The muzzle is touched off with a two-step crown to protect the lands and grooves.

Though I'm a big .270 Winchester fan, it isn't a caliber I would ordinarily think of when it comes to hunting in Africa. Osmosis, I suppose, had led me to believe that bigger is better in Africa. And having now been there twice, I can certainly tell you that most of the time, it is. Thirty caliber and up is what most African Professional Hunters recommend for plains game, and my choice in a .338 was a perfect one. But so was the .270. The dreamy African animals--like gemsbok, zebra and eland--are big and tough. But some of the smaller or more fragile animals such as impalas and even kudu don't demand the use of a fat bullet.

In all actuality, with a 150-grain A-Frame, even wildebeest and gemsbok can be taken cleanly with a well-placed .270 bullet. But I ended up taking both rifles to South Africa, and I decided to swap them out from time to time, knowing that the .338 was more than enough for anything I wanted to shoot and the .270 would still work if I placed my shots accordingly.

As it turned out, on the days that I carried the .270, it was the smaller animals that provided shot opportunities. The first was a very large, old impala ram that I shot at something like 100 yards at a fairly steep downhill angle. The old ram, with horns worn short by age, took one bullet quartering away. The A-Frame clipped one lung, and the ram required a follow-up shot--both bullets penetrated completely. The second impala was shot broadside, square behind the shoulder, at a distance of about 65 yards. That ram ran probably 30 yards and piled up, pierced on both sides.

The hunt took place with Harry Claassens Safaris (27-16-34-95-6166; www.harrysafaris.co.za), a respected PH who has access to several properties and just about every variety of game throughout the southern half of Africa. Long about the sixth or seventh day of the hunt, he and I were talking about the lack of warthogs on the property we were hunting. It was decided then that I would take a ride with another PH the following morning to an agricultural area where warthogs had become pests to the local farmers.

As soon as we pulled up to a dry riverbed that was several hundred yards wide running between two fields, we began seeing the stocky beasts scurrying around in the brush. We parked the safari car, I stoked up the High-Tech Customs .270, and we set out on foot.

A fluted bolt shank makes for less bearing surface between bolt and receiver and, ultimately, smoother cycling

At first, most of the warthogs we stalked up on were small boars or sows with piglets. We waded through them, and about eight or nine pigs later we ran into a young boar that stood facing us at about 50 yards. Off shooting sticks, I placed the crosswire right at the bottom of the boar's brisket and squeezed off a good shot. That boar turned and ran off into the brush with a cloud of white, powdery earth in its wake. Following closely behind it were our two trackers.

It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Warthogs, not unlike wild hogs here in this country, can take a bullet through the heart and still manage to cover 100 yards or more before they expire. Likewise, they don't often bleed very well, leaving little sign by which to track them. So while it was a sight to behold, watching our trackers run off through the brush was entertaining but totally understandable; the warthog made it at least 125 yards with a 150-grain A-Frame centered perfectly through its chest. Had I made the same shot with the .338, I doubt the outcome would have been any different.

Even at 50 yards I wouldn't say that was an easy shot, which brings up another impressive point about the rifle: It flat-out shoots. I have yet to own a rifle other than this one that shoots so well with so many different bullets. Just a couple of days ago I had it to the range to gather some more information for this story. Through it I shot some of the A-Frame handloads I had left over from Africa, a half-box of Federal Premiums loaded with 150-grain Nosler Partitions and a half-box of Hornady Light Magnum 130-grain InterBonds. All three of them shot well under an inch at 100 yards. I've also shot Winchester's 150-grain Partition Golds and handloaded 130-grain Swift Sciroccos through the rifle with similar results.

This warthog boar was taken with a single shot through the brisket and into the heart, but it still managed to run better than 100 yards through the African bush.

The least-accurate loads I've shot through this rifle--Remington Premier AccuTips--still managed an inch and a quarter and worked quite well on a wild hog I shot in California two summers back. The first shot was perfectly broadside at about 150 yards, but I hit the pig too far back. As it ran off toward the top of the ridge, I took a second shot and missed. Then the pig paused just shy of the top of the ridge, and a third shot anchored it where it stood. Follow-ups were critical after the first botched shot--the smooth stroke of the fluted bolt certainly helped me get them off quickly.

Having shot a couple of his rifles over the years now, one thing that I have come to understand is that Rich Reiley is not a slap-them-together gunmaker. He's a shooter, a hunter and, above all, a perfectionist. He's not interested in assembly lines. He's only interested in making one rifle at a time and to have it work to the best of its abilities. He likes to build a basic rifle that is beyond basic in performance. And best of all, he'll build you exactly what you want, whether it's a monstrous .416 that weighs less than the average deer rifle or the perfect little .270 that you've been waiting for all your life. You decide what you want in a rifle; the only thing Reiley does is make it perform to your expectations.