The granddaddy of bolt-action big-game calibers is the .458 Win. Mag. which was positioned as the equivalent of the .470 Nitro Express, namely a 500 grain slug at 2,150 feet per second (fps). Truthfully, Winchester’s belted rimless magnum never reached much more than 2,000 fps, sometimes only 1,950 fps. Nevertheless, it’s a superb big-game “stopper” and fits in a standard length (.30-’06) action.

There are a number of oddball cartridges for big-game rifles. Robbie Barrkman at Robar built me a .460 G&A on a Model 70 action. Using a .404 Jeffery case necked up to .458, the .460 G&A boosts a 500 grain bullet up to 2,400 fps, which is a considerable tax increase over the .458 Win. Mag. Art Alphin at A-Square was the dean of big bore wildcats with things like the .500 A-Square and .470 Capstick.

Get Close…Then Get Closer
My final comment on big-game rifles concerns the terms and conditions under which they should be employed. The whole point of hunting big game in Africa is the danger element. As Jeff Cooper said, “Danger, not variety, is the spice of life.”

Big game is only dangerous up close. An elephant at 50 yards, if he senses you, will run like the wind that gave you away. An elephant at 10 yards, however, may well come rather than go. Buffalo are docile cows at 100 yards. If alarmed, they run away. Buffalo at 10 yards in the long grass, once again, may well advance rather than retreat.

The simple fact is that buffalo and elephant are equipped with devastating impact weapons—horn, tusk and sheer brute force—but they don’t come with long-range weapons. Buffalo don’t have Hellfire missiles mounted on their flanks and elephant can’t launch a TOW from inside a tusk. You must get close to give big game a fighting chance!

“Close” is a relative term, so let me be specific. For elephant, 25 yards is the maximum distance you should consider taking a first shot. (Obviously wounded and escaping game is a different matter entirely.) For buffalo, 60 yards is the outermost limit. For rhino, the same 25 yard distance as elephant.

I don’t understand for the life of me what motivates a person to shoot a Cape buffalo at 100 yards. You might as well take a pot shot at Elsie the cow at that distance. A buffalo at 100 yards is not in the least bit dangerous.

Consequently, a big-game rifle is ideally used with iron sights, although a low-power variable scope is not a bad option on a bolt-action for buffalo as long as you can dial it down to 1x or 1.5x. A quick-detach mount like that made by Talley is the perfect set-up so you can remove the scope if things get nasty. For elephant or rhino, I’d never use a scope. Never.

African Big-Game Photo Gallery