I am usually a deer hunter in Texas, so shooting a lower caliber gun is more my background (especially for our small deer). As I prepare to go on my first Safari (Namibia), I purchased a 300 Win Mag. My primary targets include Kudu, Springbuck, Red Hildebeast, and Gemsbock. Based on the type of shooting, I am trying to determine the best ammo for the gun/trip. Are 180 or 200 grain bullets recommended? Is there a brand that performs better for this type of shooting? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Assuming you don't/aren't going to reload, there are several brands to chooes from. I prefer Federal. My choice for your gun would be Federal's 200grn Nosler Partitions. My other choices would be Federal's 200grn TB Bearclaw or the 180 Barnes.

If you can get your gun to shoot any of these, you'll never need another load for it

Rob,

You didn't say if you were a handloader or not. Regardless if you are or are not a handloader a good 180gr. bullet such as the Nosler Partition, Swift A-frame, Trophy Bonded can be had in factory ammo or for handloading. All 3 have worked very well for me on plains game and should be more than adequate for the animals you mentioned.

Good luck,

Mark

Particularly good .300 Win. Mag. factory loads for Africa include Winchester's 180 gr. Fail-Safe and 180 gr. Partition Gold; Federal's 180 gr. Trophy Bonded, and Premium Safari 180 gr. Nosler Partition; plus Remington's 180 gr. Swift A-Frame Premium Safari.

If you're not a handloader, I'd buy several of these particular factory loads and see which one shoots best in your rifle. Any of them will do very, very well on African plainsgame up through eland in size. In my experience, 200 gr. bullets are not necessary.

AD

Rob,
For years now we've been using Federal Premium Ammo loaded with the 180 grain Nosler Partiton for the company .300 Win. Mag. This is usually for Mt. Nyala which is about the size of a spike elk . Also for Greater Kudu, Tiang, Lesser Kudu, Gerenuk,and N. Grants Gazelle. All of the above can involve long shots like hunting in Namibia. When I hunted in Namibia many years ago I was carrying a .300 Weatherby Mag. Again loaded with 180 grains Noslers.

Rich Elliott

Rob,

I took 2 rifles to Africa last year, a .375 H&H and a .300 Win Mag. I used the .375 for most everything but I used the .300 WM (handloaded 180 Nosler Partitions) to take the nice Gemsbok in my signature pic and a springbok.

A good 180 is a fine choice and a 200 is just added insurance.

Buy a box of each and pick the one that shoots best in your rifle. Mine shoots the Federal TBBC best.

I am with JD. All of the bullets that have been mentioned are appropriate for your hunt. You just need to find the one that your gun "likes" the most. I am off to RSA in a little under two months and am going to take a 375 H&H and a 300WSM. My 300WSM seems to "like" the Federal 180gr TBBC's the best.