Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 338 win mag VS. Cape buffaloe???

Befor i start and people start bashing, im going to say that im just curiouse about this and if i were to hunt cape buffaloe i would use a bigger gun than a 338.


How do you think a 338 win mag will do against a cape buffaloe? I know that a 375 is a pretty popular gun for cape buffaloe with barnes TSX and solids, but i was looking at barnes bullet selection and the weight of the 338 and 375 and theirs not a huge difference. You can go clear up to a 250 grain in both solids and TSX for the 338 and in the 375 you can go up to 300 grains. I was also looking at the Swift A-Frames and they go clear up to 275 grains in the 338. I know that the 375 will have far more punch than the 338 but it seems like the 338 has the potential. What do you think?

Actually, I would use a 338 with reasonable confidence.

Anything will kill a Cape Buffalo. The question is under what circumstances and how fast. If you consider the safety of the hunting party then I would think the old standard 375 to be minimum.

When the perfect shot is made, most anything will do. But...... how often is that perfect shot made? When I wonder into the thick stuff I prefer my 470NE. When in open country and longer shots are the norm I prefer something in the 416 class. JMHO.

For what it's worth I prefer Woodleigh 500 grain soft point and solids, and 350 grain Swift A Frames in the 416. Let the flames begin.

you can get 300s in .338 and 350s in .375.

Would a hunter using 338 in a country with 375 minimum caliber regs be technically committing a Lacey act violation?

Not everyplace in Africa has a 375 minimum.

338WM's have killed lots of Cape Buffalo....

338 bullet quality plays a critical roll here. Get the good stuff, high BC's and high SD's

Personally, I like the 375 Ruger, but the 338WM is plenty enough gun for the job.

Those 416's are pretty too, can't argue that!

I can tell you from experience that the older 250 gr steel jacketed solids fired from a .338 Win will shoot all the way through a cape buffalo from almost any angle. you just need to have the right address on them.

I just have absolutely no use for .338 as I have yet to find anything that can be done with a .338 that I can't do with a .375--and with less recoil.

The .338 WM is perfectly capable of taking Cape buffalo. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It is a perfect one gun African battery where legal.

also this calibre is not popular amongst many ph's. seems this rifle is somehow( flinching?) responsible for a lot wounded animals. i have red to many times in hunting magazines and web forums that a min of a 338mag is recommended for plains game. then the overseas hunters rocks up over here with a new 338 that he has far less experience with than say his trusted 30-06.

but to answer the topic question. you will be surprised sometimes how easy a buff goes down. i would not be surprised that the calibres in africa that took the most buff would be between a 303brit and 7x57maus. so can a 338 take a buff? most probably. should i take a buff hunt with a 338? no!

Elmer Keith used to like the 300 gr W/W load. (.338)
The .338's I have test fired are to light and kick like Missouri mules.
If I were in the military I might have a use for the .338 Lapua but for hunting I would go to a .375 H&H magnum and never think twice about it!
9.3X62 would be a good choice for pest control for a farmer!IMO

+1.....

There I fixed it for you

LT DAN,

While a great many American gun writers do recommend the .338 as perfect for African plains game, this is yet another example of American gun writers recommending cartridges more powerful than most guides would recommend. Almost to a man, the African PH's I know recommend the .30-06 for plains game. Amazing, isn't it?

As for the original question, I have never hunted Cape buffalo with a .338 but know several people who have. Without exception, they have killed their buffalo neatly.

Amd why wouldn't they? The .375 (or 9,3) minimums for buffalo were put in place a century ago, when bullets weren't nearly as good as they are now. A good, heavy .338 bullet is going to do as much damage to a buffalo as any other mid-.30 bullet.

I also saw where somebody on this thread brought up the old notion about a bigger rifle working better when the shot isn't perfect. This simplies that you can shoot a buffalo around the edges with a .375 but you can't with a .338. This has always been BS and always will be.

FWIW, if you shoot a little 125 pound impala in the gut with a .375 H&H, using one of the finest premium bullets available, a 270 grain Swift A-Frame, it still runs off to die sometime overnight.

Ground squirrels are no different. I made two one shot kills on ground squirrels with Hornady 270 gr Spire Point from a .375 at a measured 200 yards. However, a ground squirrel hit with a 225 gr. Hornady SP from a .338 WM at an exact 100 yards was merely wounded and had to be dispatched with a size 10 Danner boot. Placement is key.

I am almost sure that where there are free roaming, wild cape buffalo there is a minimum calibre restriction that makes the 338wm illegal. IIRC, some locations, countries have a .375" minimum, some a .366" minimum.

But a 338wm will do the job.

JPK

"Placement is key."

If you take your "plains game" rifle into the long grass for buff, good luck, your going to need it.

IIRC the largest 'Buff Jim Carmichael (of Outdoor Life) ever shot was with a .338 and 250gr Partition. Stone dead on the spot.

I don't think I'd like the idea of a .338 as a stopping rifle. Many people consider that the PH's job and take whatever (well, you hope anyway) their comfortable shooting. If you have a "stopper" and shoot it well, all the better. If you can clobber what you're aiming at with a .416/.458/etc I doubt your PH would mind a bit. OTOH I'd bet many PH's wish they could get people to bring something they shoot well to begin with and not something they're afraid of but think is more appropriate.

for heaven's sake, give this man a beer. no truer words were ever written on a forum!!!!.

this thread is a variation on the 45 gov for dgame in africa threats one get. and after all is said and done ONE fact remains: why hunt with a calibre that might do it, versus a calibre that will do it?