Secondary PG Caliber

Ok, as a follow up to my "Caliber Pairing Help" post, the 7x57 I was drooling over was sold a few weeks before I finally decided to purchase it. While out shooting my 375 off sticks at a paper plate, I realized that I really love my M70, and would like another as my secondary rifle. Looking at Winchester's catalog, one of the caliber options is a .264 win mag. What do you guys think of this caliber for Kudu and Impala? Too small? I believe 6.5mm is the smallest caliber allowed by my PH (Marius at KMG).

Originally Posted by frog stealer

Ok, as a follow up to my "Caliber Pairing Help" post, the 7x57 I was drooling over was sold a few weeks before I finally decided to purchase it. While out shooting my 375 off sticks at a paper plate, I realized that I really love my M70, and would like another as my secondary rifle. Looking at Winchester's catalog, one of the caliber options is a .264 win mag. What do you guys think of this caliber for Kudu and Impala? Too small? I believe 6.5mm is the smallest caliber allowed by my PH (Marius at KMG).

frog stealer less drooling and more buying

Tell me about it!

Bigger is obviously better. But even a well placed 5.56mm will always beat a poorly placed 7.62mm. Some of my hunters have taken Kudu with .25-06. Ideal, no. Possible, yes.
Should something happen to the .375, we will get you into position to make that 6.5 work just fine.

Thanks for your input Marius.

If you load the 264 win mag with 120grain TTSX or 130 grain TSX bullets, whatever gives you the best accuracy, then I promise you they will do the job plenty if you do yours.
If I was bringing a gun with me when I go to Marius myself next year, I would bring my 6.5-06 loaded with 120 grain Barnes TTSX bullets.
I would without hesitation use it on Impala, Kudu, Wildebeest and more.
Swift A-frame is also a great bullet to use in the 264 win mag.

While not the ideal rifle it should get the job done. Something like the 7x57 or 308 Win would be better. You will be totally addicted to Africa after one trip!

step up to a 300 or 338...both are very good.

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking something in 7mm or 30cal would be a bit better, but I'm the type that would rather have the lesser known, odd calibers over something plain like a .308. However, I would also like to use my secondary rifle as my main gun for north american game, so maybe I should push that notion aside, and step up to something in 7mm or 30. All I have for centerfire rifles currently is my .375 and a .22-250 I just purchased for a really good price on black friday. Need something in between the two!

I have not shot many african animals, but I have shot rather many(400+) Roe deer, Fallow deer, Red deer and European Moose with lots of different cartridges and I have also witnessed a few hundred more deer shot by other hunters with different cartridges and I have seen no difference in killing ability and killing speed between 6.5x55, 7x57, 308, 30-06 or even 300 WSM(but I have only witnessed about 12 kills with a 300 WSM).

When moving up to a 338, 9.3x62 or a 375, then I have seen a significant difference.

I have also tracked down and killed more than 100 wounded deer with my tracking dogs.
In non of these the wounding had been a result of the cartridge used.
In almost all of the tracking jobs it was bad shot placement and in a few it was bullet failure that was the cause of wounding and not killing.
The bullet failures came 3 times from 308s and the bullet was Nosler partition from a really bad lot of factory ammo one year.
The last bullet failure was from a 30-06 Winchester Silver Tip that nearly exploded on a Moose shoulder and it just sent a few bone fragments into one of the lungs.
I tracked the small bull for about 600-700 meters till I could put him down in his bed.

I am sure others have different experiences than me, but because of my experience, I don't see a point of me owning a gun with a caliber between my 6.5-06 and my 375 Ruger.

Originally Posted by frog stealer

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking something in 7mm or 30cal would be a bit better, but I'm the type that would rather have the lesser known, odd calibers over something plain like a .308. However, I would also like to use my secondary rifle as my main gun for north american game, so maybe I should push that notion aside, and step up to something in 7mm or 30. All I have for centerfire rifles currently is my .375 and a .22-250 I just purchased for a really good price on black friday. Need something in between the two!

know where you are coming from with the calibre thing. my .350 rigby is great but you arent going to dig one up too easily i wouldnt have thought. i also fancy a .318 WR or .333 jeffery. cant you find another .275(7x57) anywhere?

Norwegianwoods,
Interesting post, and I will most definitely not see the amount of downed game you have. Thanks for the insight. Out of sheer curiosity, what differences do you see when moving up to the .338/9.3/.375 group in terms of killing ability? Do the animals typically not travel as far?

spike.t,
I've heard of those calibers you mention (.318 or .333), but I couldn't even begin to tell you what they look like, or what their performance numbers are. Guess I'm going to google them after work today! As for finding a 7x57, I guess it's not hard to find the old military rifles chambered in this caliber, but I've limited my search to only three rifles: CZ 550, Ruger M77, and an older Winchester M70. The one I was set up to buy was a very nice wood stocked M77, for around 500 bucks. Should've jumped on it while I was at the shop. I'd like to stay with the modern guns chambered in this round, because I know you can load them a little hotter, and get a bit better performance.

Originally Posted by frog stealer

Norwegianwoods,
Interesting post, and I will most definitely not see the amount of downed game you have. Thanks for the insight. Out of sheer curiosity, what differences do you see when moving up to the .338/9.3/.375 group in terms of killing ability? Do the animals typically not travel as far?

What I have generally experienced with the larger calibers when they hit where they should, then you get a much clearer shot reaction from the animal and on average they travel significantly less after the hit before they pile up. Specially from a 9.3x62 or a 375 in my experience.

Love the 7mm Rem Mag....anything in the 30 cal is good. They have so many bullet comibinations that work great.

Originally Posted by frog stealer

Norwegianwoods,
Interesting post, and I will most definitely not see the amount of downed game you have. Thanks for the insight. Out of sheer curiosity, what differences do you see when moving up to the .338/9.3/.375 group in terms of killing ability? Do the animals typically not travel as far?

spike.t,
I've heard of those calibers you mention (.318 or .333), but I couldn't even begin to tell you what they look like, or what their performance numbers are. Guess I'm going to google them after work today! As for finding a 7x57, I guess it's not hard to find the old military rifles chambered in this caliber, but I've limited my search to only three rifles: CZ 550, Ruger M77, and an older Winchester M70. The one I was set up to buy was a very nice wood stocked M77, for around 500 bucks. Should've jumped on it while I was at the shop. I'd like to stay with the modern guns chambered in this round, because I know you can load them a little hotter, and get a bit better performance.

go to www.kynochammunition.co.uk .it shows you the what they look like and their figures as loaded to original specs, its interesting as david loads for quite a few old calibres.

In regards to the 6.5/.26 caliber. My taxidermist was in Namibia earlier this year. He had his 6.5 WSM set up with 140 gr accubonds going fast. His girlfriend paid for the trip... Once there she decided she couldn't pull the trigger and told him he would have to shoot all on the list. He killed 31 animals. All w/ the 6.5 and he claimed all were 1 shot kills. 300-600 yards. 4 Kudu, 4 Wilderbeast, and 4 Gemsbuck included. I'd say you would be fine w/ a good bullet as long as you can shoot it well. Like Norweigenwoods says the TTSX is another great bullet. In a .264 you can really get it moving. Flat shooting and hard hitting. Best of luck. Bruce

Thanks to all for providing some feedback and information on this. I'm not set on a 264 yet, but I will keep it in my options pile. This site has been a great source of info for me!

frog stealer there are a couple of 7x57 from ruger and cz on gunsinternational website.

Thanks spike, I'll check them out. Never heard of that site before.

i put 7x57 in their search engine and it came up with a few