Quite a few good posts, if your first safari will be plains game only and in South Africa the 30-06 or other .30 calibers 300WM etc will work fine. In South Africa expect your shot to average a bit further than in some other areas but the 30-06 is very capable out to 300 yards. Stick with one bullet weight and no how it will perform, also stay with premium bullets. 180 grain a-frames or Barns TSX. Lean toward heavy for caliber bullets. I also agree with the postings if you will be hunting in a DG area although your PH will be properly armed you should also be prepared for what you may run into. Sticking with the classic chamberings is also a good idea for the fact if your ammo is lost there is a good chance your PH will have a stash of common calibers. There are several high quality turn bolts available depending on your budget. If you look at features, controled round feeding(mauser action) Capacity and catch on the magazine and safety configurations you will find a winning rifle. In regards to barrell length if you look at most factory rifles they will average over 22". This helps you get the most out of your selected cartridges performance. Just my opinion but I have used .30 and .375 cartridges on a variety of game and have been very satisfied with both.

The bullet is much more important than the caliber.

Having said that, the 308 bores offer the widest selection of bullets in a medium caliber.

In a heavy caliber, it would have to be 375 that offers the most choice.

If you are going to stick to one gun, it has to be 375 H&H or Ruger, if DG on your list.

If no DG, then one gun should be 338 or any 30 caliber from 308 Win up.

If two guns and DG, then 308 bore to 338 bore plus a stopper in 416 to 458 bore.

There's a lot to be said for a double with two sets of bbls. Easier to pack than two bolt rifles.

Don't forget the shotgun...if you like to shoot birds.

Hmm - don't even know if I want to wade into the ".308 vs. .30-06" debate.

Or do I?

Reload your 375 it is much cheaper my pg load is 40% of factory ammo and much cheaper to shoot on the range aswell

the advantage of a 375 is that if you hunt in thick bush it leaves a better blood trail and if you dont shoot the perfect shot you will still find it.

one of my friends shot a wildebeest with a 30 06 it was a good low lung shot it ran about 140m it took us 4hours to find it because it went into a bush and it bled internally no exit wound. whereas the 375 it looks like somebody with a bucket of blood ran behind it.hunting is expensive and paying for a animal that is still running is a shit feeling so i leave nothing for chance

and if you want a 375 that kick like a mule buy a sako

Hello John,
I have been in a situation similar to yours. Prior to my trip to Namibia in 2006, the biggest thing I'd ever hunted was squirrels and bunnies.

I went on a plains game safari, and since there was little chance of running into dangerous game, I took a Winchester model 70 featherweight in 30-06 with 165 grain barnes x bullets. I also have a model 70 in .375 H&H, but my PH assured me I wasn't going to need that much gun for plains game. (Just between you and me I wish I had taken it just for the fun of it).

As long as I did my part the rifle and bullets were perfect. I didn't take an eland, or a wildebeast, but I shot a mountain zebra at 220 yards quartering away just behind the ribs. The bullet transversed the diaphragm, both lungs, the great vessels and was found just inside the right front leg perfectly mushroomed. The animal ran about 20 yards and collapsed. I also made a 300 yard shot on an ostrich with the 22 inch barrel from the featherweight. I know lots of guys like longer barrels, but I'm only 5'6", so longer barrels are a pain for me to carry and shoot.

In light of my experience, I think a 30-06 is adequate for most plains game. There are many members here with much more experience than I have, so take my experience ( or more accurately my lack there of) for whatever it may be worth. Good luck with your choice.
Best Regards,
Sean

What do you all think of a Weatherby Sub MOA rifle in .30-06? It weighs 7.75 pounds (so about 1.5 more than the Tikka T3 Lite), no removable magazine, no plastic, and has a Bell and Carlson stock with Timney trigger - all for $550.

very accurate. Got one in a 300 weatherby. You might also consider a 35 Whelen... sort of a compromise in power and recoil between the 338 winny and the -06. There is also the 338 federal and 338-06 that fall into that same category, but if factory ammo cost is an issue, I'd go with either the Whelen, the 338 win mag, or the 375 H&H. The 30=06 is a great round, but in my mind the Whelen does everything the -06 does and does it a bit better and with more power. Its recoil is not substantially greater than the -06.

.....I agree w/ aglifter on the 375 Ruger ...The Alaskan model is nice and compact but ,.myself I would put an aftermarket stock on it, or possibly a ruger synth. or laminate ...But the Houge stock works for some people ... It soaks up alot of recoil also ...I,ve shot coyotes with a 416 Rem mag and didn,t feel overgunned enough to not shoot ...The 2nd animal that II killed with my 9.3x64 was a red fox ...250 gr TSX @2750 fps worked fine @45 feet ..I seriously doubt you will think too much about recoil when you are shooting at game and so the 375,s would be perfact choices ...Since I,ve seen Tikka,s break down and I,ve never seen a m77mk II ruger break down I would recomend the ruger..

Well, I handled some Tikka T3s today and some Weatherbys. The T3 felt . . . well . . a little too "light" to me. I loved the bolt throw and action, 60 degree turn instead of the Weatherby's 90 degree. The Weatherbys were not Vanguards but the Mark V. Quite a bit more costly than the Tikka. I did like the stock and cheekpiece of the Weatherby, and the trigger was nice, but the bolt just wasn't on par in operation with the Tikka.

Well, I've found a nice, NIB .30-06 Tikka Whitetail Hunter, blue, synthetic, for about $465. The T3 is 6.1 pounds, the WH is 7.5 pounds. So perhaps that extra 1.4 pounds will tame the recoil a bit more and give me a more balanced rifle. From what I read the WH was just about as close to a Sako as you could get without paying the big bucks for one. I like the metal magazine as well.

Find someone in your area that is a gun nut and willing to let you try out some of their rifles and see what your comfy recoil limit is.

If you were closer I would let you try out my 30-06, 338, 458, etc

My Browning .338 has a detachable brake on it and with the break on it kicks less then my .280 Remington (and less then the .30-06). And the .338 dia bullet would be more desirable for the Eland