What do you think of my travel rifle choices?

[BeeMaa]

Junk both guns and start over.

Just kidding.
Beautiful rifles and calibers.
Enjoy your hunt.

Cheers.

 

[Red Leg]

The Verney-Carron Impact plus takedown has been a good experience so far. It did require an adjustment to smooth out an overly stiff safety fresh out of the box. Other than that, it has been one of my most accurate rifles, smooth, and functional. It had an unusually long length of pull so I cut a cm or so off the stock and replaced the recoil pad. The only other thing worth noting is that the Federal factory loaded flat nosed Barnes banded solids are the only ammunition I've tried that does not feed reliably. The first two feed ok, but the last cartridge in the magazine will hang up on the bullet guide ribs when coming up. That particular bullet is too wide at the nose for the magazine design. I could file away a bit of the guide ribs on a spare magazine but actually have no need to use that bullet anyway. The Hornady interlock, Barnes tsx, Lapua Mega, and Norma Oryx bullets all feed perfectly and shoot accurately.

I’ll answer that. Again Much of the Caprivi is marsh. Think every hunting video you have seen of the Okavango. You will not be asked to make a 150 meter shot at a buffalo. However, an eighty to 100 meter shot is a real possibility. Most folks these days seem really proud of if their double does 4 shots in a fist at 50 meters. That can make a longer shot problematic. You will have no issues with that rifle. You will also be ready if the lechwe of a lifetime appears at 150 while maneuvering around a buffalo herd. And like you, I often travel with scope dismounted. With quality mounts, not an issue. Have a great hunt!

 

[steve white]

Just about perfect choices! Have fun!

 

[Cleveland48]

That is a lovely setup. Good luck on your hunt!

 

[Longwalker]

So now I have to consider the possibility that my flight from Frankfurt to Windhoek is unavailable due to the demise of Condor air. But my rifle choice seems to be OK. I used the Merkel .450-400 a few days ago to kill a nice Manitoban subspecies bull elk while hunting at my bush camp. First time it has been hunting, and a well placed bullet at 110 long paces seemed to do the job just fine. Now I wish I had as much confidence in the airlines as I do in my rifle!

 

[Daggaboy375]

Longwalker,

Excellent!! Lots of great meat, me thinks. Exit wound side?

DB375

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

I really like your choice. One of my repeat clients used to use a .400 bore double barrel rifle by the firm , Jeffery for many years for killing Gaurs . Unfortunately in 1966 , he expended his cache of ICI Kynoch cartridges and henceforth began bringing a double barrel rifle made by the firm , Holland and Holland for the calibre - magnum .458 Winchester . He was a good marksman with both rifles but he liked his .400 bore more.
The 9.3 millimeter cartridge is almost as good as a magnum .375 and certainly useful for the Ionger distance shots over open Shikar ground with a telescope sight.
Excellent trophy.
It is beautiful to see all these older English and German cartridges back again for field use and not sitting over a mantle piece for display.

 

[Scrumbag]

Sounds a good combo sir! The Otto Bock's 9.3 should feel particularly at home in Namibia!

 

[Longwalker]

That is the entrance wound side. I think the bullet I used, Hornady DGX bonded is a little "hard" for use on elk, there was not much evidence of expansion. Nice clean hole in and out, with very little bloodshot meat. I suppose impact velocity was only 1800 fps at 100M so is understandable that a bullet designed for bigger game at close range would not expand much. I expect more uniform results with the Woodleigh weldcore, and have been looking forward to trying them on big game.

 

[Longwalker]

The hunt is over and both rifles did the job. The Merkel 450-400 took a Buffalo at about 80 M in the Caprivi and the V-C 9.3x62 took kudu, gemsbok and giraffe in the west central part of Namibia. I am completely satisfied with the performance of both rifles.

 

[BenKK]

Congratulations! Great adventure!

 

[perttime]

Well done!
There was nothing wrong with the rifles. As you said, the 9.3x62 is not a long range cartridge. Did that cause any extra work getting what you wanted?

 

[YancyW]

Weidmannsheil!

 

[Longwalker]

Well done!
There was nothing wrong with the rifles. As you said, the 9.3x62 is not a long range cartridge. Did that cause any extra work getting what you wanted?

The gemsbok was shot at about 120M one shot broadside. Bullet passed through both lungs and exited. The kudu at a little farther, about 140M. One shot. Bullet passed through right shoulder, both lungs diagonally and ended up under hide of the far side. Giraffe was ranged at 173M but walked a little more before the shot. Perhaps 200M. First shot passed through near shoulder, both lungs and lodged under far side shoulder blade. Giraffe ran perhaps 20M and was shot twice more while running, once again the chest, and once too far back missing lungs but neither follow-up shot was necessary. All bullets Norma Oryx 286 gr. Performance was perfect, and no extra work. I won’t shoot at unwounded game at over 200M from sticks while standing. I have no need for more “range”. However I did find the .450-400 a bit limiting on giraffe, I passed up shots at 150M three times because they were farther than my self imposed limit of 100 M with that rifle. The giraffe were in very open country and it was not possible to stalk closer. Switched to the 9.3 and all was good.

 

[Longwalker]

Weidmannsheil!

Waidmannsdank!

 

[Scrumbag]

Great stuff! Now if only Norma would load the 250gr Accubond from the factory that would be great!

 

[Fastrig]

I am a somewhat obsessive hunting rifle and gun collector / shooter. So when it came to choosing my "ideal" and easily transportable travel rifle combination, I had several choices. First off, I eliminated full length models as too unwieldy in airports and in land transit. So my CZ550 AHR custom .375 is staying home this time. That left takedowns. For my upcoming hunt in the Caprivi ( Zambezi) region of Namibia in October I chose the following. What do you think? Game hunted will be buffalo and some plains game, with a good possibility of elephant.

Merkel 140 AE .450-400 3" loaded with 400 gr. Woodleigh Hydros and Woodleigh Welcore, mounted with
Leupold VX-R 1.25-4x20mm illuminated reticle and additional Burris Fastfire reflex sight in Recknagel QD mounts. It shoots composite groups from both barrels at 100 M that i can cover with my fist.
- and a
Verney-Carron Impact Plus bolt action 9.3x62, with two scopes in Picatinny QD mounts,
Schmidt & Bender 6x42 Klassik, and Leupold 1.5-5 VXIII. Loaded with Norma Oryx 286gr. Easily a MOA combination, just not a "long range" rig.

The whole works is carried in a Pelican "suitcase style" case in two layers. I prefer that it looks like a regular piece of luggage, not a gun case.

I think this should have all reasonable possibilities covered, but more experienced members may have an opinion?
View attachment 302758

Really like you case setup, rifles aren't bad either Which case is that and where did you get the perfectly cut foam done? First class outfit you have there!!

 

[Philip Glass]

Philip, the Recknagel pivot mount on the Merkel is completely reliable in return to zero in all my testing, and it has earned a good reputation throughout Europe. A 90 degree twist and it's on or off. Same with the MAKlik mount for the Burris red dot reflex sight.
I originally had Recknagel pivot mounts on the V-C 9.3mm too, but while very well built I found them too high for a proper cheek fit when shooting. Switched to Picatinny base and rings for a lower scope height and better fit. I did have some initial concern with return to zero. With older Weaver type rings it was not perfectly consistent return to zero each time when the scope was mounted. That was solved by installing much better Leupold QRW2 rings. I can't detect any significant shift after many on-off repetitions.
Please explain your experience with "typical" buffalo shooting distances in the Caprivi. I don't think I'd choose to shoot at a buffalo more than 150 Meters away, regardless of the rifle used. I'd prefer 100M. Or closer. I feel my .450-400 double is capable of useful accuracy and reasonable hitting power within those limits. Should I be concerned?

No just saying 100+ yards can be typical there.

 

[Red Leg]

The hunt is over and both rifles did the job. The Merkel 450-400 took a Buffalo at about 80 M in the Caprivi and the V-C 9.3x62 took kudu, gemsbok and giraffe in the west central part of Namibia. I am completely satisfied with the performance of both rifles.
View attachment 311610View attachment 311611

Excellent! That is the sort of buff to shoot. Well done.

 

[Longwalker]

Really like you case setup, rifles aren't bad either Which case is that and where did you get the perfectly cut foam done? First class outfit you have there!!

the case was purchased and fitted by Kaizen cases and Inserts in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is not the orange case that shows up in the photograph, it is black, and a SKB 3i-3016-10. The foam inserts were fitted by hand while I waited, and I could even look over the shoulder of the technician while he worked. Case is not shown well in this photo, but is on the floor behind his left elbow.