Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 6.5 mm in Africa?

WAG because I have never been to Africa...(risky post

...but, could it be more frontal area and bullet weight to deal with bigger animals,and heavier bones?

And that jackets can be correspondingly thicker, heavier,in larger bores than smaller one's? All adding up to wound channels of larger size through vitals,and ability to break those heavy bones more effectively?

The debate on this issue is really interesting and thanks for all taking part.

A hunter wounded a kudu and in those days I was much more mobile than he so ran after the kudu and had to shoot it twice with an old 303. I still remember the surprize when it did not fall down at the first shot as they always do when hit by the 375.

Does someone know the answer as I just thought about larger bullet weight and caliber being the reason why 375 is minimum DG caliber?

Pieter do you remember the Latino fella that was going blind? He shot a kudu with the 7mm weatherby he had. It bolted for parts unknown. I hit with a follow up shot going straight away with my 375. It was on a dead run. That bull went end over end twice in a cloud of dust. I think you were with me during that group. I know you were with his blesbok and that hartebeest

Anyway my big fear was the horns were going to be broken off the way it did that 720 degrees of rotation. Seeing an animal the size of a big mature kudu bull roll that way was a sight I'll never forget. Yeah the 375 is a huge difference over anything smaller and a massive level of power over anything In 30 caliber 8mm or even 338

Sorry Jim I forgot to answer. Yes I was with that group hunting with someone else, but was there with his blesbok and hartebeest.

It's "fun" to read that penetration is all we need from caliber and bullet . Take full metal jacket and allways have "good" penetration .
From my own experience in Africa:
Oryx from 300m lungs shot fell down but arise again and went 400m before was finally down...
Blue wildebeest from 150m shot went 5 inch behind front leg and slightly up...it "cost" 3 hours to find it and 2 extra shots to put it down
Both cases caliber was 9,3x64 what is equal to 375...
Therefore if you play with your own money, and that you do in Africa, take proper gun and proper ammo Do not play game what is the minimum caliber what take animal down...it might cost you lot of money

Gents: In rereference to the discussion here on the penetration virtues of the 06 v the 375, I related a passage from one of Craig Boddington's books where he states he passed up a raking shot on a big kudu because he was carrying an 06 and not his usual 375.
Our own Mule Deer opines the 06 pentrates just as much as the 375, so I asked Craig for some clarification and he is complete agreement with John, especially in light of today's modern bullets. He does give me a bit of slack as he states the 375 does hit a lot harder, but kudus are regarded as relatively soft targets.

He must not use Partitions and they've been around for a long time.

Oh please, Craig I'm sure has used more Partitions than you have socks. You should do yourself a favor and look at the penetration tests on all bullets over on AR. Partitions were not anywhere near the top

I won't waste my time.

The NP will penetrate just as well and sometimes better than the TSX in 30/200s, on animals.

Probably because its easier to regulate a minimum caliber than it is to regulate a minimum bullet construction.

That doesn't mean a smaller gun with a good bullet won't work, it just means the .375 is the smallest caliber that will work with any bullet.

There is this phrase, "all else being equal". Well, a 30-06 will do a great job on plains game. Also, with "all else being equal", the 375 will create a wider wound channel and it dumps energy, quickly, into the critter because of its greater frontal area. The 375 does have more power but it is much more difficult to place shots with as precisely as a "lesser" round.

Monolithic bullets have changed the calculus. A bullet thru the heart causes death whether it is a 6.5 or a .416. Too, monolithic bullets all penetrate more deeply. So how much is enough?

I have had great results with the 270 and monolithic or bonded bullets. I usually put my shots where I wish. This is so because I hunt a lot and it is not a big deal if I pass a shot. Also, I am very familiar with my 270.

However, for the guy that can shoot it as well as I can shoot my 270, I believe the very best trophy hunter's cartridge is the 300Wby. Sadly, not many can.

Gentleman,
It all comes down to "can it be done?" Yes. Do we recommend it. No.
I returned yesterday from a hunt, which I am sure the report will surface on 24hr soon, but I was just reminded again that had the gentleman even taken the shot with a .30 cal, we would have had a hard time finding his Zebra. He took the Zebra with a .375 loaded with 270gr TSX. Shot a little bit far back, but the bullet was big enough to give my dog something to work with. He went about a mile. Shoot what you can handle.

Take Care,
Marius