The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Hunt booked - which gun?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I'm doing a plainsgame hunt in Botswana. 4 days in the Okavango, 4 days in the Kalahari. 100 to 200 yd shots in the delta but I could get into 300 to 400 yds in the desert. Gemsbuck and Zebra definately on the plate with a possibility of Eland. Tesessebe, impala, lechewe also. Because of the possibility of long shots i've written off my double. I'm down to: 30-06 Mod.70 300 win mag Mod 70 300 RSAUM Mod 7 375 H&H Mod 70 375 WBY Mod 70 For the sake of arguement lets say that I'm only taking one gun. I have 2 PH's - one in each area, their suggestions: Delta PH - 300 Win mag Kalahari PH - anything from 30-06 - 375 I'm partial to the 375 H&H The 375 WBY was my late brother's favorite gun The 300 win mag makes sense for the desert Who else has taken a Model 7 to africa? The 30-06 is my most boring gun - shoot something with it and it dies. I can make a case for each. Which would you make a case for? TerryR | ||
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Take the one that you have the greatest confidence in!!! Jeff in Texas When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults! | |||
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Without a doubt I'd take my .375 H&H with 270gr Swift A-Frames  .22 LR Ruger M77/22 30-06 Ruger M77/MkII .375 H&H Ruger RSM | |||
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Hard to beat the .375's. Either one - H&H or Weatherby would work. That would be my choice if eland was on the menu. If zebra and gemsbok are the largest game you shoot, the .300's come into their own when you stretch the range like you might have to in the Kalahari. Bloody little cover in parts of that semi-arid country can make for longer shots. Good hunting. On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of ten thousand, who on the dawn of victory lay down their weary heads resting, and there resting, died. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch... Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! - Rudyard Kipling Life grows grim without senseless indulgence. | |||
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375 H&H without a doubt!!! Zebra, Eland, and Gemsbok are tough. | |||
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375 - you never know what else you might run into, or what "opportunity" could arise. | |||
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I WOULD TAKE 2 GUNS. Pick your favorite 300 and your favorite 375. DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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You could do all of your hunting w/ the .300wm, but the .375h&h was made to go to Africa. If you can take both, Murphy's law you know.  LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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The .338 would be perfection, but since thats not on the ticket then the 300 Win. with 200 gr. Noslers would be my choice...375 is OK but the 300 has a better trajectory...Save that 375 for a Buffalo... Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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I would go with the 300 WM as the primary rifle, loaded with some 180 or 200 gr NP's. That will cover everything very nicely. If you want nostalga, take the 375, but the 300 WM will do what you need on this hunt. BigBullet BigBullet "Half the FUN of the travel is the esthetic of LOSTNESS" Ray Bradbury https://www.facebook.com/Natal...443607135825/?ref=hl | |||
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I only hunted Botswana once and it was in the Tuli Bolck with a 30-06 and I return from that trip thinking I need a 338 wm. Last year in northern Namibia, the distances were similar to the ones you mentioned, I use a 8mm wildcat similar to the 8x68, with 200 grainers nosler partition, and was THE gun for that area, so if I were you I will pick your 300 wm with good 180 or 200 grains bullets and zero it to 200 metres and never look back. My 2 cts L | |||
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I booked 10 days of PG hunting in Namibia in 06 and my PH ask me to bring my 30-06 with 180 grain nosler partitions. I will bring along a 375 or 338 as a backup gun.. John | |||
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If you going to the Okavango, take one of the .375s with 260 grain Accubonds or 270 gr TSXs. What if you are stalking some antelope and something big and nasty, like a buffalo, explodes out of the bush at 20 paces. Do you want a .300 or . 375? That said, your type of hunt begs for two rifles, one for the Okavongo, a .375 - whichever is most comfortable, and one for the Kalahari, a .300 - whichever is most accurate. Leave the 30-06 at home. Now, if you had say a .338 Win Mag, as suggested earlier, loaded with 230 gr Fail Safes or 225 gr TSXs then you'd be set for whatever you might find. If you are going to carry a big stick, you've got to whack someone with it at least every once in while. | |||
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The 375 is awful hard to make a case against. It is THE rifle for a one gun safari. That being said, you are the shooter so shoot what you want. A lot of old Africa fans would say you would do fine with only a 7X57! Have gun- Will travel The value of a trophy is computed directly in terms of personal investment in its acquisition. Robert Ruark | |||
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Blacktailer I have a Dakota 7X57. I love it! If I do go with two guns I'll probably take it, if I can work up some loads with 175 gr. bullets. TerryR | |||
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375 H&H or Weatherby. Although cartridge selection is important there is nothing that will substitute for proper first shot placement. Good hunting, "D" | |||
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I'd choose the .375 H&H Magnum because in a worst-case scenario, you'd stand a good chance of finding ammunition locally. Beyond that, there's enough "caliber" to cover most any restrictions in that department you might come across, and the cartridge -- with a decent load -- will handle everything if you place the shot well. You could probably also find .30-06 Springfield ammunition in a pinch, too, but I feel you'd be better off with the chambering I recommended. Russ The doing of unpleasant deeds calls for people of an unpleasant nature. | |||
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You have GOT to take the .375 Holland & Holland Belted Rimless Nitro Express. I would recommend Hirtenberger ammunition loaded with the 272 grain ABC bullet at 2,650 fps from a 24" barrel (I get about 2,700 fps from my 25.3" barrel). Them critters will be killed in STYLE! Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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Besides all the good reasons given above to take the 375 here is another one. When the trophys are on the wall and your telling a story about each one someone will ask what caliber you shot them with. Now if you say you got them all with a 243 it will seem like it's easy. So you want to be able to say you used the big gun. It's more of an adventure then. 375 H&H page Join the NRA | |||
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500 Jeffery  ____________________________ If you died tomorrow, what would you have done today ... 2018 Zimbabwe - Tuskless w/ Nengasha Safaris 2011 Mozambique - Buffalo w/ Mashambanzou Safaris | |||
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Heck Terry, they let you take two so why not take both. What about the smaller stuff like Impala,Steenbuck,Blesbuck, Duiker..etc. I'm thinking '06 AND .375 (.376 Steyr in my case) is the right way to go for a trip like this. You got a spare in case one goes haywire. And I'll let my wife take the shot gun in her baggage. Regards Elmo | |||
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I've hunted both places and if I were going back for plainsgame only, I'd take a 300 mag and a 12 guage. I don't understand all the hoopla over using a 375 (or larger bore) for plainsgame. Eland are big, but they are SOFT animals. They die easier than many antelope 1/3 their size. Zebra and gemsbuck are much tougher, but will succumb readily to 200 grain A-Frames or Partitions. The bird hunting can be incredible in both places, but especially the desert. Don't leave home without a shotgun (if you enjoy birdshooting at all). ______________________________ "Truth is the daughter of time." Francis Bacon | |||
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ForrestB and Elmo I am planning to take a shotgun which is why I'm considering taking only one rifle. Still, as you pointed out, no reason that my Wife can't take one. TerryR | |||
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Huh! I've shot three eland, two Livingstone, one with a .375 H&H and one with a .338 and a Cape Eland with a .30-338. All of them took more than one shot and I didn't consider any of them "soft". All were shot well, but they are big animals, some actually will weigh more than a buff bull and it takes a well constructed bullet in the right place to get their attention. If it's my money I'm spending on safari (and it usually is) I'm shooting the rifle that best fits the largest animal on my wish list or taking two rifles! A .375 or one of the 9.3's is my favorite eland medicine. On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of ten thousand, who on the dawn of victory lay down their weary heads resting, and there resting, died. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch... Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! - Rudyard Kipling Life grows grim without senseless indulgence. | |||
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Bwana, if you'll pay the tab, I'll gladly hunt eland with a 7X57 or a 308.  I'll admit a 338 or 375 isn't overkill for a big eland bull and might be preferable for an angled shot, but a stout 200 grain bullet is going to kill one just as dead. Eland are a gamefarm proposition in the kalahari and, in that sandy soil, tracking a well-hit animal is a piece of cake -- it ain't likely to get away. A thread-the-needle 250 yard shot at kudu or gemsbuck is a real possibility on the described safari; making such a shot with a 375 scares me more than shooting an eland with a 300. I'll stick with my inclination to go "light" on the trip outlined by TerryR. ______________________________ "Truth is the daughter of time." Francis Bacon | |||
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In my safe the only stops at .308" diameter are the .30-40 Krag (.30 USG), the venerable .30-06 Sprfld. (.30 M1-M2) and the .308 Win. (7.62x51mm NATO). Next stop is the .338 Win. Mag. and next the .375 Holland & Holland Belted Rimless Nitro Express. I see no need for any of the .300 Mags. What's the differnce at 300 yds.? A few inches of drop? Come on Forrest, you know bigger is better. Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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I would opt for the .375 H&H | |||
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I'd take you brother's favorite, the 375 Wea. and your favorite, the 30-06 (it looks like.) What better way to honor and remember your brother. Kudude | |||
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btt Mike Legistine actu? Quid scripsi?[/] [i] Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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