Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 30-06 in Africa

In my experience on African PG, a well contructed, heavy for caliber bullet (swift A Frame, Norma Oryx) pushed at a moderate speed worked best.

i did some Berger ballistic program comparisons on some better bullets and to be honest the old Nosler Partition 180 gr. hung right in there with all the bullets i compared ,so i will still use the old killers Nosler Partitions 180 gr. besides i have plenty of these bullets i got given to me free from an ammo company many years ago. thanks again from all of the positive post,Pete53

Nosler 180 grain partitions have worked extremely well for me for decades with not one issue, including on plains game in Africa. I bought Barnes and Swift bullets based on the hype thinking they would be game changers over the NPTs. They are not "game changers". Whatever benefit they provide will not be the difference between a kill or not. They all work well.

My first trip, I shot Partitions, my next trip I shot A Frames as did my entire party of four. Same loads for me just different bullet. The A Frames had more DRT or within 10yds than I had with the Partitions. The Noslers killed 100%, we just had to go find most of them- all shots approximately same. Just fyi, my experience over several trips with the bullets in question. Use what you like, they’ll all kill.

pete53
You tell everybody about your vast experience, but…
You decide which bullet to use based on what was given to you many years ago.
You don’t want to take your favorite rifle because you are afraid that something might happen to it.
You take forever to conclude the 30/06 will work for plains game.

Gee whiz man

...the first responder answered your question!

I'd love to do it with 200 grain Partitions

Haven't been to Africa yet, something id like to do in the future. If i were to choose among cartridges and bullets, the 30-06 with 220gr Nosler partitions or 200gr Trophy bonded bear claws would be amongst my top pick along side the 8x57 and 7x57. Cant really go wrong with classics like these.

thanks for the negative post i will leave it at that ,Pete53

that might be another great bullet to use ,its just i got 180 gr. Nosler Partitions free already.

Can we sum up 7 pages please: the 30 06 with 180 grain NPs works on most anything when used properly. Enough.

you don`t have read any of these posts , > besides we have not discussed scope size yet ? > Bluefish : i am thinking 5.5-22 x56 Nightforce scope with Picatinny mnts. for Africa on my Winchester model 70 30-06 ? so now Bluefish give me a nice positive answer /opinion on scope size i selected ? thank you ,Pete53

pete53,

Way more magnification and weight than you need. Most PG situations in most popular Southern African countries, unless your safari is highly specialized, will present shots at 50-150 yds.

A lightweight 6x or 2.5-8x scope will work quite well.

This, and skip the multiple hand wringing posts...by you

If you can't get 'er done with a 1-4 or 1-5 the problem is not with the cartridge...

your probably right thanks,Pete53

Pete, I disagree completely with a 1-4 or 1-5. I think the 06 with 180 partitions is fine, ranges are not long at least on the two trips I went on. The second trip I took my old .300 and a 4-12 Leupold on it and a .375 H & H with a straight 6x. I planned to use the .375 just because I wanted to. I shot one waterbuck with it, and left it behind in room. Not because of the ranges involved, but the brush was pretty thick. The 12x allowed me to pick a good clear hole to shoot through. This might not work for the average shooter, but for an experienced rifleman it was excellent. You sound like you have plenty of history behind you and I feel it would be to your advantage to have the higher power to use when needed.

And yet people like O'Connor got by with 3x and 4x scopes and Hemingway usually used a peep. Have our eyes gotten worse in the last 80-100 years?

The .30-06 with 180 Partitions works fine both close and farther away. Used one to take this Cape kudu at 375 yards in 2002, which standing well up a mountainside above me. The bullet broke the near shoulder about halfway up the body, and then went through the bottom of the spine and the top of the far shoulder, ending up under the hide.

While not as large as regular kudu, this bull still weighed 500 pounds on the landowner's cattle scales. The handload had a muzzle velocity around 2750 fps. The scope was a 3-9x36 Swarovski AV, which if I recall correctly stayed on 6x the entire time--also taking a bushbuck at around 70 yards in the thick valley cover.

thank you for that information i hope to shoot a Kudu down in the low S.E. Africa thru Tam Outfitters . unless i win the lottery this will be my only African hunt ever. Pete53