Do 350 gr 0.458 bullet @ 2350 fps qualify for African.....

Your rifle won't break but your scope could. Take a spare scope pre-mounted in a set of rings and you'll be covered. I bought a spare vari-x III for just that purpose. Weighs less than a second rifle and will cover you in most cases of gear failure.

To reiterate what everyone here is saying: the steyr is not an adequate rifle for dangerous game. Leave it at home for bears and moose.
 
It has been my experience that 2 rifles is best and BigUglyMan's second scope idea is also mandatory IMHO. I always carry a second scope in mounts ready to slip on, check and go.
I have found that you are not carrying the wrong rifle because you generally hunt different areas for different game. You don't often run into buff when hunting plains game and when you do go for buff you got your heavy and aren't hunting plains game. If having the wrong gun on foot concerns you you can always have one of the trackers carry your second rifle. PH's also hunt a certain way and you will find they take you out for antelopes first, no where near anything big, to see if you can shoot. So you will bang away at antelopes for a few days until the PH is happy with your shooting and you are used to the heat and no longer jet lagged. Then you will load up and go specifically for buff or eles or hippo. Lion and leopard in SA are baited, so you sit in the blind and hope, and hope, and hope.........416 for this.
Last time I went to SA was just a couple years ago and there was no charge per rifle for importation (might have been 10 or 20 bucks). I did pay Air 2000 to do all the paper work and get my permits (they specialize in this), I think it was $150.00. If you were going espescially for BIG game and throwing in a couple antelopes one rifle works great but if you're taking 15-20 antelopes and a couple heavy, dangerous critters I highly recommend 2 rifles. Your 300WM and your 416 Rigby is a perfect combination.
Caramel, if something catastrophic happens to one of your rifles, don't fear your PH will have another rifle for you in less than 24 hrs, and quite likely will have 3 or more in camp at your disposal if needed.

Planning for all eventualities is a good idea, but remember these guys aren't called Professional Hunters for no reason. You can even call ahead and they will purchase ammo for you in case yours doesn't make it, or in the case of the Rigby and 300 Win might even have some on hand already. There is nothing you can buy in Montreal or Toronto that you can't purchase in Capetown or Jo'burg if need be.
Your PH will supply you with a list of personal items recommended and will stipulate what they supply, it's not complcated, and it's all very civilized.

Most of these PHs are also travel advisors, shopping guides, babysitters, interpreters, bartenders, gun experts, story tellers, biologists, ornitholigists, drinking buddies, historians, diplomats (they never mention your misses and sing the praises of your good shots endlessly) etc............
It will be like no other hunt you have ever been on, Caramel, and make no mistake it won't be your last trip to Africa, it's highly addictive, equate it to "hunters heroin", something in the soil I think or maybe air.
 
We hunted plains game and buff all in the same area, and shot which ever opportunity arose first. The Selous might be the exception to the rule however, and my African experience is certainly minimal compared to hunters like C-FBMI, BUM, and Dogleg. I doubt I'll ever get back there, the prices have risen dramatically since our 2006 adventure, and the animals I want now are only available on a 21 day license . . . other than an exceptional buff which managed to elude me. But the effects of the withdrawl are still with me, and might always be. The sounds, smells, and sights from Africa just aren't available elsewhere.

I did have access to two rifles, but the .375 alone would have satisfied, although it was a treat to use a double, even though I wouldn't trade a good bolt gun for one, having had the experience.
 
Do you gentlemen roll you own or rely on good commercial ammo, for my 300 mag Hornady Superformance 180 gr SST is great and very accurate actually have a hard time duplicate their velocity with my handload and no problem getting all the 416 Rigby DGS or DGX 400 gr from Hornady both of them having the same POI, when i tried them i found them to shoot 1.5 MOA at 100 metres with a hell of a recoil but overall easy shooting rifle that CZ 550, i bought a big bunch of Swift A-Frame 400 gr bullet in 416 for reloading, all advices are very much appreciated... JP.
 
I handload mine as I like Barnes TSXs and the Hodgdon Extreme line (essentially, non-temp sensitive, a bonus when developing loads in -20 and then hunting with them in +35), quality factory loads like Hornady won't lead you astray.

Douglas, loved the line on the PH's many talents, had me laughing for th truth of it.
 
caramel said:
Do you gentlemen roll you own or rely on good commercial ammo, for my 300 mag Hornady Superformance 180 gr SST is great and very accurate actually have a hard time duplicate their velocity with my handload and no problem getting all the 416 Rigby DGS or DGX 400 gr from Hornady both of them having the same POI, when i tried them i found them to shoot 1.5 MOA at 100 metres with a hell of a recoil but overall easy shooting rifle that CZ 550, i bought a big bunch of Swift A-Frame 400 gr bullet in 416 for reloading, all advices are very much appreciated... JP.
Click to expand...

I handload exclusively as a rule, however on my trip to Zim I had to use factory ammo as the rifle was a rental. I loved Zim but not being able to bring my own rifles legally was a bummer that I would not choose to repeat with other comparable destinations available. I would handload Nosler Partitions, TSX or A-Frames in the 300 and the same in the 416 along with either Nosler or Barnes solids, whichever you decide that you like best.
 
toebako said:
Stole this photo fair and square. Guide gun with 400gr bullets getting 40+ inches penetration. My 510 wells with woodliegh solids was only24" or there abouts. Bullet design is more important than weight. The 350gr size would work great also. Still digging for some data for that.

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo276/michael458photos/Bullet%20Album/DSC08503.jpg
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Well those are solids, so of course you'll get great penetration with them.
If you were only going after solitary dugga boys they'd probably be great.

I believe most African guides, hunting buffalo in herds, want their hunters to use a soft point (in an appropriate cartridge/caliber), which in that case I don't think the .45-70 stacks up.

Those would be wicked bear bullets though! :)
 
Got lucky today went at a big store in Montreal and i was able to buy 100 TTSX 180 gr, 50 TTSX 168 gr both in 308 and 40 TSXFB in 416 400 gr and 2 pounds of Hybrid 100V and one pound of Hodgdon Superformance... Time well spend on devellopement of the ultimate load... JP.
 
This rifle is really perfect, a great caliber, maybe not for an African safari but, it is lightweight, trigger adjust to 1.5 to 5 pounds, the balance with a scope is great, the stock is well made so the recoil is very tamed, the accuracy is up there, those rifles are among my favorites Scout 308, Scout 376, SBS Pro hunter 300 mag, do i like them, yes very much so my opinion maybe not neutral... Cheers. JP.
 
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