Full disclosure...I have never hunted Africa and presently have no immediate plans. However, recently I have started putting Africa more on my radar and have been thinking about a simple battery for when I do book a hunt. My heavy rifle is easy...and not really very heavy. It is a custom .400 Whelen built on a Montana 1999 action that my wife wanted me to commission for our 20th anniversary.
It was built more with Alaska in mind so is cerakoted and has a synthetic stock but I reckon it won't be the first synthetic rifle to ever line up on an eland or buffalo
Duplicating .450/400 ballistics with 4 down in the magazine does not seem like a terrible option.
My plains rifle has taken up a bit more space in my head trying to decide what would be the most enjoyable for my first safari. I immediately thought about a full custom with fancy wood and all the trimmings. The more I thought about it, I really liked the idea of searching for a used rifle with some soul that would check a few boxes. I trade rifles as a hobby/side-business so I get to see a lot of neat stuff and have found that focusing my search really adds to the fun of a scavenger hunt.
My short list of cartridges would be 7x57, .30-06 and .300 H&H. Lots of other good choices but these just felt right. I really wanted a mauser action and prefer FNs...bonus points for ones with nice FN crests. Commercial or military would be just fine as long as the action was solid. I wanted nice (but not fancy) wood with good checkering and some character. As long as the stock was solid and not totally beat to hell I would be happy. I actually wanted to see some wear on both the wood and the steel. With no street credit of my own in Africa it would be nice if at least one of us looked like we had been there before
I actually was hoping for something with a little heft to it. I hunt mountains a lot here in NA and my NA hunting rifles have all started losing weight as I age and tire of packing 9+ pound rifles up the hills. For this though, I expect a lot of shooting from sticks and, like most, I simply shoot a heavy rifle better.
This past weekend a dealer friend of mine turned me on to an estate sale. We went over together and put an offer in on a package of guns. Lots of standard stuff with a few nice nuggets but nothing I was too excited about keeping for myself. We went out to our vehicles and he said..."hey, you wouldn't be interested in an old FN .30-06 would you?". We are good enough friends I didn't even pretend to be disinterested. He pulled it out of his car and when I unzipped the case I could tell this was something special. The butt plate was FN, the wood was solid with some honest wear, the stamping on the receiver was perfectly clear and underneath the weaver scope bases I could see a nice FNH crest just peaking out. The step-down barrel was beautiful with a nice front sight, complete with hood. The numbers on the barrel matched the receiver and the bluing was nearly perfect except right at the muzzle. I wouldn't have minded a little more metal wear but I guess you can't have everyting
He told me what he wanted for it which was way too low- so I offered more. Realizing he was up against a professional negotiator, he countered below me and the deal was struck. We swapped FFLs and I am now in possession of my "perfect" plains game rifle.
The stepped-contour 24" barrel is nicely weighted and finishes at .600" at the muzzle and I love the checkering.
It wore an old 1" steel scope with fine crosshairs and no markings but is likely of similar age to the rifle. That will be replaced with something a little more modern but likely no more fancy than an older friction adjustment gloss Leupold 2.5-8, or 3-9. When I removed the bases I was even happier than I thought I would be.
The only thing that absolutely has to be changed is the trigger. I have been married long enough that I can put up with a lot of irritating things...but a creepy 8 pound trigger isn't one of them. If I can get it worked on and get a nice crisp sub 3 pound trigger I will be happy. If not, an aftermarket will be installed.
I believe I will even keep the original butt plate.
The only really modern thing I have planned for this rifle is bullets. I am thinking a 168 TTSX will be tough to beat for the application. Just hoping I can work up a load using cheaper cup/cores that flies similarly enough that I can get lots of trigger time off the sticks.
Thanks for letting me share!
