Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Dogzapper, let's hear about the 30-06 in Africa.........

Steve, there seems to be a race of hunters prowling about who don't think that the 30-06 is enough gun for African plainsgame -- that the bullets would somehow bounce-off, wouldn't produce a sufficient "bloodtrail", not enough "killing power", etc, etc.....

If you would, how about detailing your own experiences with the 30-06 in Africa?

It might just be illuminating!

AD

Also what bullet you used on your trips across the pond as well.

Thx


Mark D

I've noticed the same trend/thought process....

I hunted Namibia 09/2005 with three guys from another Forum. One used his 30-06 loaded with 180gr. TSX to down an old giraffe at the request of the PH.

He shot him a couple times in the shoulder basically to get him to turn so he could administer a shot to the head. Dropped him like the perverbial oak... if that isn't testimate to the ability of the '06 on PG I don't know what is.

A PH will breathe a sigh of relief when a hunter brings out an older and hunted 30-06 and some 180-200gr ammo. It is a wonderful PG round! I use a 12ga/30-06 Sauer drilling for PG and birds, and have never been under-gunned when using 200gr ammo with good bullets.

Sure, no problem.

I used the .30-'06 on two extended safaris; one in Zimbabwe and one in the Northern Transvaal RSA (near Mesina). In total, I killed a little over fifty head of plains game. All were one-shot kills (bang-flops) except for a warthog that needed a second (at about 10 feet, fixin' to run over me) and a waterbuck that I grossly mis-guesstimated range-wise.

To my favor, I managed to kill two Rowland Ward Impala with a single shot, so I get one back in the "plus" column from the two that I double-shot. It was bullshit luck, but a lot of hunting totally depends on bullshit luck (at least mine does).

Yeah, there was some small stuff, like duiker, steinbok and impala, but the majority of the critters were small-elk sized, like a half-dozen blue wildebeest (tough bastards), kudu, buncha zebra and such. The largest critter was an eland that weighed 1069kg at the farm's butchery.

As a side note, I saw my partner totally screw up a zebra kill, so I shot my first just under the ear. He was standing in a sunny glade with his long dick black hanging out. there were two obvious targets and, deciding on the side of reason, I nailed the bugger under the ear. Dead zebra -0- From then on, I clobbered zebra under the ear; I've killed about a half-dozen by now and all are ear shots. Kills them good!!!!!!!!

I found the typical game shot to be quite a bit shorter than those I usually experience in the States and Canada; prolly 80-yards or so, on the average. And it seems to me that Afrikan critters are a bit easier to "position" than American game; Hey, just wait for the shot and when it appears....nail the bugger dead.

My take on the .30-'06 is that it is just about the perfect African plains game cartridge. It works perfectly, giving bang-flop kills, on game up to and including eland.

I found the 180-grain bullet (unmentionable here for PC reasons) to be quite adequate.

As I said, I've only killed a few over fifty head of plains game with the .30-'06, but my impression is that it is just about right. There are many, many hunters who are much more experienced than I am, but that is my "take" on it.

If I was leaving for a plains game hunt in Africa tomorrow, I would take a single .30-'06 rifle and 180-grain (unmentionable bullet) ammo.

In the end, if fifty-five years of active big game hunting and the killing of hundreds and hundreds of big game animals have taught me a single thing, it is this: By far, the most important single thing in hunting is the hunter. The hunter must stalk as close as he can and if the perfect shot is not available, he must wait for it. And when the perfect moment arrives, the hunter drives the bullet deep.

Allen, do you remember a certain big-bodied blacktail that you and I killed up the Clackamas??? That was waiting for the shot and killing when the precise perfect moment arrived. That was a bloody-muddy day, my friend. And fun.

To your specific questions concerning the .30-'06 and its use on African plains game:

A) I have never seen a 180-grain bullet bounce off a head of plains game. All of mine have been pretty much dead-right-there and no bounced bullet evident.

B) Oh yes, the famous "blood trail." My animals are killed dead and very, very seldom have a blood trail. It's more of a pool. That is sucky.

C) Not enough killing power? Horseshit. Killing power is more a function of the hunter than the cartridge.

Steve

Thanx for the information, Steve.

I allege Hornady InterLokt to be the non-PC bullet. . . . (wink)

Just my guess,

BMT

BMT dun spilled the beans!! Hi, Steve... Hope all is well.. 721

Yup, darn him. Life is great here. Hard sunshine, sixty degrees, finally got the yard mowed and wife is away....man it doesn't get any better than that.

Your buddy Steve

Better have a beer and a backstrap.....bloody...with greeeeeeasy fried taters and corn...

and the big, fat Scottie dog is sleeping on the couch.

Steve

Thanks for this thread, Gents....after a long Tuesday that must be a Monday, some grinning helps...

assuming it's not the scope either.:)

Steve:

Ya gotta stop killin' things with them lousy Hornady bullets. Don't you know that cup and core bullets are obsolete?

Facts is facts, none of those 50 head of plains game actually be dead. They just playin' 'possum. (wink)

BMT

Well, I don't have near the experience of Allen and Steve but I thought I'd share a few pics.

Rifle: Ruger M77 MkII in .30-06 Springfield
Handload: 220 gr Woodleigh RN at 2460 fps
Location: northern Limpopo Province (near Alldays), South Africa in 2002

Why did I use a 220 gr bullet in the .30-06? Just because I wanted to be old fashioned and nostalgic. And, frankly, just for the fun of it! It seemed to work just fine, by the way.









Cheers!
-Bob F.

I thought some might find this of interest.

Around the world with a .30-06
The hundred-year-old caliber got a round-the-world workout on my hunts this year.
by Craig Boddington
October 2006
http://www.sportsafield.com/FAQ/Boddingtonblog.htm



"The rifle itself was very similar in appearance and handling to the M77 that impressed me so much thirty years earlier. Except this one wore a left-hand bolt, and had the MK II action with controlled-round feed and three-position safety on the cocking piece. This .30-06, no longer new, was a near-constant companion during a total of nearly 150 days of African hunting in 2006."









The .30/06 in Africa
For plains game of any size, not many calibers beat the '06.
By Jim Carmichel
http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/gear/gunvault/article/0,19912,230175,00.html




-Bob F.

Steve, would the .280 Ackley Improved have done as well on the same critters?

Don't know where all this PC hoopla started with Hornadys but I guess I probably one of the guilty ones. Hornadys are great bullets, in my view, they are the best non-premium bullet out there and certainly more than adequate as evidenced by all the success stories proferred here. I know I told this story before, but I'll relate it again: I was hunting impala and we found a nice ram after a long stalk and nailed him on the point of the shoulder at 80 yards as he was quartering towards me with my 300 Weatherby.
I'm guessing impact velocity was 3k plus. The ram dropped like a stone. We recovered the bullet in the off side rear leg. It weighed 77grs if memory serves me. Point being, that bullet should have zipped right through that critter. Had that been an eland, I think things could have been different. There are many many anectdotes of the 300 & 400gr Hornady Interlocks (375 & 416 respectively) failing on buffalo, lion & even leopard. One particular hairy episode with a leopard and a 375 H&H was related to me by Tony Sanchez-Arino and it's even in one of his books.

So what's the bottom line? well here's my take on it: Out of a 3006 with impact velocities below 2700 fps or so, the Hornady is a magnificent bullet and on deer & most plains game, no preoblem!

But, for that big ugly stuff that bites back, my operational risk management view of things compels me to look for another option and to me that is embodied in the Swift A Frame. jorge

PS: here's the varmint:

Absolutely, my friend.

The reason I've always hunted plains game with the .30-'06 is that ammunition is generally available anywhere in the world. Airline rules state that your ammo and your rifle have to be in seperate pieces of luggage and it would really, really suck to get to Africa with your rifle and without your ammo. If a guy carried a .30-'06 is would be easy to find fodder, with a .280 Ackley it might be possible to find .280 Remington ammo (rather unlikely in Bulawayo, West Nicholson or Chinwise).

Yeah, I would love to slay African beasties with the .280 Ackley and 140s, but the total world-wide availability of the common .30-'06 makes the latter the obvious and more-practical choice.

The same may be said of the .375 H&H. Every bush camp has a supply of three-six-bits ammo. And what a great cartridge it is.

Steve

Steve, it's JB, Boddington and others but certainly you that convinced me I'd take my '06 to Namibia for PG including zebra and eland.

Good to "see" you here again friend.

George

Has there been a rash of 30-06 bashing lately? how did I miss that? BTW I think Hornadys are a great bullet.

The perfect two gun battery is a 375 H&H (or Ruger...) and a 30-06 with 180s or 200s, IMO. They have the same general trajectory and will handle about anything in their respective class. You can use duplicate scopes and zero at duplicate ranges. It makes for an easy switch.