Velo Dog
You are too kind . I use the 7 millimeter Remington Magnum extensively throughout the year for my hunting purposes for the larder , ever since I had one custom made on a Springfield Model 1903 receiver by a Master American custom rifle maker in Oregon , employing a straight Turkish walnut stock and a Douglas barrel. It’s flat trajectory and penetration abilities leave nothing to be desired. I also have used it to put down two man eating Hunting Leopards. I have shot 16 man eating Hunting Leopards with the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum . It was a side by side Double Rifle , built by John Rigby & Co , regulated for 300 grain Winchester Silvertip soft nose cartridges.
Since you are based in Namibia , I may be contacting you in the foreseeable future for booking my safari .
I use two kinds of ammunition in my 7 millimeter Remington Magnum.
My factory loaded ammunition is Remington Core Lokt 175 grain soft nose cartridges.
When I hand load , I opt for 175 grain Barnes TSX soft nose bullets.
Do you believe that the 7 millimeter Remington Magnum shall be acceptable for Eland bulls ?
If not , then I shall resort to borrowing a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum from my outfitting service.
Hello again Panther Shooter,
It would be our great privilege to take you out hunting.
Your custom made rifle sounds beautiful.
For eland, a 7mm Magnum will no doubt, put the largest bull down with one shot....provided of course that the one shot is placed absolutely perfect.
I love this caliber for longer shots at game animals.
My 7MM Remington Magnum is a CZ Model 550.
It is a light weight rifle, meant for climbing up high in the steep mountains and traveling light while hunting wild sheep, mountain goat, stag, elk and so forth.
I bought this rifle 2nd hand but it is in excellent condition.
CZ did not make very many of these light weight 7MM Magnum rifles and I feel very fortunate to have it.
On this 7MM Magnum topic, your 175 grain Core-Lokt ammunition will be quite good for all species that we hunt up in the highlands, where our lodge is located.
Up there, the conditions are rolling, grass covered hills, scattered with well separated trees.
Shots up there are usually between about 50 meters to about 350 meters.
Even the large, tough animals like zebra and gemsbok (oryx) will fall quickly to your 175 grain Core-Lokd bullets.
I believe that we have some of the best true free-range (no game fence) kudu hunting anywhere.
Kudu are not especially hard to kill.
But indeed they are difficult to stalk up close to.
Your rifle and ammunition choice are pretty much perfect for hunting them, up in the mountains of Namibia.
Eland do migrate up to the highlands and back each year.
However, unlike the other multiple species up in the highlands, eland are not found in large numbers up there (yet).
We do have eland in large numbers, down in The Kalahari region.
But the bush is thick and the shots are generally not long.
I suspect that you have hunted more animals than I have.
So, I’m hesitant to preach my opinion too vigorously here.
I will however say that, even though the 7MM Magnum is a very good choice for most species and most environmental conditions in Namibia, it is not my first choice for eland, in thick bush conditions.
Shots on eland there in the thick foliage usually must be made within 3 or 4 seconds of when your Shikari “sets the sticks”.
Otherwise Mr. Bluebull will lurch into the foliage and be gone.
I wrote a story about wounding an eland in the heavy foliage and the merry chase that followed.
If my bullet had struck where I was intending, I believe this bull could likely have been taken with even a low powered caliber, such as the 6.5x54 Mannlicher or the USA caliber .30-30 Winchester.
Generally I am an above average rifle shot but that day, I muffed my shot on the eland bull that we had been tracking on foot.
He had suddenly appeared and was facing us.
I meant to shoot him where the throat joins the brisket.
But, I flinched or lurched or twitched the shot, hitting him on his left shoulder.
My 300 grain bullet smashed the shoulder joint and exited behind the same shoulder.
Even with only 3 good legs, he was extremely difficult to catch up to.
I ran hard to catch up but it took awhile to accomplish this and get more shots into him.
Fortunately, I was using a 375 H&H.
I like this caliber for large antelopes, zebras, moose or bear.
A smaller caliber might not have broken that shoulder.
We have one for clients (the very same one I used to hunt this mentioned eland with).
Well anyway, I send my best regards and thank you again for joining the forum.
Cheers,
Velo Dog.
