Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 30-06 in Africa

I m guessing you're talking about the .338 Winchester Magnum, which I have a bunch of experience with, both in Africa and North America (along with a little in Europe).

It's basically its a big .30-06. With bullets of the same approximate sectional density (and hence B.C. is shapped similarly) it gets basically the same velocities--whether with 165s in the .30-06 and 200s in the .338, 180s/225s or 200s/250s.

I don’t have a lot of Africa experience but on my one trip, in 1990 & the 5 animals I took, including Wildebeest & Kudu, the Zebra was the only one requiring a second shot.

I used a pre-64 model 70 in .300 H&H magnum with 180 gr Interbonds on everything except warthog, which I shot with a .25 WSSM.

The Zebra was one I intended to skip because I ignorantly expected it would be like shooting a horse in a pasture.

After several nights of hearing how many of the three PH’s war stories involved Zebra & witnessing the difficult stalk I was in on for another hunter, I changed my mind. This was helped along by my wife mentioning she’d like a Zebra rug & the safari owner offering me half off the fee when we came across a Zebra with an injured leg from a poacher’s wire snare.

The shot was at a lasered 100 yds from a solid rest. I had passed the time in camp looking over a book of African game shot placement which described using the chevrons on a Zebra shoulder to determine the heart’s position. I felt so confident of the placement that after working the bolt, I began a silent count to see how long it would take him to fall. When I got to 30, I placed a second shot a bit further back to double lung him, upon which the fellow collapsed.

When we processed him there was a silver dollar sized hole directly through the center of his football sized heart.

He had stood in the same spot, only shifting his weight on his legs a bit for over 30 seconds with this wrecked heart.

I came home with my Wife’s Zebra rug and a healthy respect for Zebra. They certainly are much more than some funny colored horses in a field.

Yep!

Eileen wanted one on her first safari, but didn't get a shot--which is part of the reason she went with me to RSA a few years later. She shot hers at the top of what some PHs call "the sergeant's stripes," essentially the same deal you read about. But he's was standing on a slope above her, the PH and the tracked, and it came trotting downhill right toward her PH.

She shot it again, and it dropped a few yards from them. Her PH told her that was "quite unnecessary," because he'd already noticed the stallion's front hooves were crossing over each other as it stumbled downhill.... The hide is behind me on the wall as I type this, with a neat hole through the top of the sergeant's stripes.

They taste good too--which often surprises people, even Africans! Another interesting story took place during a big cull hunt on an RSA ranch I did the year before. The meat was mostly going to a butchering plant in Kimberley, which then distributed it to local supermarkets and restaurants.

But zebra meat wasn't selling very well until the supermarket owner realized that even many native, urban Africans mostly eat various kinds of antelope when they eat game, such as springbok (which is outstanding). So he relabeled the zebra meat "zeebok," and it started selling--and then sold even better as word got around about how good it was!

i wondered how Zebra tasted and that`s good to hear it does taste good. Mule Deer : i hope you have a nice picture framed of Eileen with the Zebra that is a beautiful picture of her and the Zebra.

Glad you like the photo!

Actually, don't need a framed copy-and don't really have room for one anyway on our walls--which are full of all sorts of clutter, from animal parts to paintings and photographs. Plus, as mentioned I'm writing this in front of the hide on the wall--and right now Eileen is in the chair right next to me....

Just guessing, but there's probably been as many articles written about the 'o6 in Africa as there has about the 270 in North America.

Anyone that hasn't read a few of both probably has been hunting very long or doesn't know how to read, or both.

LOL

MM

Life is good 😊 as is zebra meat

I've told this before, but my uncle Oscar took two rifles to Africa in the 60s on his two safaris. both model 70s, one in 458 for elephant and buffalo and everything else he killed, including two lion was with a 270 and good ol' Winchester Silvertips... Go figure huh?

Great post.




P

Take your .30-06. Use some type of premium bullet (Partition/Barnes/A-frame) and have a great time.

The 50’s and 60’s seems like it would have been a fun period to hunt Africa. In “the olden days” when everything was in black and white, as our children used to say, there weren’t the plethora of bullet styles, shapes and other hairs to split so a good rifleman was quite likely intimate with his rifle and knew how to shoot. I know that the old timers I used to watch with deep admiration and respect weren’t interested in having a dozen deer hunting rifles since they could only use 1 at a time. At least that’s what I can hear in my mind….a gravelly voice dripping with cigarette smoke and wisdom and me, a little kid soaking up every word of every story.

That’s my long winded way of saying…..you gotta dance with the one you brought…😀

'
The .30-06 Springfield in Africa? It works. (A couple of photos just for fun.)

Cheers! Bob F.






East Africa, circa 1925: American explorer, documentary filmmaker, and photographer Osa Johnson (1894-1953) checks the sights on her Springfield rifle while sitting under a tent.
(Photo credits: Martin & Osa Johnson Safari Museum.)

The Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum
https://safarimuseum.com/

Martin and Osa Johnson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_and_Osa_Johnson

John's article, "One Gun -One Load" in the 1999 Handloader Magazine pretty much sums up the advantages of the 30-06 Sprg
cartridge in Africa and worldwide. A Swift 180 gr or Nosler 165/180 gr bullet can do wonders in Africa or Alaska. Even a 200-220 gr round nosed bullet has been
killing game regularly with the 06 for a century. My ancient M-70s work with boring efficiency. The 06 also forces one to hunt, not engage in long range hit or miss wounding of big game.

Take your .30-06. It will be just fine for plains game. Use a good quality bullet ( I prefer 180 grains in the '06)

yes i will thank you , i now have a new to me Winchester model 70 S.S. 30-06 ,sighted in now and will load my own ammo for the trip with180 gr. Nosler Partition spitzers using Mule Deer`s recipe from his Gun Gack volume #4 little handy reloading book . we leave in May outfitter is Tam Safaris , thanks to all who gave me some great advise ,Pete53

Yup. My next trip across the pond for plains game will be with 'ol reliable and 180 grain A-Frames. Simply gets it done.

Good luck! The .30-06 is always a good choice!

I was going to take my rebarreled 30-06 on my first trip ('96). A Mod 70 Fwt (PH) I wanted to use 200 NP but could only find their 220 NP, which I had to seat very deep to work in the Mod 70 magazine, very compressed load to get any kind of speed w/accuraxy. My seating die left a bad "ring" in the ogive and I was afraid of bullet failure ( OCD Rifle Loony). This was before I later could get Fed HE 180NP loads which the rifle loved, 2900+ fps! I was wandering the used gun racks at a LGS when I found the Classic 700 35 Whelen, which I glomed onto and had tweaked out to the Ackley and Barnes 250X. That combo "ruined me", so to speak, as I became a Believer in the Mediums. BUT..IF those Federal HE 180NP loads had been available, thats a dream set up, and I would have killed everything I took with the Whelen. Any 180 going right at or over 2900 is in "300 Mag" territory, same - same, ha.
I gave that '06 and 100rds of that wonderful ammo to our Missionary in JoBerg ( who loved to hunt/feed his family too) and he killed small/large antelope, including Cape Eland. Only rodeo he had was a friend of his used it to wound a Blue Wildebeast and it took a couple miles of tracking/shooting to get it down. That cam happen with a .416 on those guys if that first shot is bad, lol.
All this to say....go and slay your Plains Game with confidence in your 30-06! Have a ball too!

this will be my 1st and probably only trip to Africa so its nice to hear all these positive replies. thank you all very much,Pete63

Hey Pete, if I could add...I made 4 hunts (three trips, '96. '98,'02) and the bullets we used were the older Barnes XBTs and the 375 H&H used the 270 Failsafe. The newer TSX and TTSX are even better. Yes, Nosler, Swifts, et al are worth the money. Shoot that zebra through the neck where it joins his shoulder, center, Enjoy!