Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa The Poormans Africa Cartridge

My current two bits===

Since I had a well used .308 and .338, I skipped on up to a .405 and .458. Both have performed well in the USA and Africa.
I loaned my Winchester 1886 .45-90 (.458) to a friend for his African outing and he took ele, multiple Cape Buff, and leopard with it -- All one shot kills.
My ,405 did well on its only trip to Africa also, with a one shot kill on a Cape buff.

My conclusion is that with an appropriate weapon and ammo, the competent hunter can take any critter. It then becomes a matter of personal choice.

i always wondered a poor man`s cartridge ? 35 Whelen ? and as has been posted just the standard old 30-06 ?

I’ve been to Africa (RSA) once in 2016. Affordable hunts can be found. Me and a buddy hunted 6 days 1x1 and killed 5 animals each, kudu, gemsbok, impala, block and warthog. I left my heads over there, my buddy bought his home and it was well north of $10K for everything (dip, pack, ship and mount)! The hunt cost $4350 and we could have taken additional animals but didn’t. The PH/Outfit was Cruisers Safaris. They were OK, food was good, PH’s were fine, the owner was a drunken ass!

If you search around you can find affordable hunts. One of the TV shows, Elk Camp I believe advertises reasonably priced hunting packages with Crusader Safaris in RSA, I believe they have close to a million low fence acres. I think they advertise hunts as low as $2700 and you can add additional animals for a fee.

I used a Kimber Montana in 7-08 and 120 TTSX’s on the warthog, impala and blesbok and a 270 Winchester and 156 Hammerheads on the kudu and gemsbok. I had an elbow injury and couldn’t take the recoil of the two rifles I wanted to bring which were a Ruger Alaskan in 375 Ruger and a SS Ruger Hawkeye in 35 Whelen.

This was a budget hunt and we didn’t do any sightseeing which I will do on my next trip over there. I flew from JFK and departed at 11:00AM and landed in Joberg the next morning at 8:30AM, 15 hour flight. The PH wanted to pick up that morning and head to camp giving us a free evening of hunting. We declined and opted to book a room and rest up. I don’t recommend this because even though I didn’t sleep on the flight over I also didn’t sleep the night I landed due to jet lag, just head to camp!

The next time I go to Africa I will be better off financially and shoot more game, I have on my list zebra, hartebeest, waterbuck and wildebeest! The rifles I will bring will be a first gen Ruger 9.3x62 that my father got through Ruger’s armorer school and a Winchester Featherweight in 7x57! Good luck in your search and have fun on your journey!

The 9.3x62 has enjoyed a lot more popularity here in the U.S. in the last several years. Although it's not the .338WM or the .375 H&H, with loads such as a 250gr TTSX @ 2650 FPS giving 3900 FPE at the muzzle or a 250gr Accubond @ 2550 FPS giving 3600 FPE, it will do most anything the 338 will do at close to medium ranges.

Look at member CZ550 and his blog comparing the x62 and 338 wm. The x62 bests it in many ways out to a long ways.

Yep

Just an off topic question kind of. I’ve read that the water buffalo in Australia has a bit tougher and thicker hide vs the Cape buffalo in Africa. Is this correct and does it have any significance in terms of “tougher to kill” when hunting. Is there any noticeable differences when hunting with a 9.3 or 375?

Supposedly the 9.3 is basically a German equivalent to a 375 H&H. Pros and Cons to each, but similar in tests.

I have a few points of contact in RSA. All in Limpopo province . Look up GP Footprint Safaris and/or Stirling Safaris.
We hunted with Gerhard Pretorious (GP Footprint) in 2022 and have nothing bad to say about him other than i disliked his teasing of me with 3 cape buffalo at 18 yards with a crossbow lol. Great hunt, exceptional food, and the staff was fantastic.

7.62x39?