I am a pretty serious American hunter. Therefore, I own guns. A fair amount of them. I own small bores, big bores, and a whole bunch of the mid-bores, which are all basically the same, but give rise to endless discussion about which one is best. Hint – they are all the same.
I own expensive guns, and inexpensive guns. I own compact rifles, bespoke shotguns, ultra-light mountain rifles, heavy sniper rifles and handguns of every sort. My cheapest rifles mounted with good optics shoot every bit as well as the most expensive rifles in the gun safe. Hint – invest in very good scopes. The only gun I own that truly outperforms all others might have been specifically made for the Israeli Defense Forces sniper unit: it actually holds its ¼ MOA out to 1,000 yards. Don’t mess with the IDF.
My personal range goes to 1,000 yards and I have access to a range with incremental targets to 1 mile, and a “long target” at 3,500 meters. I know, its awesome. I shoot a lot. So, I have guns, and shoot them often. The problem has become, you can’t actually take them anywhere. Not easily anyway. Traveling with guns is now far more trouble than it’s worth. I am still waiting to hear from the Spanish consulate in San Francisco about a firearms permit for a hunt in April. Last April.
So, I have started to borrow, or “hire,” guns. I have borrowed guns from PHs to hunt all sorts of plains game, dangerous game (I wrote about a recent elephant AH in June), and across Europe. I completed half the capra World Slam this year taking 6 mountain species using 5 different rifles in 5 different countries. I fired a total of 6 shots for 6 animals. The guns performed flawlessly.
It turns out that when you can only own a few fit-for-purpose guns, they usually work very well. My various OPHs have been telling that few years.
I have enjoyed the opportunity to see, use and learn about a lot of new guns and calibers. I have been especially impressed with the cohort of rifles built in Yugoslavia that are still in service across the various Balkan countries. The 7x64MM cartridge is wonderful to shoot, with little recoil and works very well on the chamois, roe deer and red stags. A nice Swarovski scope and that 7x64 will drive tacks across mountain canyons. A Blazer R8 in 300 win mag in Spain for Ibex, a 25-06 in South Africa to take virtually every species including the largest Cape Eland anyone I know has ever seen, a Kimber 308 in Zimbabwe that was matched to the 375 H&H, and on. It’s been wonderful.
Traveling without the hassle of taking guns has reduced the travel stress, made me more flexible (it certainly makes multi-country hunts waaaaaaayyyyyyy easier), and introduced a newfound topic of conversation around the campfire or pub table, depending on the local customs of where you are hunting. I have become a convert. I might consider taking specialty gun on a specialty hunt if I’m not sure of the rifles the outfitters will have, but that will become a rare event.
I still love my various guns, and I still shoot often. I enjoy shooting. The range time with a variety of guns and calibers has improved my field readiness. I mix and match bullets so I can get used to the fact that most guns perform well within field accuracy conditions with most ammunition. I have never seen an African PH turn down a handful of extra 470ne rounds because they weren’t his/her preferred manufacturer. I’ve mostly seen them drop the bullets into the tube and head out hunting.
My advice on traveling with guns is, for the most part, don’t. Practice a lot. Shoot often. Shoot everything. Get comfortable with as many firearms platforms as you can. Shoot every cartridge that you can. Use every bullet that you can find. And when the time comes, use whatever gun is in your hands, with whatever bullet is in that gun. Take a few breaths, don’t rush, and make the shot. When the bullet goes where it is supposed to, virtually any gun will work. And if you cannot consistently put the bullet right where you want, use a 375H&H, those things make big holes.
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