Questions, questions, questions. They never stop coming as we prepare for our first "family" safari in June.

My latest ones have to do with my kids .270 Wins. First of all, I've been told several times on this forum that one cannot import two rifles of the same caliber in to RSA. But can my kids, on a seperate declaration form, each import a .270, even though they are each only 16, 16 (twins) and 14-years old? I plan to seperate out the ammo so that each kid has 50 rounds to declare in his own luggage.

Also, what do you think of .270 caliber, 150-grain Speer Grand Slams moving at around 2900 fps for kudu and Gemsbuck? 58 grains of H 4831 produce this in boys' guns and all three rifles seem to like the load very much (The only load that produces MOA groups in all three rifles). The neat part about this load is that I can load for all three rifles exactly the same way, and then divide the rounds up and not worry if they get their bullets mixed up (and they WILL get their bullets mixed up).

I've got a box of 150-grain Swift A-Frames on order to see if they shoot good in the boys' guns, but my experience with A-frames is that one gun will like them, one gun will hate them and the other will be so, so. I know the terminal performance of the A-Frames is superior, but is the difference in a sub-sonic round like the .270 worth the inconvience?

What would Jack O'Conner say?

The 270 Will work fine but try not to hit the big game animals on the shoulder with the Speer Grand Slams , they might come apart at 2900 after hitting solid bone.

I think with good shot placement and reasonable ranges (under 250 yards), the .270 should perform well. My wife shot her oryx (gemsbok) with a .257 Roberts shooting 120 grain Interlocks at about 250 yards with excellent results. I'm not familiar with the Speer you're shooting.

Go to this site, http://www.rifleshooter.com/biggame.htm - they have a great article on the 270 in Africa.

As a longtime fan of Jack O'Connor and John Jobson, one of my goals is to use the .270 Win. in Africa, preferably in tandem with a .375 H&H.

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Rifleman,

Thanks for the heads-up on that article. Obviously, the author likes the Grand Slam better than the super premiums.

When the boys and I shoot, we shoot at bullseye targets up to 200 yards, and then move to the 300 yard range and shoot at balloons off our shooting sticks. They have no problem breaking the balloons at this range. I figure this is the maximum range I'll let them shoot at game with the .270s.

GA,
You will have no problems with the 270 anywhere in the worlk...I would use the 150 gr. Nosler myself as it is a proven performer for me. My PH's in RSA, Bushveld Safaris both shoot the 270 and swear by it on everything including Eland. I have used it extensively in the US on deer and elk, and shot it quite a bit in Africa on Kudu and even one Zebra with a borrowed rifle, it just works.

That's a new one on me that you cannot take two guns of the same caliber to RSA, but ????? At any rate you and each member of your family are allowed guns, so thats a non issue.

I can confirm that an individual can not take more then one of a given calibre rifle into RSA and I'll also add, can not bring ammo in for a rifle that they don't have in their posession. To me the question would be if there was an age requirement to import a gun into RSA?

This deviates from the original topic a little, but follows up on GMaxson's post. If one cannot import ammo for which one does not have a rifle, how can you split ammo among two hunters (in case one bag gets lost you'll still have SOME ammo) and get into the country? Do they (RSA authorities) make an exception for this since there is a rifle chambered for that round in the party?

Gentlemen,

I know the .270 has been used with great success on all matter of plains game. It seems that magazines and gun writers are making a big deal of it as if it is "all of the sudden" a suitable elk caliber. Hunters out west have known that it worked for elk for years and years. I would choose the 150 gr. partitions and use it with great confidence.

Regarding ammunition being brought into RSA or Namibia, I've never even had someone look at my ammunition. Rather, I've simply been asked how many rounds of what do I have with me. Things may have changed since I was there in October. I don't know.

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

GAHunter,

You are asking good questions, and getting good, accurate replies. The way things actually work, however, are usually a bit different.

I travelled to RSA with my family last year. All together we had 4 rifles and 1 shotgun. I was prepared to declare them separately if necessary, some for me, some for my wife, etc. The reality is I listed all the guns and ammo on one permit, made out to me. It was no problem. Since there were four of us, I used the 11 pound allotment per person and even brought in shotgun ammo. Again, in total I had about 43 pounds of ammo declared, and all guns on one permit, and nobody blinked an eye.
I am not saying this meets the letter of the law. Be prepared to declare the guns separately if necessary (Which means if they ask you to.) But I would expect them to just put all the guns on one permit without questioning it.

Beaurecrats are the same the world over, and they don't want to fill out three or four permits when the one will suffice.Besides, most probably don't even know what the rules really are!

Good Luck,

Bill

My wife used her .270 very well on Impala,Warthog
springbuck,and bushbuck. all one shot kills with nosler partition bullets. But on the two bullets recovered the front was gone on both.

Chuck6565,
That's not uncommon with Noslers, but you still have a good mushroom..Sometimes the front will blow off completely, particularly with the older Noslers and the base will go on through, but when this happens they still penitrate like the dickens and kill very well indeed.....

the newer Noslers are more prone to picture book mushrooming and velocities around 2800 FPS and down...

If you want to prevent that seperation of front lead and bullet, then go to the 160 gr. bullet. in a 270 or 200 gr. in a 06 etc.