Two weeks until I depart for Buffalo - Rate my rifle setup!

[Just a dude in BC]

Hello All,

I have not even left yet, but I have already had a fabulous time building up this pair of rifles for the trip!

For my DG rifle I re-barreled a Ruger no.1 500 NE. It has a 26" IBI stainless match barrel (was meant to be a 50 BMG barrel But King Trudeau up in Canada banned those). Scope is a Leica Ampulus 1-6 (Which I quite like). And the stock is New Zealand walnut and ebony. I made this stock from scratch. The loads for it are 570gr Swift A-frame @ 2150. In this pic I was busy shooting some factory Hornady to get the brass. It really likes the Hornady, but it is giving me 2250fps and a hell of a wallop on the recoil. OH yes.... The muzzle break is just for sighting it in. I will not be hunting with that on it; just makes life a lot nicer when zeroing the irons and then the optic off a bench.

For my plains game I built up a Krieghoff Optima double rifle. Two barrels of 9.3x74r, and a 20ga shotgun. It is wearing a Leica 2.5-10. I finished the stocks on this rifle as well, but I had the smith do the inletting, as the inlet for it is more complicated than the ruger. Loads for it at 285gr northfork SS, at 2340fps.

Credit to Jakob Strasser out of Canada for the smith work.

 

[Rare Breed]

You are ready to go!!! Nicely done! Have fun and make memories!

 

[JerBear8]

Beautiful guns! Nothing like the anticipation of a safari. Looking forward to your hunting report!

 

[Nyati]

Great setup

 

[RR 314]

I was taught if you did not have anything nice to say, say nothing at all. . .






. . . Looks like you are all set. . The 20 gauge option is also good in case you want to pop a couple birds on the way back to camp. Well done!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Not only well armed, but will look good doing it. Those are beautiful rifles. Good luck

 

[BC Tal]

Yaa, i guess we can hunt together.
They look good brother and I know they are both tack drivers in your hands.

 

[skydiver386]

I'm jealous. That's some beautiful walnut on those guns

 

[19_A_CPT]

In the words of Tweeder, " I give it a 9.5 and I still got wood!"

 

[Hunter-Habib]

A "Solid" set up ! Best of luck.

 

[Justbryan]

For my DG rifle I re-barreled a Ruger no.1 500 NE.

No.1 DG- brave man, praying for good backup and/or good bullet placement! I love it, your double is for plains game.

 

[Mekaniks]

Yes Sir

Have a good time and good hunting

Can’t wait for the report when you get back

 

[BC Tal]

No.1 DG- brave man, praying for good backup and/or good bullet placement! I love it, your double is for plains game.

His backup is another No 1 in 416 Rigby… and the PH’s double!

 

[TOBY458]

Nice rifles. What part of Africa will you be hunting?

 

[uplander01]

You're a man that knows what he likes,....they will most certainly getr' done.

 

[Zinz]

Hunted buffalo with friends many years ago and one of the guys had a Ruger No. 1 in .458 Lott. Backup shots are slower, so I would recommend lots of dry-fire practice unloading an empty case and reloading a dum-dum round. You won't want to be fumbling to get a round into the chamber under that scope and into battery.

Make that first shot count and you won't have any worries.

Both rifles look amazing. Congratulations on fine work.

Ed Z

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Very nice set up, all that's missing is a gun bearer.

 

[Just a dude in BC]

Nice rifles. What part of Africa will you be hunting?

South Africa with Dave Freeborn Safaris.

Hunted buffalo with friends many years ago and one of the guys had a Ruger No. 1 in .458 Lott. Backup shots are slower, so I would recommend lots of dry-fire practice unloading an empty case and reloading a dum-dum round. You won't want to be fumbling to get a round into the chamber under that scope and into battery.

Make that first shot count and you won't have any worries.

Both rifles look amazing. Congratulations on fine work.

Ed Z

I build a set of sticks (you can kind of see them in the back of the pic). So for practice my friend and I have a setup with an 8" plate at 100, and a 4" plate at 25. Our typical routine is:
1) Sticks are setup but I am off the sticks waiting
2) He says buffalo
3) I then have 3-4 seconds to get onto the sticks and hit the 8" plate.
4) I then try to extract, new round, and hit the 4" plate at 25 yards in 5 ish seconds.
It forces you to take up a position on the sticks, hit, recover from recoil, then adjust to a new target (closer to simulate a charge), and hit that.
5) We then switch and he takes a turn.

It's a lot of fun, but you can't go do it for an afternoon with a 500, you need a break after a few sets lol.

 

[Red Leg]

If it is the rifle with which you can make the most accurate first shot at a buffalo with a 300 gr premium bullet or heavier, it will be fine. Some of those shots at seventy or so in the thick stuff will offer less than an 8 inch plate for a target at that range.

 

[Zinz]

It's a lot of fun, but you can't go do it for an afternoon with a 500, you need a break after a few sets lol.

Sounds like you've done all your homework!

Can't wait to hear the hunt report; I hope you shoot a whopper.

Ed