Caliber and plains game

[Tanks]

All that being said I do feel that the .300 win mag is the ideal plains game cartridge. You'll get one eventually-- we all do

Or .300 RUM for a tad bit more power.

 

[Fryeguy]

I took a 6.5 creedmoor last time we went to Africa for my youngest son and to shoot little stuff with. My youngest shot a nice gemsbuck. He hit it perfectly and got a pass through even. 140accubond, max loads. Very little blood, and after a bit, tracker finally found it, still alive but dying. Son shot it in neck again. Then another pistol round by PH to heart. He point at hole and whispered to me “next time bring a bigger gun, 308 with any 180 grain soft point bullet”, we found only a couple of drops of blood, followed tracks mainly. He said a 308 bullet leaves better holes for blood I agree. I promptly bought him a 308 at home for his first rifle. He is 10 now and shooting 150grain bullets w/ suppressor, and killing all kinds of deer. I think the 6.5 is great for little stuff still, and sure it killed the gemsbuck and my wife shot a kudu with it. But as he said, recoil going to a 308 180’s with a suppressor is not noticeable on shoulder but the difference on game is a huge jump. I agree. 308 ammo is everywhere also!!

 

[dchum]

I took a 6.5 creedmoor last time we went to Africa for my youngest son and to shoot little stuff with. My youngest shot a nice gemsbuck. He hit it perfectly and got a pass through even. 140accubond, max loads. Very little blood, and after a bit, tracker finally found it, still alive but dying. Son shot it in neck again. Then another pistol round by PH to heart. He point at hole and whispered to me “next time bring a bigger gun, 308 with any 180 grain soft point bullet”, we found only a couple of drops of blood, followed tracks mainly. He said a 308 bullet leaves better holes for blood I agree. I promptly bought him a 308 at home for his first rifle. He is 10 now and shooting 150grain bullets w/ suppressor, and killing all kinds of deer. I think the 6.5 is great for little stuff still, and sure it killed the gemsbuck and my wife shot a kudu with it. But as he said, recoil going to a 308 180’s with a suppressor is not noticeable on shoulder but the difference on game is a huge jump. I agree. 308 ammo is everywhere also!!

”hit it perfectly”. Did you go to the skinning shed to examine that? 2 holes in each lung? Or a bit of the heart?

A 140 grain accubond exiting while going through both lungs would kill it stone dead. End of story.

Sure Oryx are tough and can make a death dash just like most big game. But to leave it alive suffering needing more shots to be killed? Makes me think shot wasn’t “perfect”

I take your word obviously. But a 140 grain accubond double lung kills the oryx everytime. No matter what is printed on the brass.

Just my take!

 

[Fryeguy]

”hit it perfectly”. Did you go to the skinning shed to examine that? 2 holes in each lung? Or a bit of the heart?

A 140 grain accubond exiting while going through both lungs would kill it stone dead. End of story.

Sure Oryx are tough and can make a death dash just like most big game. But to leave it alive suffering needing more shots to be killed? Makes me think shot wasn’t “perfect”

I take your word obviously. But a 140 grain accubond double lung kills the oryx everytime. No matter what is printed on the brass.

Just my take!

Yeah, I am pretty dang sure where he hit it. Yes I went to skinning shed I always do. He it hit right behind front leg where knuckle/elbow joint is. Bullet hit right above to the rear end of heart. A few inches lower and I’m sure it would have been seconds. Biggest problem was bullet didn’t hit bone going in, slipped between ribs. Bullet hole going in was small, even on the inside of ribcage. Exit hole was barely bigger, but bigger nonetheless the less. I think a plain Jane lead tip or ballistic tip would have killed it quicker, but then what if he hit the shoulder??? It didn’t bled out on ground any because of the tiny holes. As soon as the skin moves with them running hole is covered. Up a little higher and more lung would have been hit, and also a quicker death. It seemed like a freak chance place to hit right in vitals and not do that much damage to heart or lungs. I blame bullet expansion, but again 4” forward and hitting the shoulder would want the tougher bullet for sure!! I think it was also animal adrenaline. He had been jumped once already, and was looking at us the second time.

It seemed like forever, but it was likely 15 min or so, heck it could have been 10 min. We were moving fast and it still went way further than we wanted.

Just saying those are my direct experiences with 6.5cm, and reasons for taking 308 instead. Just my 1 cent opinion, not even worth .02

 

[Fryeguy]

Here is a pic of the holes. Rear one is the rifle, one closer to shoulder is pistol. Entrance side with both. Pistol shot centered heart. Wasn’t necessary, but quicker is better

 

[dchum]

Yeah, I am pretty dang sure where he hit it. Yes I went to skinning shed I always do. He it hit right behind front leg where knuckle/elbow joint is. Bullet hit right above to the rear end of heart. A few inches lower and I’m sure it would have been seconds. Biggest problem was bullet didn’t hit bone going in, slipped between ribs. Bullet hole going in was small, even on the inside of ribcage. Exit hole was barely bigger, but bigger nonetheless the less. I think a plain Jane lead tip or ballistic tip would have killed it quicker, but then what if he hit the shoulder??? It didn’t bled out on ground any because of the tiny holes. As soon as the skin moves with them running hole is covered. Up a little higher and more lung would have been hit, and also a quicker death. It seemed like a freak chance place to hit right in vitals and not do that much damage to heart or lungs. I blame bullet expansion, but again 4” forward and hitting the shoulder would want the tougher bullet for sure!! I think it was also animal adrenaline. He had been jumped once already, and was looking at us the second time.

It seemed like forever, but it was likely 15 min or so, heck it could have been 10 min. We were moving fast and it still went way further than we wanted.

Just saying those are my direct experiences with 6.5cm, and reasons for taking 308 instead. Just my 1 cent opinion, not even worth .02

Still not saying if it was double lunged or not? I must be confused sorry.

140 accubond through both lungs kills the animal dead.

But doesn’t really matter. All good. Not looking to debate your one time scenario.

Cheers.

 

[UpNorthMI]

Based on your available options I would go for the .308. I may consider 150 grain loads just to get a little more bullet speed, which is important if you are shooting Barnes TSX or TTSX.

Like others commented .300 Win Mag would be my first choice for general plains game, I have a lot of .308 and .30-06 rifles but added a .300 Win Mag barrel for Blaser R8 use a couple of years ago. I'm very impressed with 180 / 200 grain bullet performance / options from a .300 Win Mag. If I was only going after large plains game I would also consider .338 Win Mag as I own several rifles that have performed very well on larger animals and over long distances.

More important than caliber or bullet weight is to get enough practice to be able to confidently shoot your rifle over a range of distances.

Good luck with your hunt.

 

[ve7poi]

I used a 270 win with 140gr tsx did well on everything except my eland but that was me shot 4” right of center and didn’t get into chest cavity long tracking job but we recovered him

 

[Bonk]

All that being said I do feel that the .300 win mag is the ideal plains game cartridge. You'll get one eventually-- we all do

No it isn’t and no I won’t . 300H&H is the ideal plains game cartridge.

To the OP, take the 308 and the 168gr Barnes. Fantastic combo for almost any game on the planet.

 

[Kevin375]

I have killed 9 kudus with my Blaser R8 in 6.5 Creedmoor, and with this rifle, the farmer's daughters have also shot 2 other kudus.

4 kudus were shot in the head, so the caliber doesn't matter in this case. But with body shot, I was very pleased about its efficiency and even surprised.

I used mainly Hornady ELD-X 143 gr on them, but I also shot 2 with Barnes TTSX 120 gr. The ELD-X is a bit too soft for my liking and I will try next time the Norma Bondstrike.
The place where you plan to go hunting seems quite bushy so I will not take the 6.5. It's better to take a bigger caliber with a heavier bullet. Your 8.5x55 loaded with a Norma Oryx 230 gr will be my choice for walk & stalk hunting.

 

[Fryeguy]

Still not saying if it was double lunged or not? I must be confused sorry.

140 accubond through both lungs kills the animal dead.

But doesn’t really matter. All good. Not looking to debate your one time scenario.

Cheers.

I completely understand! Piss poor wording in my part. Shouldn’t have said perfect shot, should have said a good shot. It hit both lungs but very bottom part. A bigger hole would have helped tremendously. And a few inches higher or forward in direct heart would be better (perfect). I just agree with PH, a 308 and a good bullet is just better. I just find most of those critters in Africa are way tougher than a white tail deer!

Wife used same ammo I loaded to shoot her Kudu. Straight on shot, she center punched it, thru heart and I found it lodged in far side of liver. Not much of bullet left but it definitely expanded. Kudu went 100 or so yards. They heard it crash, so not much tracking, but same. Very little blood but it was dead just the same.

We killed blesbuck, Impala, Steenbuck, and a springbuck with it. Used the 140 ballistic tips on springbuck and the hole at exit was so large we were not able to do should mount. He hit onside shoulder, wow. PH and I both mentioned that had the bullet expanded on Gembuck like that it would have died very quickly!! I also finished off a warthog with 6.5. I had taken out his front running gear with my 9.3, and didn’t want to mess up anymore meat on it with my gun.

We also used 129lrab on small stuff the year before with success. None of these animals except Gembuck and kudu made it out of sight! Most were instant drops or went 10-20 yards. That said, the 6.5 won’t go back to Africa. Taking 308 for small stuff and a bigger gun for everything else.

 

[dchum]

I completely understand! Piss poor wording in my part. Shouldn’t have said perfect shot, should have said a good shot. It hit both lungs but very bottom part. A bigger hole would have helped tremendously. And a few inches higher or forward in direct heart would be better (perfect). I just agree with PH, a 308 and a good bullet is just better. I just find most of those critters in Africa are way tougher than a white tail deer!

Wife used same ammo I loaded to shoot her Kudu. Straight on shot, she center punched it, thru heart and I found it lodged in far side of liver. Not much of bullet left but it definitely expanded. Kudu went 100 or so yards. They heard it crash, so not much tracking, but same. Very little blood but it was dead just the same.

We killed blesbuck, Impala, Steenbuck, and a springbuck with it. Used the 140 ballistic tips on springbuck and the hole at exit was so large we were not able to do should mount. He hit onside shoulder, wow. PH and I both mentioned that had the bullet expanded on Gembuck like that it would have died very quickly!! I also finished off a warthog with 6.5. I had taken out his front running gear with my 9.3, and didn’t want to mess up anymore meat on it with my gun.

We also used 129lrab on small stuff the year before with success. None of these animals except Gembuck and kudu made it out of sight! Most were instant drops or went 10-20 yards. That said, the 6.5 won’t go back to Africa. Taking 308 for small stuff and a bigger gun for everything else.

Love that yall hunt as a whole family! Sounds special!