Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa .223 in Africa

What can a person legally hunt with a .223 in Africa? Wondering about species like Springbok, Impala. Thanks.

Depends on your PH more than anything..but Ive often wanted to go over and shoot the smaller stuff with one. Springbok,impala, blesbok,warthogs,etc.
Used one over there on a bunch of jackals, and took my .22-250 over, but only shot a warthog with it.

How did the 22-250 perform, what load?

53 Grain Barnes TSX...forgot the load but Im guessing a bunch of IMR 4895 at about 3500 fps..


One between the running lights did the trick.Not the best tusk-wise but the heaviest war tie I ever shot at 83 kilos..

I remember that Ruark shot a warthog with a .220 Swift.

Shot a steenbok with a 22 hornet DRT. I was using a drilling with a Hornet insert and was hunting birds as well as plains game at the time.

Les,

I didn't use a 223 in Africa but my PH had a mini Mauser in 223 that he used a lot on Impala, blesbok, warthogs hand smaller game and varmints. He thought very highly of the round and said he had also bumped off more than a few kudu with it using careful shot placement. The ammo he used was PMP 55 soft points.

Took my Tikka 223 last year, used on Springbok and jackals. Worked with aplomb.

The Ruark story of my memory was a Hyena...could be wrong.

So obviously it's a legal cartridge for the above game.

It certainly is in the eastern cape Provence of SA

When I go back I'm taking a 223 or 22-250 for a bunch of my hunting and for my son to use

Great! I'd love to take one too.

Are you thinking of planning a trip?

Warthogs can be tough critters. If using, I'd use a Barnes or other bullet geared more for penetration like ingwe used.

However, it is Africa and if you draw blood, you pay. I wouldn't go about using a smaller rifle on some of these animals to brag about your marksmanship and your ability to place a bullet in a small window called the vitals. It is hunting and your ability off of a bench in predictable conditions is very different than in the field. You owe it to the animal to use a bigger gun, should things not go as planned.

I hammered a warthog with a .308 Win 180 Barnes X and the sucker was well-hit in a quartering away scenario. The bullet was right under the hide on the opposite shoulder. He still went 200 yards. Tough critters.

However, as someone said, jackals and the smaller stuff like duiker, klipspringer, etc. would be an absolute blast with a varmint caliber.

I don't care what caliber or cartridge you use, if you don't "have the ability to place a bullet in a small window called the vitals" you are going to have a hell of a time killing anything.

You do realize that there are 54 independent countries in Africa, each with their own laws? And within those countries, some allow hunting some do not, and some have laws that differ depending on state or province. Your question requires a lot more focus before it can be answered adequately.

At some point definitely.

There are only a very few viable countries to hunt for the type of game mentioned for the .223 and the laws do vary..but not by much and it is often more up to the discretion of the PH than anything else.
Just check with your outfitter/PH ahead of time and you are GTG!

The 223 would make good dassie medicine also. I used a 22 magnum but a 223 would have bucked the wind better.

Legal or not, I would not hunt Africa with a .223. Reason: You never know what you might encounter. In RSA we were hunting lesser game one day and unexpectedly encountered an Eland. Though our stalk was not successful, I want a cartridge that will reliably kill the largest thing I might encounter.