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This trio will work on any game, anywhere. Whether your quarry sports fangs, tusks, or claws, one of these rifles will help you prevail and live to tell the tale.
Montana Rifle Company Dangerous Game Rifle
$2,299 / montanarifleco.com
The DGR employs Montana Rifle’s double square bridge Mauser action, designed and built in its Kalispell factory. Integral dovetail mounts are machined into the receiver, and the oversize bolt makes it easy to operate the action quickly. The action is bedded, and dual cross bolts prevent powerful cartridges from splitting the walnut stock. The sights are sturdy and effective, and adjustable for both windage and elevation. There is nothing particularly fancy about the look of this rifle, but it’s ultra-reliable and extremely accurate. It is available in .338 Lapua, .378 Wby. Mag., .416 Rigby, .460 Wby. Mag., and .505 Gibbs, and in the rarefied world of purpose-built dangerous-game guns, it is an affordable option.
CZ-USA American Safari Magnum
From $1,215 / cz-usa.com
Based on CZ’s stout 550 Mauser-style magnum action, the American Safari rifle comes with express sights with two folding leaves, a two-position safety, and a single-set trigger. The oversized magazine well allows for increased capacity, and like the DGR, the American Safari has dovetail scope mounts machined directly into the receiver for maximum strength and reliability. Dual crossbolts in the Turkish walnut stock help secure the action. It is chambered in .375 H&H Magnum, .416 Rigby, .458 Win. Mag., and .458 Lott.
Rigby Big Game Rifle
From $13,558 / johnrigbyandco.com
Rigby is back in London, and the company is once again producing some of the best bolt-action dangerous-game guns. Mauser supplies the actions, and you can choose between a single square bridge version chambered in either .416 or .450 Rigby or a double square bridge, machined to accept optic mounts, in either .375 H&H Magnum or .416 Rigby. Considering the price, this isn’t a rifle for everyone, but considering you get your name in the company’s ledger, which dates back to the 1700s, this is a tempting dangerous-game entry.
Federal Premium Safari Cape-Shok Woodleigh Hydro Solid
From $120 / federalpremium.com
Traditionally, solid bullets have been designed for straight, deep penetration, an important factor when hunting heavy game. Traditional solids, though, generate less hydrostatic shock than expanding bullets and create small wound channels. Federal’s new Safari ammunition loaded with Woodleigh Hydro Solids was designed to penetrate while generating significant shock. A cavitation ring in the nose of the bullet “cores” through the target and creates a pressure ring that allows the bullet to penetrate while generating a wider wound channel and increasing shock.
Cape buffalo photograph by Alamy