What is the Perfect Plains Game rifle? and what is too much?

[Velo Dog]

enysse,

I sold it to a good friend to help pay for another trip.
But, he offered to sell it back to me a few months ago (to help pay for his soon to embark July trip).
If you are not just tire kicking, I can ask if it's still for sale and if so, put you in touch with him (in Anchorage, AK).

My best regards,
Velo Dog.

 

[enysse]

enysse,

I sold it to a good friend to help pay for another trip.
But, he offered to sell it back to me a few months ago (to help pay for his soon to embark July trip).
If you are not just tire kicking, I can ask if it's still for sale and if so, put you in touch with him (in Anchorage, AK).

Thanks for the offer, the shipping would be expensive and you can never find one at a reasonable cost.

But at the same time a good rifle always is costly.

 

[Velo Dog]

BRICKBURN,

Good one, touche' says I.

Incidentally, my friend who brought the only .270 I've seen in 4 times to Africa, a custom Mauser / 2 to 7x scope / 140 gr A-Frames, had excellent results with it in Namibia (except on a semi-bullet proof zebra) and still hunts in N. America with it but, has graduated to a .35 Whelen / 4x scope / 225 gr to 250 gr bullets, depending on terrain, foliage and species hunted, for his last as well as any future African PG adventures.
He also now favors the .35 for some Alaskan critters.

Yours Truly has sacked a few deer and caribou (Alaska) with a .270 Winchester (I've owned 3 or 4 of 'em), not to mention prairie dogs, jack rabbits and coyotes (Nevada) but I no longer own one.
It is a humdinger with 130 gr spitzers for long shots at deer and pronghorn, not bad for caribou either, if you ax me.
In fact I do like the .270 but, now I like other calibers more I guess.

One Man's Bread is Another Man's Poison.

Kind Regards,
Velo Dog.

 

[Velo Dog]

enyesse,

Shipping / insurance from AK to WI is about $100., depending on value of the rifle.

However, I sold it to an amigo for $4,000. bucks, and I know him well enough to predict that he'd want to get his money back out of it.

It was a dandy though, FN Commercial 98 Mauser, made to replicate a Pre-War Orberndorf sporting rifle, with double set triggers, old style Talley bases and lever rings, quarter rib, multiple folding leaf rear sights, older Zeiss 4x scope, standard crosshairs, exceptional English walnut, oval cheek piece, etc, etc.

Incidentally, a very good buy for the .300 H&H is the old Remington Model 721.

It is a dreaded push-feed but, they were all made with 26", semi-heavy barrel and decent trigger.

Model 700 bases fit them, as I recall.

Essentially, the 721, in that caliber was a target rifle, set in a hunting stock.

I had two of them (about 10 or 15 years apart and they both were hair splitters).

Not too easy to find these days but not too horribly expensive when you do find one.

Another one that is a better than a good shooter, if you don't mind another push-feed, is the Model 700 Classic, in .300 H&H (they made a limited run of them) but those have the 24" barrel (and no sights....booo).

Upward & Onward,
Velo Dog.

 

[RogerHeintzman]

PSS:

I forgot to address "what is too much", in regards to the original thread question.

Not sure there is such a thing as too much gun / overkill, etc., but if there is, I would suppose it is at the threshold of how much recoil the individual hunter can stand and still shoot accurately.

I am not much on detailed taxidermy (most of my critters end up as bleached sculls, setting on the mantle/book shelves, etc.) but, for those hunters who like highly detailed / stuffed animals, I suppose "too much" would begin about where whatever caliber they were using was badly ruining their animal skins / capes, such as on Klipspringer and the like.

Super high velocity combined with soft/light for caliber bullets seem to be the worst hide / cape and edible meat destroyers.

Regards,
Velo Dog.

Hello Velo Dog,

You are so right about high velocity and soft points damaging the skins. On the little guy's, if you don't make that gut shot and hit some bone, OH my gosh! I Fix "EM."

Them little Klippy's stand there all crunched up on top the rock, even I could not thread the bullet with out getting some bone.

Thanks for your responses.

A Dream can be relived, again and again in Africa."

 

[Velo Dog]

Hi RogerHeintzman

Thanks for that, I take it as a compliment for sure.

The various African Pigmy antelope have interested me since the first time I read about them (many years prior to being able to journey over and actually hunt them).

I have only shot a very few of them but, the klipspringer is the one which has the most delicate hair/cape of the ones I have taken.

The hide/cape from mine, I donated to the PH, and I only kept the skull.

I shot him at 200 meters (PH's range finder) with the PH's .375 H&H Mauser and 300 gr Nosler Partition semi-spitzer @ 2400 fps (PH's hand-load also).

I had brought only a double rifle on that trip and I didn't want to chance wounding the Klippie at 200 Meters.

I did take a fine warthog at 150 meters with that double though, (Merkel .375 H&H, regulated to Hndy 300 gr RN @ 2400 fps), definitely one of my greatest shots ever.

The scoped Mauser's bullet punched through the klipspringer's ribs, exiting with a surprisingly small exit hole.

Likewise, I shot a gray duiker with my personal favorite .375 H&H hand load, (300 gr Hndy RNSP, also @ 2400 fps), from about 50 meters and it left only about an oblong golf ball size exit hole.

There are others but, I tend to ramble, and so I will stop here with the point.

Even a fairly powerful rifle will not ruin pigmy antelopes, as long as you keep your velocity down and use bullets designed for larger animals.

I have learned from you and others here, I appreciate that.

Velo Dog.

 

[gxsr-sarge]

The 300 Win Mag can do it all. Great stopping power, range, and minimal damage for taxidermy purposes if you use the right bullets. It can handle eland to steenbok.

+1 (180 grainer, specifically). Used mine from Impala through Eland...

 

[peras]

+1 (180 grainer, specifically). Used mine from Impala through Eland...

+2 I mostly use 220 grainers .

 

[drew416]

Hello All,


drew416,
I get the impression that the 8mm Remington Magnum is about like a .300 Weatherby, perhaps could've been called the .323 Weatherby, if Roy had radiused the shoulder and marketed it, instead of Reminton.
But I have no experience with the cartridge.
Here in Alaska it had a flash-in-the-pan coming out party but, I do not recall ever seeing much ammo for it on sporting good store shelves so, evidently, it was never a smash hit.
I did see one rifle so chambered for it once, a Remington Model 700 (BDL I believe).
Whatever the "BIG-8" was in Alaska back then, these days it may as well be a wildcat.
Boddington digs it though, and on paper it looks like a fine long range round for PG.
Might smack the gizzard out of a lion (with the right bullet), as well.




At any rate,
Thank you all for putting up with my rant here,
Velo Dog.




.

I have never read any of Boddington's reviews or testaments to the 8mm Rem Mag. Only through my hunting and competition shooting with mine that I know how good it is compared to other rifles I own and use and have competed against regularly in the same class for target shooting. These include 7mm Rem Mag,300WSM,300SAUM,30-378, 300 Win Mag, 300 H&H, 7mm Sharpe& Hart,338/06 and 338 Win Mag.

Only those who have one know....

I am so hooked on mine that after recrowning my old BDL barrel myself, that during the test firing afterwards it would not hold a group at 25m. It had some rather nasty erosion at the muzzle that wasn't effecting accuracy, just looked bad.
After some careful investigation I found the scope base screws loose. A drop of 262 on them and tensioned up again with my "Fat Wrench". Good as new again. I am so disappointed! I was so looking for an excuse to purchase a new Zastava Magnum length action and screw in a new Pac-Nor barrel into it chambered in 8mm RM.

Photo is shooting "off the sticks" at 100m using my 250gn load. The one shot to the lower left is the 224gn RWS KS shot for comparison without adjusting the sights.

 

[Velo Dog]

Drew416,

I know very little about rifle shooting contests, as I am interested in hunting, especially in Africa and equipment related to same.

However, your rifle sounds like a real fine one and your mentioned 250 grain load would make sense, for long range shooting on a windy day.

Regards,
Velo Dog

 

[35bore]

BRICKBURN,



Incidentally, my friend who brought the only .270 I've seen in 4 times to Africa, a custom Mauser / 2 to 7x scope / 140 gr A-Frames, had excellent results with it in Namibia (except on a semi-bullet proof zebra) and still hunts in N. America with it but, has graduated to a .35 Whelen / 4x scope / 225 gr to 250 gr bullets, depending on terrain, foliage and species hunted, for his last as well as any future African PG adventures.
He also now favors the .35 for some Alaskan critters.



.

Wise man, this friend of yours....:thumb::thumb::thumb:

 

[petrusg]

If you could have two rifles, a .308 and a .375

If you could only have one rifle, a .375

A .308 for all your smaller plains game and a .375 for your larger plains game.

 

[Norwegianwoods]

Wise man, this friend of yours....:thumb::thumb::thumb:

A .35 bore is just a poor substitution for a 9.3x62

 

[Velo Dog]

35bore,

Yup, the Whelen with proper bullets is evidently a very fine PG cartridge, as well as for large N. American game.

It is the equivalent of the tried and true Pre-War 350 Rigby Rimless Magnum cartridge / when both use a 225 gr expanding bullet.

With today's tougher bullets, the Whelen is even better than the Rigby was back in the day.

I like the Whelen quite a bit but, have only shot one at targets, out to 300 yds (with 250 gr bullets, and it was jolly fun to shoot).

Be that as it may, I already own a 9.3x62 Mauser, therefore likely will never get a .35 of any sort but, I repeat myself, I do like the Whelen a lot.

So many people overlook the .35 Whelen as a PG Safari rifle.

I think they'd be pleasantly amazed, at how tolerable the recoil is, considering how much punch it delivers to the target with 250 gr bullets, or how surprising flat it shoots with 225 gr bullets.

Cheerio,
Velo Dog.

 

[bassasdaindia]

If your a contrarian then so am I. I love my .338WM for plains game and just about anything else including alpine hunting. I have used it on sheep and goat hunts with 210gr bullets. It's the gun I have taken to Alaska several times to hunt deer, moose and caribou. Don't really need all that gun for deer but it feels good in my hands when I'm on Kodiak or Afognak island. I used a .338 WM 2 years ago on a PG hunt and took 11 critters with 11 bullets, anything from jackal to eland. The eland fell on the shot, I always liked my .338 but since that hunt I have fallen in love with it.

338 WM absolutely great caliber , I am very fond of the 250g

 

[spike.t]

A .35 bore is just a poor substitution for a 9.3x62

:laughing::laughing::clap::clap::beer::biggrin2: opcorn:

 

[Johnny reb]

I too like the big 8mm rem mag.it can do it all from 25 yards too 1000 not saying I would take a shot an an animal that far but it can do it. Just wish it was more popular bullet selection has gotten better but still not great here's a few pics of mine

 

[enysse]

I too like the big 8mm rem mag.it can do it all from 25 yards too 1000 not saying I would take a shot an an animal that far but it can do it. Just wish it was more popular bullet selection has gotten better but still not great here's a few pics of mineView attachment 26599View attachment 26600

What a beautiful gun! I'm jealous.

 

[Royal27]

I too like the big 8mm rem mag.it can do it all from 25 yards too 1000 not saying I would take a shot an an animal that far but it can do it. Just wish it was more popular bullet selection has gotten better but still not great here's a few pics of mineView attachment 26599View attachment 26600

Not only is that a beautiful rifle, you even know which side the bolt is supposed to be on! I love lefties.... :tongue:

 

[Royal27]

I too like the big 8mm rem mag.it can do it all from 25 yards too 1000 not saying I would take a shot an an animal that far but it can do it. Just wish it was more popular bullet selection has gotten better but still not great here's a few pics of mineView attachment 26599View attachment 26600

Not only is that a beautiful rifle, you even know which side the bolt is supposed to be on! I love lefties.... :tongue: