Plains Game Magnum?

Plains Game Magnum, popular or


  • Total voters
    123
My own experience mirrors that of the Engineer, except I chose the classic 300 H&H as my Plains Game gun. Adequate for everything from Springbok to Kudu. I personally use a 375H&H for smaller and for larger game. Solids for the smaller, expanding for the larger, and a combination for the DG. Two gun battery has worked great for me.
 
Well if they want to hunt Africa they really need to get used to recoil. We can likely agree on that!
@phillip Glass
I tend to agree and disagree. If after DG then yes you need to get used to recoil but no for plains game including Hartman zebra and Oryx and even eland. My son used a mild mannered 308 for all his plains game and our PH said it would even be fine for Eland
Bob
 
@phillip Glass
I tend to agree and disagree. If after DG then yes you need to get used to recoil but no for plains game including Hartman zebra and Oryx and even eland. My son used a mild mannered 308 for all his plains game and our PH said it would even be fine for Eland
Bob
I originally bought my youngest son a .308 based on the fact that it was the best combination of power with low recoil. I used Chuck Hawks recoil table to learn what would be best for him. He’s now stepped up to a 7mm Mag.
Nothing wrong with a .308!
Philip
 
I watched my Kudu drop after a couple of stumbling steps with one shot from a .308
I agree with the placement thing.
I also agree that if you intend on anything bigger than Kudu, you might consider more boom for more confidence. Placement is the key, yes, but we’ve all been in situations where best placement is jeopardized by one thing or another.
 
"Whew, sure glad I left the 375 at home this time."
Said no one hunting African PG...ever.
 
People have managed OK with wooden stocks for some time. Good bedding should help. I'm told aluminum blocks are the most secure thing for wooden stocks. Changes in humidity is the thing that could hit a traditional wooden stock - just like a sudden change in humidity and temperature can destroy a lightly built guitar.

Personally, I quite like the look of laminate stocks. Depends on the colors, though.

A Tikka CTR will shoot well but I'm not in love with the look of the stock - and I live 100 km from the place where they are made.... Living in Europe, at least, I'd consider the Irish PSE Composites E-Lite carbon fibre stock for a Tikka: also on the light side but not quite as skinny as hunting stocks tend to be.

@phillip Glass
I tend to agree and disagree. If after DG then yes you need to get used to recoil but no for plains game including Hartman zebra and Oryx and even eland. My son used a mild mannered 308 for all his plains game and our PH said it would even be fine for Eland
Bob
Bob, it’s cause he hit’Em in the right spot like you told him. Simple stuff.

I said somewhere before the outfitters wife had 2 good size Kudu on display, taken with a .25-06. Probably suits her and her build and she shoots it well.
 
I've really tried to stay out of this :) but hey better than watching politics disquised as sports on the tube. The big problem to start with is the poll doesn't adequately cover some of the better choices. And the "other" category seems to force a choice lumping odd balls and exotics with common calibers like the 375 HH??? No matter

There are simply too many best fits and varying conditions and a wide range of hunter/shooter skills and experience to make much of a sensible recommendation. Anecdotes unfortunately tend to dominate these discussions. Anecdotes work fine for making aware "exceptions" but simply don't work at all for supporting the "rule".

IMO, most PG, with a couple of exceptions, are in the category of small deer to elk size for those with common US experience. Toughness is however another matter. I think for instance oryx are tougher than someone from the US would associate with common game in the 350 pound range. Both zebra and blue wildebeest seem much tougher than their weights would indicate. Most first time hunters underestimate the size of big eland so add that to their toughness and it makes for some interesting recommendations/discussions for best caliber and bullets. My best advice is to not underestimate the basic toughness of all PG and therefore plan accordingly.

The last time I was there I cull hunted quite a number and variety of PG in an area. I can say with conviction, I did not feel over gunned shooting blue widebeest, zebra and eland with a 375 HH and factory 300 gr TBBCs. A couple of years prior I had hunted trophy eland and shot a particularly large bull with a 416 Rem Mag and 400 gr North Fork CPS and did not feel over gunned. During the cull hunt I shot a load of impala primarily with a 7MM Mag and 175gr factory TBBCs. Even the little impalas didn't just die of fright at the sight of the 7 Mag- an obvious overgunned mismatch for the impala... or so one would think... wrong! Even the inbetweenners like hartebeest, both the larger red and the smaller Lichtenstein's, are no push overs! I gained a lot of respect for them after shooting a Lichtenstein's end to end with a good tough bullet out of a 338-06 and watched him make some distance. The same with a big red who just refused to give up after a near perfect heart-lung shot. During one hunt we even found the bones and head of a waterbuck with horns attached that a hunter had muffed the shot on a few months earlier with a .... wait for it..... 6.5 yadayada. Same hunter lost an eland bull also shot with the 6.5 yadahada that was never found. That hunter had spent a lot of time before his safari telling everyone about his various shooting championships and skills with the 6.5 yadayada.

Considering only rifles I own... If I were going tomorrow for PG where zebra, blue wildebeest and eland were included and had to choose only one caliber/rifle, it would likely be the 416 Rem Mag. If the trip included PG except zebra, blue wildebeest and eland I would take the 338-06. If the species included all up to and including eland and if I could and had the energy for the hassle of taking two rifles, I would take both the 338-06 and the 416 Rem Mag. :)
 
I've really tried to stay out of this :) but hey better than watching politics disquised as sports on the tube. The big problem to start with is the poll doesn't adequately cover some of the better choices. And the "other" category seems to force a choice lumping odd balls and exotics with common calibers like the 375 HH??? No matter

There are simply too many best fits and varying conditions and a wide range of hunter/shooter skills and experience to make much of a sensible recommendation. Anecdotes unfortunately tend to dominate these discussions. Anecdotes work fine for making aware "exceptions" but simply don't work at all for supporting the "rule".

IMO, most PG, with a couple of exceptions, are in the category of small deer to elk size for those with common US experience. Toughness is however another matter. I think for instance oryx are tougher than someone from the US would associate with common game in the 350 pound range. Both zebra and blue wildebeest seem much tougher than their weights would indicate. Most first time hunters underestimate the size of big eland so add that to their toughness and it makes for some interesting recommendations/discussions for best caliber and bullets. My best advice is to not underestimate the basic toughness of all PG and therefore plan accordingly.

The last time I was there I cull hunted quite a number and variety of PG in an area. I can say with conviction, I did not feel over gunned shooting blue widebeest, zebra and eland with a 375 HH and factory 300 gr TBBCs. A couple of years prior I had hunted trophy eland and shot a particularly large bull with a 416 Rem Mag and 400 gr North Fork CPS and did not feel over gunned. During the cull hunt I shot a load of impala primarily with a 7MM Mag and 175gr factory TBBCs. Even the little impalas didn't just die of fright at the sight of the 7 Mag- an obvious overgunned mismatch for the impala... or so one would think... wrong! Even the inbetweenners like hartebeest, both the larger red and the smaller Lichtenstein's, are no push overs! I gained a lot of respect for them after shooting a Lichtenstein's end to end with a good tough bullet out of a 338-06 and watched him make some distance. The same with a big red who just refused to give up after a near perfect heart-lung shot. During one hunt we even found the bones and head of a waterbuck with horns attached that a hunter had muffed the shot on a few months earlier with a .... wait for it..... 6.5 yadayada. Same hunter lost an eland bull also shot with the 6.5 yadahada that was never found. That hunter had spent a lot of time before his safari telling everyone about his various shooting championships and skills with the 6.5 yadayada.

Considering only rifles I own... If I were going tomorrow for PG where zebra, blue wildebeest and eland were included and had to choose only one caliber/rifle, it would likely be the 416 Rem Mag. If the trip included PG except zebra, blue wildebeest and eland I would take the 338-06. If the species included all up to and including eland and if I could and had the energy for the hassle of taking two rifles, I would take both the 338-06 and the 416 Rem Mag. :)

Sounds like a 300 win mag, 375 H&H, and 416 Rem Mag would make a very good three-gun combo for Africa.
 
Sounds like a 300 win mag, 375 H&H, and 416 Rem Mag would make a very good three-gun combo for Africa.
Too much overlap (too similar) between the 375 and 416 to take both. I opted for the 416 because I have two of them and prefer, for whatever reason, the 416 over the 375.... especially if an unexpected opportunity is offered during the trip to hunt a big DG. So Yah IMO, a good TWO GUN option would be a 300 WM with either a 375 or 416. I think that choice was posted by @IvW.
 
Too much overlap (too similar) between the 375 and 416 to take both. I opted for the 416 because I have two of them and prefer, for whatever reason, the 416 over the 375.... especially if an unexpected opportunity is offered during the trip to hunt a big DG. So Yah IMO, a good TWO GUN option would be a 300 WM with either a 375 or 416. I think that choice was posted by @IvW.
Was thinking more along the line of bullet weight spreads if someone wanted three guns......165/180 grain for the win mag, 250/270 grain for the 375 H&H, 350-400 grain for the Rem Mag.....can cover a lot of ground with that spread in soft points and solids. Already been told to only take one rifle :) but if taking more than one, those three in two or three rifle pairings are all excellent calibers and bullet spread seems like more of the differentiator if you are doing that.
 
For myself Ive settled on the 7x57 and its a tad on the light side, but its always work for me..and IMO only the .338 win mag. is my favorite PG magnum. One reason mostly where I hunt PG you might well run into something mean, injured and on the prod like a buffalo with a snare on his nose or leg..in such a case Id actually prefer a .375 I guess..Strictly PG I usually opt for my light weight 7x57 Brno mod. 21 or Ruger 77 lt. wt. Renner special..and I just have to add the 30-06 will do it all if you shoot good. Lots of options out there and most of the them work..
 
Actually a 30-06 and a .338 would be suitable for anything on this earth...A .338 300 gr solid will out penetrate a 375 or a 458 and give up a little cross section by doing so, but it will get the job done if the shot is correct and from about any angle...Not a perfect scenario but one I could certainly live with..
 
"Whew, sure glad I left the 375 at home this time."
Said no one hunting African PG...ever.
Actually....

I followed a herd of Wildebeest for 4 days trying to get a shot on one, in some particularly thick northern Natal bushveld.
That extra weight on the rifle over a long time gets quite noticeable.
Cant wait for my 9,3 license.
 
Actually....

I followed a herd of Wildebeest for 4 days trying to get a shot on one, in some particularly thick northern Natal bushveld.
That extra weight on the rifle over a long time gets quite noticeable.
Cant wait for my 9,3 license.
Is your 93 really going to be that much lighter than your three seven five? And if so..... Why?
 
The Zastava M70 9.3 is around 15-20% lighter than the CZ550 .375 (3.6kg vs 4.2kg)
Beefier Magnum action and bulkier stock.
Toughen up and carry the .375 but why? when you are after smaller game that a 300 or 9.3 will easily handle?
 
A nice pre-64 Model 70 in 375 H&H rechambered to 375 Weatherby Magnum will reach out and touch big game as far as you want to or should shoot, and will still shoot factory 375 H&H ammo. A 300g bullet at 2800 fps is hard to beat. i have a Rem XCR II in 375 Weatherby that weighs 7 1/2 lbs with a Leupold 1.5-5x scope on it.
 

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