Hunting Africa - which rifle to take?

George2014 · Feb 18, 2014

Hi All,
I am new to africanhunting.com and am going on my first hunting trip to south africa this year. I have been studying this websites feeds and forums and found it very informative and helpful. Thank you.
I do have a question on rifle selection. I am hunting Kudu, Eland, Zebra, Gems, Lion and hog.
I have a 30-06 that i use for deer, its my go to rifle. I also have a .300 weatherby mag which may be more suited to the larger game and cat. I have read the .300 can be fast, I was intending to pair it up with a 200 grain nosler partition.
Anyone have experience with the 300 in africa.
I am also considering a .375 H&H as it seems to be the most popular calibre for this game selection.
For the cat i was also contemplating a 450 sabatti double, but would have to be a <50yard shot.
Decisions, decisions..... Has anyone any opinions they would be willing to share.
George...

SafariA · Feb 18, 2014

The 375 would be an allround good choice for everything !!!! I suggest you take the gun you are going to be most comfortable with !

bluey · Feb 18, 2014

gday George welcome to a.h mate
asking that question is like going to a AA meeting and asking the members whats your favourite drink ?
im 30.06 fan also .
but the 300 is the plains game firearm of choice ,from what im reading on here .and what im taking in july.
my wife will proberly take her 7mm

the 375 would more than likely be your p.h s preference .especially with the cat .though the 450 would be cool .
the 300 with 220 partitions will be a winner ,mate .
hope you get all answers George , glad you joined up bloke .
have a great African advrture, hope to read about when you get back , don't forget the pictures .

bassasdaindia · Feb 18, 2014

George2014 said:
Hi All,
I am new to africanhunting.com and am going on my first hunting trip to south africa this year. I have been studying this websites feeds and forums and found it very informative and helpful. Thank you.
I do have a question on rifle selection. I am hunting Kudu, Eland, Zebra, Gems, Lion and hog.
I have a 30-06 that i use for deer, its my go to rifle. I also have a .300 weatherby mag which may be more suited to the larger game and cat. I have read the .300 can be fast, I was intending to pair it up with a 200 grain nosler partition.
Anyone have experience with the 300 in africa.
I am also considering a .375 H&H as it seems to be the most popular calibre for this game selection.
For the cat i was also contemplating a 450 sabatti double, but would have to be a <50yard shot.
Decisions, decisions..... Has anyone any opinions they would be willing to share.
George...

in SA it depends on which area you will be hunting in,if you are in the Northern part where the bush is thicker then the 375 is perfect.However if you are hunting in the Eastern Cape area where most of the hunting is longer shooting then the 300 will be a better option.

James.Grage · Feb 18, 2014

Hi George

Welcome AH.

I would travel with 2 rifles. The 375 being #1 and for your second rifle either the 30-06 or 300 weatherby mag. Your second rifle should be one you are comfortable with to make precision shots out to 200 yards.

good luck

Big5 · Feb 18, 2014

James.Grage said:
. . . . I would travel with 2 rifles. The 375 being #1 and for your second rifle either the 30-06 or 300 weatherby mag. Your second rifle should be one you are comfortable with to make precision shots out to 200 yards

Welcome George . . . . personally, I wouldn't consider going without two rifles and the above is very good advice.

Good hunting!

Nyati · Feb 18, 2014

Welcome to AH, George !

bassasdaindia · Feb 18, 2014

apologies , welcome

Red Leg · Feb 18, 2014

I would be surprised, even if behind a fence in SA, that anyone will allow you to poke that cat with a .30 cal of any persuasion. It is illegal to use anything less than a .375 on lion virtually anywhere they are found free range - and I would suggest, very unwise as well. So assuming you must use your .375 for the cat, the question is whether to bring a second rifle for PG. The .375 will serve admirably (particularly with 270 gr bullets) as will either of your thirties.

George2014 · Feb 18, 2014

Gentlemen... thank you all for your comments and valuable information. Looks like i have some thinking to do as far as calibre mix. I'm leaning towards the .300 paired with the .450 for the cat. But i may end up caving in and getting a 375 as an all rounder. I have my eye on an nice one, just have to justify it in my head. Maybe i'll get it as a gift for the wife... and then teach her to shoot

bassasdaindia · Feb 18, 2014

George2014 said:
Gentlemen... thank you all for your comments and valuable information. Looks like i have some thinking to do as far as calibre mix. I'm leaning towards the .300 paired with the .450 for the cat. But i may end up caving in and getting a 375 as an all rounder. I have my eye on an nice one, just have to justify it in my head. Maybe i'll get it as a gift for the wife... and then teach her to shoot

George get a 375 you won't regret having one for Africa,bring the 375 and the 300 and you will not be found wanting

George2014 · Feb 18, 2014

Hi Red leg,... I should have been clearer in my original post, I would be hunting a lioness not a male lion. Would the .375 still be the minimum for a lioness? or would the 300 with a good grain bullet suffice?

Thanks George

graybird · Feb 18, 2014

I'll be headed back over for my third trip in June. I'm planning on taking two rifles with me ... a 300 Win Mag with 180 grain Barnes TSX bullets and the second being a 375 H&H with 300 grain Hornady DGS and 300 grains Barnes TSX.

If I were in your shoes, I'd take a 375 or 416 caliber rifle specifically for the cat and either of the 30 caliber rifles for the PG.

Good luck with your choices, and enjoy it because it is part of the experience!

George2014 · Feb 19, 2014

graybird said:
I'll be headed back over for my third trip in June. I'm planning on taking two rifles with me ... a 300 Win Mag with 180 grain Barnes TSX bullets and the second being a 375 H&H with 300 grain Hornady DGS and 300 grains Barnes TSX.

If I were in your shoes, I'd take a 375 or 416 caliber rifle specifically for the cat and either of the 30 caliber rifles for the PG.

Good luck with your choices, and enjoy it because it is part of the experience!

Graybird, thank you for your response and recommendations. Looking at a possible 375 purchase with Winchester model 70 or the CZ American safari as options. Any comments on either and what do you currently own. The Blazers are not in my price range. BTW one of my favorite movies is 'Tombstone' which I believe is were your quote is from

Mtgoat · Feb 19, 2014

Welcome to AH.

I concur with all that's been said.

Last year, by about the 5th day of my safari, the conversation with my PH turned to guns. He felt very strongly that a 30.06 was not suitable for plains game. He insisted that you need to shoot a magnum caliber. On the other hand, a few months ago, in the SCI newsletter, there was a column by Craig Boddington that proposed that an '06 is perfectly fine for plains game.

I think that Bluey's AA analogy got it right. In the end, you need to make a big enough hole in the right spot. If you're a super marksman who can light the head of a match at 400 meters with a single shot, then you have more latitude in your choice of caliber. However, the bigger the animal, (perhaps) the bigger the caber. However, the more dangerous the game, definitely you want more power rather than less. For my lion hunt this year, I will be using a 416.

BTW - I am told that among lions, a captive bred female is the most dangerous. After all, they are the ones that do nearly all of the hunting.

Best of luck

graybird · Feb 19, 2014

George,

I don't won either of the those rifles you mentioned above. I mostly own Rugers and with the odd Mark V action thrown in the middle. Most of my rifles have had some type of alteration from factory, new barrels, bedding, truing the action, etc.

Having said all that, I own exactly one Remington and you guessed it, it is my 375 H&H. I had a Boyd's stock put on it and had it bedded and action trued. I shot this group with it on Sunday with 300 gr Hornady DGS bullets with Ramshot Hunter powder. I'm not sure of the speed because it was too windy for my chrony. Yet, I've ran this load thru Quickload and it states it is running 2659 fps. If it drops 100 fps over the chrony versus Quickload to the neighborhood of 2550 fps, I'll be a happy camper. It measured 0.563" MOA.

375HampHHunter800grRPbrass1x356-crimpFed215021614_zpseafe3479.jpg

I hope this helps!

And, you're exactly right, Doc Holliday at his finest!!!

Poucher · Feb 19, 2014

Welcome to AH !
If you donnot flinch the 375 HH or the Ruger is the best all around options and is fast enough with a 270 gr bullet to fly with a trayectory similar to the 30.06 with 180 gr bullet in orther to take PG up to 250 yards.
Better suited to engage big cats, eland, zebra and gems than a 300 mag.

Divernhunter · Feb 19, 2014

Most important is bullet placement.
I used a 338Win mag with 225gr Swift A-Frame bullets at 2843FPS for Kudu/Gemsbuck/Waterbuck/warthog(several)/Blue wildebeest(2)/Impala(2)/springbok/blesbok/monkey(20). All with one shot except the gemsbuck due to too high a first shot.
Not too much damage to the hide.
I took the animals from 135 to 480 yards. I was practiced.

My daughter used a 257Roberts with 120gr Swift A-Frame bullets at 2899FPS and shot at ranges from 120 to 410 yards. All of her animals were one shot kills. She took Kudu/Zebra/Red Hartebeest/warthog(several)/Impala(3).

There was no prolonged tracking as the farthest any animal went after being shot was 60 yards.
The PH's 8 year old son shot a special one horned Waterbuck with a 30-06 and a plain jane cup-n-core 150gr bullet. One shot 150 yards.
I took a 30-06 with 150gr Barnes TTSX bullets but never used it. I had no need as I was taking everthing quite well with the 338win mag.

The 30-06/300mag will take whatever plainsgame you hunt(not going to get into the lion part). Take what you are most comfortable with and shoot the best.
Shot placement is everything. Better to have 100-120gr of bullet in the proper place(heart/lungs and break a shoulder) than 500 grs missing or in the gut.
Normally the PH would have got us closer but since we were taking everything cleanly at longer range he wanted to make it more challenging. So we had longer and longer shots. It was fun and our shooting was spot-on which I can honestly say mine is not always that way. I had a good 11 days for shooting morning and afternoon every day.

bassasdaindia · Feb 19, 2014

Divernhunter said:
Most important is bullet placement.
I used a 338Win mag with 225gr Swift A-Frame bullets at 2843FPS for Kudu/Gemsbuck/Waterbuck/warthog(several)/Blue wildebeest(2)/Impala(2)/springbok/blesbok/monkey(20). All with one shot except the gemsbuck due to too high a first shot.
Not too much damage to the hide.
I took the animals from 135 to 480 yards. I was practiced.

My daughter used a 257Roberts with 120gr Swift A-Frame bullets at 2899FPS and shot at ranges from 120 to 410 yards. All of her animals were one shot kills. She took Kudu/Zebra/Red Hartebeest/warthog(several)/Impala(3).

There was no prolonged tracking as the farthest any animal went after being shot was 60 yards.
The PH's 8 year old son shot a special one horned Waterbuck with a 30-06 and a plain jane cup-n-core 150gr bullet. One shot 150 yards.
I took a 30-06 with 150gr Barnes TTSX bullets but never used it. I had no need as I was taking everthing quite well with the 338win mag.

The 30-06/300mag will take whatever plainsgame you hunt(not going to get into the lion part). Take what you are most comfortable with and shoot the best.
Shot placement is everything. Better to have 100-120gr of bullet in the proper place(heart/lungs and break a shoulder) than 500 grs missing or in the gut.
Normally the PH would have got us closer but since we were taking everything cleanly at longer range he wanted to make it more challenging. So we had longer and longer shots. It was fun and our shooting was spot-on which I can honestly say mine is not always that way. I had a good 11 days for shooting morning and afternoon every day.

338 win mag is a great caliber for SA bush hunting it can shoot long as well as it packs a good punch.

try the 250g

gxsr-sarge · Mar 13, 2014

I used my .375 H&H w/ Barnes TSX 300 grainers and shot Baboon, Impala, Leopard, Buffalo and Hippo ALL WITH THIS ONE RIFLE. Shots ranged from 80 yards to 200 yards in various positions, etc. They were all one shot take downs.

I was contemplating bringing a Krieghoff double .470 NE for the Buffalo hunt but decided on just bringing the .375 as I wanted to simplify my life and just bring one rifle. It's nice to only have to sight it and practice with one rifle.

Given your list, you have to use at least a .375 for the lion.

For my last "plains game only" hunt, I used a 300 Win Mag for Wart Hog (smallest) through Eland (largest) with Kudu, Gemsbok, Hartebeest, Wildebeest, etc. in the "middle". 11 total.

Hunting Africa - which rifle to take?

George2014

SafariA

bluey

bassasdaindia

James.Grage

Big5

Nyati

bassasdaindia

Red Leg

George2014

bassasdaindia

George2014

graybird

George2014

Mtgoat

graybird

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