My background is military and tactical, so I tend to have that mindset in my hunting as well. When looking at new hunting rifles I usually shy away from something that isnt a "HARDWARE STORE" caliber.

No doubt there are some great cartridges that Im excluding; but I know I can find 223, 308, 30-06, 375H&H and 470NE in Afrika), not so much for 222, 257 Roberts, 35Whelen, 9.3x62, etc. Even some great cartridges like 7x57 and 6.5x55 and 338WM can be "harder to find".

Sure I know I should have my ammo handy; but I'll never forget the time I left my 8x57 ammo on the table when I left for deer camp and everybody else had 30-06.

THOUGHTS?

The first three things you pack:

1: Weapon
2: Ammo
3: Toilet paper

after that its all easy-

quote:

Originally posted by Sean Russell:
The first three things you pack:

1: Weapon
2: Ammo
3: Toilet paper

after that its all easy-

...and when the airline sends your ammo someplace else?

quote:

Originally posted by EDELWEISS:

quote:

Originally posted by Sean Russell:
The first three things you pack:

1: Weapon
2: Ammo
3: Toilet paper

after that its all easy-

...and when the airline sends your ammo someplace else?

Then you use the tissue to dry your weeping eyes...

Reminds me of an elk hunt once, a guy from Philadelphia had his rifle go astray and it caught up with him on the last day of a ten-day hunt. In between, he used a borrowed rifle that froze up on a bull elk at -10 degrees because the owner didn't get up early enough to wash the oil out of the bolt. Oh well.

Have two lots of ammo and put them in different bags. And if you need prescription drugs, carry them in your carry-on.

If I wanted to pretty much always have some ammo available to buy no matter what Podunk hamlet I might be able to get to, I think I'd have only two centerfire rifles...a .30-06 for North America, Australia and Europe, and a .375 H&H for Africa.

The reason I recommend the calibers I do, is because of just that very thing, finding ammo for the gun at the local Wally World is not an adventure in Fine Dining.

I also recommend that a traveling hunter should if at all possible carry two rifles and 50 rounds of ammo per gun.

While I have never hunted Africa, I have done my fair share of hunting and as Murphy's Law states in one of its many configurations, "If Anything Can Go Wrong, It Will"!

Having a second rifle available or enough ammunition to go thru a re-sighting process can make a big difference in a hunt in my opinion.

At our local Walmart in Falcon Colorado and at the Big R feed store even when ammo stock is down I almost always saw 30/06, 300 WinMag and .308 in that order, .243 and 7 mag were next up.
I saw 2 boxes of 30/40 Krag at the feed store and bought them out about 2 years ago and they haven't had any since.

I never go anywhere without two guns. Firing pins break and shit happens. Make one rifle your favorite oddball case and your backup a 30-06 or 7 em em.

Except in Argentina, I put my ammo in with the rifles. I'm good, or totally out of it!

Since my primary rifles I can take a spare parts set in case of real problems. I do that for international trips.

quote:

Originally posted by Quintus:
I never go anywhere without two guns. Firing pins break and shit happens. Make one rifle your favorite oddball case and your backup a 30-06 or 7 em em.

That is pretty much my line of thinking as well. IMO the main reason for selecting this rifle or that caliber is to have exactly what you want in a rifle. Sometimes the generic stuff doesn't get you there. I remember the days of packing one rifle and having issues with it in my youth. Never again.

It must be though to carry two rifles a full day.

Each rifle I own has its own ammunition carefully tailored to it and it is sighted specifically for that ammunition. The ability to pick up just "any old" factory ammunition, which will shoot to some unknown point of impact and have some unknown velocity and trajectory, is little consolation if my ammunition were lost.

For the same very good reasons I want to use my own rifle, I also want to use only my own ammunition. Just because a substitute round would chamber and go "boom" wouldn't provide me any confidence, much less pleasure.

If you do not handload and just use run of the mill factory ammo I guess any old ordinary cartridge might do. But it would be very boring.
For me the interesting part if the rifle, the scope, the handloads and the preparation.
Hunting with all factory stuff would be really boring.

I would add a 300 Win Mag and a 7mm Mag to the common caliber selection pool. It seems there is always some sort of ammo for those two sitting on the shelf even if it is the run of the mill Remington Core-Lokts.

Which works great in both of those calibers

quote:

No doubt there are some great cartridges that Im excluding; but I know I can find 223, 308, 30-06, 375H&H and 470NE in Afrika), not so much for 222, 257 Roberts, 35Whelen, 9.3x62, etc. Even some great cartridges like 7x57 and 6.5x55 and 338WM can be "harder to find".

They all look good to me, except the 470 since it is usually for doubles.

At that 470 level I prefer a 416Rigby, handloaded, or 450 Rigby, or a 500AccRel, but those are not off the shelf items. I get pleasure from my own rifle and my own ammo, so I guess I might recommend two rifles, too. And since I like to choose the rifle, at the 375 level I would go with the common man's 375Ruger. Great little rifle.

SR4759 and I are sharing a canoe.

quote:

The first three things you pack:1: Weapon2: Ammo3: Toilet paperafter that its all easy-

Another essential:
4: License(s).
Don't ask me how I know

I prefer the obscure/overlooked cartridges for hunting. I enjoy my hunting rifle chambering to have some panache even if it isn't the most sensible/practical choice. When it comes to a self-defense weapon, I prefer the common/practical choices such as the 223, 308, 45 ACP, 9mm, 12ga, 30-06.

Even at the height of the ammo shortage and hording craze, 270 Win ammo was always on the shelf. It's part of God's plan.

I used to gobble up actions just waiting to build this and that. But the more I hunted and the less time I spent on the internet I found I didn't need more than a 270 Win and 300 Win for 99% of my hunting. Oh I've got some bigger stuff for ornery critters, but I got rid of those G33/40s and Aregntines I horded for the obscure shit. I know I can always find ammo.

I don't think the 7x57 or 9,3x62 are that uncommon in Africa.

About the most obscure caliber a I have are a 6.5x55 and a .35 Whelen, but I honestly don't worry much about factory ammo availability at mom and pop stores. I handload, but even if I didn't, there are plenty of online stores that sell just about everything.

You know, I like the comments about the 270 Winchester. Feel I could shoot anything in NA with the correct bullet.

That said, if ammo was a concern and I was unsure of the sources for it, I'd go with one of my trusty Ol 30-06's. Jerry

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:
Even at the height of the ammo shortage and hording craze, 270 Win ammo was always on the shelf. It's part of God's plan.

I noticed the same thing. A 270 was added to the collection just in case.