Plains Game Hunting Rifle/Cartridge question

[AZDAVE]

Use which ever rifle you shoot best. Get quality premium bullets (Swift aframes, barnes TTSX, etc) and go put the bullet where your PH tells you to shot the quarry. And have a blast of a safari.

 

[Andrew62]

Either rifle is perfect. On the vast majority of my trips I have taken my own guns, on 2 trips I rented a rifle and both times I really wish I had taken my own. My rifles are very lightweight and they had really old, heavy guns, poor optics, one of the guns the safety worked in reverse of mine, I missed great quality animals f'ing around with a gun I wasn't used to. If you're going into South Africa, have Mr. X or Rifle Permits help you, it's a pretty slick process.

 

[Tanks]

Either caliber would work. My view on the rentals is that some shots would not be advisable with an unknown rifle.

I took my own rifle (.300 RUM) to Argentina in March this year. Even after crawling for 50+ yards I still had a 400+ yard shot. All I had to do was turn the turret on my scope to that distance and the red stag dropped right there (frontal neck shot). With a rental I would have passed on that shot. You can see in the picture below that there was not much cover.

 

[Shootist43]

jimuccc34, I used a 2.5 -8 Leupold on my first Safari. It worked just fine on my 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Not sure if this is the best place for this question. But I want to book a plains game hunt in the next year. I have both 30-06 Brno 602 and 7mm Rem Mag Winchester Mod70 both with 4-12 Leupolds-I have hunted with quite a bit. Wondering if it makes a bit of difference between the two cartridges and what people with experience would suggest. Also wondering should ammo not arrive with bags. Or should I rent a rifle?

7MM REM MAG gets my vote because I’ve taken Springbok to Eland and about everything in between.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Not sure if this is the best place for this question. But I want to book a plains game hunt in the next year. I have both 30-06 Brno 602 and 7mm Rem Mag Winchester Mod70 both with 4-12 Leupolds-I have hunted with quite a bit. Wondering if it makes a bit of difference between the two cartridges and what people with experience would suggest. Also wondering should ammo not arrive with bags. Or should I rent a rifle?

Barnes factory TSX or TTSX are great

 

[RETD16]

I’m going to take my 7mm Mag to SA next May. I’m planning on using the 155gr. Terminal Ascent for everything except Eland. For the eland, I might bring my 416 Rem Mag or my 338 Win Mag. Still undecided on that…

 

[xbr897]

On my first trip in 2022 I used my PH's old 30-06 and took 5 animals with 5 total shots, no more than 1 needed per animal. In 2023 I took my own rifle that I was very comfortable with at home but I kept pulling right when on my hunt. I was closed to 2 shots per animal. Next year I'll take my own rifle again, just be a bit more patient and intent with my shots. I think my comfort with my rifle made me a bit too confident and led to not sticking closely to my form and trigger pull.

 

[Slim01]

If possible, I would definitely take my own rifle. I used a loan rifle once, and the trigger pull was way too heavy for me....and not conducive to accuracy until I put a lot of roads through it at the range.

 

[BeeMaa]

You have the calibers covered as just about everyone above has stated.

I'd focus your attention in three other places (and in no particular order). Shot placement, bullet selection and proficiency with your chosen rifle. Picking up a copy of the small pocket version The Perfect Shot Mini Edition for Africa II by Kevin Robertson is a great place to start. Bullets like the Barnes TSX, Swift A-Frame and Norma Oryx are excellent choices in your given calibers. Dry fire practice several time a week followed by short range sessions of 4-10 shots will get you in "safari" shape quickly.

All the best.