Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 300 Win Mag for Eland?

I have written this here and on other forums before. The 300 mag of any type is the most common rifle I have ever seen used in Africa by American hunters. During some seasons there are more 300 mags then all other cartridges combined!

The 300 mag with a Premium bullet is a great rifle for plains game. I stress the Premium bullet because the distances are going to be on the short side for a 300 mag and the game in Africa is very strongly constructed. Using a heavy for bore diameter bullet will also slow it down just enough to make it penetrate well and still have the ability to mushroom and get the job done.

I have not seen a 300 mag or a .308 dia bullet fail to perform well on plains game when the shot was placed well. I have seen 458 and 375 fail to provide the killing power when the shot was poor. The Biggest struggle I have seen with the various hunters and 300 mags is with the way the rifle was set up. For instance they had a very high power scope with 50mm scope and very tall rings using a gun that weighed 10 pounds or more and a 26-28" barrel. Then they chose a 150 grain bullet because it's "so flat shooting". This set up was a real handicap to the guy hunting on foot in the bush for shots that average under 100 yards.

I think a 200 grain very well constructed bullet will be a great all around plains choice that will easily take an Eland with a proper shot. The only drawback if there is one to the 30 caliber rifles is the small blood trails. The.308 diameter is in my opinion the smallest daimater that will give blood trails and it's marginal much of the time. With the bigger bullets you chose and the "magnum" power you shou get exits on some of the medium size and maybe some larger game.

Animals like Zebra, wildebeast, eland, Waterbuck, Sable, roan, and maybe Kudu will likely stop your bullets inside the skin on a broadside "shoulder area" bullet placement. Game like Hartebeast, blesbok, tssesebe, Nyala, and Kudu probably will get you an exit wound. I mention Kudu in both because they are on the edge. They are certainly big but very soft and easy to kill compared to the other animals of equal size.

Most of the bigger animals I listed will stop a 338 and sometimes a 375HH bullet! Spend the money on trophy fees while you're there. You have plenty of firepower!