Plains Game Magnum?

[Areaonereal]

I have used the same 30 06 on six trips to Africa for plains game from Steinbok to Eland and Giraffe. Using 180 gr Accubond in Namibia and 200 or 220 grain partitions in Limpopo on Giraffe and Zebra cull. Over 100 animals and no reason for me to consider any thing that the 06 has not been more than adequate for. I don’t like recoil that a Magnum produces for what ever advantage using one over the 30 06 brings. I own 7Rem mag, 300 mag and lastly a 300 Wby mag( my second and definitely my last)..

 

[Hogpatrol]

Not recommended for everyone but on a night opportunity hunt I shot this springbok at 90 yards, 17 Fireball, IIRC, either a 29 or 30 grain Kindler Gold bullet behind 17 grains of VV N133 and, a BR4 primer, 3520 fps, DRT, heart was split in half. One doesn't need a magnum of any stripe for most of the PG. More than one of the PHs I've hunted with were in love with the .243 W.

 

[Hogpatrol]

One morning's hunt, six taken with 6.5 CM, nothing under 200 yds. For a change that year, I took a 26 Nosler and killed two of these. It was like they were struck by lightning.

 

[RayAtkinson]

I mostly hunted Tanzania over the last 10 or so years, and walking around in the bush for camp meat, and a couple of exciting events made me lay my old 06 or 270 down and go with the .338 Win with a 300 gr. Woodleigh soft and solids...Hunting parts of AFrica one can run across a buffalo in a snare, a rogue elephant having a bad day, a lion jumping in the back of a pickup to name a few mishaps Ive seen or been involved in, so It depends on where your hunting and I don't want a 7 mag...The 338 or 9.3x62 is more comfortable IMO...If in RSA a 7mag, or 270 works just fine, but even then I like my .338 for Eland and the larger species....BTW a 338 will out penetrate a 375 in elephant skulls or whatever, the .375 has the edge with cross section of bullet..and the .375 is also a good choice in the DG country..

 

[Fastrig]

I mostly hunted Tanzania over the last 10 or so years, and walking around in the bush for camp meat, and a couple of exciting events made me lay my old 06 or 270 down and go with the .338 Win with a 300 gr. Woodleigh soft and solids...Hunting parts of AFrica one can run across a buffalo in a snare, a rogue elephant having a bad day, a lion jumping in the back of a pickup to name a few mishaps Ive seen or been involved in, so It depends on where your hunting and I don't want a 7 mag...The 338 or 9.3x62 is more comfortable IMO...If in RSA a 7mag, or 270 works just fine, but even then I like my .338 for Eland and the larger species....BTW a 338 will out penetrate a 375 in elephant skulls or whatever, the .375 has the edge with cross section of bullet..and the .375 is also a good choice in the DG country..

A 9.3x62/74R has a nice comforting feeling when in your hands, locked and loaded

 

[Philip Glass]

The only comment I can make is they were either bad shots, used the wrong bullet or took marginal shots. I've hunted Africa with guys using both cartridges and there weren't any blood trails I killed dozens of animals with 6.5x47 and a 6.5x284 at ranges to 700 yards with zero blood trails. For me it's like the old saying that goes with paint, it hides a multitude of sins. Same goes for some hunters shooting magnums, at least on PG. I will add that if I was taking friends with unknown skills, I'd tell them to take .375s.

The point is what advice should you and I give the new hunter? I agree with you and have taken game with smaller calibers and know what I can do but I can’t make that recommendation for everyone. Additionally I seem to have experienced harder hunts than most of you guys but I won’t expand on that.
I agree Let ‘em all take a .375!
Regards
Philip

 

[Philip Glass]

I mostly hunted Tanzania over the last 10 or so years, and walking around in the bush for camp meat, and a couple of exciting events made me lay my old 06 or 270 down and go with the .338 Win with a 300 gr. Woodleigh soft and solids...Hunting parts of AFrica one can run across a buffalo in a snare, a rogue elephant having a bad day, a lion jumping in the back of a pickup to name a few mishaps Ive seen or been involved in, so It depends on where your hunting and I don't want a 7 mag...The 338 or 9.3x62 is more comfortable IMO...If in RSA a 7mag, or 270 works just fine, but even then I like my .338 for Eland and the larger species....BTW a 338 will out penetrate a 375 in elephant skulls or whatever, the .375 has the edge with cross section of bullet..and the .375 is also a good choice in the DG country..

Thanks, good info!

 

[Hogpatrol]

The point is what advice should you and I give the new hunter? I agree with you and have taken game with smaller calibers and know what I can do but I can’t make that recommendation for everyone. Additionally I seem to have experienced harder hunts than most of you guys but I won’t expand on that.
I agree Let ‘em all take a .375!
Regards
Philip

I think we can agree on the advice to take the rifle you shoot the best for the game being pursued. If it's a magnum of some stripe, take it. If it's a 6.5 Creedmoor, .270 or an '06, same advice. I just disagree that everyone should take a magnum for plains game. I've witnessed too many hunters at the range shooting all sorts of magnums, getting ready for hunts and the best they could do was a four inch group at 100 yards with a few "flyers" thrown in for good measure.

 

[Fastrig]

I think we can agree on the advice to take the rifle you shoot the best for the game being pursued. If it's a magnum of some stripe, take it. If it's a 6.5 Creedmoor, .270 or an '06, same advice. I just disagree that everyone should take a magnum for plains game. I've witnessed too many hunters at the range shooting all sorts of magnums, getting ready for hunts and the best they could do was a four inch group at 100 yards with a few "flyers" thrown in for good measure.

100% agree....magnums make a lot of people flinch, No Bueno in my book. You don't need a magnum to drop a Kudu, you need a caliber that you shoot well, good shot placement, and a quality bullet that will get the job done. And that applies to any non-DG hunt, anywhere.

 

[Philip Glass]

I think we can agree on the advice to take the rifle you shoot the best for the game being pursued. If it's a magnum of some stripe, take it. If it's a 6.5 Creedmoor, .270 or an '06, same advice. I just disagree that everyone should take a magnum for plains game. I've witnessed too many hunters at the range shooting all sorts of magnums, getting ready for hunts and the best they could do was a four inch group at 100 yards with a few "flyers" thrown in for good measure.

Well if they want to hunt Africa they really need to get used to recoil. We can likely agree on that!

 

[lwaters]

Well if they want to hunt Africa they really need to get used to recoil. We can likely agree on that!

I feel if a hunter using factory loads. He better of with a 300 mag. When I was in Greenland I killed a Muskox with a 300 ruger compact mag. with a 165 gr. Hornady GMX handload at around 3000 fps on my crono. I gave him two shots the second wasn't needed. A man from Switzerland had a 300 Weatherby and told me it took four shots to bring his Muskox down. He was using a 150 gr. factory load. That may work on Chamois in Switzerland but not on a big Muskox. With a 300 Weatherby I would of used a good 200 gr. bullet. A good handload in a 30-06 with a 24 in. barrel will make a guy want to sell his 300 mag. with factory loads. A good cranograph will prove this to be true. If the 300 is handloaded it's a different game.

 

[Ryan]

I feel if a hunter using factory loads. He better of with a 300 mag. When I was in Greenland I killed a Muskox with a 300 ruger compact mag. with a 165 gr. Hornady GMX handload at around 3000 fps on my crono. I gave him two shots the second wasn't needed. A man from Switzerland had a 300 Weatherby and told me it took four shots to bring his Muskox down. He was using a 150 gr. factory load. That may work on Chamois in Switzerland but not on a big Muskox. With a 300 Weatherby I would of used a good 200 gr. bullet. A good handload in a 30-06 with a 24 in. barrel will make a guy want to sell his 300 mag. with factory loads. A good cranograph will prove this to be true. If the 300 is handloaded it's a different game.

I've known enough people to kill muskox in Alaska with factory 308, 30-06, 300 Win mag to say the Swiss hunter had some less than optimal shots if it took four. It's not that big of an animal.

 

[chonk34]

While we were in South Africa one of the other hunters put five shots into an Aoudad with his .300 RUM across two days before it died. The same guy lost an Eland that walked over the top of a mountain after he shot it.

My dad took the same pair of animals with his 7mm RM. They each took one shot and fell down dead within 20 yards.

I'm thinking shot placement counts for a lot more than anything else once you get above a certain minimum caliber. Whatever gun you enjoy shooting and can shoot well ought to be a fine plains game rifle.

 

[Fastrig]

While we were in South Africa one of the other hunters put five shots into an Aoudad with his .300 RUM across two days before it died. The same guy lost an Eland that walked over the top of a mountain after he shot it.

My dad took the same pair of animals with his 7mm RM. They each took one shot and fell down dead within 20 yards.

I'm thinking shot placement counts for a lot more than anything else once you get above a certain minimum caliber. Whatever gun you enjoy shooting and can shoot well ought to be a fine plains game rifle.

Shot placement...novel concept

hit an animal in the backside with any caliber vs heart/lung shot and you are going to have a tracking job on your hands.

 

[BeeMaa]

I'm not sure who said it...
"Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it!"

Take a 375 (H&H, Ruger or any of the comparable 9.3's)
You may be hunting PG, but you never know when opportunity will knock.
Having to pass on an old Dagga Boy is not something I would want to do.

 

[JimP]

I'm not sure who said it...
"Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it!"

While that may be true for a lot of people those that know how to shoot each rifle that they have is scarier to others.

I have a couple dozen rifles and am very comfortable with all of them. If you have multiple rifles and don't practice with each of them you might as well just have one.

 

[Forrest Halley]

I'm not sure who said it...
"Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it!"

Take a 375 (H&H, Ruger or any of the comparable 9.3's)
You may be hunting PG, but you never know when opportunity will knock.
Having to pass on an old Dagga Boy is not something I would want to do.

Solid advice on the Buffalo. I too would hate to get stuck by some regulations...

While that may be true for a lot of people those that know how to shoot each rifle that they have is scarier to others.

I have a couple dozen rifles and am very comfortable with all of them. If you have multiple rifles and don't practice with each of them you might as well just have one.

Just think about if you took one of them and shot 400 rounds a year through it. You would be very capable with that rifle. I'll wager that you are more capable with one rifle than another. If you called me on it and said hit this target depending on the range I would pull either a .375 or a .22. That's what I have trigger time on most recently. I wouldn't fumble with the myriad of other rifles even though they are stored with the ammunition they are zeroed for.

 

[postoak]

Or if you choose to go the exotic (but still classic) route.

333 Jeffery or 318 Westley Richards.

Finding factory ammo would be a hassle, even reloading components are not common due to the odd bullet diameters. Woodleigh makes them both though IIRC.

A more modern take on the 318 WR is the 338-06, which would make an excellent PG calibre.

The .338-06 using a 250 gr. bullet at 2500 fps would be a fine choice.

 

[LiegeRiver]

The .338-06 using a 250 gr. bullet at 2500 fps would be a fine choice.

I used a 338-06 with 210 grain Partitions at about 2750. Performance was excellent.

 

[The Engineer]

As has been noted in many of the postings, bullet placement is the key. Therefore, the caliber should be no greater than what you can shoot well. Along with bullet placement, bullet construction is paramount. My experience has been a well constructed bullet that will penetrate deeply is required. As a former target shooter I settled on a 300 Win for plains game. While I handload, I prefer factory ammunition for safari hunting. The Federal 200gr trophy bonded 300 Win load shoots minute of angle in my rifle, With that load I have taken 20+ species of plains game from a Clippy to Eland and never had a reason to question the caliber/load choice. The few bullets that were recovered were fully mushroomed and had lost very little weight.

For Crock my PH said bring the 300 but use the 180gr TXS bullets which I did. The 14+ ft Crock did not move after the first shot fractured the spine, the bullet was recovered, and had minimal weight loss.

I will also admit the 300 Win is overkill for the majority of plains game but for me it was a one rifle solution. On my first African hunt one man in camp used a 308 Win to take his Kudu without any problems. However, with the 300 Win and a heavy bullet I felt comfortable taking a quartering away shot on an Eland, The bullet entered just behind the right shoulder and was found under the skin in front of the left shoulder. The Eland only took a few steps before collapsing. I would not have felt comfortable with such a shot with a 150gr 308 Win. The smaller the caliber the more selective you may need to be with what shots are acceptable.