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Question for guys that hunt in Africa. If you could have only one rifle for hunting all African game, which caliber would you choose? Thanks for your opinion.

375 H&H

+1.

You never know what animals you will run across around the next bend. IMHO, your rifle should bel capable of taking the largest animal hunted. The .375 will take all plains game and dangerous game up to buffalo and as been used on elephant. It's the minimum caliber for DG in many countries.

I would prefer a .416 or bigger for buffalo or larger DG. But, as many authors have stated the .375 H&H is the best all around African cartridge and has been for 100 years.

+2

+3


maddog

+4

375 H&H

I just added a 375 Weatherby. Now I can take a 375 H&H along with the 375 Weatherby and use the same 375 H&H ammo. Two rifles with different stamps on the barrel to appease the customs people with the regulation of not taking two rifles of the same cartridge.
Now this is 375 loonieness to exaggeration!
Why?
Maybe a double 375 H&H loaded with a solid for shooting some small stuff that you happen upon. ( for the double guys out there I didn't say DG I said PG for the H&H double)
I have always wanted to shoot a buffalo with a 375 Weatherby and I would carry less Weatherby ammo but more H&H ammo (along with another scope with zero for H&H ammo)

+ 5 on 375

+6 on 375 h&h

I'm going to disagree and go with a 9.3x62 with 286 TTX. I know it works, cause I've done it. I've seen no dif tween it and the 375.

+7 on .375 H&H

7X57

There I said it, I feel better.

+8 on .375 H&H

375 Weatherby with 375 H&H running almost a "dead" heat. I like the bit extra my rifle in 375 Wby has, but I would never part with my H&H.

A 270gr bullet in either has a very similar trajectory to that of a 30-06 with 180s of similar design.

You can always shoot the 375 H&H ammo in the Wby and not lose much oomph.

A 9.3X62 is a nice round and doesn't hammer the shooter. It isn't as commonly found there as the 375 H&H, but it is well received by most PHs.

I'd choose .416RemMag for my one rifle. I might take two scopes sighted for 350gr Swift and 400gr Swift bullets using QD mounts but the .416 has killed all from Bushbuck to Elephant for me over there. I never feel under gunned and it shoots flat enough to be a good plains game caliber out to 200 yards.

I too would vote a 416 Rem Mag. You're not arming yourself to shoot duikers, you want a gun to shoot elephants.

The 375 H&H has proven itself across Africa on everything. Yeah you can shoot bigger but why? It's killed a bunch of elephants also.

I used a .375 H&H magnum with 300 grain Swift A-Frame's @ 2600 fps on my Cape Buffalo and it died after one shot at approximately 35 yards. It ran about 50 yards and collapsed. No drama at all. This, of course, is not much of a sampling of what a .375 can do. I do believe that one could hunt everything on the earth with one if they wanted to. I can definitely see how one may want something larger for elephant. Before I sold all of my guns, I had a Krieghoff .470 NE for use on elephants if I had ever gotten around to it. I unfortunately did not get around to it before I began having to pay for two kids' college expenses. C'est la vie. I think everyone should own a .375 H&H magnum as it is the world's greatest caliber for all hunting everywhere. With the exception of elephant in thick stuff, the .375 can and has done it all.

The same one I take on every safari--a Dakota African in .416 Rigby. Good out to 200 yards, excellent cape buff medicine, big enough for elephant and rhino (though I prefer my .470 for those tasks). I've killed everything from klipspringer to lion and cape buff with this Dakota. Carried with a soft up and solids down, it has never disappointed in any way. If I had to live the rest of my life with only one rifle, it would be this one.

No exceptions. A .375 solid will shoot through both shoulders of a bull elephant. So what's the point of something larger? Does anyone think elephants are killed with hydrostatic shock or something?