Der Jaeger,

With all the apparently phony, or at least innaccurate, hearsay so often repeated about the number of PH's recomending 375's I would have thought the ratio would have been lower.

My own experience regarding PH recomendations (for elephant) runs fairly similar to Boddington's polls, but with less representation of the bigger than 470 rifles. On the other hand, they often come with the caveat, "If the hunter is familiar with his rifle and accustomed to its recoil...," or similar. When the question of what if recoil is an issue is raised then I recall that the 375H&H and the 416's get about equal the number of secondary recomendations. The 375 because it is easy to shoot and the 416's because they offer more performance than the 375, if not as much as the 450's, and are viewed as a plausible compromise.

I've read Boddington's previous book "Safari Rifles." Good info for the most part, but he played favorites and did not do his research in several areas, 458wm performance being one that always comes to my attention. Every time I pull the trigger and see the results, either on the chronograph or on game, or speak with or read of a PH or former elephant culling officer who swears by it.

Fwiw in planning your first safari, while I have a three rifle "African battery," the bolt rifles acquired well in anticipation of my first safari, I can see no NEED for three rifles on a safari featuring dangerous game. I'm a life long East Coast US resident and our deer hunting doesn't often require longer range shooting, though it is there if one wants it. I've always preferred close hunting and shooting. So I'm no long range rifleman and don't see my practicle 200yds limit (a rare, unussually long shot for me) - which seems to match the 375H&H well - as a handicap, but I could easily imagine a fellow who could. So, for me, my double 458wm and a 375H&H, just in case of ammo or other trouble with the big rifle. The 375 offers excellent performance on everything from grysbok to eland and will do the job if required on the largest dangerous game, legally. Also, I'm a lefty, so the improbable odds of finding a left handed dangerous game rifle in a pinch are a strong factor in my choice.

The rifle that has stayed at home is a 30-06, which I think would be a great rifle to hunt almost anything in Africa with, but can't pull the double duty on DG (except leopard) that the 375 can.

JPK