The nearly perfect safari rifle

Track........I grasp what you have said about Joe Blow going to some African country and returning with a dozen average representatives of the species. No different than 80% of WT hunters, elk hunters, moose hunters, sheep hunters etc. You most certainly can go to Africa and do totally free range hunting and make it so difficult by setting your goals on book only animals, that you could also return home with a total bag of ZERO. But your ethics and morals would be intact............if not your wallet. Just because there is such a variety and quantity of game in southern Africa, does not mean it's teeming with book animals.
I have a greater itch than most in this world and have scratched it many times in many countries on several continents, that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with the first animal that comes along, you can hunt hard anywhere in the world and be proud of what you have taken, it's not exclusive to you and Alberta.
I personally don't see the point in shooting 20 whitetail deer, even if all or most make B&C.................why? I quit shooting Dall sheep after I had 4 on the wall and Stone sheep after two, I could have killed 20 rams or more but why, to what end, what does that prove? It is obvious I can successfully hunt sheep, I don't need 20 or 30, likewise with caribou, can shoot 2 a year in the Yukon and I have 2 very nice bulls mounted and have shot another dozen or so to eat, but I could have taken 50 or 60, but again to what end, it is obvious I know how to hunt caribou, don't need 30, 40 or 60 on the wall. The same goes for goats, grizzlies, bison and so on, once a guy has one or two nice ones what is the point of killing another one or two every year.
You claim to be some conservationist ethical hunter, and yet you have harvested how many whitetail deer and antelope? How can someone who has taken as many WT as you have, say that you hunt for the challenge and African hunting is shooting fish in a barrel. It would appear that there is no challenge for you to shoot a nice whitetail deer, you've done it 20 plus times..........You want a real challenge, go and hunt for a 70+ lb elephant, or an over 60" Marco Polo or 60" greater kudu, or 48" cape buff, a 42" sable, a 32" roan, a 45" Ibex and the list goes on and on and on. There are plenty of challenging hunts out there that make WT look like shooting fish in a barrel, so please Track, expand your horizons before making minimizing blanket assumptive statements about the ease other hunting locales and animals !!!
 
c-fbmi said:
Track........I grasp what you have said about Joe Blow going to some African country and returning with a dozen average representatives of the species. No different than 80% of WT hunters, elk hunters, moose hunters, sheep hunters etc. You most certainly can go to Africa and do totally free range hunting and make it so difficult by setting your goals on book only animals, that you could also return home with a total bag of ZERO. But your ethics and morals would be intact............if not your wallet. Just because there is such a variety and quantity of game in southern Africa, does not mean it's teeming with book animals.
I have a greater itch than most in this world and have scratched it many times in many countries on several continents, that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with the first animal that comes along, you can hunt hard anywhere in the world and be proud of what you have taken, it's not exclusive to you and Alberta.
I personally don't see the point in shooting 20 whitetail deer, even if all or most make B&C.................why? I quit shooting Dall sheep after I had 4 on the wall and Stone sheep after two, I could have killed 20 rams or more but why, to what end, what does that prove? It is obvious I can successfully hunt sheep, I don't need 20 or 30, likewise with caribou, can shoot 2 a year in the Yukon and I have 2 very nice bulls mounted and have shot another dozen or so to eat, but I could have taken 50 or 60, but again to what end, it is obvious I know how to hunt caribou, don't need 30, 40 or 60 on the wall. The same goes for goats, grizzlies, bison and so on, once a guy has one or two nice ones what is the point of killing another one or two every year.
You claim to be some conservationist ethical hunter, and yet you have harvested how many whitetail deer and antelope? How can someone who has taken as many WT as you have, say that you hunt for the challenge and African hunting is shooting fish in a barrel. It would appear that there is no challenge for you to shoot a nice whitetail deer, you've done it 20 plus times..........You want a real challenge, go and hunt for a 70+ lb elephant, or an over 60" Marco Polo or 60" greater kudu, or 48" cape buff, a 42" sable, a 32" roan, a 45" Ibex and the list goes on and on and on. There are plenty of challenging hunts out there that make WT look like shooting fish in a barrel, so please Track, expand your horizons before making minimizing blanket assumptive statements about the ease other hunting locales and animals !!!
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You write lots but say very little. Yes I will continue to pursue the smartest and most abundant North American animal in my country, and will be most content with one or none per annual............like having only one wife instead of several. I'm humble to remain in my own Alberta safari where I don't need to gorge myself on a multitude of animals, however; people as yourself are not so humble.
 
I think that this 375 would make a nice safari rifle.
375.jpg
 
sharp shooter said:
I think that this 375 would make a nice safari rifle.
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That should do nicely, although I do see a couple of potential issues. First is that the LOP looks a bit long. The issue here is that the butt might catch your shirt as you shoulder the rifle and makes reaching the bolt when the rifle's shouldered a problem. The tip off here is the way the scope is mounted, if the rifle fitted the shooter correctly, the ocular of that scope, as mounted, would certainly leave a dent in his forehead. Low power scopes, fixed power or variable, have plenty of eye relief, so there is no need to mount it so far to the rear. What I do like is the long sloping pistol grip that should prevent the knuckles of the shooting hand from getting wrapped by the rear of the trigger guard. My Brno 602 sits in a McMillan stock whose pistol grip crowds the trigger guard. I needed to install a finger deflector on the rear of the trigger guard to prevent the knuckle of my middle finger from getting painfully wrapped in recoil. Likewise, I appreciate the straight bolt handle. While swept back bolt handles look ###ier, on an enthusiastic kicker they can injure your shooting hand when the piece recoils. While I prefer a barrel band front sight, that is a minor criticism on a rifle of the quality of an H&H. The straight grain stock should prove amply resistance to cracking from recoil. The low comb is ideal for acquiring a solid cheek weld when shooting with irons, if less so with the scope, but one would learn very quickly where the stock needs to index on the side of his face, so as to quickly pick up the sight picture. I'm not a fan of tiny brass bead front sights, preferring a brass faced rectangular post which provides a better index of elevation, but that's how express sights are designed to work, and on that particular rifle, a rectangular post would look seriously out of place. To my eye at least, this rifle comes closer to the ideal of a safari rifle than the rifle featured in the video, but it probably exceeds the cost of a new pick-up, and may even approach the cost of a modest house, so you'd expect it to be good.
 
track said:
You write lots but say very little. Yes I will continue to pursue the smartest and most abundant North American animal in my country, and will be most content with one or none per annual............like having only one wife instead of several. I'm humble to remain in my own Alberta safari where I don't need to gorge myself on a multitude of animals, however; people as yourself are not so humble.
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I'm not quite sure what monogamous marriage has to do with hunting; but hey, if deer hunting is what gives your life meaning by all means carry on. But conducting yourself here as though you have the market on ethics and morality sewed up, is a bit tedious for those of us with another point of view. Doug has explained at length how hunting overseas can be challenging, but you choose to belittle both his opinion and his experience. You reveal much about yourself.
 
Boomer said:
I'm not quite sure what monogamous marriage has to do with hunting; but hey, if deer hunting is what gives your life meaning by all means carry on. But conducting yourself here as though you have the market on ethics and morality sewed up, is a bit tedious for those of us with another point of view. Doug has explained at length how hunting overseas can be challenging, but you choose to belittle both his opinion and his experience. You reveal much about yourself.
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Ditto to you and others with your boastful adventures around the world...............read many posts about them.......tedious!d:h:
 
track said:
You write lots but say very little. Yes I will continue to pursue the smartest and most abundant North American animal in my country, and will be most content with one or none per annual............like having only one wife instead of several. I'm humble to remain in my own Alberta safari where I don't need to gorge myself on a multitude of animals, however; people as yourself are not so humble.
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Track..........what is with all this blather about humility and hunting, every single post in this thread by you says how humble you are, what the hell does that have to do with hunting? Humble men don't shoot B&C whitetails every year.............they shoot does, for the meat to feed their families.
You can never fully understand or appreciate what it's like to hunt southern Africa, the Congo, Tajikistan, Mongolia or anywhere else, unless you go and do it yourself, so all these posts are truly wasted on you and your narrow minded view of hunting. For me the hunt is only part of the experience, as I usually take a few days to sightsee and check out museums and learn a little about the history and culture of these far away lands as well. It's called education, but apparently you're not interested. That is most unfortunate and I pity you for that Track, you are missing so much in life with your current outlook.
 
To get back on track (no pun intended) with this thread, I believe I own one of the closest to perfect safari rifles ever built................







It is out at my favorite stock makers right now being restocked in a beautiful piece of Turkish exhibition grade walnut but the stock dimensions are being retained, as this rifle fits me so well I could shoot clays on the wing with it. The only difference will be that the crossbolts will be hidden and the wood will be 10 times prettier!!! It will wear a Zeiss 1.5-6 Diavari when it is all complete, and won't cost as much as a new pickup, a good used one maybe.........LOL
 
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I have a question for those of you out there that like classic safari rifles.................should I go with a black recoil pad or the more classic red recoil pad. My stockmaker usually does red, but I said black Packmayr presentation..........can be changed at this point..........so what say you? I am truly undecided and somewhat torn on this issue..........
 
I say red - I did a couple in red and they stand out from the crowd. Also, red tends to go nicely with the nice walnut tones of a fine stock.
 
Track...........I only have one more point to make regarding hunting around the globe.
I have a very deep love of waking up in a new country and looking out from my rondavel/yurt/tent/cabin and seeing a new place, the morning mists of the Congo, the cold stark nothingness of the Mongolian high altai, the already searing heat and white light of the Luangwa valley, the 20 odd thousand foot peaks that surround the Pamirs in Tajikistan. This cannot be imagined or properly conveyed in words on a forum like this, or even with photos. I also have a very deep love of hunting, and that extends to all the game animals on the planet, bordering on obsessive, I don't see it as being arrogant, as I have had this obsession for as long as I can remember. It is so deep in my soul as to be primal in me, I know not all who hunt have this great burning desire and unexplainable deep love of it, as I do. And I know not all understand it, in fact few truly understand it unless they are equally stricken. I have met hunters who hunt out of ego driven desires to possess animals to show their buddies and to show off and brag. I do get my trophies mounted so I guess there is a certain arrogance in it for me, but the difference is I truly love the hunt, the differing landscapes, the new people, the sunsets, the dawns and the big one that got away. I love and respect all the animals I hunt, and I thank God for each and every success I have when out hunting.
There are other emotions that go along as well, like the deepest fear I have ever known when a cow elephant decided she wanted my seat in the truck, or the three bulls decided they were going to run us out of their area. There is that absolutely gut deep sickening feeling when I lose an animal or the self recrimination and attendant depression when I miss. There is also the extreme jubilation when I make a real long or difficult running shot and my quarry crumples in the scope. Then there is the helpless feeling of sitting lost in a snow storm for 2 days at 8000 ft, without sleep, with a 60 lb pack of Dall sheep on, seriously wondering if I would ever see my family again.
My hunting days are coming to an end as age creeps up on me and I regret not doing more, particularly some of the more strenuous hunts, while I was younger and more fit. I, out of necessity, look for more gentlemanly hunts now, without the extreme physical factor that I used to relish. I simply cannot do it any longer, my mind says go but my body says no.
Track, although I do not understand your fetish for killing whitetail, I do respect your right to and your obvious skill you have attained over the years at it. I only ask that you respect my obsession with the rest of the game on the planet and the skills I have attained while pursuing them, it is not as easy as you think it is, not by a stretch.
 
That Sako NEEDS a red pad. It'll be beautiful.

Surprising to see how plain a piece of walnut the factory put on it.
 
To my mind, the perfect safari rifle would end up looking a lot like a new Model 70 African, with the trigger from any of the previous models (for the last word in simplicity and reliability). It would have the one piece bottom metal of the newest model and the geometrically correct mag box from a pre-64 (Shades of Mauser there). That would give 4 down in a .375 H&H.

The striker locking safety is already perfect for a rifle that will be carried cocked and locked for days at a time while being surrounded by people who either are actively trying to get shot, or so fatalistic that they believe that if they were meant to be shot there's no use fighting it.

Stretch the stock with a thicker pad to get it up to 14" LOP, add some stains from a palm wine witchcraft ceremony, sprinkle a bit of rust specks from an unplanned monsoon or two, or dugout conoe, then lightly dust with red African dust that is as new as today and as old as time. Keep the price down to where an airline losing it won't kill you. That should get you close.
 
:cheers:
c-fbmi said:
Track...........I only have one more point to make regarding hunting around the globe.
I have a very deep love of waking up in a new country and looking out from my rondavel/yurt/tent/cabin and seeing a new place, the morning mists of the Congo, the cold stark nothingness of the Mongolian high altai, the already searing heat and white light of the Luangwa valley, the 20 odd thousand foot peaks that surround the Pamirs in Tajikistan. This cannot be imagined or properly conveyed in words on a forum like this, or even with photos. I also have a very deep love of hunting, and that extends to all the game animals on the planet, bordering on obsessive, I don't see it as being arrogant, as I have had this obsession for as long as I can remember. It is so deep in my soul as to be primal in me, I know not all who hunt have this great burning desire and unexplainable deep love of it, as I do. And I know not all understand it, in fact few truly understand it unless they are equally stricken. I have met hunters who hunt out of ego driven desires to possess animals to show their buddies and to show off and brag. I do get my trophies mounted so I guess there is a certain arrogance in it for me, but the difference is I truly love the hunt, the differing landscapes, the new people, the sunsets, the dawns and the big one that got away. I love and respect all the animals I hunt, and I thank God for each and every success I have when out hunting.
There are other emotions that go along as well, like the deepest fear I have ever known when a cow elephant decided she wanted my seat in the truck, or the three bulls decided they were going to run us out of their area. There is that absolutely gut deep sickening feeling when I lose an animal or the self recrimination and attendant depression when I miss. There is also the extreme jubilation when I make a real long or difficult running shot and my quarry crumples in the scope. Then there is the helpless feeling of sitting lost in a snow storm for 2 days at 8000 ft, without sleep, with a 60 lb pack of Dall sheep on, seriously wondering if I would ever see my family again.
My hunting days are coming to an end as age creeps up on me and I regret not doing more, particularly some of the more strenuous hunts, while I was younger and more fit. I, out of necessity, look for more gentlemanly hunts now, without the extreme physical factor that I used to relish. I simply cannot do it any longer, my mind says go but my body says no.
Track, although I do not understand your fetish for killing whitetail, I do respect your right to and your obvious skill you have attained over the years at it. I only ask that you respect my obsession with the rest of the game on the planet and the skills I have attained while pursuing them, it is not as easy as you think it is, not by a stretch.
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Ok, enough is enough. I won't go in a long winded post .............happy hunting.:cheers:
 
c-fbmi said:
I have a question for those of you out there that like classic safari rifles.................should I go with a black recoil pad or the more classic red recoil pad. My stockmaker usually does red, but I said black Packmayr presentation..........can be changed at this point..........so what say you? I am truly undecided and somewhat torn on this issue..........
Click to expand...

Red, live rubber is traditional, and over time becomes about as soft a poplar. I do like black though, as its not as gaudy.
 
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