How did the various calibers that you have used function for you? And what will you take on your next trip?

I'll kick it off:

375 H&H game taken: Buffalo,Tsessebe,Kudu,Hyena - I couldn't ask for a better round.
30-06 - lechewe,Tsessebe,Impala, warthog - As my friend says, this is a boring caliber you shoot - they die. I'd use it on anything up to Eland.
7X57 - whitetail - deadly on deer sized game.
300 magnums (300 Win & 300 Rem SAUM) Impala, Whitetail - too much damage, too loud.

Based on my limited experience my next bettery for Africa will probably be a 375 H&H and a shotgun for birds

.30-06 - worked perfectly for everything I used it on.

.375H&H - worked well for everything I used it on, when I did my part.

.470 Capstick - worked perfectly on the one Cape buffalo I used it on.


If my future safaris include Cape buffalo, hippo, or elephant, the .470 is coming along. Otherwise, the .375H&H and something like the .30-06 (e.g., .300Wby., .338Win. Mag.) will be my 'light rifle'.

I wouldn't travel to Africa with just one rifle, and shotguns can be arranged in-country.

George

I used a 338 Win Mag, 225 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullets and it worked just fine. My longest shot was 200 yards on an impala. He was facing me, took a shot mid chest and dropped! That rifle and my 870 12 guage will go for next plains game trip!
Jeff in Texas

30-06 - My wife used hers on Kudu, Blesbok, Impala and Steenbok. I've used it on moose. A good calibur for such game IMO.

300 Wby - Impala, Warthog, Reedbuck, Kudu, Wildebeest. And numerous moose. An over-rated calibur which has not killed anything quicker or more efficiently than the regular old 30-06 in my experiance. It also created a lot of meat damage, with all bullets I tried, be they Swift A-frames or TBBCs... I eventually sold it.

375H&H - Eland, Gemsbok, Blesbok and many moose. My favortite calibur that works well on everything I've hunted so far, and I'm sure will work well in the future on bigger, meaner things! Game shot with this calibur has shown noticably more of a reaction, and died quicker than with the 300wby and 30-06.

The 375H&H will be on my next trip, although I think a .40+ calibur might be in my future. More for fun than need.

Erik D.

375 H&H, 250 gr barnes x, worked fine, two Kudu and one Impala in one day. Needless to say I had a few Castle beers that night.

300WSM has taken kudu, zebra, blue wildebeest, impala, blesbok, springbok, warthog, etc., with 1-shot. A warthog and an impala required a 2nd shot. Used a 45-70 on gemsbok and bushbuck, no complaints. Looking at a custom project on a 338-06 for my next PG rifle. 375H&H/300 gr. solids when I move up to buff.

I've used a couple .375 H&H's to take about 9 animals from impala to buffalo. There really isn't much reason for any other caliber for an all around gun IMHO. I like it more and more as I continue to use that cartridge. I loaded 300 gr. Partitions with 300 Encapsulated Hornadays on one trip and 300 gr. Swifts with 300 gr. Barnes solids on another.
The .340 Wby. with 250 gr. X's has taken about 7 plains game animals for me from jackal to kudu. It worked well too.
The .416 Rem. was used with 400 gr. Barnes solids for one elephant.
I've used a 200 gr. Trophy Bonded in the .300 Wby. on 1 Mt. zebra, no complaints.
I used 450 gr. Swifts with 450 gr. Barnes solids out of a .460 Wby. for one buffalo.

If the primary purpose of the trip was buffalo or elephant I'd use at least a .416. Otherwise the .375 H&H suites me just fine.

Kyler

Castle worked the best. Kudos Gringo!

that is really good beer.

This year 416 Rigby for Elephant 2 shots
7x57 for Kudu very effective
Previous years
470 NE for elephant 4 shots
375 for elephant 2 shots
375 for kudu,eland,giraffe,tessebe,impala,warthog,
leopard,buffalo,zebra,waterbuck,bushbuck,
duiker,steenbok,wildebeest
30-06 for Impala,kudu,bushbuck,duiker,wildebeest,
warthog,sable,reedbuck,oribi,klipspringer
12ga for Guinea Fowl,Francolin

If you aren't going to hunt anything bigger than plainsgame and leopard I think the 350 RemMag I used on my 1st trip to Zim would be ideal....unless of course you are hunting somewhere where the ranges could be long.

12 ga.: francolin and guinea fowl

30-06: impala, steenbok, duiker, tsessebe, warthogs, baboon, guinea fowl, common reedbuck, oribi

.338 WM equipped with a BOSS with its big old honking muzzle brake: sable, Livingston's eland, Southern Greater kudu, Burchell's zebra, Blue wildebeest



Next trip, same.

On my only Africa safari to date (2002) I used my .375 H&H for Kudu, Wildebeest, Impala, Warthog, and Steenbok. All one shot kills, dropping within 50 yards at the furthest (the kudu). I also took a Black-backed Jackal at around 175 yards, he didn't go anywhere of course. Federal Premium Safari with 300 grain Nosler Partitions.

375H&H has taken most of my plains game admirably, using various bullets.

30-06 has taken most of my wife's game, using 180 Gr. Partitions.

Taken several animals with 416 Rem and 350 X bullets and 400 Gr. solids. Things die very quickly when shot with the 416.

7 MM Rem with 150 X, my wife took Waterbuck.

Compound bow and 125 Gr. Rky. Mt. Premiers was my latest weapon.

My next trip, I'll use bow again, and my wife will use her 30-06.

Somewhere along the line, the word got out that all shots in Africa are within 100 or so yards, not so! in most of Africa shots can be short or very long indeed...Everywhere I have hunted in my life, a long shot can crop up now and then even in the worst of bush....

I would much prefer a 30-06 or 300 Magnum for all of Africas plainsgame hunting....I mostly use a 338 if I think an Eland might be on the agenda..Why limit oneself with a short range rifle when a long range rifle will kill just as well at short ranges. Just my opine.

The following are animals taken with the calibers and bullets listed. Numbers in parens are shots required:

270 Winchester (150gr partition): Too little gun for Red Hartebeest(4), good for Mt Reedbuck(1), 2xBaboon .

7mm Rem Mag: Zebra (1 160gr Fed. Premium), Mt Reed Buck (1 160 FCP), Vaal Rehbok (1 160 FCP), Springbok (1 160 FCP), Oribi (2 160 FCP), 2xSteenbok (1 160 FCP), Blesbok (2 160 FPC)

300 Win Mag(200gr Game Kings): Enough gun for Kudu(2), Impala(1), Black Wildebeest(1), Common Reedbuck (2), Baboon (1).

30-338: Blue Wildebeest (1 Ballistic Tip), Gemsbok (3 BT), Springbok(1 partition), Gemsbok (1 partition), Blue Wildebeest (1 partitions), zebra (1 partition), Nyala (1 partition), Waterbuck (1 partition), White Springbok (1 partition), Black Springbok (1 partition), Kalahari Springbok (1 partition), Blesbok (2 partition), 2xMt Reedbok (1 partition)

9.3x62: Bushbuck (1 250 BT), Bush Pig (1 BT), White Blesbok (1 BT), Red Lechwe (2 BT), duiker (1 BT)

375HH: Cape Buffalo (1 300 FCP), duiker (1 300 FCP), hyena (1 300 Silver Tip), Eland (2 300 FCP),

I have been fortunate to have lost only one animal from which we found blood, and the trackers concluded that it was superficially wounded with the 9.3x62.

.243 - monkeys, kudu, springbok, blesbok - 100 gr. partition
.270 - springbok, blue wildebeast, black wildebeast, nyala - 150 gr. parition
.280 - kudu, mtn. reedbuck, steinbok, springbok - 150 gr. partition
.300 win mag - zebra - 180 gr partition

Next trip will be with .300 win mag or bigger using TBBC or partitions. The wildebeasts required two or more shots, the rest were one shot kills. We underestimated the wildebeast and the ph wouldn't let us hunt zebra with the less than a .300 win mag.

The key is where you hit them and a good bullet.