I believe
@Velo Dog has very positive things to say about the 220gr in '06. I recall reading his accounts on another thread.
Hi Pheroze,
Yes as you mentioned, I have described my personal experiences and observations in shooting African game and Alaskan game with the .30-06 / 220 grain round nose soft, elsewhere in this forum.
Always excellent performance from the Hornady at around 2350 to 2400 fps.
This is according to the loading manual data, as I have never shot this load through a chronograph.
I have shot targets out to 300 meters/yards with this load (rifle zeroed to "center hold" at 100).
It requires a little hold-over at 300 but, very much less than one might think before actually trying it.
Also, when zeroed at 100, it is still so close to spot on at 200 that it is impossible to say the bullet dropped at all on whatever critter you shoot at that range.
In my sordid youthful years, during discussions of hold-over, leading a running animal, etc., here I quote my old childhood hunting friend, David Byers ... "Just aim right at 'em".
For open places like Namibia, The Eastern Cape and Highveld of South Africa, a flatter shooting load would probably be a good idea.
And, actually for any places like those, with a steady diet of long shots, I like the .300 H&H with 180 grain spitzer, at around 2850 fps.
However, with a bit of practice, a hunter should be able to hit small targets out 350 yards/meters, perhaps a bit further with the same 180 gr bullet at .30-06 velocity.
To quote Townsend Whelen, "you can't go wrong with a .30-06".
All that being said, throughout the more typical thornbush conditions, covering most of Sub-Saharan Africa, if I were to choose a .30 caliber rifle and ammunition for antelopes and swine, it would be the .30-06 / 220 gr round nose soft and not the faster .300 magnum mentioned above.
(Ideal would be a .318 Westley Richards / 250 gr round nose or, ballistic twin .338-06 / same bullet configuration or, 9.3x63 Mauser / 286 gr round nose, etc., but that's off topic here).
TMS,
Up here in the frozen north where I live, the .338 Winchester is extremely popular, and for those who shoot it straight with heavy bullets, it is quite good for moose, bear, bison.
With lighter (225 gr spitzer) it shoots very flat for things like sheep and goat hunting, at longer ranges.
However, I have seen the same poor shooting with it as you have on animals, except in my case, it is on paper targets, at my local rifle range here, every August as the "once a year" types arrive to sight-in their .338s.
For avid hand-loaders and rifle enthusiasts, the .338 is conversely a fine cartridge.
The good old 250 grain Nosler Partition is still quite popular here in Alaska for the .338 Winchester, on larger animals.
However, from what I have seen with the more casual .338 owner, I cannot imagine how they expect to hit the vitals on game, as poorly as they shoot on paper, (evidently flinching often).
Likewise, the non-enthusiast tends to virtually always have installed way too much scope on their fast kickers.
So, not only do they flinch often but, their over-large scopes are so heavy that they sometimes slip about in the rings from recoil (for only a .33 bore, the .338W has plenty of hard and fast recoil, at least partly due to the average .338 being a pound or so too light).
I have consistently seen the same from Weatherby fans, during the final days before hunting season opens here, all over the paper, and sometimes not even hitting the paper at all.
Weatherby rifles are typically very accurate but, some guys who own them don't handle the recoil well (I wouldn't either) and would be better off with a .30-06 - me too as a matter of fact.
Cheers,
Velo Dog.
