Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Plains Game Calibres.

Once you make the choice WHERE you are going,you will need to find out what is the biggest animal on the venue..Kudu,Eland?
Plan for your biggest kill.I taken two Zebra,one with a .270 and the other a .338,Kudu went down with one hit from the .338.IF you are in an area with Eland,then take your 9.3.
If the biggest in a package in Gemsbok,Impala,Warthog ,Kudu your .270 with the best,ACCURATE bullet will work fine...

Hi all,

having answered the question over .270 vs 9.3 x 62, I'll quantify that by saying answered "for me".
I would now like to pose the question over whether or not you guys would recommend using protected point (PP) or round nose (RN) projectiles? Most likely Woodleighs, and in what weight for the 9.3?
Cheers,
Aussielad.

Mate, personally I like round nose bullets. If an animal is so far that a round nosed bullet can�t reach it without dramas � you�re too far away. Get closer. I�d say a 9, 3 250gr round nose will work on any PG animal � if you shot placement is true. Having said that, there�s no reason why a spitser / protected point bullet 9, 3 250gr would not do the same.

Woodleighs and Africa are like Tooheys and T-Bones.

JJHack has this right. I've been with him twice now and watched our parties shoot well with: 9.3x62, .338,.300WSM, .325WSM,.300 Weatherby, and 30-06. They all killed game DRT. This time I took a 30.06 with a premium scope and really enjoyed it. I could see the bullet impact through the scope and all died one shot on the spot. Guys in the camp went through some long tracking exercises, but got every animal. You gotta have blood trails. Ligher recoil just makes it more fun. I shot great Elliesbear custom ammo with BTX bullets and that's what I'll take next time.

OK...fill me in...whats a Toohey?


Ingwe

Tooheys (new) is an Aussie beer that is slimly distributed by Budweiser here in the US. It has won the "International" category for the best lager beer for the last 2 years.

A Tooheys draft is heaven in a glass and has no equal. Nothing at all like US Draft beer. Heavier, smoother, clean palate. I knew it was that good when I was 18. (Thankfully, drink driving laws were invented)

Just loaded up some 180gn Woodleighs in my .30/06 and boy, do they look good.

Yeah, but we know the others tracking problems weren't because of the calibers or brand of bullets..shoot a wildebeast the the snout and he aint gonna be DRT, or a zebra through the guts, etc. You and Clay didn't have to go find any...course, a fellow that been a thousand miles an hour, upside down, over hanoi, at night or a fellow thats been "dealing with" the taliban in the hindu kush ought to be able the shoot something in the chest! And ya'll did!

Thanks AGW!! We have a specialty store on the corner here, if he doesn't have it...nobody does....will be sure to try it next time I have JB and Eileen up for a barbie!!

Ingwe

The .338 caliber and .358 caliber were made to order for the plains game of Africa. FORGETABOUT those .270's calibers gents, good for Impala but your better off with the .338 caliber simply put it handles all things across the board in plains game.

I would take the 9.3 and not hesitate one second.

7 mag with premium 160-175gr bullets should do the trick!!!

I've made a lot of 1-shot kills on plains game with .30 caliber 180 grain bullets. Therefore I'd tend toward lighter bullets in a 9.3. I can't see any reason to consider round noses. You might get a shot down a dirt road or something and appreciate a bit more ranging. Another reason to use lighter bullets. Woodleigh bullets are not very available where I live so I have no game experience with them. I shoot Nosler Partitions exclusively for anything the size of a bull elk, kudu, or smaller. That includes every African plains game species short of eland. I would not hesitate to use a 180 grain bullet on an eland but have never shot one.

Yeah, the truth is a .30-06 with good 180's is just about ideal. I have hunted with over a dozen PH's now, and know at least that many more quite well, and only one didn't hold the .30-06 in high regard.

He was also the youngest PH I've ever hunted with, and basically was run out of the business because he was a thief and liar. Whether that had anything to do with his opinion of the .30-06 could be debated.

I like a bit more poop than an 06 personally, especially for eland & zebra. Hard to beat the 300 Weatherby with 180 TSXs or a 338 with 210 of the same. jorge

I would second that. If I used the 270 I'd probably load the 160-gr Nos Part assuming they still make it or a 150-gr TSX.

Oh, yeah, Nosler still makes the 160 Partition, but I have never seen it used in Africa.

Have seen a bunch of plains game animals whacked with the .270 with the 130 Hornady Interlock and 150 Partition, and they all died pretty darn quickly. Have also seen some shot with the 140 TSX from the .270 WSM and various 140-175 grain bullets from the 7x57 and 7mm-08. They also died expeditiously, since almost all were shot well. Only one or two weren't, but one of those was due to a scope that went bad, and the other to iron sights in the hands of somebody too old to use them precisely.

As a matter of fact the oldest and most experienced PH I've hunted with thinks the 7x57 is plenty for plains game, even eland. He started as a game ranger in Zim over 40 years ago, but what does he know? He does think that if somebody can shoot something bigger that's not a bad idea, but he isn't impressed with bigger cartridges until he sees his clients shoot them.

AGW - oddly, the last Tooheys I drank was in Anchorage, AK. Drank many in Gladstone and Townsville when there for a military exercise. Drank many more with my Australian mate when I was stationed in Japan. He drank a lot of VD (which I love), XXXX, and Coopers.

Expat

I have already passed this info to John. He mentioned that store so maybe he has a cold one waiting for you?

JW

John,

I think it is a great thing that this eternal (and unanswerable) question about calibers has morphed into one about beers, which is obviously more substantial.

Here's to hoping that someday you and I will drink one together, at best around a campfire....