Never set foot on the dark continent but ....... there are a few select ones I’d like to plunk . Number One is Sitatunga , then a Greater Kudu , a Bushbuck , possibly a Buff Buff and last and certainly not least Blue Duiker with a Parker stoked with my handloaded buckshot . Had a big one for a Blue Duiker ever since I watched a video of someone hunting them using Jack Russells to push them and shotgun loaded with buck to knock them over .

Parker with buckshot. . . . Ideas.

Now what kind of animal can I take with that?

The favorite rifle issue for me has covered a lot of ground in the last fifty years . First I was hung up on Ruger 77R’s with tang safety’s think I had twenty of them . Then I went to Pre 64 Model 70’s along with Kimber 89BGR Super Grades . Then I decided stainless synthetic 700’s were the thing , then Marlin lever actions , then
a pile of Ruger #1’s . Now I’ve kinda settled in with Remington 700 rebarreled rifles , few factory 700’s , a few Savage factory rifles , a few AR’s and of course my covey on Mannlicher Schoenauer’s . Had a taste for Sako rifles in there somewhere but only 7 or 8 of them long since down the road .

Blue Duiker !

That would be way cool!

Rich, I shot a zebra in south africa with numzaan safaris. We hunted a small herd of 6 zebra all day long. Did not get a clean shot with my model 70 in 30-06 until very late afternoon. Zebras have keen hearing and other senses. One of the hardest to stalk on foot. Imho

They are indeed tough Allen. I used a 338 once and a custom 416 Taylor on the other one. People not in the know think they are like a barnyard animal nothing is further from the truth.

mills there could be a lot of things you could take with a parker shotgun over there...bet they got lots of birds....i bet a fellow could even take a lion with 00 buck in a 12 ga parker... i can see you now foot propped up on that big lion parker in hand what a picture that would be...i bet you could makthe front page of parker magazine..ha..charlie

MY favorite rifle is Browning 78 in 25-06 it has served me well dropping many deer.
Also very partial to ruger no 1 in any any caliber.

I remmember first seeing a Browning 78 in 22-250 when I was about 12-14 woulda been around 73-75 anyway I always thought they were nice looking . I got a 78 octagon barreled gun in 25-06 about six years ago , did very well on paper but I never hunted it before I sold it . Ruger #1’s on the other hand have killed a veritable pile of deer for me . I did however get one of the semi recent manufacture Winchester 1885’s in 270 WSM and I did knock over a deer with that one . I wish I’d chronographed my handloads in that rifle , I suspect with the 28” barrel they were doing pretty well .

My rifle preference varies with what I am shooting. If I am at the range just messing around or in the back 40 shooting rocks its gonna be one of my family winchesters- either the 1873 44-40 from 1892 or the 1892 30-20 form 1898. They are both a hoot to shoot.

Now if we are talking hogs--it will be the Al Biesen Model 70 in 270 or if I am feeling downright mean my 1886 in Turnbull 475.

Coyotes-M70 in 220 swift

Deer- that Biesen 270 or my grandfathers 257 Roberts or Model 71 in 348

Shooting a gong at 1 mile at my friend's private range- Colt M2012 in 6.5 creedmoor

If you told me only one......there would be a lot of nashing of teeth....but it would be either the Model 71 or the Biesen 270.....I literally can't make that choice.

Very nice collection !

That deluxe 348 is very sporty to say the least :cool:

Lots of ivory on that top shelf Mr Cobb
Thats the problem with threads like these,so easily sidetracked.

Yeah there has been a piece of ivory and mammoth tooth added since that photo.

If Bill's post was a sidetrack, he can feel free to sidetrack it again. Good looking guns!


I have recently started expanding the rifle collection for a few reasons, the main one being my son Harry has taken interest and has some natural skill

Rifles are as addicting as Parkers/Fox ect. Pre 64 M70's and custom rifles are my Achilles heel of rifles.

i too like them early calibers your 44-40 and that 32-20 is some of my favorite al time calibers in rifles...i also like the 25-20 the 220 swift 30-30 35 rem. 22 hornet that little round is a sweetheart....the list of great rounds could fill a book....charlie

I also own a 7MM, (7 X 57) Ruger. Aside from my handy Winchester 30/30, it is my favorite rifle.

Jim Lawrence

Beautiful model 71. Mills if you haven't handled a 71, they are given up to be possibly the best Winchester big bore ever built. Upgrade of the 1886.

Reminded me my oldest brother has two original white boxes of Winchester 348 ammo with the aluminium tip . He picked them up from a local store that resells items from estate sales he got both boxes for 5$ or 10$ .

The 71 is an amazing rifle. I have 2. The deluxe in the picture and a standard one. Both prewar long tang bolt peeps. The standard model belonged to a family friend who decided he was tired of playing cowboy in 30s central Texas and wanted to see snow. So he disappeared to Alaska for almost a decade before coming home to be a pilot in ww2. The colonel could tell some amazing stories. I have always heard the 348 kicked hard, but I find them a joy to shoot.

Here is Harry shooting my Whitney 32 caliber.

Jim the 7X57 is my all time favorite caliber and at one time I had five rifles so chambered now I'm down to three:shock: My two favorites are the Pre 64 M70 carbine and a custom rifle I had marked as a 275 Rigby just to be different and that I had it built along the lines of a 1930's era Rigby stalking rifle.

I had a nice M71 deluxe a great rifle that I shot very little. I bought it cheap and it went into a multi gun trade for a Purdey 16ga two barrel set.

Some of my favorites are my Springfield Armory sporters, both original and custom, Springfield prewar customs, 1917 Enfield customs, and early Model 70s and 54s in 30-06, both factory and custom. Why, you ask? Well 30-06 ammo is available at every corner store and at every country gun auction, on the cheap. I also have customs in .375 H&H, .348, 25-20, .22 Long Rifle, .22-250, .220 Swift, .45-70, .25-06, and .219 Donaldson Wasp. My taste in rifles and Parker and Purdey shotguns closely parallels Rich Anderson's, but I have the advantage of a few years on him. He has to worry about when I'm going to go belly up, and I have no such worry about his guns. I will be gone and he will be even more "gun poor" than I am or ever will be. There is a disadvantage to being the "Last man standing".

Bill,

My father customized a 1917 Enfield and took it to Africa in 1956 as his main rifle. He hunted Kenya and Tanganyika. Unfortunately he sold it for something else. I was a very poor manager of my inheritance.

Harry

My smith has a single shot action with a side lever, I think it's a Lancaster but won't swear to it. He thinks he's going to build something but he never will. I'm trying to get it off him and have him build me something special. If he does it I'm leaning towards a 300 H&H.

I have a very nice condition 1886 45-90 antique, great bore. Having difficulty getting a Nitro for black load to pattern with lead bullets 300 grains to 330 grains. Anyone have a good load for me to try??

Try the 45-70 loads using AA XMP-5744 . I’ll push cast just like jacketed if the cast has a gas check . You can also try 45-70 data using H322 . I’ve loaded a pile of 444 and 45-70 pushing them pretty well with H322 .

My favorite firearm is the one I have in my hands at that moment, and most of the time it is older than I am.

Craig,

If I remember correctly, Ross Seyfried used H4198 as a substitute for BP. His formula was 40%-46% of the Black Powder charge with a compressed Dacron polyester filler. He cautioned against any other filler such as serial, plastic, or foam.

Harry

What is the rate of twist in your 45/90. Bullet selection is most likely your problem. 36gr 5744 a large magnum rifle primer and a 550gr cast postel bullet out of 20 to 1 will probable shoot well. NO FILLER!

Pre 64 Model 70 Featherweights are my favorite, I have owned 4 all aluminum buttplates circa 1955. Had a 1956 African Super Grade .458 very early gun with one crossbolt, this was a gorgeous rifle. I'd add a picture of my favorite but I haven't figured that out yet, computer dummy.

.505 Gibbs bolt gun. Somebody from WI or MI had one at the Southern SxS last year that was the best one I've ever seen.

Interesting, I hope it comes back around this year. Barie Duckworth ( legendary Zimbabwe PH, and former Parks Ranger) has the only original 505 Gibbs rifle I have held. I know he bought it from Marshall Fields rep at SCI back in the 70’s. Barie’s friend and fellow former Parks Ranger/ Hunter Richard Harlan also has another Gibbs in 505, with there being just one serial number between those rifles. Those fellas both did a lot of cull work back in their Parks ,days, but they did most of that with MS in .458 Win. Today Neil, Barie’s son, carry’s his dads .505 daily.

When that 505 goes off, if your in the same concession you know it, and you know the $hit hit the fan.

Here is a favorite from my small collection of rifles, and used for my semi-purposeful walks in the woods during Deer season. It is a 1906-era Model 1894 octagonal-barreled 30.30 cal. Winchester; and it was once owned by Robert Bumford, of Concord, Massachusetts, a hunting and fishing buddy of my father’s, and a friend who died of cancer in his mid-30s.

I retain the original buckhorn sights, but replaced them and added the Skinner aperture sights, without having to make any permanent alterations.

Another photo below shows "Bobby” on the left and my father on the right (an unidentified man is in the middle) after a day Blue-fishing in Nantucket Sound.

The rifle was inherited by my father, and then by me.

It is heavy, but carries easily, when straight-armed pendantly, and without a sling, due to its convenient balance-point and rounded forearm.

For years I puzzled over what had crudely been scratched, probably with a pocket knife, into the forearm: “L. Allen Scott/ Phantom Valley Ranch”. It sounded to me like a name right out of a Hollywood Western. It is he who probably carved a horse’s head on one side of the stock, and a daisy on the other.

Such carvings surely do nothing but diminish any residual collector value to what is a prosaic 1894 Winchester, to begin with. But for me, they invest the gun with a unique intrigue.

Due to the internet, I now know that it was probably owned by Lester Allen Scott, who ran a dude ranch, in Colorado, at one time, named Phantom Valley Ranch. It existed from early in the 20th to the mid-20th Century.

I attach a link below.

It is one of those firearms of a category where the monetary value is slight, but the story is meaningful.

I’ve shot a CZ 550 Safari in 505 quite a bit , but the only other I’ve ever held was a Granite Arms I was appraising for someone . The 505 is not as violent recoil wise as one would assume . It does move you when it goes off but it’s more of a big push rather than a violent sharp recoil .

I’ve never been much of a fan of H4198 , well that was until I started using it in my Remington ML . I used to have a BallistiCast 462-550GC mold that I used in a 45-70 lever action . I had a couple folks suggest loads to me using H322 and RL-7 . I also had a BRP 462-465GC mold that I pushed hard with H322 in a leveraction Marlin . The 465 grainer was very accurate and a relatively practical bullet for my use . The 550 grainer shot very well but not as well as the 465 also obviously the size of the bullet inside the case hurt your powder volume a bit much . While I would be fine for deer elk moose and blackies I don’t think it would be my choice for a big brownie in a 45-70 . That 465 grainer with a bit tougher alloy going as fast as possible and still being inside 2 MOA would be my choice if carrying the lever gun . Personally I’d rather have a 375 H&H for big Brownies on Kodiak .

As I recall, my fathers White Hunter, Norman Reed, used a 505 Gibbs. Papa's first cousin, Bill, had shot a beautiful Cape Buffalo with a 375 H&H and it staggered into the wait a bit thorn. Norman congratulated Bill and they disappeared into the bush only to reemerge at a run with the buffalo behind them. Norman was 6'4" and the buff flipped him separating him from the Gibbs. Bill had been a olympian and was fast a foot and side stepped the buff several times shooting the buff in the neck as it passed. Bill tripped and fell just as the WH recovered his 505 and dropped the buff with a shot behind the ear.

Bullet placement is everything no matter what your shooting at. I folded up a buff with a 400gr Swift A Frame from a 416 Taylor but made a poor shot on a Zebra with the same gun and we had a chase on our hands for a half mile or so.

I have a Ruger #1 450-400 NE that I'm trying to turn into a deer rifle:eek:

I have more rifles than I can shoot, but for me, a simple Marlin 336 in .30-.30. I bought it 20 years ago, took it to my new deer camp and I got some looks. "A lever with a peep sight?" I got a "You'll never reach out and hit them with that." It carries like a dream in one hand around the receiver and is just there, doesn't need a sling, is light...well, kind of like a good SxS or OU. So as we're coming back to the camp a few doe coming screaming past no doubt spooked by someone else coming back, and in full stride I dropped the leading, big doe with one shot. After the "Holy **** nice shot!" I just had to add, "Try doing that with your howitzer and Hubble scope..." Truth be told, as I pulled the trigger I was saying "For the LOVE OF GOD don't let me miss!!!!" It all happened in 5 seconds, just like bird hunting : )