GIANT KILLERS

We were preparing for our first Cape buffalo safari—a seven-day jaunt to the famous Selous Reserve of southern Tanzania—busily working up handloads for the rifles. The game plan was that I’d be using my Winchester Model 70 in .416 Remington Magnum, and my father would be borrowing my .375 H&H Magnum.

As I pulled up to Ol’ Grumpy Pants’ house, where we have a very convenient 100-yard shooting range, he informed me he’d made a decision. “I’m borrowing a Winchester in .458 Win. Mag.; the components and dies are in the basement. Let me know when you’ve got it grouping.”

So began my trials and tribulations with the .458 Winchester Magnum, the first of a number of .45-caliber stopping rifle cartridges that would cross my path during the next 15 years.

Prior to this, my experience had been limited to the .45-70 Government, as my dad had purchased a centennial Model 1886 Browning when I was young, and I’d helped him develop a beefy handload for a bison hunt in South Dakota in ’03. That rifle, with its curved steel butt plate culminating in two lovely sharp points, was unforgettable from the bench, as the velocities broke 1,800 fps and then 1,900 fps with 400-grain bullets.

But every journey begins somewhere, and my experience with .45-caliber rifles has certainly grown over the years. Let’s take a look at