Hello from Sweden!

[Swedish chef]

Hello!

I have been a lurker here for many years and as Africa is calling ever louder I decided to join in order to vent some questions and better prepare for the dark continent. I have been hunting in Sweden for years and would like to use any rifle bought also on the northern hemisphere. My current big game battery consists of a 30-06 that was my first rifle and the last year I added a 375 H&H aswell as a 7x57. I guess my first question would be if I miss out on any meaningful performance by selling the 30-06 as it now is somewhat redundant? I am contemplating getting a 300 Win mag and I guess it depends on the distance of shoots taken on PG. My thinking is that the 375 will handle anything but being a jack of all trades normally means being a master of none as the saying goes...

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Welcome to AH Swedish chef! Nice to have you on the posting side after so many years.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Welcome to AH.

 

[Shootist43]

Welcome aboard Swedish chef. Depending on your point of view I personally would keep the 30-06 in addition to your other rifles. You do gain a little distance with the 300 Win Mag., but the operative question is do you need it? Depending on what you want to hunt in Africa, the 30-06 would be a better back-up to your 375 H&H than the 7 x 57. I don't consider the 7 x 57 a marginal caliber for Africa but it does play second fiddle compared to an '06 in my opinion.

 

[Hunting Sailor]

Välkommen ombord!
Never wrong to keep a .30-06 in the closet. For most of South Africa the 7x57 and a .30-06 is almost interchangeable.
For the Eastern Cape the 300WinMag is a better choice for a visiting hunter, but not as useful for most moose hunting “back home”. If you can keep all the rifles is the closet, why not?
For Africa a .375 and a .30-06/7x57 is just as good as it gets as a combo, but my vote would always go to the .30-06.
Lycka till.

 

[Velo Dog]

Greetings Swedish chef,

Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris of Namibia, welcomes you to the greatest forum on earth.

Regarding your caliber questions, my vote is for you to keep the .375 H&H.
No matter what else you do, always keep that .375 for sure.
Now that your .375 is settled, either the .30-06 or the 7x57 are excellent calibers for much of Africa’s animals.
You will be happy with either of them.

If however, one is more accurate than the other, keep whichever one is most accurate and then sell the other.
If perhaps both your .30 and 7mm are equal in accuracy, I suggest you keep your 7x57.
This is because of tradition and nostalgia.
No other reason.

Regarding the .300 Winchester Magnum, that caliber seems to be a highly specialized one.
I believe it is best suited to rather long range shots at thin skinned game, beginning at about 350 meters and further.
South Africa’s Eastern Cape, much of Namibia and certain parts of the Kalahari Desert often have conditions that make it possible shoot farther.
For those, a .300 Magnum is perfect.
However, perhaps 80 percent or more of the most common Africa hunting conditions, are not especially well suited to long shots.

The extra velocity it has is totally unnecessary at the more common distances.
And not just unnecessary but, at the more common shooting distances, that extra velocity splatters and wastes too much edible meat, IMO.
Also, at the more common shooting distances, the .300 Magnum tears the skins of smaller animals badly, again due to unnecessarily high velocity.

Your 7x57 or .30-06 will also work quite well, in those more open geography and sparse foliage places, without badly splattering the animals at closer ranges.
Furthermore, the .375 H&H is a very fine distance shooter, when loaded with a 270 grain bullet.
And generally speaking, it is nowhere near as destructive on edible meat and skins for taxidermy, as the .300 magnum is.
Most important, it is a fantastic bush cartridge, especially when loaded with a 300 grain blunt shaped (“round nose”) bullet.
For hunting the larger non-dangerous species such as, eland, zebra, waterbok and so forth, it is possibly the very best choice.

I am rambling and so I will close now.

Best Regards,
Velo Dog.

 

[cpr0312]

Welcome aboard!

 

[BourbonTrail]

Welcome to AH!

 

[Ridgewalker]

Swedish Chef, welcome to the AH forum! We all have our opinions, so here’s mine…
My first trip I took a 300 Win Mag and took a number of PG. Upon returning home, I immediately began my search for a 375 H&H. My reasoning was I only wanted to take one rifle to Africa and the 375 H&H was the compromise cartridge that could do most anything. My theory has worked on every trip since. The longest shot in an open savanna was over 350 yards. Most probably averaged less than 100 yards in the bushveld areas.

I prefer carrying a rifle and cartridge ready for what ever “Mother Africa” presents to me, thus the 375 H&H has been my choice for the one rifle safari.

Best of luck with what ever you decide! You're going to love Africa!

 

[cls]

Welcome to the dark side, you picked a great place to start your journey to Africa.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Greetings and salutations!

 

[Nyati]

Welcome to AH !

 

[Firebird]

My first safari I carried my favorite rifle-.300 win mag and lovey performance on duiker up through waterbuck, wildebeest, zebra etc. my next trip I will take my .30-06 for the plains game and my .375 for eland-just because I have one and that’s a great excuse to use it. The planning is a big part of the fun!

 

[CBH Australia]

G'day from Australia.
I like your choice of chamberings.
I have similar.
I hired a 7mmRm in AFRICA.
I own a .300wm and the PH said you couldn't go wrong with a .300wm for hunting African plains game.

i also have a .373H&H just because it's a classic. Maybe I get to hunt Buffalo oneday.

My 7mm is a .280ai and my .308 has seen plenty of use on anything up to the size of pigs.

 

[nztimb]

Giday Sweedish Chef and welcome to the A H forums

 

[machinistbutler]

Welcome from Canada.

Have you ever prepared a dish with Surstromming? Love watching the videos on that delicacy being consumed, or smelled! .

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Welcome to AH.

 

[Uncle Sauce]

Welcome to AH!

 

[Andrew Short]

Welcome to AH!

 

[CAustin]

Hello!

I have been a lurker here for many years and as Africa is calling ever louder I decided to join in order to vent some questions and better prepare for the dark continent. I have been hunting in Sweden for years and would like to use any rifle bought also on the northern hemisphere. My current big game battery consists of a 30-06 that was my first rifle and the last year I added a 375 H&H aswell as a 7x57. I guess my first question would be if I miss out on any meaningful performance by selling the 30-06 as it now is somewhat redundant? I am contemplating getting a 300 Win mag and I guess it depends on the distance of shoots taken on PG. My thinking is that the 375 will handle anything but being a jack of all trades normally means being a master of none as the saying goes...

Welcome to AH