Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Small cartridges on Safari?

It seems like all the hunt reports I've read involve a cartridge 7mm or larger, the .275 rigby being the prime example. I was curious if any of you had taken any smaller rifles like a .22-250 or .257 roberts? Seems like they would be just the ticket for smaller antelope, warthogs, or the tiny ten. Just an idle summer thought as it will be a few years before i can make it over. Thanks

Lots of guys take their smaller caliber rifles for the smaller animals and do just fine with them.

I used my PH's .223 for shooting Jackal & Springbok and with the right bullet it's great.

It doesn't work too well for Duiker though, cause I missed! Lol

One never knows what will show up next. Best to have that .300 Magnum loaded with Partitions in hand when the oryx of your dreams steps out of the bush.

RS

I took a .22-250 last time, but truly didnt plan on shooting anything but varmints. Anything bigger and Id use my wifes .30-06...except for this warthog....




Also shot numerous jackals over the years with my PHs .223 and .243 Musgrave...



I would LOVE to do a trip with nothing but the .223 AI for things like Hartebeest on down. Cull hunt for the bigger stuff with head shots.

I brought my .22 Hornet to Zimbabwe in 2011 and used it to take two civets, a genet, a jackal, and a porcupine. I had both 40 grain V-Max's at about 3000 FPS and 45 Grain Sierra soft points at 2800 fps. The V-Max's ended up being a little more destructive that I liked, but the 45 grain soft points were deadly and didn't tear things up. Unfortunately, I didn't cross paths with a honey badger, caracal, or grysbok, which were both high on my list. It would be great for duikers, steenbok, and klipspringers as well.

I think a .223 or 22-250 would actually do more damage than a solid out of a .375 for the little guys, but the hornet really shines. A .22 WMR would be great as well.

Just make sure that someone has a big bore if you get off the truck with a .22 in a dangerous game area!

I have taken a 223, 6MM Wasp, 22-250, 22 K Hornet, 22 Mag, 243, and 260 and had success with all of them on game that fit.

I took at Kimber 260 Classic on a cull hunt and killed lots of Impala, and Blesbok, Warthog with it and even killed 2 kudu bulls.

Little guns have a place on safari

I have a slightly different take on the small bores. These fine gents here have shown clearly there is a place for them over there. That said, definitively NOT on your first safari. If you have been on multiple safaris and are now going to specialize on these little varmints, then by all means take one. But on your first? no way.

.375 is perfect for the big critters and the little critters. It kills like crazy and on small stuff the bullet just sails on through.

I have taken my beloved .22 Hornet to Africa many times. There is NOTHING on the small side that cannot be dispatched by a good shoot from a .22 Hornet. I know a well known PH that killed a crop raiding Elephant with a .22 Hornet.

I was in Zambia, my wifes first safari, in 2010. I had brought my Hornet for the pure heck of having it. We were asked to do some culling on a game farm that the owner was getting out of PG. He was getting into hogs and cattle and wanted ALL the game gone. He hired the pro game capture guys but they always miss some stuff.

We were using sandbags and lights, I killed 32 animals that night including three kudu's in 10 seconds. all, head shots one right after the other. The .22 Hornet is a MACHINE!!!!

I thought a 375 was a small caliber ...

In 2007 was culling springbok in South Africa with a buddy and our PH with the PH's .22-250, a Sako that at the time was on its 4th barrel, because he'd killed over 12,000 springbok with it--among other animas. A young kudu bull tried to jump a game-fence and injured itself severely. It was my buddy's turn to shoot, and the PH immediately said, "Kill that kudu!"

My buddy was a former Army sniper and shot the moving kudu in the heart with a 55-grain Winchester PSP factory load, whereupon the kudu died pretty quickly. Later that same day I killed a springbok at just about 500 yards with the same rifle and load.

The big problem with taking smaller rifles isn't the fact that they don't kill well, but there's only so much space in the typical traveling gun case. Some countries have a limit on the number of firearms an individual hunter can bring into the country, and some have a mimimum caliber diameter for certain game--though both regulations are often broken after sufficient American dollars are placed in the right African hands.

Tens of thousands of plains game animals, some well above "deer size," are taken in Africa every year with pretty small cartridges.

I have always wanted to take a 22 Hornet but I know I probably never will but you never know. The cartridges don't add much weight. I kinda enjoy using solids though. In fact what makes the double rifle more versatile on a safari is carrying a soft and solid for the quick opportunity of that small animal when it shows up for a second before it is gone. I have not taken a 9.3x74 double yet to use for plains game but using a soft and solid it would be a usefull gun.
If I carry a 375 as my "light" rifle I find myself with a solid in the chamber quite often when walking about. I shot my best kudu with a 375 solid and several impala for bait and it is about a best all around combo I have found for what is around the bend in the road

jauntymorel,

You might get a hold of Barnes. A few years ago a guy took a Hornet and killed a lot of even big animals with it.

IIRC Steve NO and his son used a 22 Hornet for all kind of critters while on safari.

Gunner

Jorge I almost put that in my post, I could not agree more. They probably have no place on a first safari.

Great advice Jorge!

I also agree with jorge on this. There is enough things to obsess over in preparation for your first safari. Take one rifle and use the KISS method for packing, etc. JMHO.


maddog

My .25-06 has been such a wonderful rifle for mule deer, coyotes, and now a pronghorn, that I'd think it would be dandy for many of the deer sized and smaller African game. Shoots flat and accurate enough that 400 yard shots are not a problem. It's the rifle I've hunted with the most over the past eight years or so.

Mad - you know I'm bringing something bigger though. Why not?

Guy

Guy, you bring it because it's AFRICA!!!


maddog

My only caution would be that you can be guaranteed to have that smallbore in hand stalking an impala when a zebra stallion or eland presents itself at two-hundred yards.

I'm not disputing the fact that smaller caliber rifles have a place in hunting in Africa, because they do. In fact, I would feel completely comfortable hunting animals such as a jackal, springbok, steenbok, or other similar species with a .223 or a .22 Hornet.

However, I would caution you to be aware of the local hunting regulations. Some countries have a minimum caliber, some do not. In Namibia, 7mm is the minimum caliber for hunting any species. While I do not necessarily agree with this regulation, I would hate for anyone to run afoul of any African law enforcement for violating a minimum caliber regulation. That could end up being a costly violation.