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I'll be heading back across the pond next year. On the plate will be kudu and black wildebeest as 'for sures'; therefore, the 300 Win Mag will be making another trip. Also, bushpig may be an option. In addition, some of the smaller guys will be on the menu: mountain reedbuck, springbok, blesbok, common duiker and cape grysbok. Graybird "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after ... it's the reckoning." | ||
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I have used my 300 win mag on all the little guys you mention. No problem just aim a little back from where you would normally take an animal on the smaller ones as not to mess up the cape too much. Good Hunting,  | |||
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Your .300 is good for everything on license. You could have Superior Ammunition load some solids for your .300WM for use on the little guys; I did and always take some solids for my .300WM. A one rifle battery simplifies things. Mike ______________ DSC DRSS (again) SCI Life NRA Life Sables Life Mzuri IPHA "To be a Marine is enough." | |||
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A one battery rifle definitely simplifies the luggage and ammo issues; however, a spare in the event of a problem (e.g. broken firing pin, scope issue), is always a good thing! The 7-08 will work on all the game you have listed. Jim | |||
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I could never go all the way to Africa with only one rifle. I have had excellent results here in the states on small animals with Trophy Bonded Bearclaws. being a bonded bullet they have not "blown up" the hide. In Africa I used my 9,3x74R on the smaller stuff with either the 286gr Woodleigh Soft, or the 286 Woodleigh Solid. The Woodleigh Softs were not hard on the hide, but the solid did make a little smaller exit hole. I would take the 7mm08, as with the right bullet it would work on the big stuff if necessary. DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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As Lion hunter and others have said just pack some solids for your 300. I've killed all those species and the solids will only really be needed for the grysbok. The other species will not be destroyed by your 300 with soft points as long as you use a premium bullet. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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graybird, I'm going to play the devil's advocate here and say get yourself a .223 (single shot break open is fine and BPS has a Rossi that comes in 20 ga and .223 for around $199, both barrels included). .22-250 would be fine if you load your own and are careful about the bullet you choose. Many varmint bullets will destroy several of the pygmies. True, you can shoot them with anything and hope for the best, especially for a shoulder mount, but cape trauma is a concern. Violent tissue disruption can cause all of the capillaries and vessels to rupture. This bruises the skin/cape, which can lead to hair loss during the rehydration or tanning process. Many times what appears to be a broadside shot, is off by a little and you wind up exiting the far shoulder. This is not good if you want a quality cape. I've taken all your wish list animals with the .223 but I recommend you use the .300 on the Blesbok. Nosler partitions in 60 grains will perform well with the .223. I haven't tried them in .22-250 so I can't say. Just thought you should be aware of what we try to avoid for taxidermy concerns. GH, David Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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Just to set the record straight, I do reload for myself and would be willing to try suggestions, dependent upon the rifles like of said suggestion. I would take my 223, but it is a Ruger Target rifle. Graybird "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after ... it's the reckoning." | |||
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Graybird, load up some 220 grain Woodleigh solids for the 300 and call it good, perfect for the mini-antelope. I used a 30-06 with solids for a klipspringer two years ago. I've taken one rifle to Africa many times and have no issue with it, something really goes sour use one of the PH's back-up rifles. "An individual with experience is never at the mercies of an individual with an argument" | |||
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I agree with the "take solids" posts for the truly small guys. I've shot lots of the small guys with a 300WM and a 375H&H, and the only ones that were excessively damaged were the ones shot with softs. At the same time, I've had good luck with Nosler Partitions out of both guns. I once shot a steenbok with a 300WM shooting 200 grain nosler partitions, with very little damage to the cape. A few years later, I shot a red flanked duiker and oribi with 375 shooting 300 grain nosler partitions. All capes were fine. The duiker and steenbok were both full mounted. As for blesbok, mountain reedbuck, and springbok, they are not huge, but they are not small either. I've shot all of them with a 300 WM with premium expanding bullets. The results were no different than you would expect on deer and antelope sized game. 300 win mag with good expending bullets will work fine. Go get em. Will J. Parks, III | |||
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I shot my duiker, steenbok and springbok with 225 grain .338 triple shocks. 300 WM will suffice nicely | |||
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Mine is a heavy barreled Remington VS model 700. Does very well on long shots. Most shots won't be long but when they come, and they do come, you might be glad you took a second rifle. Mt. Reedbuck, Springbok, and even Duiker might be found at long range. Mine has performed well in those situations. Cape Grysbok will be close. Since your not restricted, and have the option, I would stay with the small caliber instead of trying to hope two different .30 caliber bullets will have the same point of impact, and your shot placement works out. Good hunting regardless, LDK Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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I agree on the solids for all of the small stuff. Nearly all of my small animals have been shot with the .375 H&H using Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer Solids. It sure saves on the hides. I just had John LaSala at Safari Arms load up some Barnes solids for me for my .325 WSM for the next Safari. | |||
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I have a different take on the issue of sparing the cape. My philosophy is "you take care of killing the animal cleanly and efficiently and let your taxidermist take care of the cape". By all means use the appropriate rifle and load, but too often I have seen a client get too clever and aim for an inappropriate shot and end up wounding the animal. This invariably means taking another hasty shot and destroying the cape anyway. Worse, the animal gets away for hours of search. | |||
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One rifle..appropriate loads...I am a great beliver in 'one rifle'. If you take a .22-250 the kudu of a lifetime will step into the open at 150m when your 300 mag is 2km away on the truck...It always hapens. Don't even need solids for the tiney to. Slow expanding bullets like the Barnes TSX don't open quickly enough to blow them to bits. My last client used a .338 win for lion, eland, Zebra, grysbok and klipspringer. 225grn TSX... all one shot kills. More important is the choice of scope. Need at least a 1,5-6 or preferably a 2-8 like Saeed uses or 2,5-10 to wring the maximum flexibility out of the .300. | |||
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I am leaving in 18 days and Suni is on the list. I am taking my drilling 16Ga and 9.3X72R. I like the buckshot option as most pybmy antlope are shot at close range. The exception would be the Klippy. Most Duikers are hunted and shot in thick cover so long shots would be the exception rather than the rule. | |||
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My 10 year old cousin recently got back from a 10 day safari in Africa and dropped a black wildebeest, oryx, red hartebeest, and a blue wildebeest with a 7mm-08 140 gr Barnes TSX bullet. | |||
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If you need a second rifle, I would take a second .300 Win mag. This is all I took on my 2005 hunt in Dande North.  Everyone, from the pilot, to PH, said, "Is that all?" Andy | |||
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I shot my Steinbuck with a 300 H&H using 200 grain nosler partitions. The PH had me aim a little farther back and the bullet just blew him apart and dumped his guts on the ground. The sad thing was that it did not kill him and one of the trackers had to suffocate it. A nice .223 or .243 would have been much better. | |||
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GeoffM24: Another reason why I use the .375 H&H with trophy bonded sledgehammer solids. It kills them dead and leaves a small hole going in and a small hole going out.  | |||
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These different experiences are so interesting. I think it proves that there are so many variables existing when we take an animal that it's difficult to make any hard, fast rules. I shot a number of impala in Tanzania and several springbok in Namibia with a 375 H&H using Hornady solids. After each shot I thought I had missed because they ran off seemingly unharmed. True, they piled up dead after about 50-100 yards but I was left with the thought that I was not matching my rifle with the game involved. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Which rifle for the little guys?
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