Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 30-06 in Africa

4 of us are going on a plains game hunt in Africa for animals like Kudu , Zebra ,Wildebeast , some will be smaller animals ,they think i should use a bigger cartridge other than a 30-06. i have many bigger cartridge rifles but i just like the old 30-06 for many reason. so you guys that have hunted over in Africa for plains game animals am i wrong to use a very accurate 30-06 Tikka S.S. Laminated stock , 3lb. trigger that i have glass bedded and shoots 5 shots under an inch at 100 yds. very easy ? thank you,Pete53

Take your 3006 and have a good trip.

I used the 30-06 with my handload using the 168 gr TSX in Namibia a bit ago and, of course, it worked very well.

I agree the 30-06 is certainly sufficient. I remember reading an article by Craig boddington, a huge 30-06 fan, stating he killed all the popular plains game (several times over) with his ruger mk2 30-06. I believe he also stated he preferred 180gr nosler partitions. We're it me, I'd take my 06 and never look back. Ymmv

It'll do. Use a good bullet.

The 200 partition shoots just as flat as the 180 and it may give you a bit more when it hits.

I used the 200 gr Nosler Partition and 30-06 for my grizzly a few years ago. Very fine shooting load at about 2600 fps and the accuracy surprised me. Now the grizz wasn't in Africa, but he was a good sized beast and the cartridge/bullet combo was certainly effective. I've often thought that it would be a great choice for most species, elk size critters.

Regards, Guy

I’ve taken my Kimber 84m 308 over there a few times. It’s always been loaded with 168Tsx to 2700fps…. It’s killed many animals including those you’ve named specifically. It was funny, before I went over for my first safari, people would ask what I was taking. When I’d tell them a 308, they’d say I should take something bigger… like a 30/06! When in all actuality they are nearly identical.

By all means take your trusted, familiar and accurate 30/06! It will work wonderfully if you point it right!

If you’re like me you’ll now begin obsessing over bullets and loads.

I would highly recommend any of the TSX/ttsx bullets between 150-180 grains. But any 180 partition, core loft, power point, hornady SP, A FRAME or whatever will work. Again from Craig Boddington it’s hard to find a bad bullet in a 30/06.

You are going to see A LOT of game animals. Several dozens if not a hundred or more each day.

Shooting over there more than likely will not be a long range affair. I would guess an average shot distance would be 150-175 yards or so. But definitely practice off a set of shooting sticks before hand. I’d say any 2-7, 3-9, 4-12x scope would be more than sufficient.

I’m sure you’ve read up on it, but African game have vitals further forward than N American game so shoot them ON the shoulder and not behind it. There are lots of pics on line showing where their vitals lie from various angles.

You are going to have a wonderful trip, Sir!

Congratulations!

Eileen and I have used the .30-06 on a wide variety of plains game up to 800 pounds, including all those you list, using controlled expansion bullets of 165 and 180 grains. They worked fine, at ranges out to 350 yards--and that shot was an instant kill of a kudu bull, with a 180 Partition.

But Eileen has also used the .308 Winchester with 150-grain Nosler E-Tips on the same variety of game with zero problems at the same ranges, and I've used the 7x57 with various bullets in the 160-grain range with zero problems.

Have also been beside various friends who had the similar results with the .270 Winchester, .270 WSM, 7mm-08, 7mm Remington Magnum, etc. etc.

The "extra toughness" of African plains game is one of the enduring myths among American hunters. I partially blame Elmer Keith, who used a .333 OKH as his "light" rifle on his first safari in 1958, with 300-grain Kynoch soft-points that blew up so badly one didn't exit a Thompson's gazelle, about the size of a big coyote. So he switched to the Kynoch 300-grain roundnose solids he also brought, which didn't blow up--but also didn't kill very quickly. One zebra went several hundred yards before it went down. From this "evidence" Keith concluded that all African big game is "as tough as an old gum boot," but he would have done fine with a .30-06 and 180 Partitions--which had already been available for a decade.

When I and my family went in 2012, I fretted and fritted for weeks if not months on what to take. I even had a nicely stocked 375 HH , ya know, the African Rifle. But I wasn’t going after anything except plains game and the probability that a kudu would be the biggest. In the end I took my all time favorite “all around” do it all Rifle. A nicely stocked 30-06 shooting 168 grain hand loaded Barnes tipped triple shocks. I killed 7 game animal’s on that trip including wildebeest x2, hartebeest, gemsbuck, zebra, impala and a good sized eland.
Our guides son was also doing a bit of hunting on that trip as well. On his own away from us. His rifle of choice was a 223 Winchester.
Take your 30-06 and fill an ark. It’ll do to hunt the Kalahari or the Serengeti, and in style.
Les

I'd load 168 TTSX ahead of 64 grains of Ramshot Hunter with federal 215 primer for 2950 FPS in a 24" barrel and kill anything aimed at

We have used the 7x57, 8x57, 358 Win and 9.3x62 as well on similar critters there. All worked fine with about zero difference in effectiveness, not surprisingly.

I hunted in Mozambique last fall, and one of the rifles my son and I used was a 30-06. We also had a .375 H&H for buffalo and eland plus a .308. The 30-06 was loaded with 168 grain TTSX and performed very well on all the plains game it was used on, which included kudu and waterbuck as well as nyala, bushbuck, warthogs, reedbuck and bush pigs. My son used a .308 loaded with 150 grain TTSX to take a big sable as well as some other plains game.

I have limited experience in Africa, but from what I've seen, a 30-06 is an excellent choice for almost any plains game.

very glad to hear all the answers and experiences with the 30-06 and other cartridges too ,hope more hunters post on this site too ? thank you all,Pete53 >p.s. i will take my 30-06 on this African hunt with my handloads .

The 30 06 is what was recommended on my first trip for plains game in RSA. I asked the PH what about the backup rifle caliber, he said 30 06. He really meant take two rifles in the same caliber. His other recommendation, if I had to take another caliber, was .375. I ended up taking a custom Winchester Model 70s, one in 30 06 and the other rebarreled to 340 Weatherby Mag by Match Grade Arms. At the time, late 90's, I bought the best scopes money could buy. One the third day of a two week trip, one of the crew dropped the rifle out of the truck and it rendered the scope useless and not fixable. Both rifles had no backup sights and different mounting types and rings which was poor risk management on my part, as most of the animals shot could have been easily taken with open sights.

The 30 06 with 180 grain Nosler Partitions and 56.5 grains of 4350 absolutely did it's job 100%, even on 330 yard shot on a big Zebra Stallion, of which it was the only animal I was able to recover the bullet on the far side and retained by the hide. Perfect mushroom, still have the bullet. I am 100% sold on the 30 06 since then and use the .375 Ruger as the second rifle for the two rifle global hunting rifle battery. Both cartridges can be loaded with almost the same poi with handloading. Having two calibers that are almost identical in ballistics but very different calibers is very nice. Scopes can be swapped fast if needed, and both have backup sights that I always check when shooting the rifles.

As an aside, I took two rifles of the same caliber to South Africa in 2008. One was for me and the other for my son. The US customs forms for both were in my name. The SA police would only let me bring one into the country. My son wound up using a 270 borrowed from the outfitter. It worked just fine on wildebeest, kudu, gemsbuck, and several other species.

Take your familiar 30-06 and you will be fine.

The only reason I read up on to use a larger caliber is to follow a blood trail on a wounded animal. Harder to follow a blood trail in dry dusty red clay soil. Larger hole equal more blood loss for following blood trail. However, a well placed shot should eliminate that need even with a smaller caliber.

If your rifle uses detachable rings (weaver, Ruger, etc.) a spare scope already sighted in is good insurance.

great ideal, thanks

++168 TTSX WONDERFUL