I have been shooting with my dads 30.06 since I was 8 and I am now 22 and my dad finaly decided to buy me my own gun.

Can anyone please advise me on what the best all round gun for hunting SA's game is.

The best all around gun for hunting SA's, or Africa's, game is the 375 H&H. If dangerous game is not in the immediate future, though, it's hard to beat that same 30-06. You can take virtually any non dangerous species with it, eland possibly excepted, it's easy to shoot, ammo isn't overly expensive and it will put a smile on any PH's face when he sees you show up with it.
Generally how well you shoot is far more important than what you shoot and anyone can learn to shoot a 30-06 well.
The 30-06 ain't sexy, in fact it is kind of boring; anything that you shoot with it just tends to die.

My 2 cents, you'll get other opinions

TerryR

Why mess with success? Get another 30'06 unless you plan to start hunting game for which a 375 H&H is the minimum allowed.

If I was starting my African battery, personally I would start with a .300 Win Mag. A little extra hitting power than the 30.06. I would feel comfortable taking all the plains game (including eland) with the .300 Win Mag.

My next rifle would be, depending on one's recoil tolerance, a .416 or a .458.

With those two rifles (the .300 and either the .416 or the .458), I would have everything I would need for my whole African safari career.

Regards,

Terry

A 9.3x62 would be a good choice as an all-arounder in Africa. It uses the same action size as the .30-06 you're used to and can be handled in a rifle of similar weight. Of course, there's nothing wrong with a .375 H&H either, but you'll need a bigger action to handle it and it'll probably weigh more plus have more recoil.

Talked to a PH some timeback who told me he had
2 rifles in camp, a 30/06 and a 375H&H. Get ammo
anywhere and the work. If it ain't DG a 30/06
will work.
JMO
Gene

Forty two years ago I bought my first rifle and I knew some day I wanted to hunt Elk (Africa was in my far off dreams) so I bought a M70 338WM. Hunted only whitetail (over gunned) for many years. In 2000 I made my first trip to africa and the 338 was great. When I book now with Mark he always says "your bringing that ugly 338 aren't you".

If dangerous game may be a posibility sometime in the near future or you just want a big bore the 375 H&H would be a great choice. If DG isn't on the menu get a 300 or 338 WM. You wont be dissapointed. All three are superb cartridges. What price range are you looking at for a rifle? If you don't want to spend a lot get a Model 70.

There is really only one choice, get a good .375h&h. It's legal for DG, you can handload it down to .375win. for deer hunting & it is decisive on elk.

When you say SA....I assume you mean RSA.

If that's the case there's not much for DG there. A few Rhinos in the transvaal maybe and a couple puddy tats but far and away it's a good shoot for plains game.

The grand old 30-06 is still a good choice for this task but if you want something different I'd be looking to the 338-06.

There's one more cartridge that I'd think would be excellent as a plains game round and it's the 280 Remington.

Any of the three is a good choice IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by wap_jean:
I have been shooting with my dads 30.06 since I was 8 and I am now 22 and my dad finaly decided to buy me my own gun.

Can anyone please advise me on what the best all round gun for hunting SA's game is.

A Valmet 412/Tikka 512/Finnclassic 512 with a set of 12 ga bbls, a set of 9.3x74R bbls, and a set of 12/30-06 bbls.

Unless you want to pay for 375 ammo every time you practice/cull, I would recommend a 308 or 30-06.

Big enough for all bushveld game including eland, flat shooting for sprinbuck in the Karoo + the ammo is affordable for practicing with.

I would spend my money on a really good scope first, then a solid CZ to go under it!
Good hunting!

What? Nobody recommended Weatherby?

wap_jean,

You might want to pick up a copy of this book:



Rifles for Africa
by Gregor Woods

Available at: http://www.safaripress.com/

Just a suggestion....
-Bob F.

I could have saved thousands of dollars if I had received as good of advice as you've gotten on this Forum.

quote:

Originally posted by mufasa:
I could have saved thousands of dollars if I had received as good of advice as you've gotten on this Forum.

mufasa, look at all of the fun you've had with the ones you did get.

Hog Killer

I'm not sure I can even count all the game that my hunters have killed with my 30/06 and my 375HH over the last 15 years. They have been used as loaners for all that time when hunters coming over don't want to pack guns around various countries or deal with the firearm hassles in airports.

When I hunt for myself in the USA 99% of the time I choose my 30/06 and have not felt I needed more. It's deadly and powerful for all NA hoofed game to 300 yards. I simply cannot imagine a better choice for your "replacement" just buy a good one that will get some wear and tear because you will have it a long time. Mine are stainless with synthetic stocks and the 30/06 has been sent to Robar for their Roguard treatment to make it look as if it's a blued rifle.

The other huge advantage of this cartridge is that you will never be far from ammo should you need it. It's likely one of the most popular rifles with the most available ammo in the world. Well except in France where you cannot have a 30/06. Just one more reason to have one!

Asking a gun to everything with a single caliber is like asking a golfer (I don't golf) to play with one club. But if I must choose only one gun it would be a 338 Win mag. If you ever seriously contemplate hunting dangerous game of the thick skin variety get a CRF in 416 something and you're set for anyhwhere in the world to hunt anything. Both are outstanding cartridges. If you only hunt deer and occasional elk and a little recoil shy (be honest with yourself here) then the 30-06 is a superb cartridge as well.

My brother last year bought a sauer202 in 375H&H left handed,and he has used it on dikdik to hertebeest with good result.He wanted a one rifle for every thing.

hamdeni

It's way past time for you to move up to a .375 H&H.

Save the 30-06 for sentimental reasons, if you must, or use it for small varmints. Better yet, get rid of it and use the money to buy .375 ammo.

Another book to consider besides Gregor Woods' book is Craig Boddington's book "Safari Rifles". That will help you decide.

I can't imagine a better one rifle battery than the .375 H&H. It is effective, relatively flat shooting but not overly destructive. As they say - "you can eat right up to the hole". It truly is a great round.

Yep, ME Dan! I'm with Terry on this one, a 300 Weatherby (in my humble opinion the most versatile cartridge around) and if you ever go after the "Big Stuff" a 416. jorge