Rifle for Alberta and Africa??

[mrak]

i am thinking that old sako in 338 win. mag. they are hard to beat but the recoil with the heavy bullets. I feel the sako in 375H&H is less for me i am 265 lbs. recoil is not a big deal

 

[1899]

i am thinking that old sako in 338 win. mag. they are hard to beat but the recoil with the heavy bullets. I feel the sako in 375H&H is less for me i am 265 lbs. recoil is not a big deal

I used to own an old Sako Fiberclass in .338 WM and it had exceptionally mild recoil - I think the stock design (McMillan) and fit was just right. The felt recoil was on par with my 7mm RM and much lighter than with my light weight .300 WM. It was also less than any of my .375 H&H's, but those weren't bad either.

 

[MiG25]

Ok guys, I'm sorry for recommending that the OP get a 300 Win Mag. I'm also sorry for saying that the difference between the winchester and Weatherby cartridges is more on the shooter than on the animal. I am also sorry for referencing what Roy Weatherby actually wrote about his rifles.

 

[c-fbmi]

Nothing wrong with your recommendation of a 300 Mag, Mig. And your noting that the laws of physics apply to rifles is spot on (equal and opposite reaction) it's just your interpretation I'm a little fuzzy about..........a cartridge can't beat up the shooter more without beating up the animal equally more, in the same weight and stock design rifle. These laws of physics can't be disputed, as to the effect of the Wby shoulder, well that controversy will go on for another 50 years.
I alluded to an experiment I did many years back, which I will now expand upon. I'm going from memory so the numbers may not be precise, but are as I remember..........anyway, I took a 700 Rem in a factory 7mm Wby cartridge and fired 160 gn Parts loaded until I got slight ejector marks using IMR 7828......this load chrono'd through my Mod 35P at 3180 fps. I used W-W 7mm RM cases to make these Wby cases and they were fireformed before the experiment. I then chambered that same barrel out to 7MM RM and sized the exact same brass and fireformed them to the RM chamber and loaded them with 160 Parts using IMR 7828 until I got new slight ejector marks and those top loads chrono'd through the same Oehler mod 35P at the same temps at 3020 fps. I then chambered that same barrel out to 7mm STW and using fireformed W-W 300 H&H cases and I think H1000 I loaded until I got slight ejector marks on the brass and it chrono'd through the same 35P at the same temp at 3105 fps.
Now this experiment is not absolutely perfect however I did control all the elements I could and I used powders in all three cartridges that had given the highest velocities with previous loads and rifles......I used the exact same brass for the first two and W-W for the STW, which I am very familiar with how to read the pressure signs.......same barrel length 24", same barrel, same action, same headspace.......same Oehler 35P and identical lighting as I did this indoors, in my shop, over 3 days. The top loads were the avg of 5 shots, and the ES was quite low for all three, I don't remember but under 30 fps as I recall, and bullets were all from the same box. This led me to only one conclusion.......radiused shoulders DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

 

[bearkilr]

That's quite odd, BK......my factory 300 Wby Rem 700 doesn't seem to weigh any more than my other long action 700s, the same goes for my Rem 700 257 Wby. The 340 Win supergrade is a tad heavier than the 700s, oh ya and they all shoot 3/4 moa and better. These generalizations just aren't meshing with my experience at all, even my old Mark V 340, which I assume you are referring to, would shoot little 3 leaf clovers with 250 Parts when I did my part at the bench.
Again I suspect you haven't worked with Wby cartridges or rifles very much, would that be a fair generalization BK?

How many Mark V Weatherby's have your owned to conclude your premises?

2 Accumarks (257 & 270), an Ultra Lightweight (257) and MK V Deluxe in 340. Maybe that's not all the one's available, but I think enough to have an opinion. I've never had stellar accuracy with any of them, not that I'm totally hung up on accuracy anyhow as my guns are used for hunting only. Perhaps it's just more of an aesthetics thing, I can't warm up to the design/stock shape,etc.
I had a 700 CDL SF in 257 that I really liked,especially with the McMillan Edge, but it went to the EE.
I found the 340 to have excessive recoil over the 338 WinMag. A friend had a 378 and that thing was "annoying" to shoot, and I'm not generally recoil shy. And the one 460 I shot was downright obnoxious,lol.

 

[quaticman]

I hunted Namibia in 2009 on a 12 day plains game hunt. I used a Winchester Model 70 chambered in .375 H & H magnum topped with a Leupold VX 3 1.5-6 X scope in Leupold detachable rings. My ammunition was factory loaded Remington 300 grain Swift A Frames.
I shot a very large Kudu, Gemsbok, Hartmanns mountain Zebra, Warthog and a Springbok. The Kudu's live weight was around 800 lbs. All were one shot kills with the exception of a bad shot I made at the Gemsbok. If you do your part, there is nothing in Africa that you cannot hunt with a .375 H & H magnum. It may be a little light for elephant, but "it's on the right side of light". As the famous African professional hunter John "Pondoro" Taylor said, the .375 H & H magnum kills all out of proportion to it's paper ballistics!

 

[Mighty Peace]

I like the 338 wm. but others for a bit more , 338 rum or 340 weatherby. Maybe a 370 Sako

Have fun on your trip !!