What caliber would you use for say a Zerbra or a Warthog. My self I thought the 30 caliber would be enought. Like The 300 RUM shooting 200 Noslers Partitions at 3010 FPS. Or the 30-06 shooting 150 gr bullets at 2998 FPS.

The '06 would be fine, except use 180 or 200 gr premium bullets. If you insist on the 150 gr, use TSX only.

The RUM is plenty big.

Terry's advice is spot on. Of course, I used a .338 Win and didn't feel overgunned (well, maybe on springbok ).

Depends on where you are hunting. If you are hunting in SA, any of the 30 calibers are great with premium bullets. I use a 300 Win Mag with 180 grain Swift A Frames.

If there is Dangerous game in the area a 375 should be considered. Hunting plains game in Tanzania I carry a 416 Rem Mag with 350 grain Swift A Frames.

I think you should arm yourself for the nastiest critter in the area

While the .30 is generally considered here to be totally appropriate for PG, I would like to relate a story to you. Two weeks ago I was hunting in RSA with a .375. A zebra presented itself as a target of opportunity. From 50 yards out I hit the stallion square in the shoulder. When we got him back to the skinning shack it was discovered that I obliterated it's heart. That said, the beast still ran almost 200 yards into heavy cover before it finally expired. I'm sure a 30-06 would have done the job too, but I'm not sure if I would have been able to recover him.

I would use a .300 win mag with partitions or TBBC's on everything up to buff. I tried .243, .270. 280 as well - they killed everything my sons or I shot at - but I use the .300 win mag now on everything.

Zebra are tough but any medium bore from .270 with good bullets will work just fine, a 180gr-220gr .30 cal out of any cartridge starting at .308Win is good.

Warthogs? I have seen a number taken with a .223, I have shot about 10 with a .22lr (close range frontal brain, drought weakened animals, or young animals, not something I would recommend normally)) but having said that, big hogs are quite large. Any decent bullet from 100grs up through the shoulders/heart will do just fine. Almost all I have taken were under 100m so hyper velocity not neccessary. Almost all I have shot with a .308, .303 or .30-06 have dropped, or taken a short trot, spin around and drop, only remember one that went far (200m?)

I'm a .300 Win Mag fan, too. Its recoil is manageable for me and the 180gr and 200gr premium bullets that are available for it are ideal for for tough game like zebra. Warthogs aren't hard to kill. The .300 Win Mag will reach out almost as far as your .300 RUM, or a .300 Weatherby for that matter, with less recoil than either of them. That said, there are a more than a few calibers that will deliver the same bullets with similar ballistics at 300 yards or less. A .300 RUM shooting 200gr Partitions will do the job well. You could also run 180gr or 200gr bullets through your .30-06 to perform the same task. I wouldn't consider using 150gr bullets on zebra.

A premium-constructed soft-point expanding bullet with maximum weight retention in a weight of 160gr to 180gr delivered in an appropriate caliber-for-size will serve adequately for all big game up to 900lbs including bull elk and moose in North America and plains game up to and including kudu in Africa. Excellent premium bullet choices are Barnes MRX, Barnes TSX, GS Custom, Hornady Interbond, Northfork, Nosler Partition, Speer Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, and Swift A-Frame.

The most popular factory-made cartridges that offer these bullet weights include 7x57mm Mauser, 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm Rem Short Mag, .280 Rem, .308 Win, .30-06 Springfield, .300 H&H Magnum, .300 Win Mag, .300 Win Short Mag, .300 Rem Ultra Mag and .300 Weatherby Magnum.

Although it delivers considerably more recoil with its usual 225gr bullets, Federal now offers .338 Win Mag loaded down with 180gr Nosler Accubonds. The comparable .338 RUM and .340 Weatherby Magnum are available with 210gr to 225gr bullet weights.

Larger calibers and correspondingly larger bullet weights intended for dangerous game will also fit the bill but come with significantly higher recoil. The .375 H&H Magnum with bullet weights of 250gr to 300gr is an excellent all around choice for all heavy game from giant sable and Lord Derby eland to the large brown bears of North America and Asia. It is also the minimum legal caliber for the Big Five of dangerous game in African countries which are lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and Cape buffalo. The big .400s, especially .416 Rem Mag and .416 Rigby with their 400gr bullets, are great stoppers but are punishing to shoot.

If no other dangerous game but brown bears are on the menu, above and beyond most of the world’s antelope, then 200gr to 220gr premium bullets from the .30-06 Springfield up through any of the .300s and .338 Win Mag will do the job.

Resources:

Federal Cartridge 2006 Ammunition and Ballistics Catalog

www.federalcartridge.com

Accuratereloading.com bullet report from JJ Hack of 19 June 2006:

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1411043/m/474108794

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I have used a 338 for all plains game hunting. I have used 250gr Partitions and A Frames as well as 225 Triple Shocks. I can see no difference in the results. Sometimes a Wildebeest as well as a Zebra will give up a bullet. Most of the time they whistle through. Eland will hold on to them though they tend to end up under the hide on the far side. If I were to choose something other than the 338 it would be a 300 Winmag with premium 200gr bullets. I would load them to about 2800fps.

7mm Rem Mag works very, very well with 160 A Frames up to eland.

If I was hunting plains game, only, I would have a 300 WSM in my hand firing 150 gr. bullets.

This year I was hunting buffalo, and had warthog and zebra on my quota. I would have shot them (did shoot the warthog) with a 375 H&H firing 300 gr. TBBC bullets.

I took my zebra and one warthog with a 44 pistol, another warthog and a blue wildebeest with 30'06 220 gr Hornadys, and shot a red hartebeest with a loaned 308 and a locally manufactured (PMP?) 150 gr roundnose soft. All the shots were within 100 meters. Were I to bring my M700 '06 back to Africa I'd use 180-200 gr premium spitzers (it does not care for roundnose bullets). Were I to bring my 1903 Springfield pseudoscout to the bushveld I might try the Woodleigh 240s (as the 220 gr Hornadys were a little soft). Placement, penetration, performance...

For plains game with no DG in the area, I like my .300 WSM. Two years ago I took 8 critters in the Eastern Cape including Kudu, Gemsbok, Black Wildebeest, Blesbok, Black and Common Springbok, Bontebok, and Bushbuck with the 300 WSM using 165 Nosler Partitions. All one shot kills with nothing going more than 50 yards. My PH was really impressed with the performance of the WSM. I also use it with 180 grain Nosler Partitions for elk and moose. I haven't deceided on the 165's or 180's for Namibia next year? Either one will work, just depends on what load works best in my new Kimber 8400 Classic.

Larry Sellers

I use a 300win mag with 200gr TBBC and it works every time on anything considered non dangerous.
50-400/yds it has never failed if I did my part

I have shot literally hundreds of plains game, ranging from duikers to eland, withvarious 270 caliber wildcats.

Bullets used were 130 Barnes X, 140 Bear Claws and 150 Jensen.

All worked great.

I've shot quite a few plains game animals with a 30-06 and 180gr Hornady Interlock SP and RN bullets. As long as the shot was well placed there was never a problem.

I used a 300RUM on my hunt this year with Mike Kibble in Namibia, using 180TSX's and took Mountain Zebra and Oryx bull at plus 300 yards. It reaches out.............but would have preferred 200 grainers in hindsight.

Have no experience with a 30-06 as it isn't a popular caliber here in Australia.