Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Africa and the 30-06?

Just for kicks and giggles, here is a fairly nice greater kudu I shot on the same safari.

We were out pretty much all day long. I'd shot a couple of warthogs and an absolutely excellent twenty-eight plus inch blue wildebeest in the morning (all on foot). Anyway, it was near the end of the day and we were far away from camp when we found this old guy. After an hour or so of playing hide-and-seek, I managed to slip a 180-grain Hornady through a very little hole in the brush and snap his neck. It was a real thread-the-needle shot, but it was perfect.

The kudu has a gorgeous blonde beard, which really doesn't show in the photo. In fact, Dave Walter, a fellow Campfire member was entranced by the beard and size of him. Georgeous bull and another one of my heros.

Steve

Crap. I just realized that the bugger in the kudu photo is dark-haired, too. What's that dickhead doing in all of my dead-photos? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Steve

WiseGeezer--

Must have been one of those bonded Krispy-Kremes.... Come to think of it, one of those knocked me down too once.

MD

Talk about weight retention................................

Chuck

Yeah, and talk about lengthwise penetration... in one end and out the other!

Krispy-Kreme doughnuts will GIVE YOU weight retention. I can testify to that.<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Steve

DZ--

Very nice pic's. It just struck me that MD resembles a younger DZ or is it .....

I can't resist this: my hunting buddy routinely walks four miles a day to get in hunting shape and then goes to his office and has coffee and Krispy Kremes. Yeah, well....

George

George,

Johnny IS younger and he still has dark hair. He's prolly better looking and, no doubt a better hunter and rifleman. And I am proud to call MD my good friend.

Steve

Don't know about the hunter and shooter part--but by some genetic accident I still do have almost entirely black hair even at the age of 52. There is some gray on my chin, though, which gives my wife hope that someday I will look (and act) my age.

MD

John, having a similar problem, I consider it part of the wierd and wondeful world of Norwegian DNA...

I think I can say without fear of contradiction, however, that a wadded-up Cinnabon has it all over a Krispy-Kreme when it comes to sectional density. And speaking of sectional density, I have just gotten my hands on a pair of the new Leupold Golden Ring binoculars, 10x42 variety. They are a) brown, and they are b) HEAVY. This in an era when everything else is getting lighter and lighter. Tell me, Mule Deer, am I missing something?

MD, my Dad is 84 and I still have to ask him what he wants to be when he grows up. His doctor recommende he quit smoking so he could live a long life. His doctor died, my dad didn't Enjoy remaining a professional small boy.

WiseGeezer--

Sorry, was out of town for a few days. I dunno what's going on with the Leupolds, but I am supposed to be receiving an 8x42 soon so will check it out.

Everybody has been having a light-weight race in binocs for a while, but there are some manufacturers who believe that it is at the expense of ruggedness. Some of the weight loss is due to lighter lenses (lead-free) but some is indeed due to lighter frame materials. One Euro manufacturer (Meopta) has steadfastly refused to go lightweight, and their new binoculars remind me of the old Leicas: heavy enough to have that bank-vault door feel, but also optically superb.

There is also something to be said for a little (not a lot) of heft for serious glassing--not just glancing, but glassing for hours a day. At any rate, will see what's up with the new Leupolds when they arrive. Meanwhile, what is your impression of the optics?

MD

The optics are first-rate. Leupold is not kidding around in this department. However, this is offset by the fact that the binoculars and their case are brown. I don't know if I can deal with this. Binoculars can only be black. There's probably some kind of OSHA law that says so.

On a different subject, was much interested to see your comments on the Bear Claw bullets. I am currently driving myself nuts trying to get a group smaller than 6 inches from a very accurate 6.5x55 with a 1 in 8 twist. The Bear Claws go wandering all over the target, and if you do get two of them in reasonable proximity the third will go heading off in the general direction of Ho Ho Kus, NJ. Does this match your experience?

Age we can't avoid. Old is in our heads; or not. That's a choice we make for ourselves. I know that at 53 with a fair amount of gray (some would say lots), most people guess well under my age. As for the '06 question that started this whole thing, if it can't be done with an '06, it probably doesn't need to be done. Eleanor O'Connor used one as her "heavy rifle" for buffalo, elephant, rhino, lion, etc.

Wisegeezer--

Just got my 8x42 Leupolds. They are indeed VERY fine optically--and noticeably heavy. I will ask them about that.

I am OK with brown binoculars, as have gotten used to green ones from various companies for a while. Can't go blue, however. Saw a purple binocular at SHOT Show this year and almost lost my sense of balance.

My experience with the Bear Claws is the same as my experience with plain X-Bullets, and even the XLC. If they get along with your barrel, they will shoot well and sometimes wonderfully. If they don't shoot reasonably well (say 1.5" or better) on the first try with an appropriate powder, they will never shoot in that rifle, no matter how hard you try to make 'em do so.

Are you shooting the 140 Bear Claws? They shoot into about 2" in my 6.5x55. I can't get 'em to do any better, but then again they don't shoot into 6" either.

Once tried to get 165 Barnes XLC's to shoot in a certain .30-06. Groups ranged from 2-5", randomly, no matter what powder I tried, what seating depth, how I cleaned the barrel, etc etc. The same rifle would plunk 165's or almost any other brand into less than an inch all day long.

That's about when I gave up on X's--until the Triple Shocks came out. Now, if I want that kind of penetration, I just use TSX's, rather than Bear Claws or Fail Safes. Just a lot less hassle all the way around.

MD

Shootinurse--

Can't remember reading about Eleanor doing in a rhino with anything, but do know she used the '06 on tigers.

I always laugh when I read stuff like: "The .30-06 is all right out to 250 yards, but beyond that lacks enough energy for sure results." Or "The .30-06 lacks the bullet weight for truly big game."

Have whacked too many good-sized animals at around 300-400 with the '06, all using 165 or 180 grain bullets at normal velocities, to believe that one. Any statement like thast just tells me the writer lacks any sort of field experience with the .30-06--and probably has some other cartridges to push, usually mangle-ems of one sort or another.

MD

MD, Guys,

Eleanor did indeed do in an elephant with her 30-06 and I'm reasonably certain that she used it on a lion or two. It was originally built for her by Len Brownell to take to India for tigers. I believe she shot two with it there on that trip. I don't ever recall her shooting a buffalo or a rhino with anything. By the way, she brained the elephant for a one-shot kill.

She reserved her use of the '06 for large and dangerous game only. She stated it was much too powerful for any other use. For everything else she used a custom small ring Mauser chambered for the 7x57.

Eleanor's 30-06 is presently owned by "Buck" Buckner and her 7x57 is still in the O'Connor family.

Tom

Thanks for the update, Turp. I couldn't lay my hands on my other O'Connor books, but, in "The Lost Classics of Jack O'Connor", he tells the story of the elephant and also the tigers. I found that she hunted lion, but that she didn't find one she liked. She did take all manner of plains game with her "06, and also, her 7x57, spcifically with 145grSpeer's and 46gr of IMR4320. That book is a great collection of stories.

Steve
Hunting myself also in Limpopo with 30-06 can you tell which farm you visited?