I agree with Von S.
There is nothing better than taking a African animal with your own rifle that is shooting reloads or even factory ammo that you are comfortable with and know what it is going to do. At least for your first African safari.
I can proudly say that all of my African trophies were taken with my very own rifle with reloads that I developed and shot. Just something real satisfying about being able to say that.
Something I have thought all along. Every time I look at a given gun in my collection, rifle or pistol, it makes me think of a particular hunting trip. Yeah, even my dad's Ruger Blackhawk, .357 Magnum. I was hunting back in the 90s in Colorado, but as usually had ZERO luck seeing elk. Weather was too mild and they were gone to the peaks of the mountains, inaccessible by us non-guided folk, after the first shot of the first season. Much to my chagrin, I have NEVER seen an elk during hunting season. Only during the off seasons. On that trip I went home with a rabbit, however, which I took with the revolver. (I have always had a small game license as well, just in case.) Kicked up this lovely bunny, which made a huge mistake. Ran for only 20 feet, then stopped. If he'd continued going, he'd have lived. But stopping and thinking he was hiding from me, turn him into supper. I didn't bring home any elk meat, but that bunny made awesome hasenpfeffer!
Took a prong horn at about 300 yards with my first rifle, which I still have, a Browning A-bolt hunter in 7 Rem Mag. Have taken several small white tail bucks with my 760 Gamemaster, and the last white tail I took -- a doe -- was with a gun I obtained in trade with a friend. It is one of my favorite deer guns, but again isn't an option for Africa, because it's a lever gun. Then again, it's too light for most species -- anything above Impala. That's my Model 1899 Savage in .250-3000. I absolutely LOVE that gun. It's light, extremely easy to handle, and shoots like a dream. Cant explain why, but that was the only time I've taken an animal where the bullet his EXACTLY where I was aiming. Usually I've found my rounds going high for some reason. Didn't flinch. Didn't do anything that should have pushed the round off the aim point. All of them were instant kills, dropping the animals where they stood, but for some reason they went higher than my aim point -- inexplicable on my part being all were on target when sighting in the guns. But the Savage was right dead center where I aimed, and the effect was quick. Dropped the doe. She got up on her front legs, staggered, and fell. The her rear end came up. Wobbled on those legs for a couple seconds then fell again. A few swishes of the tail and she was done. When I opened her, found that little 100 grain bullet had shattered three ribs, turned right, sliced through both lungs and, from the amount of blood, it looks like it clipped the aorta, shattered three more ribs on the far side, and then stopped. Evidently ran out of gas at that point and rebounded on the skin of the far side. So, all the energy was expended inside her. She was dead in <20 seconds. Never left the spot where she was hit.
Have no experience in the field with my .35 Whelen yet. But as my gunsmith who built it for me said, it's shoots really nice. I had actually bought a barrel through a catalog, but when he tested it, he said it was flinging rounds all over the place. So, I took the loss on that -- learned to never again buy an unknown brand barrel -- and replaced it with a Douglas. On the range has kept nice tight groups. In my book, as long as they don't wander beyond 1 3/4 inches at 100 yards, I'm good. All my guns fall into that category.
