Too Much Gun?

Or maybe just the wrong rifle?

A favorite of mine, the “Green Machine.” A 308 Winchester, it was my SWAT rifle for 12 years. I also used it to do well in several matches and hunted with it a bit. For me at least, it’s too heavy to be a very good general purpose rifle, but it excels at the intended role. Pictured here only because it has some similarities to the rifle discussed in this story.

A couple I know “won” a South African Plains Game hunt at one of the big-game shows some years ago. They were excited. I knew that he was a reasonably experienced mule deer hunter who used a bolt action 270 Winchester. She wasn’t very experienced with a rifle and had never been hunting. She knew that I had a lot more hunting experience than her husband so she asked me what sort of rifle I’d recommend, despite knowing that I’d never been to Africa. Instantly I recommended her husband’s trusty 270 with which he had hunted for decades. If they really wanted a new rifle for the trip I recommended considering a 7mm Magnum or a 30-06 with something like a 2.5-8x or 3-9x scope. Each of those cartridges is a little more powerful than the 270 Winchester, without adding a lot of recoil. Additionally, I recommended considering ammunition with premium bullets such as the Barnes TSX/TTSX or Nosler Partition for deep penetration. She looked at me like I was crazy and went rifle shopping…

A few weeks later she met me at the range to show off her new “African Safari Rifle” and get some pointers on shooting it well…

Remington 700 Sendero, a 26” varmint contour 300 Remington Ultra Magnum with a 6.5-20x Leupold scope… Okay then, the rifle’s bare weight is about 9 pounds and muzzle heavy. She’d added a bipod and the big Leupold scope which of course added more weight, perhaps 12 pounds all up. I forget which Remington ammo she was using. All that 300 Ultra Mag ammo was extremely powerful. No muzzle brake. This was before suppressors were nearly as common as they are today. Her eyes lit up as she was telling me that the seller said it was accurate at even 1,000 yards!

I actually like the varmint-barreled 700’s and have a couple. They never struck me as a very good “general purpose” hunting rifle. Please remember, I’m talking about a reasonably fit middle aged woman who had never shot a rifle more powerful than a 223 AR-15.

So, I gave her some pointers and coached her shooting. I’d promised. I was quite accustomed to shooting heavy scoped rifles at that point in my life. She shot fairly well, but only from the bench or prone, always from the bipod, and only at 100 yards. The rifle did function flawlessly and it was certainly capable of good accuracy with the Remington ammunition she’d purchased. Just watching her lug it around the range though, was painful. It was simply too much rifle for the shooter and the looming plains game hunt.

Weeks later they had returned from the African hunt! I was regaled with photos and stories. He hadn’t taken his good old 270, they just had the 300 RUM Sendero. She did most of the shooting and they had eventually bagged a couple of good specimens of South African big game. Nothing wrong with that!

Then she started telling me things like “I couldn’t carry it while stalking.” And “I couldn’t get the rifle in position to shoot fast enough.” And “Even with the scope at 6.5x I couldn’t see very much. Our game was all taken at 150 yards and less.” She told me that they’d chosen the wrong rifle and scope and conceded that something lighter, handier and with a lower magnification scope would have served them better. She mentioned being very frustrated at not being able to get the crosshairs on game that she could clearly see with her eyes, but couldn’t find with the rifle scope. I just listened and nodded a lot. She’d learned a lot of lessons in one hunting trip! I didn’t even mention her husband’s very ordinary and very capable 270 Winchester which had stayed home.

Does this make the 700 Sendero a poor rifle? Oh gosh no! It’s very good for the intended purpose - hunting from a blind, perhaps looking over a path or “sendero” cut in the brush - and placing a precision shot at several hundred yards. It’s essentially a sniper rifle for hunting. I had one in 7mm Remington Magnum for a few years, and it shot great but it wasn’t particularly enjoyable to carry in the hills all day.

It’s also similar to my much-appreciated old SWAT rifle, a Remington 700 with a varmint contour Krieger barrel, chambered in 308 Winchester and bedded into a McMillan stock. That rifle is still a favorite of mine, but not particularly easy to hike with or bring into action quickly at modest range.

Did they have a good time on the hunt? Yes. Did they bring home some really nice trophies? Yes. I applaud them for taking the trip, hunting, experiencing South Africa and enjoying. Was taking game far more difficult than it should have been, because of their choice of rifle? Yes, absolutely.

When choosing a rifle - consider the task and consider the shooter. The ability to get on target quickly and place a bullet or several into the vitals is vastly more important than how powerful the cartridge is or how accurate the rifle may be at 1,000 yards…

I’m a lifelong hunter, a firearms instructor, a USMC veteran and a retired SWAT cop. Shoot well!

Regards, Guy