Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa ENOUGH CALIBER

I have a couple of 404s that handle well and that I've carried quite a bit. I'd choose one of these - probably the one with a synthetic stock given the tropical condition - and use 400 grain Swift A-frames.

I acknowledge MD's experience and advice, but I've used that bullet at a bit over 2400 fps on a couple of tough African animals and have had very deep penetration from frontal and angling shots.

Yep, at lower velocities A-Frames typically don't open up as widely, so penetrate deeper.

The eland I shot in Zimbabwe went down immediately with a 300 grain .375 TSX. Seems like a good choice to me, based on my one experience with eland. My experience also mirrors Mule Deer's comments about long tracking. A rifle that's a bit lighter than my CZ 550 would be nice for extended tracking. On the other hand, the extra weight does reduce recoil and makes a .375 easier to shoot and hit with, at least for me. The nice thing about a .375 is that it can handle nearly anything you might encounter, and in Africa you never know what that might be.

My one and only eland dropped to an original Barnes X via my FN Mauser 9.3x62 in 2002. A pile of other critters did the same. Today it would be a toss up between that rifle and my tweaked SS M70 375 H&H pushing the 270 gr TSX. I took the latter on an unsuccessful SE Alaska brown bear hunt last year with extreme confidence.

I'd use my 300 H&H with a 220 grain Partition.
or my 9.3X62 with a 286 gr Partition.
or my 9.3X74R with a 286 gr Partition.
or my 375H&H with a 300 grain Partition.

Might just draw straws.

A CAR Lord Derby Eland is truly an epic hunt. I would take one of my Win M70 375 and chop it, restock it and make it as light as possible. Stoke it with A-Frames and be done with it. There are considerable lion in the CAR Savannah. No gun bearer is lugging my rifle.

A 375 H&H should be enough.

Great thread-so far. Gunner, loved your post!

Good to know in that I ended up with a few hundred .404 A Frames. I will admit to not having used that bullet because of not being a fan of the design. The bulging lower jacket never has seemed like a good idea to me but nice to know they work in .404. I run my .404 about 2250 so maybe I should shoot something with them to see how they penetrate.

This one's already been chopped and flutted. With the Victory 1.5-6x42 it's pushing 9#'s all up. If I swapped to the VX-3 1.5-5x20 it would be a little over 8 1/2 pounds, which is about as light as I'd want a .375 H&H. I generally don't like Tupperware, but have gotten used to this one, like the way it handles and it's tough. In this configuration, balance is good, handling is quick and like most M-70's, it's a shooter.

DF

Desert: In my experience, bulging lower jacket only occurs at really high velocities. Nothing to worry about in a 404 Jeffery, 416 Ruger (400 grain) or 338 win mag (250 grain).

This. While I'm a big fan of the .30-'06, a wounded Lord Derby Eland isn't something I'd want to follow up with it. Not to mention they live in places with big, ugly stuff hanging around everywhere.

Ed

Any of what I"ve seen would be plenty IMO. I don't have a lot of experience with eland but my buddy just took an old Cape eland in South Africa with my 28 Nosler and 160AB. He shot him at 250 yds quartering away and the bullet was found on the exit side just under the hide.

I had a similar experience at about 200 yds, broadside in RSA with my eland. However, the LD eland tends to offer fleeting shots as they disappear into the bush. Many shots will require significant penetration and tracking is best avoided. YMMV

Going across the pond to the Dark Continent is expensive. Both in terms of time and money.
I adhere to the KISS principle. As such, I'd take my .375 H&H stoked with 300gr. TBBC (as that's what it prefers and previously proven effective for me in Zim).

For me, I say screw CAR and forget Lord Derby Eland. If I'm going to drop that kind of coin, I'm going to spend a bit more and go after Bongo!

I haven't shot an Eland but have shot a few moose and my 375 H&H 300 grain Partitions. No problems.

At present the only safe hunting for both bongo and LDE is Cameroon. CAR has been closed for several years. And there is very little difference in cost....both expensive.

About 40 large/

Jorge, you wouldn't take you Merkel double? :-)

or a 700...