is why many of the old “low light” hunting scopes were fixed 8x56 scopes. The objective lens diameter, divided by the magnification will give you the...

All ZEISS optics use Schott glass for the main lens elements. Schott is a wholly owned subsidiary of ZEISS and they supply glass blanks to all the premium optics brands, as well as less expensive blanks to several other companies. Non critical lens elements are purchased from whoever is cheapest...

That arrow performance will take any and all plains game you might come across at reasonable distances.

With 99,9% of standard cartridges, zero at 150 yards for Bushveld hunting and you’ll be good.

LOL… The biggest Eland I’ve taken to date was with a good old Core-Lokt from an 06. Neither the cartridge or the bullet are apparently sufficient for plains game any longer. It’s a pity, the 06 was one of my favourite hunting cartridges.

Don't I know it.... Quite a few of the low fence properties I used to hunt are no longer available for local hunters. Our hunting spots have become like our favourite fishing spots, you tell nobody about them. I've hunted Namibia for the last 44 years. Back in the late 70's and 80's we used to...

Hunts on low fence cattle or sheep ranches for free ranging game such as kudu, oryx, springbok, impala, waterbuck, eland, warthog etc. are available in SA, Namibia, Botswana and Zim, but they are becoming more and more scarce as time goes by. Complete open area hunting areas are few and far...

Ja... I've shot a few WM rifles that were horrible to shoot. 5 shots and you're reaching for a milder recoiling cartridge like a 458 Lott (lol) A friend of mine has a 300 WM that shoots like a .243 but it's got a 27" heavy profile barrel, chassis, muzzle break etc. etc. I reckon it weighs about...