IdaRam
AH legend
A Plan/Dream Finally Realized...
I’ve been saying for years that one of these days I’m going to have my ONE ultimate rifle for Africa to go anywhere and do everything. And for a while the “place holder” was a .375 H&H, which is pretty darn hard to beat as a “do everything” cartridge when loaded with the appropriate projectiles. But I really wanted something a bit more special in the way of a rifle and with a little more horsepower in the hopes that I will hunt elephant again one of these days soon. And while I am perfectly happy hunting buffalo with a .375, I’m not going to complain about a little more ooomph for them either.
I really didn’t want to step up too much in the weight and recoil department from the .375 H&H, bearing in mind this was to be an “everything” rifle, Duiker to Tusker. What to do?
Here’s what I ended up with and so far I’m thrilled with the result
Granite Mountain Arms Double Square Bridge Mauser Action, Krieger Barrel with integral island sights and sling swivel, custom english walnut stock w/14” LOP, Smithson QD mounts and Swarovski Z6i 1.7-10x42 scope.
Load development resulted in virtually no development at all! I knew what bullets I wanted to use, I just wasn’t sure if the softs and solids were going to have a reasonably close point of impact and how much “tweaking” was going to be required. Turns out, none!
Initially I loaded 82.0 gr of H-4350 with 400 gr A-Frames and 400 gr CEB brass Solids. The results were great! Groups right out of the chute were tight and velocity was about what I expected from the A-Frames but I really thought I was going to have to go up a bit with the CEB’s based on previous experience. Nope the solids were printing right where the A-Frames were and average velocity was a bit higher than the A-Frames.
Recoil is a bit more than the .375 but very manageable, even off the bench. The rifle weighs 9.9 pounds bare, and 10.8 pounds with scope and mounts.
Here’s my final group - a composite 4 shot group with 2 A-Frames and 2 CEB Solids at 100 yards.
So in the wise words of my shooting buddy, throw that thing in a hard case, load up some ammo and let’s go hunting!
Time to book a hunt and send off a deposit I guess
I’ve been saying for years that one of these days I’m going to have my ONE ultimate rifle for Africa to go anywhere and do everything. And for a while the “place holder” was a .375 H&H, which is pretty darn hard to beat as a “do everything” cartridge when loaded with the appropriate projectiles. But I really wanted something a bit more special in the way of a rifle and with a little more horsepower in the hopes that I will hunt elephant again one of these days soon. And while I am perfectly happy hunting buffalo with a .375, I’m not going to complain about a little more ooomph for them either.
I really didn’t want to step up too much in the weight and recoil department from the .375 H&H, bearing in mind this was to be an “everything” rifle, Duiker to Tusker. What to do?
Here’s what I ended up with and so far I’m thrilled with the result
Granite Mountain Arms Double Square Bridge Mauser Action, Krieger Barrel with integral island sights and sling swivel, custom english walnut stock w/14” LOP, Smithson QD mounts and Swarovski Z6i 1.7-10x42 scope.
Load development resulted in virtually no development at all! I knew what bullets I wanted to use, I just wasn’t sure if the softs and solids were going to have a reasonably close point of impact and how much “tweaking” was going to be required. Turns out, none!
Initially I loaded 82.0 gr of H-4350 with 400 gr A-Frames and 400 gr CEB brass Solids. The results were great! Groups right out of the chute were tight and velocity was about what I expected from the A-Frames but I really thought I was going to have to go up a bit with the CEB’s based on previous experience. Nope the solids were printing right where the A-Frames were and average velocity was a bit higher than the A-Frames.
Recoil is a bit more than the .375 but very manageable, even off the bench. The rifle weighs 9.9 pounds bare, and 10.8 pounds with scope and mounts.
Here’s my final group - a composite 4 shot group with 2 A-Frames and 2 CEB Solids at 100 yards.
So in the wise words of my shooting buddy, throw that thing in a hard case, load up some ammo and let’s go hunting!
Time to book a hunt and send off a deposit I guess
this rifle breathes Africa!
But it sounds like it worked out great for you as well. That Dennis Olson .416 Rigby is a work of art by an outstanding builder. Congrats to you on that purchase, would love to see and hear more as you get some rounds down range.
