That is a Bob Boatman article. Hmmm...
Guns are an important measure of a man in any safari camp, so on my last hunt in Zim I made sure I pulled the ZKK602 chambered in .450 Ackley out of the case first. An ugly beast that's done a bit of work since I picked it up from an old mate in 1996. When I dropped an old dagga boy with a single going-away shot I cemented my credibility in camp.
When I brought out my .300 Weatherby I wasn't sure what the boys in that Matetsi camp would think... but when the game fell to single shots at all manner of range, angle or speed, no one was really in a position to mock the bloke with the plastic-stocked rifle!
In his piece about the .404, Boatman went on to say:
"There are all kinds of ways to bring home the buffaloburger these days, including the latest short-fat-ugly cartridges that, on the rare occasions when they decide to feed from the magazine into the chamber, spit bullets at ungodly velocities out of lackluster stainless steel barrels cradled in the same kind of hardened chemical concoction you might use to wrap the handle of your hammer or float your boat. I wonder why nobody has any romantic stories to tell about those kinds of guns?"
I like a nice long case, so I'm with old Bob on that one. But regardless of what my Weatherby looks like, I have some wonderful stories to share when that rifle has been central to some inspiring days in the bush.
Just picked up my .450/400 3 /14" NE the other day, predecessor to the .404 Jeffery. So I guess I'm part of the "in crowd" now, even if a I do have a couple of plastic stocks in the safe.
