Yesterday, at the Bozeman Outdoor Show, I gave Johnny Vivier a deposit for a 12 day PG hunt in the Southern Cape region of South Africa. The primary species I'll be hunting are Cape Kudu, Cape Bushbuck, and Cape Eland, however, I'll also be looking for Grysbok and other "Little Guys" if the opportunity arises.

My rifle and load will be my Rem 700 in 7mm Rem Mag with 160 gr Accubonds (sorry Remington and 7 Mag haters, but this rifle/cartridge has served me well in the past). This load will work well for everything from the Bushbuck on up, but I am worried about the size of the exit hole in the Little Guys with the expanding bullet.

I see that Barnes makes a 7mm 140gr solid, and there are several options with cast or swaged lead bullets. I would like to hear what bullet others here have used for the Little Guys.

I took three of the little guys last summer - duiker, klipspringer and steenbok. I shot the klipspringer with a 300 Win Mag and 168gr TSX. The net result was a baseball sized hole coming out the back side. The others were shot with a 375 H&H using 300gr Hornady solids. The solids penciled through doing very little damage. If you're just going to have shoulder mounts done, use your normal 7mm loads and aim a little further back to make sure there's enough cape left to mount. If you want to do full body mounts, I'd go with a solid/FMJ bullet at a relatively love velocity.

Pete

Why not taKe a smaller caliber for the liitle guys. Something like the .260 Remington or maybe a .243 or 22-250. When I go in May I'll be taking a 300 Win Mag for Zebra, Kudu and Gemsbok, but will take a .260 Remington for Warthog and Impala sized game.

I'd shoot the Federal Premium 7 Mag with 160 TSX for everything, and not worry about it's performance on the larger stuff at all. I have been using them for deer/elk/antelope and love them, and the exit should be minimal on the little guys, at any distance over 100 yards. However, if you plan on shooting them under that distance, you're overgunned with anything in the 7 Mag and should look to 223/243 choices.

I´ve used a .375 H&H with a 300gr A-frame on duiker with hardly any damage to the skin and the 9.3x62 with a 250gr Rhino on springbuck, steenbuck and duiker worked alright. I guess the bullet construction on these is tough enough so they doen´t open up very much on the small guys.

Several years ago, I used my .257AI with 117gr Sierra's for Dall sheep and Mtn Caribou. The shots were lazer ranged at 206 and 246 yds. Both shots were 1/4" going in, and less than 1" out the other side. I also had the opportunity to shoot a Wolverine on that trip. That same bullet at about 75 yds left a soft ball size hole in the Wolverine. Luckily, my taxidermist was good enough to sew it up where it is un-noticable in a life-size mount.

My 106gr Accubond 7mm load shoots under 1 MOA at a little over 3000 fps. Two years ago, I used it in South Africa for 5 species of PG from Grey Duiker to Black Wildebeest. All were Caliber size holes going in, and about 1" holes coming out the off side. Inside, they had 5-6" diameter wound channels. My PH in the Free State remarked several times about how large the wound channels were.

On my upcoming trip to South Africa, I would rather not duplicate the bullet performance that I had on my Wolverine on a Grysbok. I would also rather take a few shells with non-expanding bullets for my 7mm RM than taking a second rifle.

I think the military style FMJ bullets that are available in .22 or .30 caliber would work great, but I can't find any in 7mm. I was hoping someone here on AR would know where I could get some 7mm FMJ bullets or hear what they have used on these Little Guys.

I hunted in Tanzania not to long ago and took along a 7mm Rem as well. I used 175gr Nosler Partitions. The exit holes on antelope from the size of a Bohor Reedbuck and up was about 50 caliber. Every thing I turned it loose on didn't take a step. I'm a real fan of the 7mm throated long to allow the base of a 175gr Partition to sit about .030-.040 under the neck shoulder junction. I can usaually get 2975fps to 3000fps with a safe hot weather load. This combo has always been a real winner. I have limited use with the AccuBonds, are not overly impressed and would rather use a Partiton or Swift in 175gr for everything when you may shoot a Reedbuck at dawn and an eland at lunch.

You'll have a blast with Johnny. I wouldn't really concern myself about loading solids with the 7mm. If you were carrying a .375, then maybe for the small stuff. I've shot small stuff with Barnes X and Trophy Bonded out of a .300 short mag and the capes are fine for mounting, you can't tell a thing. In fact, a Steenbuck I shot almost facing me with a .270 Short Mag and 140 gr Barnes X was a real mess in the field, but the mount is right here next to me and looks flawless.

Being a devout 7mm fan (owned almost everything from 7TCU to 7STW), I'd recommend the Barnes 175gr TSX if your rifle will shoot it, or the 160gr TSX. These will work great on the larger plains game and have minimal expansion on the smaller game. Tried the 175gr on Colorado antelope and had a caliber-size exit hole.

buffybr: I will give you my opinion, take it for what it's worth. First, I was a professional Taxidermist for 20 years and I've mounted most species of game. Secondly, I hunt myself, Africa included: IMHO, you do not want to hunt the pygmy antelope with a 7 mag. Even a solid may, and I say may, strike bone and rip your little guy in half. My friend shot what should rank around the number 37 Steenbok with his 7 mag and he has two pieces: front and back. I use a .223 with 60 grain Nosler partitions. Look at my Steenbok, Bushbuck #1 (black phase), Springbok and Bontebok on my web site. No damage. I am mounting the Steenbok and Bontebok lifesize. talenrec and a few others mention the 375 with solids. Usually this works fine, especially if you do as mentioned: aim for the mid section. Myself I will stay with the .22 calibers and pick my shots. The Little 5 or Tiny 10 as they are called can not only be hard to get, but a little pricey if you put a grapefruit hole in them. I wish you a great hunt and good success! David
PS: My web site is listed in my profile if you wish to view it.

If I were you, were only taking your 7mm RM, and cared about mounting them I would use solids for the little guys and down load those rounds by a few hundred fps.

Shot a Dik Dik and Jackal with 375 solids at around 2500 fps with minimal damage.

Use the Barnes solids for Cape Grysbok (you will hunt them at night), Orbi, and Steenbok. Been there and done that. I used a 338 WM.

quote:

Cape Grysbok (you will hunt them at night),

perhaps not legally

You hunt them in daylight or just say so?

I used a very small cartridge for Duiker but in it's absense I'd use the biggest and toughest bullet I could find in the 7mm Mag as this is less likely to cause damage. Also if possible aim behind the rib cage for a cape....if you want a full body mount the rib cage is as good as it gets.....very little there to open a big 7MM bullet.

Such cartridges as 22-250 and up are not the answer IMO as they will also cause extreme exit wounds.

My understanding is the Cape Grysbok is hunted at night with a permit?? I plan on hunting a number of the pygmy antelope's this summer and I again will use the .223 with Nosler partitions. They punch a hole inline with solids unlike the usual rapidly expanding "varmit" variety of bullets.

Guys, hunting is not like golf...you can't really take a bunch of guns and pull out the one that suits whatever you happen to be shooting at (unless you are a bakkie hunter in which case I don't have anything to say). So if you are hunting from kudu to steenbok, you have to hunt with a rifle that will take kudu be overgunned for the steenbok. Unless you have the time to designate hunts, as in: "this morning we are going to hunt Little Antelope".

I have just spoken to Cape Nature Conservation, and the gentleman that handles permits. It is almost as interesting as the terms "wild wat nie wild is" or "game which is not game" which amused me in the Mpumalanga ordinance.
First, this is the second year in which there is no season for Cape Grysbok, which means you may not hunt them UNLESS.....the game ranch has a Certificate of adequate enclosure and you can get a licence issued for the animal, or, you have a permit to hunt one using a prohibited method of hunting (eg spotlight) of which none have been issued. Or, you have a permit to shoot a crop damaging animal which is not for sport, and these little critters have a taste for vineyards and because no vineyards have a certificate of adequate enclosure a client/ph would open themselves up to a touch of angst if they were bust by a nature conservation officer whilst depriving the poor little critter of a touch of the grape.
As far as calibre goes, check with your PH if he has a 223 or 222 you can use if you are intending to just bring your 7mm.

/

I have had the opportunity to hunt steenbuck with a 7mmRM, and it will blow them to pieces.

I'd suggest that you develop special loads with round nose bullets and very low velocities for shooting these animals.

I have found the best solution for these animals is a large caliber (416, 425, 458) with FMJs. They get the job done with a minimum of damage. For close range, borrow a shotgun. Kudude