Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A 308 Carbine

Dunno if it qualifies as a carbine, but Eileen's "big" rifle for the last 15 years has been a lightweight custom .308 with a 21" barrel, built by what was then named Serengeti Rifles of Kalispell, Montana, and is now Kilimanjaro Rifles. It was built on a Kimber 84 short action, and weighs 6 pounds, 9 ounces with scope.

The first time she used the rifle was on a South African plains game safari, with 150-grain Nosler E-Tips handloaded to around 2850 fps. She took several animals, the biggest this zebra, which weighed around 800 pounds. It was dead from the first shot at around 150 yards, but was stumbling downhill toward her and the PH, so she gave it another.



The last animal she took with it was this cow elk, at around 250 yards with a 130-grain Barnes TTSX handloaded to the same velocity, since her recoil headaches had increased in sensitivity. It went around 20-25 yards, obviously dead upon impact. It was the biggest cow either of us have ever taken, as large as some mature bulls.