Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 30-06 in Africa

On my first very first safari I brought a spare scope in the same rings, and it turned out the spare scope was needed.

But when traveling with more than two rifles, such as when both Eileen and I go together, I've take one "loose" well-proven scope, with the tools needed for all the mounts. We also needed that spare on one safari.

Might also comment that on various "cull" hunts with several other hunters I've seen far more cartridges used than just in the rifles Eileen and I have taken.

On one month-long cull in South Africa another dozen hunters took part, in two "shifts" of six during the first and last halves of the month. I took a 7x57 and 9.3x62, and without looking at my journal of the trip I can recall the other hunters using the .270 Winchester, .270 WSM, 7mm-08, 7x57, 7mm Dakota Magnum, .308 Winchester, .300 WSM, .300 Winchester Magnum, .325 WSM, .338 Winchester Magnum, 9.3x62, .375 H&H and .416 Remington Magnum--and there were some duplicates. (One .375 and .416 were brought primarily for buffalo, and each was used only on a single bull.)

I only took 13 animals despite staying the entire month, but accompanied some of the other hunters while they took 59 more. A total of 184 were taken, an average of 14 for each of the other hunters, and every evening I interviewed many of the hunters I hadn't accompanied, getting the details of their results.

Most of the hunters had never been to Africa before, or only on one previous safari. The majority brought two rifles, one chambered in a round of .30 caliber or less, and the other in a larger cartridge from .300 Winchester Magnum on up.
Several ended up using only their "deer rifle" after several days, because they started to flinch when using their larger rifle--and realized it. This can happen on safaris, especially when shooting lots of animals, and also check-shooting the rifle every couple days to make sure bouncing around in a Land Cruiser hasn't jostled the scope "off."

One of these was a guy who brought two rifles in the same chamberings I did, the 7x57 and 9.3x62. After a few days he found he wasn't shooting very well with the 9.3x62, so switched to his 7x57 and did fine after that. The same thing happened with another guy who brought a 7mm-08 and a .300 Winchester Magnum. He gave up on the .300 and found the 7mm-08 worked fine on the same variety of plains game.

In fact I was accompanying him when he killed a mature blue wildebeest with the 7mm-08. The range was around 150 yards, and he put a 140-grain Nosler AccuBond just behind the bull's shoulder. It ran 50-60 yards and keeled over.

Among the interesting things was all the "bullet tests" the month provided. This was in 2007, not long after both the Barnes TSX and Nosler AccuBond had been introduced, and quite a few hunters used one or the other. The guy who brought the .270 WSM as his only rifle used 140-grain TSXs, and did VERY well, impressing the PHs considerably.

Another guy brought the .325 WSM and a .375 H&H, the .375 primarily for buffalo. But the Winchester Power Points in the factory loads he used in the .325 penetrated so poorly on larger plains game the PH told him to quit using it, and he spent his second week using the .375 on everything--and very well.

Two other guys brought a single rifle. The one on the first shift brought a .338 Winchester Magnum, with 225-grain AccuBond handloads, and shot it very well. In fact he had 7 one-shot kills in a row before he tried to get fancy, and attempted to shoot a blue wildebeest in the ear, because he wanted to bring home a hide without any bullet holes. He missed slightly, and had to shoot it again. But he'd already taken a big blue wildebeest bull with one chest shot, which worked well (I was beside him on that one).

The one guy who brought a .300 WSM started out OK, but by the end of his hunt during the second half of the safari was shooting poorly, perhaps because it was a pretty light rifle. I was also beside him when he wounded a big kudu bull, and the trackers lost the scanty blood trail. It turned out he'd broken the lower jaw (he was aiming for the chest), as the PH discovered a week after we'd all left, when he came across what was left of the carcass after being torn up by jackals and vultures.

Nobody who used a rifle in any chambering under .300 magnum lost any game, including the guy who brought the .270. But he also brought a .338 Winchester Magnum, and shot both rifles very well.

JB I recall a conversation we had during a long ago Namibian Safari: What we thought an ideal rifle for PG in the bush would be. I remember we thought the .338-06 would be good but the final choice was a .30-06 using premium 180-200 gr bullets.

Yeah, that's what I recall as well.

But on that safari Eileen used a .30-06 with 165-grain Fail Safes, which worked pretty well--not surprising since they were very similar to Barsness TSXs in the way they expanded and penetrated. In fact we both used a lot of Fail Safes in various hunts before TSXs appeared, because they were more accurate than the early X-Bullets--but once the TSX appeared the Fail Safes disappeared, since they did the same things but cost considerably less.

Lately have been using the 175-grain Barnes LRX in the .30-06, and so far it looks like it would be a great plains game bullet, whether in the brush or out in the open.

thanks again that is one of the reason for bringing a 30-06 recoil ,i do get tired of using heavy recoil from a rifle. i shoot trap a lot i started with a 870 wingmaster and that gave me shoulder pain from recoil and would make my shoulder sore for a few days , now days i have a ported Perazzi trap shotgun what difference in recoil. another reason is ammo for a 30-06 should be easy to find too i hope if i need any besides my handloads. i have some very nice safe queen rifles that are not going out of the lower 48 ,that`s why i purchased a new 30-06 Tikka and did some work to this rifle to make it shoot better because if the rifle did get lost ,broken or stolen that i could live with easier. thanks,Pete53

i have been givin so many Nosler Partitions i just plan on using them , that will be the cheapest part of this trip. thanks,Pete53

They work fine too. In fact I made my second-longest shot in Africa on a bull kudu that was standing on a steep mountainside above me at around 350 yards, using a .30-06 and the 180 Partition. The bullet landed half-way up the shoulder, but due to the angle it also hit the far side the spine, and the bull dropped right there. Found the bullet under the hide next to the spine, retaining 62% of its weight despite going through both the shoulder and spine.

(The longest shot was a springbok at 500 yards--with a .22-250. The same day my hunting partner killed a bull kudu with the same rifle and load, Winchester's factory 55-grain softpoint. But that's another story.)

Like John, I have seen multiple hunters use a variety of cartridges. Without exception, the harder kicking cartridges are associated with more wounded game which results in either lost animals or “rodeos”.

I have used 270W or 280Rem on many trips. On several trips I used a really hot big 7 moving a 175 at 3000+ which is at the big 30 recoil level. Over a period of 4 weeks my shooting deteriorated. That has never happened with the 270/280 in a 6.75# rifle.

Two things to consider:
1 shots are rarely over 250 yards
2 my rifle is in my hands pretty much constantly. I don’t want a rifle to weigh more than 7.5 all up and 7 to 6.75 is better.

For me, the recoil of a LW 30/06 loaded to max level is much more like a big 30.

Lastly, my close buddy is a full time PH and has been for 35 years. He tells me that he can’t see any observable difference between the “power” of the 270 vs the 30 or 33 magnums provided good bullets are used. This is based on hundreds of animals a year during his career.

Take what you can shoot well.

What an excellent post. Super informative, lots of experience, and no BS like some of the other forums at the 24 hour Campfire have.

One other consideration.

I prefer to avoid lead core bullets. All the meat is sold or consumed with little waste. I am hesitant to expose anyone. Remember someone will be eating stuff that in the US is never utilized.

Just returned from RSA which included properties in the Limpopo (thick) and the Free State (rolling hills, mix of thick and open terrain). Hopefully in a year or so I'll have skull mounts for: sprinkbok, impala, red lechwe, and the spirals (bushbuck, nyala, kudu, and eland).

Took a 30-06 in Mark X barreled action dropped in the McMillan Interarms/Mauser pattern with a Leupold 6x36.. Went with handloads of Hornady 180 Interlock SPs seated to the cannelure and H4350. Practiced quite a bit off sticks at 100 yds.

Shots ranged from 50 to 220 yds.

The bushbuck (75 yds) and sprinkbok (200 yds) were hard quartering away shots with the bullet slipped behind the rear rib and breaking the off shoulder. Complete the pass-through on the bushbuck but not the sprinkbok. The bushbuck sprinting maybe 20 yds and crashed while the springbok was a bang-flop.

The red lechwe was about 60 yds broadside with a slight quartering to me. Lower shoulder with no pass-through (they are a stout animal). 20 yds sprint and crash.

The nyala (50 yds) was a straight on shot with no pass-through. It bucked and sprinted maybe 20 yds in the thick stuff.

The kudu was broadside (75 yds) and entered lower shoulder. Maybe a 20-30 yd sprint and collapse. Complete pass-through.

The eland was 220 yds broadside. First shot was lower third right behind the shoulder and it just hunkered up and didn't move. It eventually spun 180° and offered another broadside. Lower third in the shoulder and it collapsed (took out the top of the heart).

I tried something different with the impala and used a 270 Win with Fed factory 150 RN soft points. About 50 yds quarter away in the thick stuff and slipped behind the rear rib then into the offside front shoulder. Ran about 50 yds and collapsed.

For the non-exit kills, none of the bullets were recovered although I would have liked to have seen a few. Luckily all of the kills resulted in quick deaths but I can definitely see the benefit of punching two holes and have the benefit of more leaks.

Kudu and eland tenderloin was phenomenal!!

Agree 100%

Has there been a problem of Africans getting lead poisoning from bullets in meat?

Lots of people with a LOT more experience than myself, but I've been 3x in the last 5 years.

South Africa terrain varies a LOT. My first trip in Limpopo, can't recall where exactly was really thick and nasty and pretty flat. Shots were 50-100 yards on average and I took my waterbuck around 200 yards.

Used a 7mm Rem Mag with 160 bonded bear claws on the Waterbuck and Gemsbuck and a few other critters. Used a 257 Roberts with 100g accubond on some Impala and a Blesbuck. Most critters were bang flop, couple went 15-20 yards.

2nd trip, mostly archery hunted but borrowed a .243 with 70g ballistic tips for a monster hog. Didn't know it only had 70g ballistic tips, but bang/flop. Used a 308 for some other animals and my father used a borrowed 308 as well. 150g cup/core of some variety. NO issues.

This last trip, I used a 308 of my own with a 150g TSX's. Steenbuck, Bushbuck, Kudu, Black Wildebeast, Springbuck(s). Couldn't have asked for better performance. Was worried about the Steenbuck and blowing it up, but did a phenomenal job on all animals. Only bullet that stayed in was the Wildebeast, which was just under 300 yards and the 1st shot hit low in the shoulder, went through the heart. Broke the opposite shoulder and stopped under the hide.


Back to terrain - My 2nd trip was in N/W Limpopo and much more open but we were also able to utilize some ground blinds. Shots ranged from 10-25 yards with the bow and maybe out to 200, could have shot longer.

This last trip was in the Eastern Cape and shots were much longer. Bushbuck was maybe 50 and everything else was 200-300.

Only bullet issues that week were from a 375 H&H shooting I believe 220g Speers, shots were on target but the bullets didn't do a great job and required several follow ups.

Long story short, if I was going back tomorrow I'd probably be brining my Roberts or maybe even a .223 for smaller stuff and my 308 with the 150g TSX's again.

Most ingested elemental lead passes thru the gut, isn't absorbed. A small amount theoretically could be turned into organic lead compounds by stomach acid and absorbed. It would take a lot of ingested lead metal over time to show up in blood levels.

Organic lead compounds are toxic, elemental lead metal, not so much.

I think over time, the green obsessed tree huggers are going to push for lead ammo to be outlawed. Just guessing, but what else haven't they done or tried to do that doesn't make a lot of sense.

Fortunately, there are excellent non-lead bullets being offered that are really effective, although expensive. That expense may just become our cost of doing business. Time will tell. Hope I'm wrong, but wouldn't bet the farm on that.

DF

30-06 + good bullet = busy skinners

i really appreciate all these post since i have never been to Africa ,this is helping a lot and tomorrow/Tuesday we send in what we wanna shoot and find out the price for each of us prices and the 4 in the party maybe some sort of discount. i know i wanna shoot a Kudu ,Impala , Zebra ,Wildebeest , Gemsbok , and what ever ?

i hope to help skin these animals myself too . never have worked on any African hides yet.

I don't know the etiquette for that situation.

Pete, I think the .30-06 is a fantastic choice! I would guess you could even find some ammo over there if you happened to have yours separated from your gun.

I have also had the Africa bug lately and am in the planning stages of something in the next few years. Like a lot of things, sometimes the "thinkin'" is as much fun as the "doin" so I was thinking about my perfect plains game rifle. You know...since none of my other big game rifles are adequate. I wanted a used rifle with some soul that would check a few boxes. My short list of cartridges would be 7x57, .30-06 and .300 H&H. Lots of other good choices but I wanted a classic and these just felt right. I really wanted a mauser action and prefer FNs. I actually wanted to see some wear on both the wood and the steel. With no street credit of my own in Africa it would be nice if at least one of us looked like we had been there before

I actually was hoping for something with a little heft to it. I expect a lot of shooting from sticks and I simply shoot a heavy rifle better.

Stumbled onto a deal from a friend and ended up with this great FN in .30-06 that checked all the boxes for me.





The only thing I need to change is the trigger. I have a timney sitting here but need to do some minor fitment work on the action and the stock to get it to work. Wanting to keep things simple, it is now topped with a basic gloss leupold 3-9.

The issue with birds is that the lead ends up in the gizzard, where lead fragments persist as they are slowly ground away. That's what they say, at least.