I'm leaving for Namibia this April and would like to bring my dobble rifledrilling in 7x57R. Is this to marginal??

It is a bit light, but it will work ... shot placement. I do prefer a heavier caliber for the Gemsbuck.

OK for Kudu, but I would not hunt Gemsbok with anything less than a 338 or 9.3x62..I have seen too many of those tough old boys go many miles shot through both lungs with a some good 39 caliber rifles...I consider the Gemsbok one of the toughest animals in the plainsgame catagory, much harder to kill than Eland in my experience.

Wendell is spot on. Bullet placement is key. Hit them in the wrong place with a big bore and you will have some serious tracking to do. i shot my kudu with a 300 WSM and it dropped like a rock. For whatever reason, the kudu seems to give up the ghost a little easier than other African game.

I agree with Ray in that I like plenty of rifle for gemsbok. They're tough animals in the same sense that elk are tough. I've used a .300 Winchester on all my gemsbok so far, and I'll be taking a .338 when I hunt them again in 2006.

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I'm leaving for Namibia this April and would like to bring my dobble rifledrilling in 7x57R. Is this to marginal??

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I took a whole lot less gun.....I took a Winchgester M-92 in .25-20.....and I never asked anyone if I should....it was Duiker bound no matter what.....

The 6.5 MM is a fine cartridge for a lot of things and I'd not hesitate to use it all I wanted.....However I'd look to at least a .30 cal for Kudu, Gemsbok, Wildebeest, Zebra, Eland and anything of that nature.

Have a ball!!!

Tomjac,

You've already received some solid advice but I'll add my two cents as well since you asked....

While the 7x57R operates at lower pressure than the 7x57 you'll get less performance.....but then again a famous elephant hunter used his 7x57 a few hundred times without apparent ill effect to himself and with devastating effect on the elephants he shot. With close range, good shot placement and premium ammunition such as RWS 177gr. TIG you may do O.K. for yourself under ideal conditions.

Does your Namibian host know and agree with your caliber/rifle selection? Or are you simply in the "I'm wondering if.....phase?" I would ask yourself, if things go pear-shaped are you prepared to potentially end up appearing less than a competent sportsman and creating a potential issue for you & your host?.

Like most everyone else who has responded I do not consider this an ideal Gemsbok caliber nor appropriate rifle for Namibian Gemsbok hunting, personally I'm a true 375 H&H fan for Africa and watched in awe last year as my hunting partner shot a Gemsbok with a 375H&H three times. I'd consider something in the .30/06 class with premium ammunition to be minimum for Gemsbok.

As much as the caliber selection I would query the use of a relativly heavy Double Drilling for plains game, does it have a sling and a scope (what power?) and is the terrain, stalking and shooting you expect to do condusive to the best use of such a specialized rifle? Or would you be better off with a more powerful single shot or bolt-action? Will your beautiful Double Drilling be clanging around in tha back of a bakkie and scrapped through the sandy scrub thorn of Namibia? Perhaps a more utilitarian rifle in a more powerful caliber would be a better choice?

My grandfather always said to use the right tool for the job at hand.....

Wish you all the best as you plan for your hunt and in selecting the right tool - have a great hunt in Namibia.

Regards,

Gerry

I'd ask your Namibian host. Most likely he uses a .308, .30-06 or even a 7x57 himself. I doubt he would be using a 'magnum'.

I'd take a good rifle you are used too and that you shoot well.

Having shot only one gemsbok I am only slightly qualified in this area. I shot mine with my CZ 550 375 H&H and put 2 killing shots into my gemsbok and he was still struggling when we approached him. I was stunned that any animal could take that kind of punishment and still have any fight left in them. While the 7x57 will do the job well with good bullets and proper shot placement, you wouldnt be overgunned with something bigger. I wish you the best of luck no matter what you choose to hunt with.

Yes, it's too marginal. As another worthy poster here has inimitably said, a gemsbok is the Rasputin of game animals.

Anything less than a .300 Magnum is iffy. I recommend a .338 Winchester Magnum or better and perfect shot placement.

Less would be to risk insult to a worthy adversary.

I agreed with all of you, but the double drilling would make a ideal small plan games gun. I most likely bring my 330Dakota as last time.

Close to 40", shot in RSA 2004.

Tomjac,

Why not take them both? I took a 300WSm and 375 H&H with me to RSA. Once you have the bigger stuff in the salt your can go with the 7X57R. While I have only taken one gemsbok, my experience was the same as with my kudu. One shot and drops stone cold. Lucky I guess as the consensus seems to be that the gemsbok are virutally bulletproof.

Nitro Express,
May I suggest that you are correct in one since, the outfitter probably does use a lesser caliber, but two things come into play here..One, most outfitters recommend 338 or larger for Gemsbok and rather see a 375 H&H, it saves them many hours of tracking....Two, when locals or outfitters hunt Gemsbok, they have all year to find one and they just wait until the oppertunity is right, and a 257 Robts would work under those ideal circumstances, I suspect.

A paying hunter, on the other hand, has x number of days to accomplish this same task, His or her shots can be ,and usually are, quit long in Namibia and Gemsbok are tough tough animals with huge lungs that don't deflate as fast as say a Kudu...and that one big bull may be the clients only chance..

Kudu, btw, are very soft animals and easy to kill, but Gemsbok are among the most tenacious to life in Africa, only second to the Cape Buffalo IMO....

My take on this kind of situation is the boyscouts motto, "be prepared" and never send a boy to do a mans job, it can turn a great hunt ino a disaster...

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In our family, and close circle of hunting friends, there are at least 9 who hunt plains game with the 7x57 every year. Use a bullet that will not break up, and, inside of 200 metres, you will have no problem. With the gemsbuck, get an illustration of the skeletal structure of the animal as the lungs and vertebrae of the neck and spine are not where they appear to be. Shooting too high on a gemsbuck is the most common reason why they run after being shot.

I have shot a good number of kudu with 7x57, at distances out to 350m and the only tracking job I ever had was when a bullet broke up badly on the front leg bone going in, failing to get into the chest cavity.