03 May 2005, 19:25
Bent FossdalHead stamps?
Posted this under African travelling, but slow response...maybe You Guys can be of better help?
One often hear of the problems going to Africa with cartridges lacking correct head-stamp. How big is this problem? Who is the problem, customs or guides? Does this consern all hunting, or just large game .375 and up?
Thanks,
03 May 2005, 20:58
ramrod340I did a search under the Africa Hunting Forum. The country that kept comming up was Botswana. I have check with my PH and he said not a problem in South Africa.
04 May 2005, 00:23
fredj338The problem w/ African countries is you never know from week to week what will happen. If you travel w/ a wildcat & the wrong headstamp, you may get that one new guy trhat checks & says no. Probably not worth the risk, but I love hunting w/ the oddball stuff.

04 May 2005, 01:34
N. GarrettI took a wildcat to Africa in '99 (Zimbabwe) without difficulty.
If they were to give you a hard time, I would just ask them (politely) to see if they could speak to someone at the Ministry (the Ministry of Whatever), and give them 2 US currency twenties for the cost of the phone call (because calls like that are expensive). That usually fixes most any problem like that.
Garrett
04 May 2005, 07:00
fredj338Ah very smooth Garrett. I still would probably not chance it unless I had a backup rifle along.

06 May 2005, 16:58
Bent Fossdalquote:
Originally posted by N. Garrett:
I took a wildcat to Africa in '99 (Zimbabwe) without difficulty.
If they were to give you a hard time, I would just ask them (politely) to see if they could speak to someone at the Ministry (the Ministry of Whatever), and give them 2 US currency twenties for the cost of the phone call (because calls like that are expensive). That usually fixes most any problem like that.
Garrett
Haha, I thoght that was the correct solution!
Thanks,
09 May 2005, 18:51
bisonlandhello: From what a friend who hunts Africa tells me, the headstamp check is to ascertain that the cartridge meets minimum caliber requirements. And, the best source for this would be to ask your
Safari Oufitter who will have all the answers.
Best Regards, Tom
09 May 2005, 19:55
onefunzr2I had no problem taking 338-06AI ammo with 30-06 headstamp through RSA to Namibia last year. Perhaps I was lucky. All they wanted to know was the total number of rounds for each weapon.