I am planning on taking an old Ruger 77 with a tang saftey in .300 Win Mag as a light rifle in the Zambezi Valley this August. In the past I took my .375 as I knew it would be an acceptable DGR replacement in the event of a failure of my .458, but I'm confident that is an unlkely event. My PH (Ian Gibson) shoots a .458 so I can always bum his rifle if need-be and make him carry something else if I have a problem.

SOOOOO I am taking this .300 WM for baboons, warthogs, maybe a Kudu or other plains game. Anybody care to share their experiences with the .300 Win Mag in Africa? Any suggestions for bullets and loads? Has anyone here taken a kudu or zebra with a .300 win mag? Is an eland too big for a .300?

Thanks!

Mark,

Your 300 Winchester magum will do just fine for everything you plan to shoot.

I have taken everything, including eland, with a 270, and never felt I was undergunned.

Mark,

If your rifle likes 200 grainers and shoots them well you should have no problem flatenning any plainsgame.

Swift, Barnes and accubonds and plenty more to choose from I'm sure.

Thanks Saeed. Interesting you should say that as I actually considered taking my .270 WBY instead of the .300WM, but I thought I'd catch hell for it!

We used a .300 win mag on waterbuck, kudu, baboon, zebra and warthog without any problems. We used 180gr TBBC's.

If you are handloading, don't make them too hot, use 180 or even better 200gr bullets going well under 3000FPS. your shooting distance won't be long so no sense in making them fast.

Good Luck on your hunt,
Ahmed

I have used 130, 140 and 150 grain bullets in various 270 caliber rifles. And I cannot tell that one of them kills any better than the others.

I prefer mono metal bullets, regardless of weight, and I don't think the animals would notice any difference in what had hit them.

quote:

Is an eland too big for a .300?

I'd not be afraid at all to use a 30-06 for this as the critical thing is the same for any cartridge.....and it's simply placement!

I would not hesitate an Iota however to load up some A-Frames for Northforks etc for the trip as I think bullet performance is as important as the caliber and powder behind it.

I found the 300 Win Mag to be excellent for plains game. Using 180 grain Swift A Frames I had one shot kills on Kudu, Water Buck, Gemsbuck, and Spring Buck. My Eland took two shots only because off very poor shooting on my part

The four one shot kills were "bang flops".

Howdy,
I have used 300 Win for 4 seperate safaris. I have killed all animals before mentioned with this rifle. All have been killed with one shot also. All were shot using 180 gr. Failsafe ammo. The eland killed with .300 win had full pass through with both scapulas broken. I have also had to shoot a buff with same rifle. It was not enough gun for that job and thankfully my PH is very handy with his .458. However I believe if the buffalo had been any other plains game species he would have fallen dead on the spot.

The other positive about .300 win is ammo availibility. It is one of the easier cartridges to find worldwide if you were to loose or run out of ammo.

Good luck over there.

Mike,

I've used the 300 Win Mag in Africa and quite a bit elsewhere. I've used the 180 SAF and both the 180 and 200 gr Partition with good success. The 200 NP seems to be the best all around for the bigger stuff and devastating on smaller antelope.

Having said the above for eland size game I'd be happier with a 375. You might have a raking shot, the shots will not be long in the Zambesi valley and of course as 375 is always a DG back up if your 458 has a problem.

Mark

One shot kills at around 100 yds. each. Waterbuck thru the chest. Impala thru the neck.

180 gr. Barnes TSX from my Sako .300 Win Mag.

For PG you can't go wrong with the .300 Win Mag and 180 gr TSX. Close or far!!!

The things Mr.young speaks of are very valid points. However it is a common misconception that shots are close in the Zambezi valley. In one safari I shot a sable at 180 meters 1 impala at 200 meters one impala at 220 meters and my longest at 350 meters. I personally would not have felt comfortable at these ranges with a .375.

I have used my 300 win mag on two safaris and it has worked well on the small antelopes all the way up to the large ones. I have used 150 gr nosler partitions and 165 gr interbonds with no problems.

Since you mentioned the 270 WBY, my buddy uses one and it has worked very well for him.

For whatever its worth I have used a 30-06 with 180 aframe softs for all my plains game including eland and kudu. So your 300 should be ok

I just can't imagine going on a safari without my .300WM. It's such a joy to shoot and provides a great combo of a hard hitting gun with extended range. I load mine with 200 grain bullets (I've used both Swift-A-Frames and TBBC) and find the caliber an great compliment to my .375.
The longest shot I've had with my .300 when on a safari was when I had to shoot a Thomson's gazelle at about about 250 yards after initially spooking it with a dry fire (yes, I forgot to load a round).

quote:

Originally posted by smarterthanu:

The things Mr.young speaks of are very valid points. However it is a common misconception that shots are close in the Zambezi valley. In one safari I shot a sable at 180 meters 1 impala at 200 meters one impala at 220 meters and my longest at 350 meters. I personally would not have felt comfortable at these ranges with a .375.

I took most shots in the Zambezi at 100 yards or less with the exception of the baboons. I'm not worried about having my second rifle as a back up, I'm taking it just for fun this time!! I have even been considering re-thinking everything and taking a shotgun as my second gun!

Last time, I was worried about potential failures, etc...this time, I'm less worried about all that. Once I get my elephant in the salt, I'm going to sleep in, and just have fun. I was up at 3:30 AM every day, sitting in a hyena blind, and humping all day. I'm over that now...I just wanna have fun.

You will have fun with the .300 Mag. I have taken my .300 WSM to Africa 3 times and have killed 35 plains game with it from Steenbok to Eland, all without a problem. Like what was said above, it's shot placement coupled with a great 180 gr. bullet.

Mike,

Above all do what makes you happy. It is your safari after all. As for the eland the 458 will do that duty out to 200 yards with ease.

Mark

Hi N'gagi:

I am also a 300 caliber fan, but miner comes in the RUM flavor. I shot 14 head of plains game with 180 grain Nosler Partitions. I was in Zimbabwe on the second Safari and some pretty long shots were taken.

I also shot a big ol stink bull with it, but that was a mistake, I should of used my 375 H&H on that one.

Good Luck and shoot straight...

PAHunter...

I have used my .300 Win Mag in Africa on game up to gemsbok and kudu with 180 grain bullets at 3080 fps. Good results.

A .30 caliber will of course kill an eland, but I think an eland is too big for the .300 if I had other choices.