John,

I was thinking about the time period when you are nearing a safari (say about 3-6 months before leaving?). Of course, if one goes to africa every year (or more) than I guess you can bring "time between safaris" into the equation. Unfortunatly, few of us go that often!

Although I feel that all shooting is worthwhile, I personally think that shooting as much as possible (with relevant drills, and not from a bench) with the rifle you will be using on the hunt is better than with other rifles. For example; I've seen people shortstroke their longer bolts when stressed, after having shot their other guns which had much shorter bolts in smaller caliburs for awhile.

In my 375H&H I use cheap Hornady 220 grain bullets (the flat nosed ones designed for 375win) for practice loads, and have in the last week shot about 150 rounds. I'll be going thru another 100 this weekend, and will most likely continue with this during most weekends until I leave for Zim in the end of June. I basically did the same the 2 other times I've gone to africa specifically to hunt. Also because it's fun and I like to shoot of course.

I do see that it would get a bit expensive shooting "tons" of ammo in a big double, but I wonder if a SxS shotgun might be a good way to practice without the high cost?

Erik