My calibers for hunting in Africa

[jduckhunter]

So do most of you guys really own a 308? If so then I suddenly feel like I might be missing something, having never owned one myself.

 

[One Day...]

A few thoughts...

1 - Thank You Jerome for the decision you made. I believe it is the correct decision.

2 - From my perspective, people from different backgrounds, not to mention different personality inventories, have different ways of expressing themselves, different senses of humor, and explain their thoughts to varying degrees, hence miscommunication can and will happen. This is fine, and this generally resolves itself, when the posters have pure motives, are benevolent, and do not automatically default to the worst case interpretation. What I appreciate in AH is that I believe we are all willing, and we have all demonstrated this willingness, to chose the benevolent interpretation. Things are different when, to put it simply, posters are purposefully creating conflict for its own sake, and are deliberately aggressively disrespectful. Hence point #1.

3 - I would suggest that Jerome does not delete the threads created by 308W because these threads may have value out there for people who have the same questions 308W had, and who may appreciate the answers from the AH community to such questions. The two exceptions that could be suggested would be to I) simply delete the thread How to divide the calibers for the safaris because no one, as of my writing, has answered it, hence it has no value, and II) maybe expunge from the other threads some individual posts by 308W that were unadulterated individual attacks and did not contribute to the discussion. Logically too, the posts from the last 24 hours or so on the current thread, discussing how to deal with the situation, could be removed too as they do not contribute to the discussion about the use of the .308 Winchester in Africa. The alternative is to leave this thread as is and trust in the public's interpretation of it. It would speculate that the general consensus will be in our favor.

Thank you all for making AH what it is: an heaven for errant souls anxiously marooned in reality until their next safari, be it the first or the umpteenth one (that would be us, I suspect); and a unique repository of know-how, experience and indulgent mentoring for obviously misguided folks drifting toward our ranks

You guys are awesome. Thank You
Pascal

 

[WAB]

Yep, DPMS, exceptionally accurate. I use it to ring steel and kill hogs.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

So do most of you guys really own a 308? If so then I suddenly feel like I might be missing something, having never owned one myself.

Bought a Tikka T3 in .308W for my older son. I swagged a load using Nosler Ballistic Tips and Varget........he shoots a 3 shot one holer off the bench first time out. Stupidly accurate and easy to develop loads for.

 

[Spooksar]

So do most of you guys really own a 308? If so then I suddenly feel like I might be missing something, having never owned one myself.

I own a few mainly Levers and semiautomatic, but have 2 bolts, one a target rifle (CZ 750) the other a Tikka. They will kill anything up to Moose, but shot placement and knowing its limits are very important.

 

[mark-hunter]

So do most of you guys really own a 308?

Yes, earlier for hunting, now for f-class TR matches.
Have no objection to any of both uses.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Thank you all for making AH what it is: an heaven for errant souls anxiously marooned in reality until their next safari, be it the first or the umpteenth one (that would be us, I suspect); and a unique repository of know-how, experience and mentoring for obviously misguided folks drifting toward our ranks

You guys are awesome. Thank You
Pascal

@pascal, Thank you for your thoughts and kind words.

 

[jduckhunter]

I might have to buy one some day. I have dies for it and have loaded a bunch of bullets for friends for theirs. My first big game rifle was a 30-06 that I bought when I was 16, since then I've gone through a lot of rifles in all kinds of calibers. But never a 308, I just thought it was too close to the 06.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Last year we shot a female hippo which had killed one of my employees. She was a particularly belligerent animal.
286 gr solid from .375 did the job on land.

So if you had to do it all over again, you would now of course follow the advice of the Italian who's never been to Africa and use a .308W right?

 

[Royal27]

Wait a minute....

I thought we had already determined that the .308 Winchester was a worthless caliber and the only way it could possibly be degraded further would be to make it a .308 Hornady.




For the record, I have a Winchester Model 88 in my safe that was my father's. I killed my very first deer (and several others) with that rifle.

 

[nztimb]

Most entertaining thread gentlemen and with the inevitable result. Appreciate the lighthearted responses after the hammer was dropped.

 

[Ragman]

So do most of you guys really own a 308?

Yes sir. I hunt with other calibers as well, but my .308 is my "go to" rifle. I've killed whitetails, mule deer, black bear, elk and moose with it. If I could ever get drawn for pronghorn again, I'll use it. Then I'll have killed every big-game species that I can hunt in Saskatchewan with it!
A good buddy of mine is the best hunter I know. Every fall he kills an elk and a moose like clockwork using his .308 out of an old Remington 788.
Needless to say I am a huge believer and defender of this great cartridge! Even so I know it is not suited for long-range hunting....but either am I! It is however an excellent short to medium range caliber for everything I'll hunt at home. If I'm lucky enough to ever get back to Africa, I'll rent Marius' .300 WM again!

 

[jduckhunter]

So if you had to do it all over again, you would now of course follow the advice of the Italian who's never been to Africa and use a .308W right?

Ah, he did make it sound superior to my trusty 06

 

[tarbe]

My email address ends in "308" for a reason!

It is a damn fine cartridge, used correctly and within its performance envelope...just like virtually every other cartridge.

I think it is time for me to start a 45-70 on DG thread, we can't let this place get too quiet!

 

[BeeMaa]

First, I would like to thank you Jerome for doing what had to be done.
Your position is not an easy one, however I doubt you will loose much sleep over this decision.

Onto the 308...
I, as others have also stated, believe the 308WIN (I can no longer write 308W) is capable in it's own envelope.
I've owned a Savage 99 in 308, but sold it many years ago.
Now my 30 caliber is a 300WSM - I know I should have gone with the WM, but that's another story.
Like I said earlier, I just have no need for that tool in my tool box at the moment.

All that said, my rifle for African PG is a 375H&H.

 

[Royal27]

My email address ends in "308" for a reason!

It is a damn fine cartridge, used correctly and within its performance envelope...just like virtually every other cartridge.

I think it is time for me to start a 45-70 on DG thread, we can't let this place get too quiet!

You told me you used "308" because "3006" was taken.

 

[BeeMaa]

Is it me or is this thread much happier now?

 

[tarbe]

Is it me or is this thread much happier now?

Except for Royal stirring the pot!

 

[IdaRam]

My email address ends in "308" for a reason!

Isn’t the .308 Win getting a little close to the cut off date for your motto “don’t hunt with a cartridge that is younger than you”?
The .45-70, now there’s a proper DG cartridge!

 

[EZRider]

So if you had to do it all over again, you would now of course follow the advice of the Italian who's never been to Africa and use a .308W right?

Only if I couldn’t get closer than 500 m!