Your favorite hunting rifle of all time

[Red Leg]

I love my CZ American in 30-06, had it for years and hunted round the world , I have just got my Rigby in 275 (7x57) this could be my favourite. I hope to blood it next weekend.
Markcz

You will indeed love that rifle.

 

[BWH]

Hard question to answer.... Browning X-Bolt Stainless Synthetic 30-06 w/ Leopoldo glass. Slinging Barnes TTSX in 168 gr.

 

[Pondoro]

IvW , l know that you're not a huge .458 Win Mag fan , but since you know more about the ZKK-602 than most people here, l have two questions :
1) The ZKK-602 was never made by the factory in .458 Lott , right ?
2) While the .375 HH Magnum Factory ZKK-602s are flawless , is it true that the factory ZKK-602s in .458 Win Mag was a little unreliable since the cartridges would slide around in the ZKK-602 actions and cause Jams ?

Hoss, as an answer to your question no.2, this is what happened to my ZKK602 in .458Win. during an ele hunt. I was giving the animal the last coup de grace in the head with the 4th round when a small dent in the magazine caused the 5th round to go off in the mag....yes the rounds slam back and forth during recoil..
The bullet, a 480 grain Hornady DGS broke the mag. follower in two bits, the pressure cracked the stock.....luckily no harm to me....but spooky..see pic..
The rifle will become a .500 Jeffery..

 

[BeeMaa]

Hoss, as an answer to your question no.2, this is what happened to my ZKK602 in .458Win. during an ele hunt. I was giving the animal the last coup de grace in the head with the 4th round when a small dent in the magazine caused the 5th round to go off in the mag....yes the rounds slam back and forth during recoil..
The bullet, a 480 grain Hornady DGS broke the mag. follower in two bits, the pressure cracked the stock.....luckily no harm to me....but spooky..see pic..
The rifle will become a .500 Jeffery..

View attachment 297576

That 4th round would have turned into a number 2 when I messed my shorts.
Glad you were not injured.

Congrats on the Elephant...and let's see some pics of the 500J when it comes around.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

Hoss, as an answer to your question no.2, this is what happened to my ZKK602 in .458Win. during an ele hunt. I was giving the animal the last coup de grace in the head with the 4th round when a small dent in the magazine caused the 5th round to go off in the mag....yes the rounds slam back and forth during recoil..
The bullet, a 480 grain Hornady DGS broke the mag. follower in two bits, the pressure cracked the stock.....luckily no harm to me....but spooky..see pic..
The rifle will become a .500 Jeffery..

View attachment 297576

Thank you so much , Pondoro You answered me pin point. I am glad that you are safe. I hear this never happened with the .375 HH Magnum ZKK-602 models.

 

[Pondoro]

The ZKK602s in .375H&H never had any such problems...

 

[spike.t]

The double rifle with two sets of different calibre barrels with 20 bore ones as well...that I have in my head......

 

[Hoss Delgado]

The ZKK602s in .375H&H never had any such problems...

Beauties , they are. I never liked the .458 Winchester Magnum caliber to begin with. Now l have even less reason to own one. I will stick with my .350 Rigby Magnum ZKK-602 and .375 .
The only .458 Winchester Magnum l would trust is one of those old Mannlicher Shoenauer rotary Magazine rifles which Terry Irwin used to cull elephant

 

[Pondoro]

I have shot ele with both these ZKK602s in .375H&H....also at night. I used handloads with 300 grain Rhino brass bullets....worked splendidly...those bullets penetrate deep..
The one to the left is a pre-1978 with that folding diopter..its been used hard for 30+ years in Botswana by a friend of mine..

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

You will indeed love that rifle.

+1

 

[Hoss Delgado]

I have shot ele with both these ZKK602s in .375H&H....also at night. I used handloads with 300 grain Rhino brass bullets....worked splendidly...those bullets penetrate deep..
The one to the left is a pre-1978 with that folding diopter..its been used hard for 30+ years in Botswana by a friend of mine..

View attachment 297577

I love the ZKK-602 action. It's my favorite action of all time , Pondoro. A .505 Gibbs or an 11.2 × 72 Schuler on a ZKK-602 action is my dream rifle project someday.
For Factory Chambered BRNO rifles , the ZKK-602 on .375 HH Magnum can't be beaten by any other .375 HH Magnum on the market.
Were all your kills with the .375 HH Magnum on elephant one shot kills ?

 

[Pondoro]

None....I fired two shots at the brain at one and the other was two heart-lung shots..

 

[Gsxrmike]

My Winchester Model 70 featherweight in .270.
My Winchester Model 70 Super grade in .375 H&H.
My Krieghoff .470 Nitro double. I’ve not yet hunted with it but it is quite accurate so it should serve me well. I’ve spent a lot of range time with it so I should be comfortable with it when the time comes.

 

[Rick Cox]

Mine is a Remington 700 in 300 Win. Over the years its been rebarreled and trued, had a few different stocks on it, different optics and mounts, triggers, and even finishes. Its traveled the country and world with me and one that will never be parted with.

View attachment 297301

This reminds me of an axe that has been in my family for generations: it's on its fifth handle and it's second head but still cuts...

 

[IvW]

IvW , l know that you're not a huge .458 Win Mag fan , but since you know more about the ZKK-602 than most people here, l have two questions :
1) The ZKK-602 was never made by the factory in .458 Lott , right ?
2) While the .375 HH Magnum Factory ZKK-602s are flawless , is it true that the factory ZKK-602s in .458 Win Mag was a little unreliable since the cartridges would slide around in the ZKK-602 actions and cause Jams ?

1) I believe that is correct.
2) The 458 WM was designed to fit in a standard action not a full Magnum one which the ZKK 602 is. Under recoil the rifle goes back and the cartridges slam forward. With too much space in the mag the bullet noses get slammed into the front of the mag which with soft cause damage to the points. This in turn can cause feeding issues. It can also be so bad that it can force the bullets deeper into the cases, which with the 458 WM compounds the pressure issue that that this cartridge already has. Yes they will move around. Problem was solved by fitting a spacer to the front of the mag well and then checking feeding and feeding ramp. Best stick to magnum calibers in the massive ZKK 602.

As with the case Pondoro experienced and contrary to popular belief the cartridges do get slammed around both ways and not just forward. Scary stuff indeed. Imagine that happens on a charge....

And yes stay away from a 458 WM....

 

[flat8]

I can’t pick one ... My Nosler M48 in .270 Winchester is among my favorites. It was perfect right out of the box and is the most accurate rifle I own. My other favorite is my CZ 550 in .375 H&H. That one was extremely rough out of the box. However, after sending it to Wayne at AHR for a #3 upgrade it is now flawless. I love everything about that rifle - the weight to me is an advantage. It recoils far less than my .300 Win Mag. It is incredibly accurate as well. Both have your basic Leopold VX-3 glass.

 

[DillonG]

My Remington Sendero .300 Win Mag has always shot like a dream. I would be confident shooting anything on the planet except really large African game.

 

[PARA45]

Mine is a Remington 700 ADL, in 243 with a beautiful wood stock. Not an African caliber by any means, but it was the first rifle I bought when I was 19 years old. I bought that rifle from Woolco before they went out of business, and they used to sell rifles. That tells you how old the rifle and me are. I had a friend who worked there, and he hid the rifle for me, and bought it dirt cheap, I want to say I paid around $2oo+.

 

[HWL]

View attachment 297407
I am also fond of the old Mannlicher Shoenauer rotary Magazine rifle in .458 Winchester Magnum and have always wanted to shoot one , but the only big game caliber they used to come in , was .458 Winchester Magnum . And unlike the ZKK-602 , you can't rechamber it for a larger , better caliber like .500 Jeffery or .505 Gibbs.

Join our Mannlicher-Schoenauer hunt in RSA next year.

You can shoot all the big ones .... like 458 Win-Mag, 10,75x68, 9,5x57 MS, 9,3x64, 9,3x62, 9x56 MS....

But you are right, nothing bigger than a .458.


HWL

 

[Hoss Delgado]

Join our Mannlicher-Schoenauer hunt in RSA next year.

You can shoot all the big ones .... like 458 Win-Mag, 10,75x68, 9,5x57 MS, 9,3x64, 9,3x62, 9x56 MS....

But you are right, nothing bigger than a .458.


HWL

Sounds good. I am going to Botswana in 2020