Hey all my trip is still a bit over a year away but I am haveing a ball planning for it! I am going to take a new ( as yet unfired model 70) in 30-06. I am thinking about Barnes X or maybe the triple shock or swift A frame. in 180 or maybe 200 Gr. I have used 200s "plain old serria round nose" on Moose locally they did great ( I dont think Moose are as tenatious of life as most African game) I plan to shoot warthog, impala zebra and possibly wildebeest or a kudu it is only the last 3 that give me bullet concerns. What have others used or your thoughts? Thanks John.

John,
Check out the ".30-6 or .300 wm?" post below and you'll find some good answers to your post. Myself, I think the 180 Grain Nosler Partition @ around 2,700 fps is just right.

Rich Elliott.

If you handload, get either the Swift A-frame or Trophy Bonded bullets. The Barnes X bullets will also work well. You will be spending thousands on this trip. Saving a few bucks on bullet selection makes no sense at all. Try out several good quality bullets and see which shoots the best out of your rifle.

I have shot completely through all of those species and many others with 180 gr. Nosler Partition and Winchester Fail-Safe bullets out of the .300 Win. Mag., and your .30-06 will do as well.

African plainsgame animals are NOT bullet-proof, although they are constantly portrayed to be nearly so. I haven't found this to be the case. Hit them well with a good bullet from a reasonable cartridge, and they go down in short order. The .30-06 is a reasonable cartridge.

My personal rule-of-thumb for selecting plainsgame cartridges is fundamentally this: Any cartridge /bullet comb that I'd hunt North American elk with is a cartridge I'd hunt all species of plainsgame with. The .30-06 with quality 180s is my personal minimum elk cartridge, and I would indeed hunt African plainsgame of all sizes, eland included, with it..........

AD