Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa What to take

If you were going to your first safari and were planning on only plains animals, no cats, elephants, hippos, cape, or giraffe; what rifles would you take - if you had the following choice of rifles?
300 H&H, 300 Win Mag, 300 Weatherby Mag. The bigger two shoot 200 grain partitions in less than one minute of angle. The 300 H&H shoots Nosler 168 grain E-tips under one MOA.
The 375 H&H AI shoots 300 grain Hornady Round nose pretty well, but so far not as well as the 300 Magnums. Bullets available in 375 diameter with plans on testing with this rifle include: 235 grain TSX, several weight Interlocks, 260 grain partitions, 235 grain Speers & 300 grain CT’s this summer.
Also available 270, 280, 7mm RM and 30-06’s that shoot very well.
Finally a 375 Whelen AI - chamber, stock and action work done personally. The trip will likely be next February. I’m negotiating with the manager of benefits here at this home I’m living in. I'd be going with a good friend that has been on multiple safari's.

I’ve been to Cameroon 23 years ago but not on a hunting trip.

I’m afraid I’ll need to let go more than a few guns to find the trip but WTF.

300 Win Mag with 200gr Partitions. I would only take one rifle with extra scope.

I don't think it matters. I took a .300 Wby because that's what I happened to have. Everything died with one shot with 180 grain Partitions.

I'd choose the 300 Win Mag, based on my own experience. I've taken a 300WSM several times loaded with Nosler 180 Protected Tip Partition at 3060 fps - duplicates most 300 Win Mag loads. It's worked on all species of PG up to wildebeest and eland.

Last trip I took a 375 H&H for a back up to the heavy DGR and any incidental PG. Loaded it with Barnes 250 TTSX at 2950 fps from a 25" barrel. Performance was outstanding with quick and definitive PG kills. The 375H&H is on the heavy side for PG IMO but if you like the rifle, nothing wrong with that choice. Mine shoots 300 grain Barnes Banded Solids very well so makes sense for double duty on PG and backup to the DGR.

I would take the .338 WinMag only because it was the one caliber you didn't mention and well, we could all use another caliber.

You didn't say where you were hunting, but most of the time your shots will be within 200 yards and most any .30+ caliber will get the job done, so take the one you like best. There is no right or wrong answer here.

Probably Zambia. I’ve had 4 each 338 Win Mags. 2 each 700’s and 2 each 70’s. I don’t think I’ll have another. I followed Jim Carmichael and had to have a 280 and a 338.
My first 338 killed a very large bodied bull elk - the horns are above one of my bench’s. I’m thinking a 300 WBY will probably work as well as a 338 in most cases. I really like my 300 WBY’s.

The 300 H&H and the 375 H& AI are pre-64 Model 70’s that have quick detachable Leupold baes/rings with 4x M8 Leupolds with a spare Leupold in rings.
I’m a 700 fan through and through but I was thinking a “Classic” such as a pre-64 70 would be appropriate for Africa - they both have iron sights too. The rest of the rifles I mentioned are 700’s except for the 375 Whelen AI which has a 98 Mauser receiver.

I’d take the .270 with 150 gr partitions, light recoil and plenty for plains game.

I don't have enough experiance to make any suggestions but I hope you get to go and experiance hunting there.

Ask your PH, not a bunch of strangers on a forum.

Where are you gong and what animals are you planning on taking?

For my .02 cents, I went to SA, with KMG, (Marius Gossen): any deer rifle set up from, say 7-08 up to and including 375 H&H will work great.

I took a 7mm Rem Mag, my son took a 270, No issues with either

Personally, I would take the 300 H&H as it achieves both Africa nostalgia as well as more then enough gun for what you're after.

My African carry for more than two decades was the .338 WM and .416 Rigby. Not much that those two cannot accomplish. But I feel the same for a .300 / .375 combo. Sounds like you won't run out of options.

Have fun.

Thanks for all the replies!

I’d say bring the one you shoot best from offhand and other field positions.

Get or make a set of shooting sticks; which you will likely shoot most of your plains game from, and see which rifle works better for you from sticks.

Practice repeat shots while keeping the rifle on your shoulder. Offhand and on the sticks. Which rifle functions better for you in these exercises?

All the rifles you have described have adequate power and accuracy, the real question is which one works best in your hands.

Once you have determined that load up a bunch of ammo and practice on those tripod shooting sticks. Practice standing, kneeling and sitting with the sticks, practice getting on the sticks quickly and shooting quickly, practice long patient shots at 200, 250, 300 yards. Practice multiple shots at multiple targets from the sticks.

In short find the gun that fits and functions best for you then become a prodigy on the shooting sticks.

Best luck in planning your trip. Please keep us appraised.

Thanks

GRF

You are right on. I practice off-hand with all my rifles except the prairie dog rifles and a lot more than I do off the bench. Except I do shoot my 17 Hornet at pesky gophers off-hand.
I have a couple styles of shooting sticks. If I wouldn’t have had those on my last cow elk hunt I wouldn’t even have tried the shot I made.

Bugger.

Practice, practice, practice - what summer is for!

I don’t think that I’m exaggerating when I say shoot more than 100 rounds in practice for every shot at game (if prairie dogs are not counted).

I've hunted Zambia 4 times. If you are not taking buffalo or hippo, then grab your favorite out of that list and have fun!

There is nothing outside of buffalo and hippo that I took with my 9.3 x 62 that wouldn't have fallen equally as well to one of your .300 magnums

What Hatari said. Personally, I took my 300 Weatherby on two safaris, but the H&H now gets my pick as others said for the nostalgia factor...

Take the one you shoot really well off-hand. Use premium bullets.

Like yours, my 300H&H and 375H&H are pre-64s. If your 300 is like mine, it's heavier than it needs to be while the 375 is just right in weight. The nostalgia and practicality of the 375 was a large part of what made me take it to Zim.

For the PG you're planning to take, the 300 Win Mag still seems like a good choice. While some PHs are gun nuts, many are not. So depending on which type your PH falls into, his advice may be helpful, or not.

Some of the strangers who have responded to your question have had enough experience in Africa and know rifles well enough that you've already gotten good input.

You may want to take a look at Craig Boddington's African Rifles II, book or video. Good info from a very experienced African hunter.

Quoting Bugger “ I don’t think that I’m exaggerating when I say shoot more than 100 rounds in practice for every shot at game (if prairie dogs are not counted).”

👍😃👍

Then sir you will be in great shape whichever gun you choose.

Couple years back, just before covid, a friend went on a weeklong safari to South Africa. He's a very accomplished shooter with a ton of rifles, but chose to not to mess with taking any of them and instead use a gun/ammo provided over there. Turned out to be the PH's personal gun, a 30-06 with a can. He took 8 or 10 animals with it, largest about 900 lbs. All one shot kills, all with 180gr bullets.

On my first safari, to South Africa, I took a 7 mm RM with 140 grain Bt bullets. Bullets were on the light side, but I made one shot kills on most animals, inckuding Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, and a Gemsbok.

On my second trip ( to Zimbabwe and South Africa) I took a .375 RUM with 300 grain TSX bullets mainly for Buffalo, and a 7 RM with 160 grain Accubonds for Plains Game. I ended up shooting half of the animals with each rifle. Again, most were one shot kills.

My third trip was to the eastern and southern cape of South Africa, and I only took one rifle, my .375 RUM shooting 270 gr TSX bullets. That trip was just for PG, and I shot all but one animal with my .375. I borrowed a .308 Win with FMJ bullets from my PH for a Cape Grysbok.

My fourth trip was to the Limpopo region of South Africa for PG varying from a Klipsringer to a Sable and the only rifle that I took was my .300 Weatherby shooting 168 gr TSX bullets. Again, one shot kills on everything.

My last two hunts in Africa were both with the same outfitter in Mozambique. I used my .300 Weatherby with 168 grain TSX bullets for everything on both trips.
The main animal of the first trip was a Leopard, along with some other game for camp meat and bait. My last African hunt (in Mozambique) was for a Roosevelt Sable, and I shot some other PG animals for camp meat. Alll were one shot kills.