Rifle Lessons Learned from the Zimbabwe Professional Hunter Proficiency Exam

[Nyati]

Most of us are not going to hunt a lot of DG, so we can consider to use a loaned rifle, either from our outfitter or from a friend.

Rifle on my avatar is a an old Heym .375HH Africa Express Light, which belongs to a friend of mine, a very experienced african hunter. I could have chosen a Heym 88B .470NE double, but I shoot better with a scope.

 

[Clodo Ferreira]

Hi,

I have not been in Africa, yet. But I have been a big game hunter for the past 45 years. Mainly for big Red Deer and wild boars. I have made some hunts after really wild cattle in remote areas in the Patagonian Andes. Wild and agressive cattle, both bulls and cows. That some times charge on sight or smell any human scent.
First I use the 7x57 with heavy 175 softs and stell jacket solids. I think a rather small gun for this.
Later I use my Wichester 70 Pre-64 .375 H&H. And a friend carried his Original FN Mauser in 458 Win.
I am convinced that these guns, Pre-64 in 375 and 458 Win, and those FN from the fifties and sixties were made and adjusted to be used seriously without ANY issues!
My Wichester feed and extracts the four cartridges its magazine was designed for, as if there were no cartridges at all!!! And the position of the bolt handle and its smooth operation is second to none to be worked from the shoulder!!!! The same with that FN Sporting rifles!!
If any rifle maker could only reproduce these great working guns and its reliability, well, it is done!

 

[bruce moulds]

clodo,
you nailed it.
"like there were no cartridges at all."
bruce.

 

[HWL]

Most of us are not going to hunt a lot of DG, so we can consider to use a loaned rifle, either from our outfitter or from a friend.

Same with women....



HWL

 

[bpcr]

My first bolt gun was a CZ Safari Magnum in .458 Win Mag. It shot good groups out to sixty yards. However it would not always feed round nose cartridges. I sent it to AHR for a rail job and back to Triple River for a warranty fix but still the same problem. I even had it bored to.458 Lott thinking that might fix it but no. My second bolt gun was a Portugal made Winchester M70 in .458 Win Mag. It feeds everything you put in it but it shoots two inch groups at forty yards where the CZ will shoot one and half inch groups at sixty. My third bolt gun was a Kimber Caprivi in .458 Lott. It shot about 12" low with the sight bottomed out and I was having ejection issues. I sent it back to the factory and it came back with a broken ejector. Sent it back a second time and when it came back It had a new ejector but I discovered that it will not eject loaded rounds if the bolt is cycled hard. Empties do fine. The factory got not to helpful after this so that's when I got the Merkel. I have 100% confidence in the Merkel that it's going to work in Africa. The three bolt guns mentioned would not give me a good feeling in Africa. All shooting was done with iron sights.

 

[bruce moulds]

like they say, with 2 barrels and 2 locks, if 1 sh*ts itself, chances are you still have the other 1.
bruce.

 

[TNDave]

Tons of good information! I am a seldom poster but have spent the last 2 hours reading this entire string. What brought me to it was a search for a good DG rifle of which I hope to use within the next 5 years or so. It only took me to the young age of 59 to make my first safari and hope I live to make a few more, God willing!
I currently have a Ruger Hawkeye African in 375 Ruger. I have spent the last few months researching and am settling towards the 458 either Lott or Win Mag but more heavily to the Lott. I certainly can’t afford 5-6 figures but do want a reliable DG gun. With all reliability in tow, a 5-6 figure gun is no better than a $350 market gun if the user is not well versed in the operation, fit, form and function of the gun. As hunters we owe it to the PHs, guides and trackers to prepare and practice well before getting in the field and freezing when everything goes to hell in a hand basket.
I have the utmost respect for those guys as they put their necks on the line for their clients!
Anyway, I’m leaning towards a Winchester, CZ, FN and maybe a Whitworth with the understanding that what ever I end up with will probably need work and hours of me behind the trigger.

 

[bruce moulds]

owe it to the PHs, guides and trackers

and the animals you shoot.
bruce.

 

[TNDave]

and the animals you shoot.
bruce.

Exactly! Thanks for adding my oversight!

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Tons of good information! I am a seldom poster but have spent the last 2 hours reading this entire string. What brought me to it was a search for a good DG rifle of which I hope to use within the next 5 years or so. It only took me to the young age of 59 to make my first safari and hope I live to make a few more, God willing!
I currently have a Ruger Hawkeye African in 375 Ruger. I have spent the last few months researching and am settling towards the 458 either Lott or Win Mag but more heavily to the Lott. I certainly can’t afford 5-6 figures but do want a reliable DG gun. With all reliability in tow, a 5-6 figure gun is no better than a $350 market gun if the user is not well versed in the operation, fit, form and function of the gun. As hunters we owe it to the PHs, guides and trackers to prepare and practice well before getting in the field and freezing when everything goes to hell in a hand basket.
I have the utmost respect for those guys as they put their necks on the line for their clients!
Anyway, I’m leaning towards a Winchester, CZ, FN and maybe a Whitworth with the understanding that what ever I end up with will probably need work and hours of me behind the trigger.

I think you have narrowed your selection down to the correct rifles. I cannot comment on the Whitworth no experience with that one. I have never seen a bad FN, but I really have not seen any in a long time. So I will comment on the M-70 Safari Classic and the CZ. First the M-70 Safari Classic. I believe it has everything that you want or need, except Four things:

1. I do not believe it comes in .458 Lott, so you will have to have it rechambered, of course I could be wrong?
2. I believe you will want it glass bedded
3. Are you satisfied with the 3 round magazine. If not now you are talking new bottom metal and new stock. $$$$$
4. While it is being rechambered, I would totally disassemble and do a little smoothing on the bolt rails, they may or may not need it.

CZ USA has been in the news lately so most of you will understand this JOKE, you do not see rhino poachers leaving their M-70s behind, like I said this is a JOKE!

CZ 550 Safari.

1. Cut barrel, recrown and install barrel band swivel
2. install new front sight (NECG)
3. install new trigger
4.install new 3 position safety
5. glass bed
6. Plenty of action smoothing (you may be lucky and get one that is perfect, I am never that lucky)
7. You may want some work done on the bolt handle?


Just opinion, but I do think the CZ has a better & smoother barrel. Unfortunately I own a Lyman bore scope, rifles that I thought had perfect barrel can be very rough, even new ones!

I believe AHR does all of this work for around $1700.00. Or a little more than what you paid for the rifle!
The only advantage is the 5 rd. magazine, which I do consider a advantage. Yes, one will placed shot should do the job, but life is not always kind and Africa never is!

 

[Clodo Ferreira]

Hello T.S.

Very good and a most useful advice!

Have a Happy New Year!

CF

 

[TNDave]

Exactly the kind of honest useful advice I’m looking for. You are correct, the mod 70 does not come in .458 Lott so would have to go with .458 win mag or re-chamber. Thank you T.S.!

Hope all have a blessed New year!
David

 

[BeeMaa]

Exactly the kind of honest useful advice I’m looking for. You are correct, the mod 70 does not come in .458 Lott so would have to go with .458 win mag or re-chamber. Thank you T.S.!

Hope all have a blessed New year!
David

Or you could pick from the three 458 Lott from AHR that are available now.
http://americanhuntingrifles.com/available-now/

 

[Philip Glass]

Tons of good information! I am a seldom poster but have spent the last 2 hours reading this entire string. What brought me to it was a search for a good DG rifle of which I hope to use within the next 5 years or so. It only took me to the young age of 59 to make my first safari and hope I live to make a few more, God willing!
I currently have a Ruger Hawkeye African in 375 Ruger. I have spent the last few months researching and am settling towards the 458 either Lott or Win Mag but more heavily to the Lott. I certainly can’t afford 5-6 figures but do want a reliable DG gun. With all reliability in tow, a 5-6 figure gun is no better than a $350 market gun if the user is not well versed in the operation, fit, form and function of the gun. As hunters we owe it to the PHs, guides and trackers to prepare and practice well before getting in the field and freezing when everything goes to hell in a hand basket.
I have the utmost respect for those guys as they put their necks on the line for their clients!
Anyway, I’m leaning towards a Winchester, CZ, FN and maybe a Whitworth with the understanding that what ever I end up with will probably need work and hours of me behind the trigger.

Keep us posted on your decision of DG rifle and how it works out for you.

 

[Paparock94]

For my own information guys. If you have a Ruger Guide Gun in .375 Ruger already what would you consider necessary to make it into a reasonably reliable "light" Dangerous Game rifle for the lighter weight dangerous game like lion or the Big Bears or is it just better to start from scratch with a CZ? I had a regular .375 H&H before and I'm unsure how I feel about the strait case of the .375 Ruger as compared to the .375 H&H in a Dangerous Game Rifle when it comes to its reliability when extracting and loading. I am a controlled round feed believer when it comes to hunting things that can hunt me back after over 40 years of experience with Murphy's Law.

 

[tarbe]

RSM UPDATE

I had mentioned earlier in this thread (or was it in another, similar thread?) that when I ran the bolt on my new-to-me RSM 458 Lott at max speed, I could get the bolt to the rear before the ejector could get into battery, requiring a double-shuck to get the empty to eject.

I took the advice of @IdaRam and put a slight ramp leading into the slot, and also polished the ramp and entire slot with 6000 grit.

I took the rifle out yesterday and ran it hard. Really hard. As in I had brass flying up to 24 feet from the rifle (I measured!) and the empties were getting terribly banged up on the rifle.

I could not get the rifle to fail to eject in about 20 rounds attempted.

Not definitive...but clearly we are moving in the right direction!

I will continue to shoot/test over the next couple years as I prepare for whatever is coming after the BVC buffalo hunt in August.

Thanks for the advice Dan!

Tim

 

[TNDave]

Tarbe, if your RSM is one you bought off of AH you beat me by about 15 mins!

Question for all, as above I stated I’m wanting some day in the future to acquire a DGR in 458 Lott. I’ve narrowed down to a couple of options.
1) I can get a CZ 550 for $1,000 - $1,100 and send to AHR for option 2 build and have less than $3,000 in a rifle ready to take to field.
2) I can get a 458 win mag and rechamber to 458 Lott. I’ve done zero pricing for this option as of yet.

Interested in any and all pros and cons as I have not been steered wrong on this forum.

Thanks!
David

 

[tarbe]

Well David, if you believe some of the guys here on this forum, just hang around a while and it will be back up for sale, once I kill something with it.

 

[WAB]

David, I shoot a custom M-70 in .458 Lott that started life as a .458 WM. My buddy shoots an AHR CZ in .458 Lott. Both are utterly reliable and incredibly accurate. I don’t think there’s a nickel’s worth of difference between them. We have about the same amount of $ in them but we did not go the economy route in our custom projects. Flip a coin and have fun!

PS: I personally do not like 2 position safety’s. If I had a CZ it would get a 3 position safety. AHR does this in their upgrades.

 

[WAB]

Well David, if you believe some of the guys here on this forum, just hang around a while and it will be back up for sale, once I kill something with it.

I doubt it Tim! And he can wait around as long as he wants, he won’t get mine unless he buys it from my son after he inherits it!