Best Caliber for plainsgame in Africa ? Your opinion

Well the classic answer we read all the time is 'the one you shoot the most accurately'. There is a lot of truth in that sentence but as many of us here know, it is not always that simple.

As stated before all those calibres are capable with correct projectile choice, shot placement and in most environments.

I went with the various 7mm's. I don't like a lot of recoil so I shoot a 7x57 very well. I've also had a lot of success with a .308W on plains game and less satisfying success with a 9.3x62 because of poor (non expanding) SN projectile choice. I'll never take advice again without testing on something first.

If you are a trophy hunter and just have to take the first shot presentation given to you then yes, the .375H&H is the best choice. If you are in open country like the grassveldt then the 300 magnums will work a little better.

Give me my 7x57 with a conventional 154 or 175 projectile. I'll need a bit of time to pick my shots but if the range is long or close it will work for me.

Hi , I think there is too much emphasis on accuracy. We are talking about hunting rifles fired offhand quickly. MOA means jack in this situation. If you can hit a dinner plate offhand at 100 yards, you'll collect your trophy or meat. I have a few pet hates, ugly rifles and average scopes. I have always had Leupold Vari- X111, VX-111 and VX-3, That is until I bought a Zeiss Conquest. I was astounded how good these scopes are. Today the Leupolds have gone and all my rifles have Zeiss Victory Diavari and Zeiss Conquest scopes. For my 62 year old eyes the image is brilliant and either are the best low light scopes I have used. The Victory Diavari is awesome. I'm set in my ways, for me it is Weatherby Mark Vs, Winchester Model 70s, CZ550 American Classics, Warne Quick Detach Mounts, Zeiss Scopes, Svord Knives. I don't need anything else.

BTT.

True. And I'm kicking myself for having held off too long on this one piece I saw at the same gunshop. When I got back from Iraq in early 2007, I found the shop had a number of guns from an estate sale. Over a few months I picked up two of them, a Remington Model 141 pump action .22 LR and a Sako Riihimaki in .222 Remington. As I seem to recall, the 141 set me back $350. I snatched it up when a friend of mine in Colorado told me they were going for $600 easy at local gun shows there if in good shape. The one I bought was pristine. The Sako was something like $650. It was a fair price, but I see them a lot for more money now. Again, in like new condition. GREAT little varminter piece!

The one I missed was from the same estate sale. After spending what I did I didn't dare buy yet another gun. When I finally decided to look at it again, it was gone. This was a commercial Mauser in .350 Norma Magnum! That would have been a real thumper for Africa! Then again, it was probably a bit much for me, being I'm kind of recoil sensitive.

Code4. In November 2009 I won the bid for a rifle on Gunbroker.com. It's a Ruger M77 in 7x57 Mauser which is a sweet little thing I'm looking forward to hunting white tail with this year. It has a 21 inch barrel and nice custom walnut stock. I topped it off with a Burris Euro-Diamond scope, 3-10x40mm electrodot. I had considered bringing that to RSA for a hunt, but came across this lovely barreled action in .30-06 and decided to go with the additional umph that that caliber gives.

Certainly a .308 isn't shoddy either. I was thinking about one, but saw this .30-06 and went with that. In fact, I bought that on Gunbroker.com as well.

Beau416...

I was blow away by the Zeiss compact binoculars I was looking at several years back. I looked through them, and some Swarovskis that cost double. Oddlly enough, it seemed the Zeiss looked clearer to me. I asked another person shopping for binoculars to look at the two and tell me which he thought was clearer to him. Darned if he didn't think the same thing! Without knowing the prices on each he picked the Zeiss Conquest.

When it comes to scopes, the Swarovskis I saw were lovely. But the binoculars didn't seem as good as the Zeiss. I might just top the .30-06 off with a Zeiss or Swarovski.

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Originally Posted by ILCAPO

Beau416...

I was blow away by the Zeiss compact binoculars I was looking at several years back. I looked through them, and some Swarovskis that cost double. Oddlly enough, it seemed the Zeiss looked clearer to me. I asked another person shopping for binoculars to look at the two and tell me which he thought was clearer to him. Darned if he didn't think the same thing! Without knowing the prices on each he picked the Zeiss Conquest.

When it comes to scopes, the Swarovskis I saw were lovely. But the binoculars didn't seem as good as the Zeiss. I might just top the .30-06 off with a Zeiss or Swarovski.

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For whatever my opinion is worth to you, I don't see a better buy for the $ than the Zeiss Conquest 3-9x that can be had from Cabelas for $399. They've been at that price for sometime now. If you get those occasional flyers from Cabelas where if you spend X dollars you take Y dollars off you can really get a very sweet scope for a fantastic price.

I've had Nikon, Zeiss and one Leupold scope and get along with all of them, but find the Zeiss Conquest the best for the dollar. If I had Swarovski money however, I'd probably go that route or even the higher end Zeiss line. The poster a few posts back that said something along the line of getting a Kudu at last light has a very good point. The overall cost of the scope pales in comparison to what you pay for a single trip.

Thanks Phil.

Being military, I was able to buy my Zeiss Conquest binoculars directly from Zeiss at a discount. Now that I'm retired, I'm not sure that still applies. But I believe the price on the Conquest 3-9X for me was around $289. I didn't buy it because I was called up and heading to Iraq, so I bought a pair of compact binoculars instead. Even with the discount, they were $510. But that was better than the outside price of $650.

Interestingly enough, while conducting advanced convoy training in the desert of NW Kuwait, I was repeatedly asked by the senior officers in charge if they could borrow my binoculars. Even though they were compacts, they blew away the Army issued binoculars in quality. Everyone wanted MY binoculars. : )

$289 would have been a steal! I can buy into the binoculars too. I have a pair of 15x Zeiss binocs, also Conquest series I think. I picked them up for $500 NIB on Ebay. I've picked out the ears of Coues deer at 400 yards with those. Spotted the little guys at over 1000 yards with them too. Would they have been a bit more clearer and/or brighter with Swarovski's? Perhaps, but not $1500 worth.

Zeiss - great optics but had two fail with clients on 338 and 300 mags.
Leupold - My personal favorite. Never had a problem.
If you have to spend more money then consider Schmidt & Bender.