Too Much Gun?

[Ontario Hunter]

OK Annie Oakley . . . This isn’t the first post of your superior shooting ability. I forgot how many times you said you missed your gemsbok though?

Learning to be confident shooting from sticks is an important part of safari preparation. You may be the first person I’ve ever seen say it isn’t.

It's shooting from a rest. Leaning against a tree, over the hood of a pickup, from a bench, on top of backpack, from a bipod, off sticks ... it's all basically the same technique. Now, shooting offhand and/or at moving targets is a whole different ball game. This guy, like me, is no novice. If he enjoys shooting from a rest at the range (I do not), then go ahead and waste "thousands" of rounds shooting paper. He doesn't need it.

I'm not the only person who's never touched shooting sticks before making them work when first exposed. A nineteen year-old girl at the lodge who'd never fired a gun before going to Africa last August dumped the first two animals she shot at without a miss. I think Helen Keller shooting off quad sticks could kill a wildebeest standing broadside at 100 yards. Maybe an exaggeration ... but not by much. OP may want to familiarize himself with sticks before going to Africa but it's certainly not essential. Shooting "thousands" of rounds off the sticks at the range would be extreme overkill ... not to mention a huge waste of resources. Hell, right now I can't even find a hundred magnum primers, let alone "thousands" of them.

 

[godwincp]

You don’t need a warm up on plains game. Get comfortable with the 416 and hunt a Buffalo. You can take plains game as presented but go for the buff. If you killed a brown bear then you’re ready. Good luck

 

[Tex .416]

…. The 416 put softball size exit holes in everything smaller than a gemsbok.

Which bullet was that?

 

[BourbonTrail]

Which bullet was that?

Nosler Partition, and realistically they were closer to baseball sized, but it was some serious damage.
My PH quipped, when I shot the springbok, “now that is the definition of overkill”

 

[AZDAVE]

I am going to be hunting Sharpes grysbok, sunni, and red diker with a 400gr .416 solid this year. Along with DG so take your 416 and hunt buffalo and what ever PG Africa walks in front of you

 

[Tra3]

I think it poor advice to suggest that practice from sticks is not necessary.
Some people are so good they never make mistakes. I am not one of those people. I get excited when I hunt. It is easy to make mistakes when excited, or when multiple things happen quickly. I wouldn’t want to be figuring out sticks with a .416 when the first trigger pull is worth well north of $7000.
Between .22LR and up, I think shooting over 1000 rounds prior to a hunt is a responsible and advisable thing to do. How many .416 rounds or .375 rounds? At least 100 mixed in with smaller stuff.

As for DG on the first hunt? Go for it, but I agree with those above that suggested some PG in the first few days, then switch to DG.

 

[Hammergun]

I used a 416 RM for Buffalo and plains game on my last hunt. Worked out fine. The Swift Aframes left little exit holes in Bushbuck and Warthog. No excess damage. I strongly advise lots of practice off the sticks. I shot just under 300 rounds of 416 in the year and a half before my trip. In addition, many rounds of 308 off the sticks too. Plus dry firing nearly every day for a few months before the trip. When I had to shoot at 250 yds it was no problem. Because of all the practice.

 

[pc3]

How would woodleigh 410 gr .416 soft Round Noses work on plains game ?

One load for the buff and plains game ??

 

[rifletuner]

How would woodleigh 410 gr .416 soft Round Noses work on plains game ?

One load for the buff and plains game ??

Pretty well I reckon, though I have not tried it first hand. I have carried my 416 Remington loaded with 400gn Woodleighs on sambar hunts, but have never shot one with it. I think it would work very well though. I think the 400gn 416 would expand well enough on plains game and be pretty emphatic.

 

[Warren Knudsen]

Do it all with the 416 Rigby if that's the rifle you have. I last year I went to Mozambique, for buff and a plains game hunt, I took along my 416 Rigby and used it successfully on animals from warthog up to Buffalo, with no issues what soever, in fact I really enjoyed it. A friend hunted with it and took a great wayerbuck. I kept things simple and had one load of 400g aframes for everything and it worked fine. You could load 350g Swifts for a slightly flatter trajectory, but in reality most shots will be under 200mts. Take the 416 as it sound like you like shooting it. Keep things simple and enjoy the hunt.

 

[pc3]

Pretty well I reckon, though I have not tried it first hand. I have carried my 416 Remington loaded with 400gn Woodleighs on sambar hunts, but have never shot one with it. I think it would work very well though. I think the 400gn 416 would expand well enough on plains game and be pretty emphatic.

Thankyou...maybe taking just my .416 in 2025...seeing as cape buff will be on the menu, and i'll take the sons .270 win for him.

I have a reasonable amount of the .416 Rigby 410gr RNSP on hand. I might contact woodleigh in the new year and see if they are back up and running post fire making .416 pills, they are slowly coming back on line (3 hours from me). Might also grab a pack of their solids.

Maybe not quite as flat shooting as a TSX, but I do know woodleigh RN's will expand and they look nice and classic in that Rigby case

 

[rifletuner]

Thankyou...maybe taking just my .416 in 2025...seeing as cape buff will be on the menu, and i'll take the sons .270 win for him.

I have a reasonable amount of the .416 Rigby 410gr RNSP on hand. I might contact woodleigh in the new year and see if they are back up and running post fire making .416 pills, they are slowly coming back on line (3 hours from me). Might also grab a pack of their solids.

Maybe not quite as flat shooting as a TSX, but I do know woodleigh RN's will expand and they look nice and classic in that Rigby case

I used my 450 Ackley for buffalo in Zambia. I loaded woodleigh 500 grain softs and solids and would have been happy to take any planes game with the 500gn softs.

Those round nose woodleighs are bullet porn in any classic looking cartridge

 

[THAT'S AFRICA SAFARI]

Fist off congratulations on buying a superb rifle and one of the best calibers there is for hunting anything the Dark Continent has to offer.
In my opinion the 416 Rigby is one off the best all-round calibers there is, if you include hunting the dangerous game. Obviously there is better calibers for specific requirements but to do everything with one rifle you will struggle to get better.
As for hunting buffalo on your first safari, nothing wrong with it. Personally I would combine it with plains game so that you can settle those nerves on something that doesn't have the inclination to vent its anger on you if things go wrong. That way you can also get use to the hunting conditions. Always a great idea to practice with the rifle beforehand you can never practice to much it will never be in vain if anything it might save you an expensive trophy fee of a animal lost.

 

[uplander01]

Practice shooting from sticks, go hunt buffalo. Hunting buffalo isn’t rocket science, maybe find a different ph too.

 

[Safari Dave]

I would prefer 2 rifles, but your .416 will be fine for everything.

I'm surprised that a Nosler Partition would come apart enough on small animals to blow a baseball sized hole, but I defer to experience.

My .416 Rigby has done great on impala, baboon, and buffalo. (I used Hornady DG on everything).



I opted for a solid on the baboon to minimize pelt damage, but the bullet took part of the humerus with it, so that didn't work out like expected...

 

[MarkB]

I say your first safari should be what YOU want, my first was buf, leopard and PG, only took a 375 H&H, buff to steenbuck, it put them all down. I did shoot a leopard with PH's 416 Rigby on another safari, it worked.

From your experience you can shoot, off sticks not anything real hard or special, practice before you go and all will be good. Harder at least for me was settling down (game overload, target rich) and shooting on shoulder. Train brain forward of NA best position.

Go get that buff with your tried and familiar 416 and have fun. There WILL be a second safari and more? You can get a normal PG gun later.

MB

 

[wvfred]

My first trip to Africa was for buffalo......so take your 416 and shoot a buffalo and try for some plains game if time permits.