Hey Bwana,

I never claimed to have used one on safari....... but I have used them (albeit a long time ago) at a few range days when I lived in the UK. The ones I shot were in a variety of calibres but were pretty much brand new and out of the box. Most if not all made some noise when being cocked but more importantly I found they took a little more time to cock than a rifle (double or bolt) took to release the traditional safety catch. I've also had a few clients who have used them on safari.......

I'm not interested in turning this into a pissing contest, you're free to decide on any rifle you like, as are we all....... but personally, I'll stick to my bolt action .500 Jeffery. It's served me very well indeed in the past and I see no reason why it shouldn't continue to do so well into the future. If I ever changed it, the only thing I'd swap it for would be a traditional good quality double such as a Rigby.

As far as experience of short range charges are concerned click here: http://www.kuduland.com/hunting-in-tanzania.htm

The Buff at the top was stopped at 7 yards, the Leopard at the bottom right was stopped at 6 yards, the Lion was a camp raider and not exactly charging but was making a bloody nuisance of itself and I whacked that one at slightly less than 20 yards.

I appreciate I've posted the link before and apologise for taking up bandwidth - but those particular pics make a point and by using the link rather than posting individual pictures it makes it harder for folks to take them without permission.