Thoughts: A rifle battery for a 28 day Safari hunt...

[Bonk]

CZ 550 375H&H
CZ550 300H&H
Ruger M77 25-06

 

[MBaugh]

I'd take my Dakota Traveler and 235 Barnes TSX and 300 gr Swift A-Frames for the 375 H&H barrel and 400 gr North Fork and some solids for the 400H&H and for me i believe my basis would be covered.

 

[Philip Glass]

For me ideally it would be my .470NE double and my Blaser R8 .375 Ruger. This would do everything on the Safari you mention and do it well!

 

[Royal27]

I've been pondering what I might take on a Tanzanian full bag hunt for quite a while. It's fun to dream!

So for three rifles that I own here is what I know I'd take and the choice I cant seek to make...

1. .458 Lott - three buff and an elephant would be great, and man that would be awesome on a lion with the same NF bullets I'd use for buff
2. .375 H&H for the leopard and back up to the Lott. Will be great for Eland as well
3. .300 WSM or my .30/06? The 06 is the first rifle I owned, given as a Christmas gift from my parents. I do love that rifle but have semi retired it as I've moved to left hand bolts

Reality though would likely make it a two gun safari with the Lott and H&H. The third rifle would likely just bet in the way....

 

[Luederitz]

My current "battery" is based on the Mauser 66 models:
1) .416 Ruger with 400grs A-Frame for buffalo (planned in the next two years), scope Kahles C 1-4x24
2) 9,5x66SE vom Hofe with 270grs A-Frame for heavy plains game (already successfully used), scope Kahles Helia 2-10x50
3) 7x66SE vom Hofe with 160grs Trophy Bonded Tip for smaller plains game, scope will be changed to S&B Zenith 3-12x50

What I´m thinking about is the following "battery":
1) rifle in .450 Dakota for Elephant (if I could afford it)
2) Mauser 66 with two barrels in .404 Dakota and .330 Dakota for plains game up to buffalo...

 

[WAB]

My wife and I took a 3 rifle battery for a full month of hunting in August 2019.

7x57 for my wife to use on plains game. (175 gr Swift A-Frames)

9.3x62 for my wife’s buffalo and my plains game. (286 gr Swift A-Frames)

.458 Lott for my buffalo hunt. (500 gr trophy bonded bearclaws)

All rifles performed flawlessly.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Only one rifle, the heaviest I can handle, 375 H&H using 250 Barnes TTSX for antelope from eland down with a 2-12x in QR rings. 300 or 350 NorthFork both soft and solids for DG topped with 1-6x with QR rings.
Hmmm...oh yes that’s what I almost always take......boring!

 

[Art Lambart II]

I'll take my 35 Whelen for sure and a 416 Rigby but I'll need to think about the third one.

 

[AZDAVE]

Since this is a mental exercise at the planning stage. here are a couple ideas.
doubles.
500NE double
9.3x74 double with QR scope or red dot
7x57 double scoped

bolt (Classic African rifles)
404 Jeff or 416 Rigby
9.3x62 or 375 H&H
7x57 or 300 H&H

Single
450 NE
450/400 NE
300 H&H

Mixed
500 NE double
375 H&H
7x57 or 300 H&H

 

[Opposite Pole]

Ideally:
My Krieghoff double with “intelligent ejectors” and following barrels:
-470NE with Woodleigh 500gr RNSN and 500gr Hydro solid ammo
-9.3x74R with 285gr Norma Oryx at 2400fps with quick release 1-4X Leica scope
-20G barrels (I don’t have those but might/would get a set)

And my R8 with 375H&H barrel dressed with 1-8x Swaro or S&B scope (currently wearing 1-6x Leica), not sure about the load but would stick to one.

And a single shot rifle in 9.3x74R to use the same ammo as my double with quick release scope of 2.5-10x or similar flavour and precise open sights. It’d be K95 or perhaps Johann Fanzoj (since we’re dreaming anyway). Stalking with a fine, lightweight single shot rifle is a great way to spend one’s morning and I enjoy open sights more and more. This is perhaps a bit unusual for someone who was shooting scoped rifles from day one.

 

[BeeMaa]

My wife and I took a 3 rifle battery for a full month of hunting in August 2019.

7x57 for my wife to use on plains game. (175 gr Swift A-Frames)

9.3x62 for my wife’s buffalo and my plains game. (286 gr Swift A-Frames)

.458 Lott for my buffalo hunt. (500 gr trophy bonded bearclaws)

All rifles performed flawlessly.

Along the same lines as what we are planning for our next DG safari.
Blaser R8 PH for me and Intuition for her.
300WM, 375H&H and 416RM barrels that fit either.
However, if she feels good shooting the 375, we'll leave the 300WM home.
After all, nothing the 300WM can do that the 375H&H can't at the ranges we are talking about.

 

[dchamp]

For DG I would take my .416RM - Blaser R8
For PG I would take my 8x57, it has proven itself twice in Africa, - Blaser R8
For anything else I would take the smallest legal caliber

or I would just take the .375 H&H or 9.3x62 and call it good.

 

[M McDindi]

"What do you guys think that is the ideal battery if one is pursuing lion, leopard, 3 buffalo and tons of plains game on a 28 day hunt?"

Several important considerations not included in this hypothetical scenario, mostly country, area and terrain. So, given that this would be for the country of "Anyplace". I'll offer up my limited opine.

For the game specifically mentioned wherein I would be the "client" and not the PH, It would just be two calibers/cartridges: 30-06 and 458WM.

My personal rational would be having to consider the 5kilo max airline weight limit on ammo. Given the, "and tons of plains game" being a pretty open limit, there could be a reasonable possibility I might have to purchase/acquire a little additional ammo at some point. Both calibers/cartridges are pretty easy to come by in most of Africa. May not be the projectile of choice and may have to play with zero a little but at least I can still go "bang" and not have to use my rifle as a fancy club.

Within that .30 and .458 caliber limit, the projectiles the 30-06 would be 180gr TSX and a few 210gr Cutting Edge Bullets (CEB) brass solids. For the .458, it would be CEB 420gr Safari Raptor and 450gr safari solids.

Rational for the above projectiles:

I picked the 180gr TSX over the TTSX is because the TTSX open/mushroom quicker than the regular TSX. If the PG is say, "the Tiny 10" the TSX is less likely to damage hides for trophy mounts and less bloodshot meat for the potjie pot. On the bigger game all the way up to eland they will penetrate to and through the vitals plus some. The reason for a few of the CEB 210gr solid that would and in fact are in my pocket if I'm carrying a 30-06 or even a 308W where jumbo might be encountered is from the testing I've seen in wet newspaper from 50m and the few I've actually tried on a couple of zebra end to end, I am confident they will pretty easily get to the brainbox on an elephant in a pinch.

The reason for the CEB .458 Raptor/Solid is the Raptor is designed to that instead of just mushrooming, they are machined to have "petals" break off after impact which act like a mini hand-grenade going off inside the rib cage while the remaining "shank" becomes a flat nose solid and drives though the vitals and usually exits. They noses are shaped and the weights are close enough that you can pretty much use them interchangeably without having to re-zero. They do make a .470gr Raptor and 500gr solid, but since the country is "Anywhere" Africa, the slightly lighter weights might shoot a little faster/flatter and not give up too much penetration.

Granted, non of these would be likely available off the shelf or from under a bush outback but, by the time I shot up 5k of ammo, I'd likely be near the end of the 28-days.

Like many on here, I'm a big fan of the .375's. Had an H&H and got rid of it when I got the 375 Rugers. I didn't choose it in this case mostly because of the potential to being a bit more difficult to find in some African countries. If the ammo was unlimited it would be a 375 Ruger with 270gr TSX and 275gr CEB Raptors and 300gr CEB Safari Solids. The other consideration is the usual 100rd per caliber importable quantity of ammo. Two rifles means 100rd for each, subject to the 5k airline weight limit.

 

[Bushpig4Ever]

The more extensive the battery, the more inexperienced the hunter.

Bring a .375 H & H along and be happy.

 

[spike.t]

The more extensive the battery, the more inexperienced the hunter.

Bring a .375 H & H along and be happy.

Bullshit

 

[Rick Cox]

CZ550 Safari Classic .375 HH. might take something like a .270.

 

[375sunrise]

After you have jumped the "POND" a few times you tend to get very minimum in your baggage. I have & will again take one rifle, 404 J or 416 Rigby. That will take care of anything from Ele. to Duiker.

 

[Solitaire]

If I could dream about a safari like this, it would be :
- 7 RM - 175gr TBBC - scope 2,5-10
- 9,3x62 - 286gr Oryx - scope 1,5-6
- 500 Jef open sight for pleisure

 

[Tanks]

The more extensive the battery, the more inexperienced the hunter.

Bring a .375 H & H along and be happy.

There must be thousands and thousands of "inexperienced" hunters around who have taken tons of DG and plains game then.

Next, you will be saying anyone who doesn't just use a 30-06 for all North American game is an inexperienced hunter.

 

[meigsbucks]

For me, two rifles is enough. For the aforementioned game, a .416 Ruger (400 gr Barnes TSX for buffalo and 350 gr Swift for lion) and a .338 RUM would be my two choices.
A third rifle would be fun but I’m already humping enough stuff and a third rifle would be too much of a good thing. However, if I WERE to take a three, they would be a double (.450/400 or .470), a .375 and maybe a .280.