I can easily load it down to 375 recoil levels and still have it be effective on cats with soft, fast expanding, 350gr projectiles..
Or load it up with also exactly the same ballistics / performance as a 416 Rigby.. with a 400 gr projectile.. while having the advantages of a standard 98 Mauser action (not the extra length/weight of a magnum action)…
With a 400gr quality projectile like an a-frame or woodleigh hydro traveling at 2400 fps, I can take on buff, ele or anything else that walks the earth…
Otherwise I am going to have to buy something else. Based on my 2 PHs in Africa, I might be open to a .416 Rigby, or a .458 WM because I could get one in a Ruger No.1.
I will stick with my 458 win mag. It’s in a o/u double. I shot a kudu at 111 yards and a wart hog at 249 yards last week using 350 grain TSX. These shoot the same point of impact as my 480 grain DGX.
Since accuracy on the first shot is more important that energy, I’ll go with a .404 J. On an R8.
I’ve taken hippos, ele and buff with an R8 in .375 (would have been my first pick). Amazingly, I’ve not yet shot a rifle bigger than a .375 (other than a .50 BMG and 20 and 12 gauge slugs). But, of all the rifles I’ve shot, an ultralight (7 lbs!) .50 cal muzzleloader with 120 grains of blackhorn 209 and a 300 grain bullet is about the most violent.
I’d use my 404.
Load it up, load it down, can do pretty much anything I want. Wouldn’t limit myself to dangerous game- it is fine for all hunting. With a re-sized 44 magnum handgun bullet, it’s a gentle but effective close range rifle on appropriate animals. (Not that a 400g soft wouldn’t work fine, but sometimes it’s nice to take it easy) And I’ve taken elephant with it, so I know it handles the top end just fine.
470 NE in a Krieghoff double. With a red dot. Because I own it and it has proven itself with multiple one shot kills on everything from Cape Buffalo, Sable, Waterbuck, etc down to Warthogs from 5 yards to 160. Also, hunting with a double is so “Africa”!!
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