I am planning on taking a 375 H&H and 270 Win on safari. What has been your experience with the 270 Win and what bullets would you recommend for plains game. Is it adequate for eland?

i dunno i took a 270 once. I found it pretty explosive on impala size game, and not quite adequate on kudu size game. Definately not on eland - yes you can kill sable & eland and even ele with a 270, but I want something bigger. Leopard is a lightly constructed animal and a 270 will work fine, but beware of the bullet selection or you risk blowing a big hole through that beautiful hide on the exit. If I was to use a 270 it would probably be with barnes tsx. as long as you have your 375 - use it

CLIFT

Your 375 does not need to be reserved for only big stuff. It works just as well on impala as buffalo. For the animals you mentioned the leopard would be the only animals I would reserve for the 270 but the 375 will work with this one too. I actually shot a leopard with a 375 that just slumped in the tree and really never moved. If you are looking for 2 rifles to cover all your target animals you might want to consider matching a larger rifle with your 375.

Mark

Saeed has posted positively about his use with the 270 on plains game as have others. Most of the Kudu, Gemsbok, Zebra, wildebeest, etc. aren't much different than elk and the biggest argument on the internet forums is about the 270 and elk hunting.

I don't think there is a right answer......If you use it find a good bullet like the 160 grain partition, Aframe, northfork etc.

Personally I'd consider the 30-06 to be a minimum for the larger plains game.

Clift, 150 gr premium bullets like Barnes banded X bullet or a north fork and you will be fine...
Remember it is all shooting and bullet placement...
Mike

What most people fail to realize when hunting Africa the first time is the herd conditions much of the game is shot in. It's been a long standing opinion of mine that sub 30 calibers do not give the kind of blood trails you can depend on. In most cases they provide no blood trails. 30 caliber is the diameter that just begins to provide enough blood that you will get some possible blood tracking with consistancy. The 8mm and 338's are where it's getting good and you will usually have an exit and enough blood to follow right to the game. 358 and 375 will almost always leave you with enough to follow at a walk, above that diameter blood and chunks are usually visible the short distance you will track to the game.

Herd species will almost always run well beyond their survival capacity to stay with the group. This means that last several hundred yards can be without any blood even from a bigger bore gun. Individual or non herding animals like kudu, nyala, and waterbuck will on the other hand slow to a walk and wander until they lay down and die. North Americans for the most part do not have this knowledge of hunting the large herding species. Pronghorns, cariboo, and some sheep being an exception.

Now I have also heard this in response. Why do you worry so much about blood tracking if the shot is good. Yeah well that "if" is an awfully important word in my vocabulary. "If" everything is perfect then why not just use a .22 rimfire as well.

Another misconception many first time Africa hunters have is the way follow ups occur. Typically with a herd of game in dry, dusty, sandy, conditions, at the shot there is cloud of dust as they depart in a hurry kicking up sand and bone dry dirt. This leaves you with difficult visibility. By the time you arrive to the site of the impact looking for blood when hundreds if not thousands of individual foot prints have been stampeeded across the ground leaves you will limited information for the direction the animal you hit has gone.

African plains game,...... well many of the species live in very thorny conditions. Many have thicker more elastic and more rubber like skin then a deer or an elk. When shot or poked they don't have the same tendency to bleed freely. When shot they don't bleed anywhere as much as an equally hit Deer or Elk. The exceptions are the Impalas, Blesboks, and Kudus. These are soft aniamls and bleed very good. The Wildebeast Gemsbok hartebest and Zebra are very tough and rubbery skinned game. They also live in herds that will cause you stress when they are wounded and leave no blood to find them.

For this reason the cartridges over 30 caliber with a very good bullet are an exceptional choice for plains game. They allow enough diameter to get something to flow out of the entry and often times give an exit as well.

Personally if you already have a 375HH, I would just load it with 270 aframes and be done with it. That combination is simply as good as it gets for anyhthing alive not considered thick skinned. I have seen this combination work without fail 100% of the time so far.

JJ, I think you gave a mighty fine answer there!

Irrespective of how well founded your answer is, and how true it is, someone will always be able to add some if’s & but’s – “proving†that their view is better than yours! But for me – I think you said it all.

I could not agree more with JJ's post. I've hunted Plains game with the .270 win and various .30 calibers up to the .300 Ultramag. African herd animals can take some incredible hits and keep on trucking. Use more gun is sound advice.-Rob

If I am paying the trophy fees, No Way. Yeah it will kill it, eventually. You MIGHT not find it though. A 300 Magnum would be the minimum on eland for me. The 375 is right at home for eland,zebra,wildebeest,kudu too. I shot my wildebeest three times, all through the chest before it died. Eland are quite a bit bigger. Why chance it when you have the 375?

In April 2005 I shot a blue wildebeest with a 7x64, very close to the 270 balisticly. He was angled away and the shot was placed at about the last rib and angled through the chest to the brisket, excellent penetration but that was with 175gr. noslers. It was a one shot kill. I think accurate placement is much more important than caliber unless you're talking BIG holes. I agree though that I wouldn't risk a leopard trophy fee on a small caliber if I had a 375 along!

Leave the 270 home and just take the 375. I shot my leopard with one and its perfect for eland.

quote:

i dunno i took a 270 once. I found it pretty explosive on impala size game, and not quite adequate on kudu size game. Definately not on eland - yes you can kill sable & eland and even ele with a 270, but I want something bigger. Leopard is a lightly constructed animal and a 270 will work fine, but beware of the bullet selection or you risk blowing a big hole through that beautiful hide on the exit.

butchloc,

Your right when you said you "dunno!"

I've used a 270 on 6 safaris now, have taken everything from duiker to a 2000 pound Eland, and I might add the Eland was a "One shot - One kill!" I've taken over 100 trophies with it, including a beautiful Leopard! And no big hole in it!
As Retreever stated earlier on this post, it's all in bullets and placement! (Thanks Mike!) You should learn the caliber before you start slamming it!! I will always use a 270, it is a great calibur!!

I've killed quite a few head of plainsgame with a 270 using 150 Partition Gold bullets. It was a real killer, but I never stress tested it with low-probablility shots. I'd never sit at home because a 270 is all I had, but as much as I love the 270 it wouldn't be my first choice for all-around plains game hunting.

My absolute favorite plainsgame combination is a 300 mag with 200 grain SAF bullets and after that a 338 mag with 250 grain SAF's, so I guess I'm pretty much in agreement with JJ. Here's a case in point, my nephew made a good shot on a wildebeest and broke one shoulder. The wildebeest ran with the herd as best he could and didn't really slow down much until he was about 250 yards away. The only shot available was a Texas heart shot and the 300 win mag, anchored the Wildebeest. I don't think a 270 would have done the job cleanly in that circumstance.

I used a 270 Winchester to take a Big Tom Leopard and used a 150 Grain Nosler Partition specifically due to the fact I wanted quick expansion with penetration and got perfect results on both accounts. I hit him at 53, steps, on the point of the right shoulder, the bullet exploded the shoulder and sent bone and bullet through the heart and lungs and three exit holes of bone and bullet resulted in a one shot kill. I was COMPLETELY SATISFIED with the results. This was a big mature Leopard we shot off his 10th cattle kill and as happy as I was the local farmers were even more pleased. I would use the same combination again maybe even the 160 grain Partition. I then used the 270 on several plains game including an old Stallion Zebra and several Wildebeast, however, on these animals I used a Barnes X, 140 grain that shot to the same point of impact as the 150 Nosler. Again I would use the same combo on Leopard and plains game. The X bullets killed like a 338. Today I use Triple Shocks in the 270 and have made one shot kills on Mule Deer in the 290 to 315 yard range with perfect performance; and the deer only take three to four steps, after taking the bullet on the shoulder. My personal experience with the 270, and the right bullet in the right place, as with every other caliber, say use it.

If your safari is in Namibia or South Africa then carry the 270 if you must. If hunting anywhere where DG is free roaming I highly recommend something more adequate in hand i.e. your 375 H&H. And yes I own and have shot game with the 270 and they are fine deer rifles. At the price of African trophy fees do you really want a marginal rifle for the bigger plains game?