.308 Winchester for Eland and Argali Sheep

[crs]

"Hunt close and use enough gun with good bullets! Anything else could be called a stunt."
Indeed. Plus, hunting close is more fun!

Shot placement rules!

 

[Ridgewalker]

Use “appropriate” caliber/cartridge, which per my wallet is a minimum 375 H&H on eland. They are huge!

 

[Newboomer]

Amen! My eland weighed in at about 1900 lbs. I shot him with a 375HH Barnes 350 gr TSX head on at about 80 yards right under his chin. The bullet went into the lungs and he ran close to half a mile blowing blood like a firehose. It took two more to finish him when we found him lying down. Those guys are some kind of tough. I would recommend nothing less than 375 HH and a heavy premium bullet. I can't speak to sheep having never hunted them. I can say a 6.5 CR is great for pg like springbok, impala and up to kudu. I used Hornady 143 ELD-X and had one shot kills out to 286 yards.

 

[crs]

My buddy used my .338 with 230 grain WW Fail Safe bullets and when shot, the big bull just slowly settled on it's belly; dead as a hammer. It took 12 farm hands to load it while I took pix. On farm scale it went approx 2000 pounds; not exact because it was too long for the cattle scale. Eland are huge and pretty, but for me it would have been like shooting dairy cattle, so I passed on it.
This was the RSA farm on the Limpopo River where our PH grew up shooting them with his dad's .308 WITH 180 GRAIN BULLETS. They are big, but a properly placed bullet will do the job. He does know how to creep up on game as he has been doing it since he was 6 years old.

"Hunt close and use enough gun with good bullets!"

We took about twenty animals in two weeks(including two days shooting 13 species of birds) and most shots were less than 100 yards. The longest was 150 on a trotting gemsbok; same .338 rifle and bullet and it dropped at the shot. That bullet broke both shoulders and the back, so I used the PH's pistol to finish it.

 

[grand veneur]

"Hunt close and use enough gun with good bullets! Anything else could be called a stunt."
Indeed. Plus, hunting close is more fun!

Shot placement rules!

That's right , close hunting is the best you can do.

Unfortunately , game like Argali , Marco Polo or Ibex have to be shot very often at great distances because of the terrain in the high mountains that makes getting closer impossible.

500 yards should be the absolute highest limit for a shot and cartridges like the 340 Weatherby Magnum with 250gr bullets are almost ideal for this purpose.

 

[Fastrig]

As much a 308 win fan that I am, for what you are describing, it wouldn’t be the rifle I would grab from my gun case. At the size of those Elands and the distances to those sheep, I would say 300 win using 180 grain Norma Bondstrike Extreme or something in that realm. 308 win with the same Bondstrike rounds would probably handle the Eland inside 250-300 yards but the magnum would have better punch for a surer one shot kill. 308 at those distances for sheep, no way, use a magnum.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I was wondering would a .308 Winchester would be suitable for Eland (Giant and Common) and also for the Argali Sheep. I will be using Barnes TSX Bullets on both animals.

Something that somebody with more experience than I once said that you don't want to take a rifle that works when everything is exactly right, you want a rifle that works when things go wrong. Shot placement is everything, but do you really want to restrict yourself to a standing still, broadside shot in the open, inside 100 yards?
Also, some African countries do not allow the use of "military" calibers (ie: .308).

 

[Bonefish2150]

Having hunted Argali I will offer an opinion. My closest shot was 500 yards. How confident are YOU in your .308 at that range? I would suggest checking with Barnes and asking "what is the minimum velocity that whichever bullet you want to use will RELIABLY expand". Then use a simple ballistics calculator to see what distance you are limited to. Combine that with how far you are comfortable shooting. That will give you an answer. For Argali its best to be proficient to 500 yards, if possible. Your caliber will do it with many bullets. The real questions are, is the rifle accurate enough and have you practiced enough to be proficient at those ranges. Bruce

The 300 Weatherby has taken every game animal in the world. I would use 200gr. controlled expansion bullets.
You have the velocity, energy, bullet weight for both animals. Make sure you can shoot it accurately. It has a lot of recoil. If I had one rifle to hunt the world it would be my Weatherby Mark 5 300 Magnum.

 

[Bonefish2150]

what about the 340 wby for a 1 gun solution?
personally I would take a 7mmstw for the sheep and a 375 for the eland.
bruce.

340 Weatherby would be excellent 210, 225gr. Bullets will plant sheep 500, 600 yards. 250, 275, 300gr controlled expansion bullets would smash Giant Eland.

 

[grand veneur]

I would prefer the cartridge 340 Weatherby Magnum to the cartridge 300 Weatherby Magnum in all cases. I own a rifle of this caliber and have shot with it at longer distances game like Ibex and Elk. The cartridge has, due to the heavier bullets, the advantage of better external and terminal ballistics, which makes it ideal for shooting medium game like Argali at long range, but also heavy non dangerous game like Eland's at the usual distances. The ballistics of the cartridge 340 Weatherby Magnum are comparable to that of the cartridge 338 Lapua Magnum. The latter offers a little more, but it develop its potential only in rifles that are not very suitable for hunting in the mountains or in the African bush.

 

[CBH Australia]

I was wondering would a .308 Winchester would be suitable for Eland (Giant and Common) and also for the Argali Sheep. I will be using Barnes TSX Bullets on both animals.

This comes down to “The nut behind the Butt”

Not knocking you but you might be the only person here who knows your level of competence and confidence.

Is it capable? Is it wise?

I think there are 2 different answers there but if you answer yes to both and feel you are capable of taking the shot then yes it will do it.

If you desire a faster flatter shooting cartridge here is your chance to buy that other rifle you decide you need.

Good luck and I hope we hear of good results for the subsequent hunts.

 

[Mark R]

On such expensive hunts why would you use a 308win. Get something like a 300wm and learn to shoot it well.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I have successfully taken eland bulls with one shot kills using both the 7x57mm Mauser (loaded with 173-175Gr bullets) and the .30-06 Springfield (loaded with 220Gr bullets). That said, shot placement is extremely critical on these gigantic antelope with any caliber smaller than .338 Winchester Magnum.

 

[capra-capra]

Rather use your 308 then buy a magnum calibre that could make you flinch, once you develop one get's hard to get rid off . Know your limitations with your 308 , do not shoot at any crazy angles, be sure you hit them where they need to be hit and the question you have to answer to yourself is will you do the job when the time comes ? Will you be comfortable with a 308?

You do not need to shoot at Argali at 600 m + like you see on youtube videos, plenty time to get in close. Before my ibex hunt everyone said you have to shoot at 500m 600m yet i took one at 300m. I would load 130gr TTSX , 110gr TTSX maybe better as you can run them quicker than 130's which monos prefer

 

[Doug Hamilton]

This comes down to “The nut behind the Butt”

Not knocking you but you might be the only person here who knows your level of competence and confidence.

Is it capable? Is it wise?

I think there are 2 different answers there but if you answer yes to both and feel you are capable of taking the shot then yes it will do it.

If you desire a faster flatter shooting cartridge here is your chance to buy that other rifle you decide you need.

Good luck and I hope we hear of good results for the subsequent hunts.

I like of what you wrote and agree. But the original post/question was from 10 years ago. I doubt if we hear how his hunts went.