Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 7x57 and .30-06 on safari ???

Tell me of your direct experience with these two time-honored cartridges while hunting plains game in Africa. Loads, species, distances, etc. Any information is appreciated.

Thanks, RS

My Loaner rifles for the last 20 plus years have been a 30/06 and a 375HH

The 30/06 has been responsible for at least 1000 animals. I've used several different loads all of which worked with perfect results when the bullets were placed properly. The Hornady 165 interbond, the 165grain Swift A frame, and the Nosler Partition have all been excellent. Especially in the 165 grain weight.

However the bullet used for the last decade or so and the one that nothing can compare to for overall performance, and even recovery of less then perfect shots has been the 165 grain TSX. ( TTSX is equal if you feel better about the plastic tip)

Develop a load that will leave the barrel at 2900fps and you will harvest any plains game animal that exists without a problem. I've shot a giraffe with this combo. My clients use this on plenty of eland, and sable. It's our opinion, a collective opinion of a dozen or more PH's, trackers, and outfitters in this business that .308 diameter is the base line for an expected blood trail. Smaller then this diameter with only an entry hole have been the most frequent complicated tracking jobs, and the most often coincidentally involved with lost game. ( if you believe in coincidence?)

.308 diameter is not the answer to this situation, but rather the starting point of a reasonable expectation of blood tracking. .338/ 8mm and above is the answer to blood tracking success. I think you will find that most Outfitters providing a loaner rifle use the .308 diameter. Some I know offer a 7mm but that is usually on hand for those not very experienced with rifles. Often a woman or a young boy will opt for this choice.

It's not difficult to get a TSX at 165 grains to 2950 plus or minus fps. This bullet will retain all it's 165 grains when recovered. Compare this the original cup and core 180 grain bullet from a 300 win mag which has a 3050fps velocity.

That 300 mag was the most lethal and one of the more commonly used cartridges in use for plains game when introduced. The success was amazing on all species. The 30/06 with the 165TSX loaded to 2900 is a far more lethal cartridge then the 180 grain cup and core at 3050fps. The weight retention of the TSX trumps the 100fps advantage of the 300 win mag. All this with a definite or maybe I should say significant reduction in recoil. Heck I have had well in excess of a dozen ladies and at least that many young teen boys use this 30/06 with flawless success. My 100 pound 12 year old was shooting it from the bench with this load. He would have been done after the first shot with the 300 mag.

Hope this insight helps you.

Not exactly what you requested.... but pretty close.

A few years back my youngest son and I hunted both RSA and Zimbabwe with a M70 Classic 7x57mm Mauser shooting 175gr. Nosler Partitions and Kimber Classic .308 shooting Federal High Energy 180gr. Nosler Partitions (same fps as 30-06).

Blesbok, Reedbuck, Warthog, Kudu's, Zebra, Nayala, Bushbuck, and Leopard taken. Shots from 20 - 200'ish yards. All DRT / no tracking.

I'd have no qualms using either for PG again.

Taken a 7x57 on three safaris and a .30-06 on two.

Bullet of choice in the 7x57 was 175 Grain Nosler Partitions

Bullets of choice in the .30-06 were 165 grain Swift A-Frame or 180 Grain Barnes TSX.

Killed all the common PG with them both except Eland. No gripes on performance.


7x57

I've seen JJHack's .30-06 in action. Even with less than optimal shot placement by some shooters, it is all you'd ever need, with the TSX load he mentioned.

Clarence

Hello RS,
I was hunting in the Eastern Cape in 2012.
I used a 30-06 with 168gr ammo from a company called PMP.
It was regular soft point ammo made in South Africa.
I shot a Kudu at 195 yards (one shot).
Also an impala at 45 yards with one shot and a springbok at 200 yards,,,this one took two shots. My first round was not a good placement.
I think the '06 is all you need for plains game.

Wow, just learned that I am either a young boy or a woman. Dang.

How did you figure that out?

Inquiring minds....

I may never get to Africa but I do have a 30/06 and 7x57. The 7x57 is new. Its a MRC model 1999. What are the better factory loads available? I do handload and have the dies and brass but haven't yet with the 7mm.

Hijack alert --

Ingwe that 7 x 57 is stunning. Tell us about it!

Kudu's pretty good too!

Set my daughter up with a Ruger #1 in 7x 57. //h4350 with TSX 160s took zebra and kudu on the big end no sweat. Classic.

Thats a 1909 argentine Mauser built by Dennis Erhardt. Square bridged, integral quarter rib, one standing, one folding...everything done right.

I was using it on the insistence of a friend that owned it...


Exquisite rifle, and as you see, open sights only.

Very nice ingwe.

donsm70

We did a family trip in 2011, wife and three son's. My youngest son, then eleven, used "his" Walther Mauser in 7x57 and the 160 he AB launched at 2650 fps. Kudu, blesbuck, wildebeest, warthog, impala and more warthog fell out to 400 yards on the kudu. He was a happy camper...

I can see nothing wrong with either, although the 7x57 has been my choice, I used 160 partitions at 2750 fps or so.

Have used both while on safari, the 7mm with 160 Accubonds and the '06 with 168 TSX. Both have worked without complaint. If I had to made the choice, I'd choose the 30-06.

If you tell the Internet about accepting yourself as a young boy or a woman, you'll be a hero and a media celebrity for a week. Ala Bruce Jenner

ingue and idahoguy
J J Hack said only women and young buys shoot plains game with an under 30 caliber cartridge. Therefore....

I said this?

"Only"

It's an option they choose, not one I or anyone else decide for them. Why do I even bother when there is such a bizarre agenda to pick apart posts on this site.

Wish most of the people on here would read this post, as then MAYBE the BS about taking their 375, implication being it's needed for plains game, would quit. I used a 280 Rem in 2009, to take 18 head of game, mostly Springbok and Gemsbok, 140gr TTSX bullets at 2900 fps. In 2011, took Impala, Kudu, Waterbuck, and warthog with the 308 and 150gr Ttsx bullets, then in 2013, I took the god grandson to RSA and he took Impala, Zebra, black wildebeest, and Nyala, using my 308 (savage 99) and 130gr Ttsx bullets a 2990 , chronographed). In 1972, I took an Eland with one shot, 06, 165gr Nosler partition. So as indicated in this post, NO need for magnums.

It was my attempt at adding humor. We can't always be serious

I've used both the 7x57 and .30-06 in Africa considerably, and the only real trend I've noticed is that both is that really hard, deep-penetrating bullets kill quickest, on average, when muzzle velocity approaches 3000 fps, as with the 165-grain TSX load JJHack uses.

Have not been impressed with the 160 TSX or North Fork in the 7x57. They kill but sometimes not very quickly. Wider-expanding or partially fragmenting bullets, like the 156 Norma Oryx, 160 Nosler Partition/AccuBond, or even the 160 Sierra GameKing kill quicker on average at 7x57 velocities. (Yeah, I've shot some African animals with 160 GameKings, though none weighing much more than 200 pounds. There were zero bullet failures, and all the animals died quickly.) If I ever take a 7x57 to Africa again, and decide to use a TSX or other petal-type, deep-penetrating bullet it would probably be a 140-grain pushed as fast as safely possible.

Also tend to agree with JJHack's conclusions about the blood-trail difference in 7mm and .30 caliber bullets, but did follow the blood trail of a kudu shot too far back with a 160 TSX from a 7x57 for over half a mile before it petered out. Or at least the indications were the kudu was shot too far back. The bad hit was due to a scope that went screwy--literally screwy, the objective bell usncrewing itself, something discovered only toward the end of the blood-trailing. But we never found the kudu, so don't know exactly where the bullet landed.

Once took a long time to find an impala shot with the 7x57, despite using a wide-expanding bullet that landed in the right place, and exited. The impala headed downhill in very steep, brushy country, and was found around 100 yards away after more than an hour by a Jack Russell terrier. None of the humans, including several native trackers, found a speck of blood except right around the fallen impala. The shot was at a steep uphill angle, so the exit was high on the chest, and the low entrance hole didn't leak--but the impala probably wouldn't have gone nearly as far before falling if the country hadn't been so steep.

That was just one of those things, as the vast majority of African animals shot well with the 7x57 (or the 7mm-08) haven't gone far enough to really need tracking, and 3/4 fell within 50 yards. The animals included many of the supposedly super-tough "plains" game such as zebra, gemsbok and wildebeest. In fact one of the quicker one-shot kills on blue wildebeest I've seen was with a 140-grain AccuBond from a 7mm-08. The hunter put the bullet right behind the shoulder, about 1/4 of the way up the chest, and the bull ran 35-40 yards and keeled over dead.

Of course, bigger bullets tend to kill quicker, but that particular hunter also brought a .300 Winchester Magnum and found he didn't shoot so well with it after three days of magnum recoil. He switched to the 7mm-08 and did much better, because the bullets went in the right place.

Another guy on the same safari (a month-long cull in South Africa) had the same thing happen with the 9.3x62 he brought for bigger plains game, so switched to the 7x57 he'd also brought and killed gemsbok, zebra and kudu with it, no problem. Would have to look up in my hunting notes to see what bullet he used, but no bullet kills well when it doesn't end up in the right place.

The Eleanor O'Connor package.........

Rick,

Eileen has never gone to a sub-.30 in Africa, only using the .30-06 and .308 Winchester.

Gonna use the .308 this year? It's probably the most popular .30 caliber that could be considered a sub-.30!

Idahoguy, Am in same boat with you. It appears that humor is not appropriate for such a serious discussion.

JJ, read the preceding comment.

MuleDeer, Don't tell anybody but the 308 and the 270 and the 7/57 are pretty much the same as far as terminate effect goes. I am certain that comment will offend everyone. If I was starting again I would just get a 30/06 and go hunting. OK now I have offended everyone I missed with the previous comment.
And, oh forgot, I would rather have a Whelen or an Otto Bock than a 375. There you go.

Rick,

Yeah, I've said the same thing about the .270, 7x57 and .308 in print and it often offends people. Probably offends people here too, but then the Africa forum probably attracts as many really serious, easily-offended people as any forum on the Campfire, except maybe Optics.

That's not possible. Ingwe posts on here occasionally and he isn't easily offended. Offensive, maybe, but not offended.

Just joking, Ingwe!!!!

Are people actually offended over your opinions? You've been to Africa over a dozen times, John. That doesn't make an expert, but it does grant you and informed opinion on what works

You wouldn't believe what people are offended by. Some are offended at the mere idea of gun writers.

John: I'm offended that you would think that I would be offended by your opinions.







Now just where is that sarcasm icon??????

Laughin' here. I remember some of those "discussions" here on the Fire...

Guy

I've been noticing a trend that seems be being established in a lot of the 7x57 posts/discussions: it's 160(ish) grain bullets. Is the 160 sort of the "sweet spot" in the 7x57, especially at normal (i.e., modern) 7x57 velocities?

The 160/162 is kind of a sweet spot for a 7mm anything. Properly designed, that weight can have a high BC and be a very versatile bullet.

Thanks, Ingwe. That's certainly the impression I'm getting. What did you use in that Mauser in the earlier picture? Something tells me 175 gr.

But of course...175 gr NPTs and 175 Gr. round nose solids....



Open sighted rifle, not too awful concerned about long range BC

RS,

I've used a .30-06 and a .270 on plains game in Africa, but haven't used a 7x57 although I wouldn't hesitate to do so. My loads for Tanzania for my .30-06 were H4350 (I've forgotten the exact load) pushing a 165 grain TSX. The largest animal I took using that combination was a stud zebra. It worked very well on everything I shot with it. I used the same rifle on a trip to Namibia, but loaded with 180 grain Norma Oryx bullets and again, H4350. Since no dangerous game animals were on the menu for that trip, the .30-06 was the only rifle I took. The largest animal I shot with that combo was a big eland. I used a custom .270 on a trip to Zimbabwe. My load was 59.5 grains of H4831 pushing a Bitterroot 130 grain bullet at 3100 fps. Performance was just fine. As someone already alluded to, Eleanor O'Connor shot just about all her African animals with a 7x57 except her elephant and perhaps a lion or two. For her elephant, she use her "big rifle," a Brownell Model 70 custom made for her for a tiger hunting trip to India. It was a .30-06.

Don't think just because the 06 is an American gun that it hasn't been used extensively in Africa. Almost every farmer has ether the 308 or 30-06. It is a Great rifle to hunt with and will put any plains game animal on the ground. The 06 is more versatile than the 7mm Mauser but the Mauser has history and tradition in Africa. Happy Hunting!