Professional Hunters - What rifle do you carry?

[Abeln]

You guys accept guide / outfitters rifles from non-African dangerous game? I outfit for coastal grizzly / brown bear as the day job, carry a Merkel 140AE .375 H&H, custom titanium M98 .375 2 1/4" soon just in completion. Also have used Mossberg 590A1 14" 12 gauges for camp guns, for reasons hopefully obvious below.

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Ardent,
What gun oil and wood protection do you use on that merkel? It looks good and has water beading up. Just asking because all my hunting rifles are wood and steel. Always looking for good products.

Thanks

 

[Ardent]

Abeln I've used lots of different things, I'm on salt water and we run 4hrs in and out with generally the gun uncovered. Eezox is the best "oil" I've found but shockingly WD40 is 90% as good and much cheaper to apply twice a day. The stock is just maintained coats of tung oil. You can tung oil metal too but the durability is low, will get you through a trip.

If I had to recommend one thing above all else would be Eezox. If you want to keep it simple WD40 is 90% as good, but needs much more frequent applications. The popular thing to do in the gun world is to rag on WD40 as an oil people use when not in the know, but the reality is even in testing it's one of the best rust preventative sprays out there and outperforms literally all the purpose made gun sprays; even G96 etc in rust prevention.

Can't find the original Brownells article / test, but WD40 came out #1,

http://toolmonger.com/2009/03/31/hot-or-not-wd-40-for-rust-prevention/

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Does this count???

 

[Abeln]

Thanks for the tip. I'd say WD-40 must work just fine to keep your rifle looking that good in one of the harshest hunting environments on earth.

 

[zephyr]

In my limited experience the Gun a PH carries may not be what they want but what they can get. I am told that Zim can be very difficult bringing in weapons from the outside with some waiting periods up to 6 months sitting in some office.
Once read a quote saying that a PH starts his career with a new gun and a new truck and finishs his career with an old gun and a old truck.

 

[juan pablo pozzi]

Here in Argentina CZs are still the most carried rifles among guides .For water buffalo 375hyhs and 458winchester. Some carry doubles mostly Chapuis and Merkels

 

[juan pablo pozzi]

In Argentina most guides carry CZs of diferent calibers mostly 375hyh. A few are carrying doubles for water buffalo in 470ne and other calibers

 

[steve white]

Bruce Watson in Zimbabwe carried a Browning Safari in 458 WM which he described as using "hand loads only" It was iron sighted.
PH in Tanzania carried a 416 Remington Magnum. It was iron sighted.
PH in Namibia didn't carry a gun at all! (but he did show me his Sako in 243 Zeiss ZA scope)

 

[Odinsraven]

Not particularly relevant but ....When I guided in the UK ( no dangerous game - couple of bitchy cows - I did nearly shoot one) - I never carried my rifle - always took a shot with the clients rifle to see where I hit - so if I had to finish the hunt I could use his rifle - helped on long days as I usually ended up carrying the clients rifle !

 

[mauser98]

I guide in British Columbia for Moose and bear. I usually carry an open sighted Husqvarna M98 in 8x57 with 180gr TSX and 195gr SP. Haven't felt under gunned even with big grizzly bears being around.