Rifle failures... hmm, perhaps malfunction would be a better term. One thing I would stress is PREMIUM BULLETS! I've had "regular" bullets let me down too much. With all you invest in a trip saving ten or twenty dollars on a box of ammo is insane - don't do it! Even on light game this is important. I've had non-premium bullets (.308) totally disintegrate and (8mm) totally fail to expand on impala. Bonded core, controlled expansion bullets tailored to your chambering and velocity are considerations not to be taken lightly. The time to do this preparation is before leaving home!

Other "small things" can be potential disasters as well. Last year I originally intended to take my 30-06 for plains game but changed my plan out of fear of complications with the new FCA in licensing my 30-06 and my wife's .308 - both thirty caliber. So I took a 7x64Breneke. The 7x64 was carefully prepared and sighted in at home... in 40F degree weather. On arrival in camp the rifle refused to print any two shots consistently, and I mean all over the beer box target backing! Much tinkering and nearly half my ammo later I slid a hundred Rand note between the barrel and fore end. It stopped abruptly at the sling stud! The more than 40F degree temperature difference was enough to cause the stud to contact the free-floated barrel and cause havoc. I screwed it out 1/2 turn and fired three shots into a clover-leaf!