1. There is no African country that currently permits hunting that requires .40 caliber for dangerous game. A .375 caliber rifle with the power of the 375 H&H Magnum is legal everywhere in Africa that hunting is legal.
2. If your ammo doesn't arrive with your gun in Africa; admittedly an unlikely but possible scenario, it's doubtful you'll get 375 RUM or 375 Ruger ammo there but 375 H&H Magnum ammo is available everywhere in the more commonly hunted countries.
3. If you're going to spend the bucks to get a custom safari rifle, maybe you don't care about extra baggage fees. It's doubtful you'll get a fixed barrel rifle, scope, etc. into a gun case that will meet the dimensions for standard baggage. That means any airline can and probably will ding you for oversized baggage. If you change airlines in route, that airline will probably ding you as well and on you're way home, you'll get charged again. The extra charges can easily add up to several hundred dollars.
For me, the Blaser R 93 in 375 H&H Magnum is the perfect safari rifle if I'm going to limit myself to just one cartridge. I don't need a gunsmith to make the trigger better since it's already perfect. I can fit it into standard sized baggage with room to spare. Feeding of ammo is slick. If I don't want to be limited to a certain cartridge, I can easily take an extra barrel, magazine and bolt for a quick change. With the Blaser QD scope mount, I can take a scope off and reattach it with no loss of zero.
I wouldn't buy an R 93 right now as Blaser is phasing them out but the newer rifle, the R 8 has the same characteristics with some alleged improvements.
The blazer is a nice package and the 375 H&H Is tried and true for all game except the most dangerous game,then it is lacking in knock down power also the cost of the blazer
($8,000 to $10,000) rules a lot of people out when added to the price of the trip and fees for
the PH.
For $3,000 or less dollars you can build a Remington or Winchester in a larger more powerful
cartrige and spend the difference on the safari.
Most of the guys that I deal with get a shot gun case (Take down) and seperate the barrel from
the stock and ship it, they also carry the scope (If they use one) in there carry on for safety
and when they arrive, they assemble and check the zero.
This saves the size and extra cost of shipping. also most ship there ammo to the outfitter
well in advance of the trip to make sure that it is there before they arrive.
Also some of them get a brake installed with a barrel nut in case the PH does not allow a brake.
I would carry the largest caliber possible but the ''All Around" rifle the Poster was asking about
needs to be able to dispatch anything with speed but stills needs to reasonably flat shooting
and Something in 40+ cal is my recommendation.
The 416s average 2,000 to 3,000 ft/lbs more energy that the 375 H&H And that can make a
huge difference when things don,t go as well as they should.
This is just my opinion and is not intended to start an argument.
J E CUSTOM
