One rifle, one cartridge, one load for everything

jjohnwm said:
"...what if you only had one rifle for everything you shoot/hunt what would it be?"

Lol, I'm nowhere close to being "triggered"; just pointing out that even if...a big "if"...you had to choose only one gun, there is no way you could be forced, or should even consider, to use just one load.

"Everything you shoot/hunt" is pretty broad, and doesn't necessarily mean what you shoot near home, or even in Canada. But you're right, the question didn't say anything about the choice being "ideal", so I can see there probably are a few guys who will bail out of the army-surplus helicopter on the slopes of Mount Middleofnowhere in Farawayistan and immediately start glassing the slopes with their Tasco binoculars, their model 94's clutched in their feverish hands...




Okay...so what? Why is "in Canada" a talking point?

You're right, this is a gun forum rather than a hunting forum; i.e. it's about the toughest place imaginable to make the argument that one rifle is "good enough"...:)
Click to expand...

Nowhere have I ever recommended one rifle. Ever.

I just did a quick calculation. I have shot big game with 18 different cartridges and have hunted with multiple rifles chambered in the same cartridge. I’ve come to realize that they really are more alike than different.
 
Last edited:
Killing the same animals the same way in the same place with different cartridges makes you deep in calibre experience however narrow in hunting experience.

Everything is a big place.
 
I’ve come to realize that they really are more alike than different.
Click to expand...

There’s a lot of truth to that; within reason. In a general sort of way big-game rifles can be grouped as light; medium and heavy. Most of the hunting in the world is light rifle work. Thing is, most of it isn’t all of it.
 
True. I found this quote by John Barsness the other day that I found interesting though.

“The PH I've hunted with most, now-retired Kevin Thomas, usually used a .375 to back up his buffalo clients. Kevin said he was frequently "seriously out-gunned" by his clients--but also ended up finishing off quite a few of their buffalo with his .375.

Kevin was not exactly inexperienced in killing Cape buffalo, having grown up in what was then Rhodesia, where his first job out of high school was as a "game ranger" who took tourists on walking tours in buffalo country. He killed his first charging buffalo not long after he started.

Later he also worked for one of the big Rhodesian cattle ranches, where one of his primary jobs was killing buffalo to make room for cattle. This was not done at night with head-shots, but by having them pushed by him by the ranch workers. I found this out when one evening around the campfire I asked Kevin what he considered the absolute minimum cartridge for Cape buffalo. He thought for a couple minutes, then said,
"The .30-06."

This was because he'd killed over 500 with the .30-06 and 180-grain Nosler Partitions, back when Partitions were lathe-turned had the "relief groove" around the partition. I then asked if he'd had any trouble with big bulls, especially on frontal shots. He said never.”
 
Can't believe I haven't commented.

Anyways, having to choose "for everything " could include Buffalo, polar or G bear. So while 30-06 would do, once your close enough to G bear to smell them, personally I would opt for something larger.

Minimum 300wm, but 338wm, 340 wea, or 416 Rigby. Just some of the choices. After a G bear took a moose, my 375 rum was my principal rifle for about 12-15 years. Never blew quarters off average mules with it. So " for everything" Rem 700 lss 375rum 260 partitions at 3050ft/sec.
 
Here is another guy that hunted extensively with one rifle and cartridge.

xsTY19s.jpg
 
pathfinder76 said:
"...I asked Kevin what he considered the absolute minimum cartridge for Cape buffalo. He thought for a couple minutes, then said,
"The .30-06."

This was because he'd killed over 500 with the .30-06 and 180-grain Nosler Partitions, back when Partitions were lathe-turned had the "relief groove" around the partition. I then asked if he'd had any trouble with big bulls, especially on frontal shots. He said never.”
Click to expand...

Hearing something described as "absolute minimum" is not what I would categorize as a ringing endorsement.

Barsness should have specifically asked Thomas what he would consider as minimum for a greenhorn African hunter, rather than for himself, i.e. a seasoned veteran who literally shot buff as part of his job.

Better yet, he should have asked what he considered optimal.
 
I'm not about to head to Africa, so there is no need for me to own a really big rifle unless I want one " just because"
I am quite comfortable hunting everything from elk to coyotes with my single shot in .303 Brit. with a 150 grain TSX or a 215 KKSP and anything in between.
I don't shoot past 375 yards any more so have no need for a super flat, heavy projectile with a exposed turret or hashmark reticle scope on it - although I do have some.
Cat
 
jjohnwm said:
Hearing something described as "absolute minimum" is not what I would categorize as a ringing endorsement.

Barsness should have specifically asked Thomas what he would consider as minimum for a greenhorn African hunter, rather than for himself, i.e. a seasoned veteran who literally shot buff as part of his job.

Better yet, he should have asked what he considered optimal.
Click to expand...

I suspect he was packing, as a PH, what he thought optimal.
 
pathfinder76 said:
I suspect he was packing, as a PH, what he thought optimal.
Click to expand...

I suspect he was packing what his employer provided to him, or perhaps what he could source and afford at the time...either afford to buy, or afford to provide ammo for. By his own admission, the '06 was "absolute minimum". Nobody considers "absolute minimum" and "optimal" to be the same thing.

But when I mentioned "optimal", I was referring to what he would suggest as optimal for the typical sport hunter, who might go to Africa once or a few times, and might shoot one or a few...or even a few dozen...buff and other big critters. Specifying that would almost have certainly elicited a different answer to the question of either optimal or minimum.

PH's aren't necessarily gun guys or ballistic geniuses; a lot of them are working stiffs who buy and use the tools they can afford, even if they aren't necessarily the "best" tools for the job, or the tools they wish they had. I've met only a couple who were obviously very good at their craft, and I guarantee that their eyes would glaze over in short order if they were forced to read some of the threads on CGN describing the differing effects of this bullet versus that bullet, the various degrees of penetration due to SD and the mysteries of BC and all the other minutiae that seem to fascinate that type of shooter whom one of them described as the Calculator Hunter. I still chuckle when I think of that fellow; he was only a couple years older than I was, but he looked much, much older...and could still walk me into the ground without trying.

The other one was much younger, still in his early twenties; he was a terrific shot, but asked all kinds of questions like "What the heck is SD?" and "So what is BC?". :)

A professional in any line of work can achieve things that amateurs are not capable of duplicating.
 
Last edited:
For this continent the maximum cartridge that I would use to hunt varmints would be a 270 with 110 grain bullet. The minimum cartridge I would use for big game that I would hunt "moose, elk" would be a 270 with 130-160 grain bullet. We all know there are better cartridges at each end of the spectrum, however we're only talking about one rifle. For hunting mountain game, there is no other cartridge thats better than a 270. This is considering everything from ammo availability to rifle's, recoil etc.
 
jjohnwm said:
I suspect he was packing what his employer provided to him, or perhaps what he could source and afford at the time...either afford to buy, or afford to provide ammo for. By his own admission, the '06 was "absolute minimum". Nobody considers "absolute minimum" and "optimal" to be the same thing.

But when I mentioned "optimal", I was referring to what he would suggest as optimal for the typical sport hunter, who might go to Africa once or a few times, and might shoot one or a few...or even a few dozen...buff and other big critters. Specifying that would almost have certainly elicited a different answer to the question of either optimal or minimum.

PH's aren't necessarily gun guys or ballistic geniuses; a lot of them are working stiffs who buy and use the tools they can afford, even if they aren't necessarily the "best" tools for the job, or the tools they wish they had. I've met only a couple who were obviously very good at their craft, and I guarantee that their eyes would glaze over in short order if they were forced to read some of the threads on CGN describing the differing effects of this bullet versus that bullet, the various degrees of penetration due to SD and the mysteries of BC and all the other minutiae that seem to fascinate that type of shooter whom one of them described as the Calculator Hunter. I still chuckle when I think of that fellow; he was only a couple years older than I was, but he looked much, much older...and could still walk me into the ground without trying.

The other one was much younger, still in his early twenties; he was a terrific shot, but asked all kinds of questions like "What the heck is SD?" and "So what is BC?". :)

A professional in any line of work can achieve things that amateurs are not capable of duplicating.
Click to expand...

I think you misunderstood. But whatever. As a PH he packed a 375. But does point out being out gunned by many of his clients. The “romantic” American no doubt.
 
i knew a few phs that used extensively pf with no problems. we had 2 loaners in our camp in 460 wea mag mark V and one in 378 wea mag. but of course those guys knew a little more than us for sure.
in those days we had a lot of poaching pressure on forest elephants and they lacked a lot of humour when meeting or smelling humane and the 460 wea mag was really efficient on bongos.

the late Don Heath that i had the honor to call my friend used more than we can think the 9,3x62 as a back up rifle for his job as ph with a red dot and detachable magazine for his fn 98 ... and for sure he was over gunned by most of his clients ...
 
i might add we are overthinking the pf/ crf ... if you look up swedish and finnish hunters are using a lot the tikka t3 and the x too and they have to deal with bears and shoot them while charging dogs and other hunters ... the same with boars but we do not have them in enough numbers to learn how to hunt them yet ...
 
Brutus said:
Did you ever meet PH that was using a Post 64 Winchester M70? Meaning a push feed action.
Click to expand...

The same fellow had a push feed M70 .30-06 as his daily driver, and meat and cull rifle. It got shot more than the big guns, but he did carry the CRFs backing dangerous game. The others I encountered with .458 Zastavas, .470 doubles, and .458 M70s.
 
medvedqc said:
i knew a few phs that used extensively pf with no problems. we had 2 loaners in our camp in 460 wea mag mark V and one in 378 wea mag. but of course those guys knew a little more than us for sure.
in those days we had a lot of poaching pressure on forest elephants and they lacked a lot of humour when meeting or smelling humane and the 460 wea mag was really efficient on bongos.

the late Don Heath that i had the honor to call my friend used more than we can think the 9,3x62 as a back up rifle for his job as ph with a red dot and detachable magazine for his fn 98 ... and for sure he was over gunned by most of his clients ...
Click to expand...

Don Heath has a great write up somewhere on rifles and their pluses and failings under duress. Good read.
 
The African Safari client is likely the most varied in terms of rifle expertise of any hunter in the world. Most first timers are shooting guns that haven’t killed a single animal before showing up in Africa. There should be no surprises of these stories of hunter/rifle duress. It says more of the hunter then the gun imo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom