Mozambique Pistol Safari After Action Report

I am new to the site, but apparently jumped right into the middle of a bullet selection debate. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the excellent discussion on bullets.

I took two Cape Buffalo with a Freedom Arms Model 83 in .454 Casull using 300 Gr. XTP-Mag bullets over 30.0 Gr. H-110 in Starline brass and CCI-450 primers for 1609 FPS at the muzzle. I posted the reasons for choosing that bullet in the other string, so I will not repeat that here. Suffice to say the bullets worked just fine on both buffalo.

Several members asked me to post pictures of the other trophies taken on that safari, so here they are. Thanks!

Buffalo Number One taken with the FA and the above load in the Zambezi River swamp in Mozambique

Buffalo number two taken in the same swamp with the same load

Common Nyala taken in Coutada 11 of Mozambique with the same load and same pistol

Chobe Bushbuck taken with the same load and same pistol

Wart hog taken with a 125 yard shot in the late evening with the same load and same pistol

A very nice Natal Red Duiker taken with the same load and same pistol. This is clearly way more gun than needed, but the shot was a long one through the forest and the better scope was needed.

The second of three pistols was a Dan Wesson model 15-2 topped with a Trijicon MRO red dot scope in .357 Magnum. The load used was 157 Gr. RNFP bullet over 15.0 Gr. 2400 with CCI-550 primers for 1369 FPS at the muzzle. This load shot tiny little groups.

This very old Blue Duiker ram was a very challenging shot through the forest. Note that the pistol is as big as the duiker.

Here is a massive Livingstone Suni, which is a top twenty (overall) SCI trophy.

Wow what a great safari. Congratulations! Some super trophies.

One question...Did you get full penetration on the Red Duiker! Just stirrin the pot!!!!LOL

This Klipspringer was taken in the Limpopo region of South Africa after leaving Mozambique. I made a bad shot which required a second shot on this little guy.

The third pistol was an XP-100 in .284 Winchester. This is the second trip to Africa for this bad boy. The load is 160 Gr Nosler Partition over 54.0 Gr. Reloader 19 and CCI-200 primers for 2556 FPS from the muzzle.

The Common Oribi in Mozambique are not big, but they are plentiful. This ram didn't even make the minimum for the SCI book. I am trying to take the "Tiny Ten" with a pistol, so I went ahead and took an Oribi figuring I could take a bigger one at a future date if I wanted to.

I'm particularly proud of the long, running shot I took on this Common Reedbuck.

I made a very poor shot with my XP-100 on this Lichtenstein Hartebeest (I didn't call the distance correctly), which caused us to track him all day long. I carried the FA Model 83 with me during the tracking phase (hole in the face is from the FA Model 83 while it was running), and my PH actually took him down finally with a rifle. I'm not sure this one really counts as a pistol kill, but he's beautiful.

The last night I was in South Africa before flying back to the states I took this Steenbok a little after midnight with a long shot through a harvested sunflower field.

I also took a hippopotamus and a Limpopo Bushbuck on this safari, but those were taken with rifles, so I didn't post their pictures.

Thanks everyone for asking about this safari. It was the hunt of a lifetime!

Excellent hunt.............. great game.... beautiful handguns

Most excellent!

SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR! You Sir, have taken some mighty fine handgunned trophies!!!!!! A private individual that worked to pay for his own hunt, without any "sponsor" money....that's the hunt recap that I really find credible....Just Awesome Jay!!!!

Love that Dan Wesson........................

Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me and I truly appreciate it. I am now broke, but I am happy!

And I love the XP-100!!!

Who built it?

Broke but Happy could be used as our motto!

Awesome hunt. Good job, no great job!

Who has given us a sponsored. Hunt report from africa?

😂😂😂😂 I never said anyone did, but why does that really matter to you? I don't take any paid sponsors recommendations for the truth....guns, cars, toothpaste, or a million other things. I've always felt this way about a lot of things. It's kinda funny when I post something 😂😂😂 it's WHAT? WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? 😂😂😂 I guess unless you're sponsored by a gun or bullet company 😉 It's not you 😉😬 if I was paid by a gun or bullet company, I couldn't expect anyone to truthfully believe my results...it would be like biting the hand that fed me

Believe it or not, I picked it up in a pawn store (the one on that TV show Cajun Pawn Stars in Alexandria, LA). The barrel was marked .284 Winchester, but when I got it home, it would not chamber .284 Winchester. It turned out to be chambered in 6.5-284 Norma. So, I removed the barrel and put a 7mm Remington Model 7 barrel on it. I then cut the length down, installed the muzzle brake, and cut a .284 Winchester chamber. It shoots lights out!

I get that. The insinuation is that someone has been. Not sure if someone, in this case you, knows something i dont.

Weve all been burned by all the sub moa rifles that wont shoot two inch groups.

oh yea.........

oh yea again..............

Excellent!
A trip of a lifetime.
Very happy for you.

Just so no one misunderstands what I meant by what I wrote...I wrote it/said it with NO underlying meaning, other than I....don't....take....the....word...of....paid....spokespeople 😉 They are like a used cars salesmen to me. In all honesty and with a smile (just so everyone understands my tone) on my face 😬 Only someone that is paranoid would think I was implying anything else, and that unfortunately is their problem and not mine. I meant exactly what I said....not anything more or less 😁...I know I like Mopar cars, heavy metal, American Bulldogs, and feisty petite women with long hair 😜 You might know that, you might not 🤔😋

Some very nice trophy's for sure .Very good write up also, and thank you for your honesty on the range judging error and the bad shots. We all make a few of those but you hung in there and finished what you started showing great respect for the animals you took. WELL DONE!!!

Absolutely awesome Jay! What a trip that would have been. I hope to make it there someday.

Well sometimes inquiring minds want to know😀


Ya know the reat of the story😛

I love you!!!!!

My general opinion of the advertising and gun writing industry.

😁😁😁 Zee, you know I'm just a call it like I see it kind of guy...I've always been quite of a skeptic...I believe stuff, just after I see it for myself...I guess I'm kinda hardheaded 👲🏼👷🏼 I'm just glad we have a new handgun hunter on the site "dropping knowledge" 💪🏼 I'm thoroughly Impressed 😬

I have seen blatant cases of absolute bs throughout the whole industry. The exception i feel is the handgun writers. Some are more knowledgeable but guys like taffin, hampton, prasac, bruce towsley, and a couple others i dont see writing bs. I might not always agree but its not selling out and selling bs. This does not mean the rest of the industry isnt rife with it. I saw one of the most egregious cases unfold before my very eyes twice!!! I cant stand the ?i only trust myself to knight rifles until im sponsored by tc? kinda crap

Birds of a feather flock together.

Absolutely impressive pistol safari jdhunt3!

Thanks for sharing your hunt! I agree there is something special about that hartebeest, though all the trophies are magnificent.

Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me and I truly appreciate it. I am now broke, but I am happy! [/quote]

JD: WAIT UNTIL THE TAXIDERMIST GETS HOLD OF YOU, THEN YOU WILL KNOW WHAT BROKE IS.

JD: OUTSTANDING BUFFALOS, WARTHOG, NYALA AND CHOBE BUSHBUCK! I HUNTED THAT AREA OF MOZAMBIQUE IN 2001, NOT LONG AFTER THEIR CIVIL WAR ENDED, AND THE GAME HERDS WERE JUST STARTING TO COME BACK. IT WAS QUITE AN ADVENTURE, EVEN DID A 2 NIGHT SPIKE CAMP ON THE EDGE OF THE SWAMP WHILE WE WERE AFTER HIPPO, AND THE MOSQUITOS WERE THERE BY THE GILLIONS! DID YOU SHOOT THE BUUFS ON THE GRASSY WET PLAINS OR ON ONE OF THE ISLANDS?

I accept only science (repeatable evidence on command) and tangible information (fact at hand) with a smattering of opinion for flavor.

All else is here say.

Tell me what happened. Show me what happened. Detail HOW it happened. If you can?t do that. You don?t care enough About the truth and I must assume you have ulterior motive. And what you say is nothing but invalidated (unprovable) here say. The other options are laziness or apathy.

I?ve seen your bovine bash ?autopsies? first hand. Inconclusive! You have someone else butcher your animal and you find the bullet on the off side. Having no clue in reality what exactly it passed through, hit, or damaged. You look simply at the bullet and the end result. Your after death distances (shooting a dead animal) and bullet recovery processes are undocumented and flawed.

That, to me, is inconclusive data that you failed to properly document for all to see. You post a pic of a bullet and nothing else. Which allows others who thirst for knowledge and question your results and your methods.

If you want to prove or disprove something, you have to leave no doubt as to your methods and results.

I say this not as an antagonist. But, as one who wants to help you along your path.

I trust neither YOU.......nor MAX...........because neither of you have provided the evidence to waiver otherwise.

I don?t care how many books or articles you?ve written. If you cannot prove with facts, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that which you are stating........in truth.......you are presenting here say. Opinion. Unsubstantiated evidence.

My job is facts. Just the facts. Opinion and here say have no relevance.

Tell me what happened. Show me what happens. Make me a believer.

If I have a gripe about this forum.........it?s too much ass kissing and back patting with not enough factual evidence. You guys suck the butt of those gone by or living today without saying...........what have you done for me lately!!! What can you prove?!!!!

I love this place for its ideology but detest it for its practice. A bunch of whiners that cry about not being treated fairly and yet present no scientific facts to catapult their case into the next generation.

Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. This forum........as a whole......is living in the past. And therefore........doomed.

It will be interesting to see how this post is received. Either with distain and I will be banned. Or, with understanding and soul searching to progress into the future and spark a new generation. The ball is in your court. What will you do? Prove the tangible or wallow in the speculative?

It?s yours to win or lose.

I have a saying........I trust none but the dead. Because I know how they started and finished. If you are living. And fail to present the facts, I must therefore question your motives and results.

We are on the same team. Just fighting the good fight with different methods.

Truth or Dare?

Mr. Hunt, congrats on an awesome handgun Safari. You took some beautiful trophies. Although I consider all handgun kills trophies, that nyala is a real eye-popper! Thanks for sharing you hunt and welcome to HHM!

Well, i dont take anything any which way. It seems you let this sit inside of you for quite sometime. Remember. You showed up at the end on the last two animals taken. That said i do appreciate your point but it seems a bit late and u can and imho should have taken this on the side. U could contact me or max anytime. Theres much more in the way of photos and necropsy findings you werent present for. You got to miss us picking thru vitals and guts the first few days. U mustve missed the part examining max?s buffs heart and lungs. Mustve missed the hours spent digging and deboning craigs buffs shoulders. I dont think you should be banned but perhaps a separate thread. Maybe this year you can show up, shoot something and show everyone how its done. You were present for a very very short period of time, and quite frankly you may have forgotten the time spent by you and my cousin investigating the watusi shot with his 357 and the 45/70. The hunter on that animal is new to the sport and quite frankly just wanted a meat animal. If the hunter isnt intersted in digging it apart then im not either. My buff was shot with several points to prove and was an aside to taking everything apart the way you do in your beautiful necropsy photos. You cant test penetration and check wound channels. Each animal has a point. Some just compare 2 different rounds. This thread is probably not the place to get into this so ill quit. Start a new one and/or call me. Preferably both.

Mark

Well Hell, This is like trying to follow a Banjo act or a stripper in Vaudeville.

First off JDHunt3 You are an excellent hunter in my book and I liked all your trophies. Your guns are cool and that DW is way cool. One heck of a snag on the XP100.
Did you do your own smithing on the XP? or have it done? Either way it turned out great. I like accurate pistols no matter what brand or what kind.
I got a lot of respect for a man that pays his own way and one who admits to a bad shot. You have done both.

I am glad to have you on this forum and hope you will share more and hope that there are more hunts in your Future. I agree that the Mozambique one, was a hunt of a lifetime,, but maybe a quarry in the States here might appeal.

jdhunt3,
Thanks for sharing pictures and stories of you hunt. Very impressive hunt and great guns. I really like your warthog, but all your trophies are impressive. Look forward to more posts in the future.

Hey guys...PLEASE keep this to JD`s hunt.....thanks

:thumbup:

My bad.

Rey, I was also there in 2001 but on the other side of the Limpopo River. My PH was an ex soldier & told us some funny stories.
Jay, I really have enjoyed going along on your hunt, you did a great job describing your shots, hits, misses, etc & I salute you buddy, you did well. What a great Safari!!!
Hand gun hunting is such a personal thing to each of us & sharing it the way you did was a real treat. It sure sounds like Africa is changing, if a guy wants to go he better start planning now.

Dick

👍

JD: A COUPLE OF MORE QUESTIONS:

1. THE 6.5/284 IS A HELLUVA ROUND, WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO REBARREL THE XP-100 TO 284 (YOUR IMPRESSIVE BALLISTICS MAY BE THE ANSWER, BUT I AM JUST WONDERING)?

2. WHAT WERE YOU USING FOR FIELD RESTS? THE 3 STICKS SHOOTING STICKS THEY HAND MAKE OVER THERE? OR DID YOU TAKE SOME WITH YOU? ALL OFF HAND? OR WHAT?

3. I MAY HAVE MISSED IT, BUT WHAT ARE THE SCOPES ON THE 454 AND THE XP-100?

Rey, I agree the 6.5/284 is a dandy in a single shot & is one of the 3 handguns I took to Africa. I also used it to take a Pronghorn in Wyoming at 444 yds with Big John Tarbet shooting it with the range finder. The wind got me a little bit.
Superb on deer with 120 gr Ballistic Tips. Looks like he has a dandy muzzle brake on there also. I always made my own brakes with no holes on the bottom, didn't like dirt flying up in my face.

Dick

I wondered if someone would ask me why I rebarreled. There really isn?t a good reason other than I thought I bought a .284 Winchester and I always wanted one. The 6.5-284 Norma is a great round, but I love 7 mm bullets, I own lots of 7 mm rifles, and I already own a 6.5 JDJ Contender, so I decided to go with .284 Winchester. The muzzle brake works great, so there is very little recoil.

I tried using the tripod sticks with he XP-100 in 2014 when I was in South Africa the first time. It really didn?t give me the stability I was looking for and I knew I?d have to do a lot better this time. I bought a PSR rest and it worked great. I practiced a lot before this safari and I was very happy with the rest. I took the stupid handle off the bottom of the rest because I never once used it in the field when I was practicing.

The FA has a discontinued Bushnell Elite 3200 2-6x32 EER scope. This is my favorite pistol scope and I buy every used one I can find that seems to be in good shape. The XP-100 has a Nikon Force XR 2.5-8x28 scope on it. I don?t like it as much as the Bushnell, but the glass is very clear and I wanted more than 6X for the longer pistol.

This piques my interest in getting an XP-100 again. Thought about it long ago, but never did it. I'm finally getting into long range shooting with a 7mm rifle with some help from a gentleman from this forum. An XP-100 would be a fun addition once I get the rifle project completed!

Go with the .284 Win and you can use the same bullets as your 7 Mag.

Why not go with 7mm in the XP-100 with a muzzle brake? I like having things do more than one job. If I can use the same cartridge in the XP as I use in the rifle, I'd like to do that. However, I know NOTHING about the 284, so I guess I've got some homework.

Sorry, guess this is off topic for this thread.

Full length cartridge in a short action. Won?t be able to extract a live round without removing the bolt. Maybe not even a spent case.

But hay, nothing says you can?t. As long as you know the size limitation of your action.

AH!!! And THAT would be a good reason to go with 284!!

Love the 284 Winchester in the XP-100

It's now officially on the list!

Mine has a Holland Radial Baffle brake with 162 and recoils is not worthy of talking about.
I use a rifle scope on mine.

Wow! Yup-- gotta get one. I'm sure we'll be talking....

Ernie, if I?m not mistaken, you use rifle scopes on most of your long pistols. Correct? I?m interested in trying this because, as you know, it can be a bear to find game in an EER scope when things are happening fast. Do you just creep up on the pistol with a rifle scope?

Ernie-- what is that setup your XP is resting on beside the antegoat?

Give me a call 307-257-7431 and I will answer your questions quicker and not take away form this thread.
I can talk faster than I can type

Sir... Congrats! on your successful handgun safari. You have some great trophies and memories.

Those are some fine trophies, Sir.

Nice Trophy's. I use the same 454 Casull load in my Super Redhawk.

Wow, what a trip! Thanks for taking the time to post.