Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Who has used the 270 Win. / 375 H&H combo in Africa?

I was reading some old Jack O'Connor and John Jobson African hunting stories last night, and both of those men teamed a 270 Win. with a 375 H&H in Africa - O'Connor on occasion, and Jobson on both of his African safaris.

Who has done the same?

Quite honestly, I'm seriously considering that option myself this very season, using the 375 for buffalo, hippo, crocodile, eland and possibly kudu, the the 270 for everything else, including leopard and the balance of the plainsgame species that I'll be hunting.

Lot's of reasons why......

Comments?

Allen: My uncle used a 270/458 Win combo in Mozambique & Angola in the late 60s & early 70s with great success. Matter of fact, he used the 270 with old fashioned Sivertips to take his lion. He also used it to take zebra, sable, imapala etc with the 270 and I never heard him complain. With today's better bullets, I don't see an issue although (gasp!) I've never been a 270 fan and I still think a 300 is a better round for this application, but for a gent like you that is fortunate enough to go often, the combo you are considering would be perfectly adequate. jorge

I've had a whole lot of hunters bring a 270 for the hunt. Many used my 375HH for the bigger game as you plan to do.

Several were not thrilled with the lack of blood for followup tracking, and switched to the 375HH for the remainder of their hunting. Herd animals as you know depart in a cloud of dust and leave little or nothing to follow but 1000's of tracks as the herd departs.

That seems to be the one factor that limits its following and greater level of success in RSA for the herd species. Minimal blood for the follow up tracking.

The bullets available are improving so much every few years that a gun like the 270 or 25/06 today is much different then they were 20 years ago. This is especially true for the 30/06 and 375HH. Newer powders and projectiles have provided these two old cartridges with a rebirth of sorts.

Allen,

I can't think of a much better combination. For my first safari, in 1987, I took my old David Miller 270 for everything but buffalo, and a Heym 470 double for the buff. The biggest thing I shot with the 270 was a nice kudu. I used 130 grain Bitterroot bullets in front of H-4831 powder, traveling along at 3130 fps.Both rifles worked exactly as expected.

I would have been equally comfortable with a 375 H&H instead of the Heym 470. The others in our party all had 375s as their "big" rifle.

Tom

Allen, I remember Ross Seyfried writing a story a long time ago about a midwest farmer and his son who came to Africa and for whom Ross was PH. The old man came in pin-striped coveralls, a very worn 270 and something like two boxes of handloads with 150-gr Nos Part's.

After Ross watched the gent settle hash with something like six or seven PG with a trigger pull each, he allowed as to how he came to relenting against his better judgement to let the old man try for a male lion.

The big male was come upon in his bed, rising and broadside as they came within range. The little 150-gr pills raised small puffs of dust on the kitty's side among a bigger, billowing cloud rising from the big cat settling straight down in the dirt, deader than last winter's grass. Paraphrase mine of course.

Someone we know ( ) spoke of shooting game with "cocktail time calilbers" and this may be an example of that - stretching things a bit, but...the cat got the point

Gdv

the more I read the more it seems that the PH crowd likes the bigger calibers for the blood trail

Take the 270 with 150 Nosler Partitions,it will kill the little stuff as well as anything. I know a guy who used one of these bullets to kill two bull elk very dead so it'll work on anything on which you don't want to use the 375.

The only problem is that it will most likely put a big exit hole in a dead leopard,but that's where a good taxidermist comes in handy.


I know that Utah mountain lions and leopards are different critters but my friend Wade Lemon says that the 270 is one of the quickest killers and best choices on cougars and he has taken as many as anybody.

Britt

.270 and .375. Can't go wrong, but you know that already, Allen.

Allen:Great thread! My favorite subject....


What exactly were you reading?

I gotsta quit lurking on the Africa forum, or I will wind up booking a safari soon.


Who needs to make the house payment, right??

Tim: Who the hell needs a house anyway........?

I will just move into my gun safe, Bob.
That and a little fridge for my beer, I will be all set...

Thank you, gentlemen....

Tom, I have my 270 zeroed with 130 gr. Nosler Partitions right now, but I may try some 150s as well. I haven't shot anything with 150s out of the 270 in quite some time, but they might offer certain advantages, especially on some of the bigger animals such as zebra. Have you ever tried Swift A-Frames in your 270?

Bob, I was reading some O'Connor ODL articles from the late '60s/early '70s entitled, 'Those One-Rifle Safaris' (Jan. 1970), 'The 270 On African Antelope'(March 1967), 'Rifles In Africa' (Feb. 1971). All of them are classic, nuts & bolts common-sense, must read articles.

I've also been reading Jobson's 'The Classic Magnums' (Sports Afield/March 1973), as well as Amwell's 'The Best of John Jobson'.

Currently my 375 H&H is zeroed with 300 gr. Trophy Bonded Bearclaws. I have two 1.75-6x Leupold scopes (one with the Standard Duplex, and the other with Leupold's Heavy Duplex) for this rifle, both in detachable scope rings from Tom Burgess. For these Echols milled from scratch (out of special, heat-treated steel) custom scope bases, and they are fitted so perfectly and so precisely that those scopes go back to zero every time.

The open sights are from EAW and they are screwed and soldered to the barrel, and perfectly zeroed for 50 yds.

All I have to do is come up with a solid load that hits in the same place, and I'll be in business.

I've been on the phone with Nosler as well as Echols concerning ammunition options, and it's entirely possible that I'll try some of Winchester's new Safari ammo with 300 gr. Nosler Partitions as well as Nosler's new solid, and these loads are engineered (so they say) to have the same POI.

I'm also interested in Hornady's new solid and soft point ammo, and as soon as I can get my hands on some of it, I'll be testing it on paper.

I'm also considering loading 300 gr. Swift A-Frames, which shoot very well in my rifle, plus Woodleigh solids.

This is the part of testing that I really enjoy: New ammo rather than new rifles in new calibers.........

AD

I have used the .270 Win and the .375 on Safari, I don't recall if I used them both on the same hunt or not but that makes no difference..

I like the .270 and its a great caliber, but I think I would prefer the 30-06 or my 300 H&H with 200 gr. Noslers in Africa for all plainsgame. but that's just my choice...I would also opt for the 160 gr. Nosler in the .270.

The .375 speaks for itself, it has been killing plainsgame and dangerous game for 200 years I guess, and has a clean track record...

Your combination is just fine...

...160gr Nosler partitions in the .270 will get the job done.
Leopard, small hole in, nickle sized hole out DRT.

...Kudu, wildebeeste, warthog, zebra, sable, springbok, blesbok, impala, and a bunch of baboons. All killed with the .270 and Nosler bullets.

I've killed giraffe, zebra, bushbuck, and duiker with the .375, but no DG. If a .375 is your DG gun of choice, load those Swift A-Frames, and go kill stuff.

Allen,

I have never used 150 Swift A Frames in a 270 but once discussed them with a PH from Zimbabwe who was hunting in the states on a vacation.


He considered the 150 Swift to be the very finest bullet in the 270 and thought it elevated the caliber to true all around status with regard to the large non dangerous species.

The same fellow recommended the 375 as the ideal rifle to pair with the 270/150 Swift.

He personally carried a Model 70 Custom in 416 Remington as his stopping rifle. I can't remember his exact name but it was something like Tokie Vandersomething. Perhaps someone here knows the fellow and can give us the correct name.

Britt

Aframes would not make my short list for the 270. Exits on larger PG species will be near zero. They will mushroom huge, and do damage, but good luck with any trace of blood. They make the most picture perfect brochure class mushrooms of any bullet made. But that soft curved rounded edge simply gets caught into the exit side hide. I have joked many times that the impact and penetration does not kill animals with the Aframe. What kills them is the bungie cord effect of being smacked with the skin on the exit side returning to it's original location.

Aframes are an awsome bullet from higher velocity rifles, 7mm mag, 300 mag, etc. But from standard calibers when used on heavier game, with tougher hides, they will not exit. Entry holes .277 diameter with out an exit is an absolute problem in my opinion. I used the 165grain Aframes in the 30/06 for several years. Rather good success, but very few exits. Thinking back I would say maybe 50% exits on all game for an average. On bigger game the exits would have been near zero.

Switching to the 165TSX I'm gettting about 75% exits on all game shot at any angle. That bullet transforms the non-magnum cartridges into magnum status and delivers two holes nearly every time. If the 270 were my choice it would be with a 130grain TSX or TTSX.

For what it's worth!

Allen,

I have tried the A-Frame in my 270's, but as I recollect I've only shot one animal with that combo, a mule deer. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on plains game though. I rarely ever use 150 grain bullets in the 270 as if I feel the need for more bullet than the 130 grain, I just move up to the 30-06 and shoot 165s or 180s.

Tom

I haven't used the .270 as much as the 7x57, mostly with 150-160 grain bullets, which works pretty much like the .270. Am goingf again in May, with the same 7x57 and probably some different bullets in the 150 class. The PH I am going with is originally from Zimbabwe (born and raised there back when it was Rhodesia), but moved to RSA in 2000. He saw the 7x57 on my sheet and e-mailed me enthusiastically. It is the only cartridge he has used on plains game for many years, except for the odd .375 on eland, mostly with 150-grain bullets. He is now about 60 and has shot piles and piles of various animals with it. His is stocked by Purdey, I believe, where one of his sons works.

Anyway, a good .270 bullet in the right place will obviously do the job.

Make sure to get a picture of your PH's Purdey stocked rifle for your article about the 7x57 in Africa