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Hunting Story: Calibres for Africa

Hunting Story: Calibres for Africa

It is only in recent years that the lure of the Dark Continent has drawn my gaze as I love the British country side and wide range of game it contains and even the unseasonal weather! For me, colder the better, hot weather as in the Roe rut in July/ Aug is a struggle so Africa with it humid hot climes never really appealed.

Trouble is as the time passes and friends pass away you start to think, what the hell, now or never? So I have travelled many times to South Africa and Namibia after plains game and soon realised that what works here in Britain is not necessary true abroad.

Wee beasties

It’s not until you walk up to a Wildebeest or Kudu that you realise their size and why that light weight soft nose bullets in Britain are struggling in Africa. It’s not really the problem of the calibre although velocity Hunting calibres plays a big part of this story but the design, weight and type of bullet is crucial.

On my first trip to South Africa I used my trusty 308 Win Tikka LSA 55 and took standard factory ammunition not reloads for ease through customs. They were Federal 165-grain Sierra Game Kings (GK) producing 2700 fps/2672 ft/lbs. In Britain it is 100% successful up to Red deer but as I found those bigger game species can take a lot of punishment and that is why heavier bullets and stronger constructions are popular.

Deep impact

I found this to my cost after Zebra in Pongola game reserve in the Eastern Cape, after a long stalk through thorn bushes and a shot at 185-yards, the Zebra ran and took an hour to track and find. On gralloching and skinning him the GK had penetrated only 6” through the lungs and lodged under the spine. It took a hell of a punch, but all that kinetic energy had been wasted with the soft point expanding through the outer tissue layers leaving a minimal amount to be transferred to the vitals.

Just look at a horse’s torso, it’s all muscle and you need a deep penetrating bullet to do the maximum damage inside. On deer in Britain you get a lot of hydrostatic shock from the body tissue fluid indicated by blood trauma and pulping of the tissues around the bullet hole. On most African game I’ve shot there has been little with this type of bullet. That’s why homogenous expanding bullets are popular as they penetrate deep and expand giving the best of both worlds on African plains game the size of Zebra and Wildebeest!

Also try and keep things simple. I love my wildcats but taking weird calibres abroad can cause a lot of problems, as if you lose your ammo you are stuffed! Now I’d always got for common calibre, factory ammunition that is readily available in the country you are travelling too; so you have all bases covered.

Medium calibres

No doubt calibres like .243, .25-06 even .223 or .22 Hornet have been used on the smaller species such as Steinbok or Duiker and bigger game. But better to use ‘too much gun’ on these species and still have enough power in case a Hartebeest steps out? The .243 is a low recoiling choice for people wanting a small plains game gun up to Impala and several PH`S have one for newcomers, or small framed shooters. Warthog can be odd, they can be either very close and so a soft point is fine or big hogs may be better taken with a .30 cal bullet like a Barnes TSX or Swift Sirocco.

Be sensible and stick to 6.5x55mm, 7x57mm (.275 Rigby) or 7mm-08 and .270 Win or .280 Rem. The venerable 7x57mm is one hell of a cracking round and in some respects it’s all you need as the velocity is sufficient for plains game with the correct bullet. A 139 or 154-grain Hornady Interbond at 2500-2700 fps respectively is a good choice for Impala-sized game and proper shot placement for larger. With the right twist rate the heavier 175-grainers can be launched at 2350 fps and give good penetration at range. Similarly a 7mm-08 is just a short 7x57mm and just as capable, my friend, also called Bruce, shot all species up to Eland with his 7mm-08.

Good enough!

The 6.5x55mm again is good with heavier bullets of 140-grains plus for better penetration, if it`s good enough for Moose then I am sure a Kudu will not notice. With the 7mm calibres the choice of a Barnes TSX, Hornady GMX or Sirocco A-Frame Give that extra bit of bullet intrigue and penetration that is beneficial on African game.

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The .270 and .280 class are again are fine and the high BC bullets can achieve good down range ballistics with retained energy. The .270 Win is fine with the heavier 150-grains travelling along at 2850 fps whilst I like the .280 Rem as the 160 or 175-grainers with faster twist barrels work very well on plains game and warthog at 2800 and 2650 fps respectively.

But I like the good old .308 Win or 30-06 Springfield as it gives a good all-round performance for most game you will encounter with the right bullets. Entry level is no less than 150-grains, but 165 and 180-grains for either calibre would be best!

Again homogenous bullets like the Barnes TSX work really well in these calibres and a 180-grain TSX from the .308 Win at 2600 or 2750 fps from the -06 and if the shot is well placed you will get your trophy. I like lead-cored bullets for all my shooting but when abroad I really do see the rationale and sensible choice towards the non-lead, deep penetrating yet good expanding homogenous types. Saying that 165-grain Sierra Game Kings dropped every warthog in South Africa out to 100 yards on the spot!

Getter heavy

To gain just that little more confidence and reassurance a magnum calibre gives you more of a failsafe shot on larger game. The best all round calibre and one that most of the PH`s in Namibia were using, and they should know, was the .300 Win Mag. I used a Ruger Hawkeye in 300 in Namibia and was glad I did as game from Springbok through Wildebeest and Hartebeest to Kudu and Gemsbok fell to this hard hitting round. I used the excellent Barnes VOR-TX 180-grain, Tipped TSX bullets loaded at 2960fps, these proved phenomenally accurate with sube-1” groups at 100 yards.

The reason for these Barnes bullets is deep penetration and on Eland, Kudu and Zebra they are a god send. Recovered bullets had travelled the entire length of a Kudu from neck to hindquarters! The 7mm Rem Mag was also popular especially amongst the Springbok meat and cull hunters that liked the flat trajectory from the 165-grain bullets that allowed a quick shot at range without too much trajectory compensation.

The newer 270 or 300 WSM rounds are also very well accomplished and effective. The former handles 140-150-grain bullets well with1 in 10 twist rifling for velocities over 3000 fps/2998 ft/lbs which is very handy to have. Similarly the 300 WSM, is near identical to the 300 Win Ma and shoots 180-grain bullets at over 3000 fps/3598 ft/ lbs, so plenty of power on tap.

Old English class cartridges

Some shooters like to use those classic British calibres of a bygone age, and why not, if it was good enough then it is certainly good enough today! Just check ammo availability. I love the 300 H&H that for all intense and purposes acts like a 300 Win Mag but with more style! 180-grain Hornady Interlocks for softer skinned game or Norma Oryx are excellent loads travelling at 2950 fps/3479 ft/lbs.

With Hornady bringing out their range of African classics in both factory loads and reloading components calibres such as 450 Rigby, 9.3x62mm, 500-416 Nitro, 450 Nitro, 470 Nitro and 458 Lott to name a few. I have a Ruger No1 450-400 Nitro Express that not only looks the part of a bygone firearm but also shoots beautifully with a milder load of Hornady DGX 400-grain bullet and 82.5 grains of Reloder RL19 for 2091 fps and 3884 ft/lbs energy and sub-1”, 100 yard groups.

The 404 Jefferies is a non rimmed version in real terms of the 450-400 Nitro and can be loaded to a high pressure and a load of 84.0 grains of RL17 powder with a 400 grain Woodleigh bullet achieves 2350 fps/4906 ft/lbs. Some will say why not just go for .375 H &H and be done with it as it will roll over plains game and still offer dangerous game performance if the need arises, difficult to not agree really.

Conclusions

Now having travelled a bit to Africa and Europe and seeing the size of game that you are likely to encounter I would certainly go for an insurance round. In that I mean slightly bigger than you need as it is always difficult to shoot under the pressure of the gaze from fellow hunters or the PH. Where a .308 Win is fine I would just go the extra mile and get a 30-06 or 300 Win Mag as it gives that extra striking energy and confidence the beast is going down on the spot!

Failing that it’s really as with most things, the bullet is the crucial part of the equation and getting this right is paramount. You have to think African but British, penetrate deep and then expand and you will be all right for the majority of medium sized plains game.

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