The next best calibre?

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

But Bob, I thought you were going to use your .243 for your scrub bull hunt!

Okay, I'm just pulling your leg.

Cheers mate!

Doug

@Doug Hamilton
What do you want me to do with a 243 on a scrub bull. Sting him to death with inadequate projectiles or beat him on the head with the but.
Ah forget it you will never see a 243 in my hands anywho

 

[Jörg Krüger]

Ah forget it you will never see a 243 in my hands anywho

Stop telling fibs. Your tomato stakes did not plant themselves Bob.

 

[Desperatezulu]

I hunted in Zimbabwe last month (August 2922). This time I took my .300 Win Mag, and used it for nyala, waterbuck, and bushbuck. Everything died where it was standing or within 20 yards. At the request of the property manager I also shot a female impala at about 300 yards for camp meat. I was loaded with 200 grain Nosler AccuBonds at about 2900 fps.

Doug

Doug, you telling us that in the next 900 years no one was able to improve on the old Accubond?

I hope the component shortage eased quickly after 2022.

 

[Rosch]

I didn't take an eland or giraffe, but if I had wanted to I wouldn't have been undergunned. I had taken kudu and zebra before so I didn't shoot either on.this trip, but they would not have been a problem.

So put me down for the .300 Win Mag!

Doug

Oh yes mate, with a 300 Win You would have been undergunned for sure.
A 300 Win Mag is great for plains, but a good Eland or giraffe bull go about or higher 1000 kg.
Thats the floor of Buffalo allready. Even a Zebra stud has some surprises for You.
Just a little move by the animal or mistake by the shooter and the mess beginns.
I saw Oryx, taking 300 Win like peanuts while watching TV. And Oryx is the little brother of Eland.
Use enough gun....thats what the most wellknown US gunsmith, with a hell of experience in african hunting, allways preached: You remember Mr. Art Alphin ?
I never went down or lost anything, when I listened to his advises.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

@Doug Hamilton
What do you want me to do with a 243 on a scrub bull. Sting him to death with inadequate projectiles or beat him on the head with the but.
Ah forget it you will never see a 243 in my hands anywho

I knew that! Not mine either!

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Oh yes mate, with a 300 Win You would have been undergunned for sure.
A 300 Win Mag is great for plains, but a good Eland or giraffe bull go about or higher 1000 kg.
Thats the floor of Buffalo allready. Even a Zebra stud has some surprises for You.
Just a little move by the animal or mistake by the shooter and the mess beginns.
I saw Oryx, taking 300 Win like peanuts while watching TV. And Oryx is the little brother of Eland.
Use enough gun....thats what the most wellknown US gunsmith, with a hell of experience in african hunting, allways preached: You remember Mr. Art Alphin ?
I never went down or lost anything, when I listened to his advises.

I took a big zebra stallion cleanly with a .30-06. That was 39 years ago, but I seriously doubt that they have gotten any tougher since then. My PH back then (and last month) assures me that giraffe are taken all the time with .270's and up. Eland are regularly taken with .308's. Having seen me shoot many times, he was certain that an eland would have been no problem. Since he's been doing this for over 40 years, I'm taking his word for it. Of course, if you use a .375 and shoot an oryx in the guts or leg he probably won't die quickly, but that isn't a caliber problem. By the way, a moose is every bit as large as an eland. I am neither naive or inexperienced, and I do believe in using enough gun. I'll stand by.my words.

 

[Dakota Hunter]

300 Win Mag is tough to beat !

 

[Dakota Hunter]

If you’re not planning on shooting much past 300 yards a 30 06 is still as good as it’s always been. My son and I had no problem using his Browning A Bolt in 30 06 with a Swarovski Z6i this year in Africa to take Kudu,Zebra,Waterbuck

. We used Norma 180 grain Bond Strikes with excellent results.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

300 Win Mag is tough to beat !

@dakota Hunter
A 300 win mag is easy to beat even with a non magnum caliber. A 35 Whelen loaded with a 225gn Woodleigh or accubond at 2,900 fps runs rings around it. Then load a nice 275gn and you have even more oomph.
Bob

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Exactly right! I used a .30-06 with 180 grain Particians to shoot a bunch of plains game from steenbuck, through kudu and zebra in 1983. Now tell me how I was under gunned for plains game this year with a .300 WM and 200 grainers.
By the way, that kudu and water buck are gorgeous. Congratulations!

 

[wildwilderness]

@dakota Hunter
A 300 win mag is easy to beat even with a non magnum caliber. A 35 Whelen loaded with a 225gn Woodleigh or accubond at 2,900 fps runs rings around it. Then load a nice 275gn and you have even more oomph.
Bob

2900 fps with a 225gr out of a Whelen is a pretty hot load even in a 26" barrel. Should probably go 35 AI and long barrel if you want that speed predictably and safely. That said it will still fall short on the 1000yd shots since the BC of that bullet is relatively low compared to what you will get in heavy 30 cal long range offerings

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

@dakota Hunter
A 300 win mag is easy to beat even with a non magnum caliber. A 35 Whelen loaded with a 225gn Woodleigh or accubond at 2,900 fps runs rings around it. Then load a nice 275gn and you have even more oomph.
Bob

So what is your load for 2900fps and 225gr? I ask as when I look at the Hodgdon reloading center, they show max loads give about 2600fps.

And that is with powder weights that don’t seem on the light side for what is a .30-06 parent case. Youre getting in excess of 10% more than that. Physics is physics, getting a 10% heavier bullet to go the same speed with some 10% less powder? Something Isn’t adding up.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

@dakota Hunter
A 300 win mag is easy to beat even with a non magnum caliber. A 35 Whelen loaded with a 225gn Woodleigh or accubond at 2,900 fps runs rings around it. Then load a nice 275gn and you have even more oomph.
Bob

The .300 WM with a 200 gn. bullet has a flatter trajectory and delivers much more energy down range than a .35 Whelen does with a .225. Now go into a gun shop in the US or Africa and ask for a box of .300 WM and a box of .35 Whelan and see which one they might have on hand. Bullets are also much harder to find for reloading.

Now having said all that, I can see where your fascination for the cartridge comes from. I have inherited my dad's .30-06, putting my old '06 even further back in the safe. I'm thinking of having it rebarreled to .35 Whelen.

Cheers Bob,

Doug

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

2900 fps with a 225gr out of a Whelen is a pretty hot load even in a 26" barrel. Should probably go 35 AI and long barrel if you want that speed predictably and safely. That said it will still fall short on the 1000yd shots since the BC of that bullet is relatively low compared to what you will get in heavy 30 cal long range offerings

@wildwilderness
2,900 fps isn't stretching the Whelen in any way. It actually a published load by siera. The same as the 250s at 2,700fps are published loads by speer.
I achieve the velocities in a 25 inch barrel. The looks are safe and repeatable from reputable companies. I agree the 300 has higher bc for 1,000 yard shooting but I don't shoot game at that range. At sensible and ethical ranges for game out to 400 yards the whelen has more wallop than the 300.
Many others have got similar velocities out of their Whelens on this form safely as well so we must be doing something right. Let's see the 300 throw a high SD .346 310gn at over 2,400fps. The 30 cals haven't got a bullet that high an sd. The best it can manage in standard projectiles is a 220gn dd at .336.
The 35 cal has a bigger frontal area and cuts a bigger hole right from impact and expanded diameter is usually bigger than any 30 cal.
There's even a visible difference when you see the impact on game with a 35 compared to a 30 cal.
Just my observations over the last few years of using a 35 cal over a 30 cal.
Yes the 300 is a fine game round, so is the 35 but there are calibers out there that are better than both.
Bob

 

[fourfive8]

Well, this is like a bunch of the questions posted here..."What is your fourth favorite all around cartridge?"...

In reality it may depend on what you may hunt on your PG safari. Most cartridges in the 30-06 class are reasonable for most PG. You say heavy or heavy for caliber? That will of course increase recoil of any cartridge and has to be considered. Sooooo- Upward from 270 Win could include such 30s like the 30-06 and the 300 Mags. But IMO, if you throw in the possibility of eland, the formula changes somewhat. The eland is so much more animal than any of the other PG, excepting giraffe, that you have to think bigger thus creating a bigger gap between the 270 and what may be best choice. Throw in the eland and I'd say go bigger, where the 375 HH is not too much gun. It can be used with great success for all the other PG as well. If you don't like recoil or are not used to it, you may be better off with something like a 9.3x62 or Bob's fave- the 35 Wheee-land! If I were you (and I'm not of course) I would include eland in the potential interest list. In my opinion they are the bee's knees of PG as are wildebeest and oryx- neither of which are soft, push-over game in their own right. No matter how you decide, good luck!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

So what is your load for 2900fps and 225gr? I ask as when I look at the Hodgdon reloading center, they show max loads give about 2600fps.

And that is with powder weights that don’t seem on the light side for what is a .30-06 parent case. Youre getting in excess of 10% more than that. Physics is physics, getting a 10% heavier bullet to go the same speed with some 10% less powder? Something Isn’t adding up.

View attachment 488170View attachment 488171

@PHOENIX PHIL
Have a look at the speer, Sierra and nosler sights. Using noslers load of 61gn 2208/Varget I get a snidge under 2,900fps. With CFE223 and the 225gn Woodleigh round nose i get over 2,800fps and the 225gn Woodleigh is 2,950fps
The speer 225 gn is a smidge under 2,900fps
Bob

Speer 225gn game king.

310gn Woodleigh RNSP

 

[Andrew62]

30.06, 300 Win Mag, or go big, get a .375 H&H, the 375 H&H will take everything on planet earth.

 

[CBH Australia]

And you know .300wm keeps coming around.

 

[wildwilderness]

@PHOENIX PHIL
Have a look at the speer, Sierra and nosler sights. Using noslers load of 61gn 2208/Varget I get a snidge under 2,900fps. With CFE223 and the 225gn Woodleigh round nose i get over 2,800fps and the 225gn Woodleigh is 2,950fps
The speer 225 gn is a smidge under 2,900fps
Bob
View attachment 488176
Speer 225gn game king.
View attachment 488177
310gn Woodleigh RNSP

Im sure you have heard that old "chrony"s can be off on velocities (from personal experience as well) .... would be interesting what a LabRadar says, or at least a Magneto Speed.


That said, I had a 35 Whelen that has been re-barreled to a 9,3x62 with better results. Had fail to fire issues with the standard whelen. maybe the AI version would be better.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

@PHOENIX PHIL
Have a look at the speer, Sierra and nosler sights. Using noslers load of 61gn 2208/Varget I get a snidge under 2,900fps. With CFE223 and the 225gn Woodleigh round nose i get over 2,800fps and the 225gn Woodleigh is 2,950fps
The speer 225 gn is a smidge under 2,900fps
Bob
View attachment 488176
Speer 225gn game king.
View attachment 488177
310gn Woodleigh RNSP

Oh I see it but I do wonder about how high the pressures are. Either way comparing a light for caliber bullet (225gr / .35) to a heavy for caliber bullet (200gr / .300WM) is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison.

A fairer comparison perhaps would be a .375H&H shooting 250gr bullets at 2900fps.