Having recently completed a free-lance safari for a local hunter/landowner in the Gwaai Valley, I was spending my ‘down time’ with my good friend Stuart Campbell on his Lion Ranch. He asked me to travel to Hwange town to collect some extra groceries, in preparation for the imminent arrival of a small group of South African visitors. Late that afternoon the guests arrived and one of them, an Air Steward with South African Airways expressed his eagerness to ‘shoot something’.
Browsing: Rifle Hunting
I am often asked what caliber rifle to take on an African plains game hunt. My response is usually, “What do you have in your gun case now”? The reason I ask that is because almost everyone already has a .270 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, etc.
The recent introduction of new .17 caliber cartridges has brought with it a rebirth of interest in this often misunderstood,…
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This story actually started way back in 1960 with an article by Dr. Wendell G. Swank from Michigan State College which was in the Sports Afield Gun Annual. He and a fellow doctor took their old pre-64 Winchester Model 70 .30-06 Springfield rifles with Sierra bullets to Uganda to harvest game for research.
The basic design for a Dangerous Game Rifle (DGR) was finalized by English gun makers such as Holland and Holland, Rigby, Jeffrey, et al. before the start of WWI. Drawing on the experiences of big game hunters in their African colonies and using the new smokeless propellant, Cordite, these custom gun smiths could now build relatively light weight rifles that surpassed the stopping power of the earlier 4 to 10 gauge black powder rifles.
In part one of this article, several issues associated with barrels and iron front sights were discussed at length. Now…
In Part I of this article I talked about new ideas and advanced concepts relating to barrels and iron sights.…
The discussion regarding the best cartridge for use on African plains game has been a century-old affair; a heated debate that certainly has no end in sight, nor a definitive correct answer. Its only competition is the evolving argument about dangerous game cartridges.
Bore diameters between 6.5mm and .375″ all have their champions, and all can be used on plains game with good effect. However, when it comes to a cartridge that is effective across a broad spectrum of game – from duikers to eland – the .30-’06 Springfield continues to hold one of the top positions.
What we have here in the .416 Remington is a relatively flat shooting cartridge, fully capable of making a distant shot on a kudu or gemsbok, yet perfectly able to confidently drop a buffalo or elephant when things get up close and personal.