Embarking on an African safari is a dream for many hunters. The vast landscapes, diverse wildlife, and the thrill of the hunt create an unforgettable experience. However, selecting the right caliber for your rifle is crucial for a successful and ethical hunt. This article explores the best big game calibers for an African safari, covering both plains game and dangerous game.
Ah, Safari! Images of acacia trees dotting the wide open plain, the thick mopane forests that buffalo love to haunt, great rivers with names like Zambezi, Ruaha and Limpopo, as well as the large caliber rifles that are required to hunt the larger beasts; all these bring a broad smile to my face.
While common deer calibers, say from 6.5mm up to .30 caliber, will definitely suffice for the various antelope and other plains game, the big sticks are called upon for animals that can be measured in tons, as well as being used for the smaller game when a target of opportunity arises.
Everybody has an opinion about this, often times a very strong one. Unfortunately, there is no one "best" caliber. Luckily, there are a number of excellent calibers available that do a great job when used appropriately.
It has been often said that "there is no such thing as a free lunch," and nowhere is this more true with rifle calibers. Power and accuracy are essential attributes in a rifle caliber for a successful and ethical hunt. However, as power increases, the felt recoil and muzzle blast usually increase correspondingly.
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This typically will reduce the accuracy a shooter can reasonably expect to obtain, especially when shooting a light rifle that is pleasant to carry on a long hunt. A .600 Nitro has more than enough power to easily take down even the largest bull elephants, but this is absolutely worthless is the hunter is afraid of the rifle and cannot shoot it accurately.
As a result, you must make a compromise when it comes to power and choose a caliber that is powerful enough to ethically take the species you will be hunting, yet one that you can shoot accurately. After all, a properly placed shot from a lighter caliber is typically much more effective than 2-3 (or more) poorly placed shots from a more powerful caliber.
Formal training with a skilled instructor is better. However, no range situation or inanimate target can replicate the pressure, adrenaline rush, myriad angles, shooting positions and ever-changing shot presentations of the real thing. Problem is, field experience is hard-won and comes slowly.
To my thinking, an inexpensive African plains game safari offers the most intensive training possible. If you’ve practiced and trained well, some shots will be validation, sort of a final exam. Part of the learning curve is gaining confidence in rifles, cartridges and bullets that work. There are many great choices and confidence is critical.
Today’s more accurate rifles, better optics and improved bullets enable hunters to take longer shots as compared to when I was young. Unlike many African areas, the topography of South Africa’s Eastern Cape often supports long-range shooting: Ridge to ridge or across big valleys.
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Capability for long-range shooting is one thing, implementing another. I can’t imagine anyone backing off to take a shot! In our camps, some of us were prepared to reach way out there and were hoping for the chance.
Regardless of ability, range is always limited to absolute steadiness. In Africa, vegetation often precludes a rock-steady low position. I saw, and participated in, a lot of shooting at ranges greater than I usually see in Africa. Many shots were 300 to 500 yards.
When conditions, position and skill allow, these ranges are within reach, especially with the equipment used on these safaris. Also, the African rule: One drop of blood equals an animal taken, fees payable. I support this as sound ethics, and it makes us more careful.
Among us, we were shooting cartridges with bullet diameters 6.5mm, 6.8 mm, 7mm, and .30-caliber. Right now, the 6.5mm, .264-inch, is red-hot in the United States. This is mostly because of the popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor.
I haven’t used it in Africa, but I’ve seen it used, and I’ve also used the old 6.5×55 and .260 Remington. All are ballistically identical, with a 140-grain bullet at about 2,700 fps. There are faster 6.5mms, including 6.5-.284 Norma, .264 Win Mag, and 6.5 PRC, all with 140-grain bullet at about 3,000 fps, shooting flatter and delivering more energy.
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In Africa, it’s great for smaller plains game, but its 140-grain bullet just isn’t heavy enough for consistent performance on larger, tougher game. Anomalies can be good or bad, and a few animals prove nothing. However, I’ve seen exactly the same with the Creedmoor class, and with my old .264. The old 6.5s made their bones with 156- and 160-grain bullets.
Slow and heavy, they were used at short range but with legendary for penetration. Today we load lighter bullets (129-143 grains) for faster speeds and increased range with better aerodynamics. Until recently, .270 cartridges using .277-inch bullets have been held to 1:10 rifling twist, which limits them to 150-grain bullets.
I’ve used the .270 Winchester a lot in Africa, also the faster .270 Weatherby Mag. I’ve gotten great results, including knockdown impact on zebras. However, flukes can be good as well as bad.
With faster twist barrels, the new .27 Nosler and Winchester’s 6.8 (.277) Western fixes this problem. Both cartridges were designed for bullets up to 175 grains, weights that have never existed in .277-inch diameter. The 6.8 Western is based on the .270 WSM shortened slightly, enabling the longer, heavier bullets to be used in a short action.
With longer case, the 27 Nosler is faster. I haven’t had a chance to use it, but 6.8 Western is speedy enough. In South Africa, I was using Winchester’s 162-grain Copper Impact bullet at about 2,900 fps. A homogenous-alloy bullet, the Copper Impact has a large nose cavity to promote expansion.
The waterbuck is a large, solid antelope. All results were impressive, but this is too small a selection to be definitive. I can’t say it was “better” than a .270 Win, but I believe the heavier bullets make a difference.
In effect on game, I felt it was essentially the same as a 7mm Rem Mag or similar. This makes sense because bullet weight and velocity are the same, and there’s only .007-inch difference between the 6.8’s .277-inch bullet and the 7mm’s .284-inch bullet. Some people like .270s, others like 7mms. Still others step on up to a .30-caliber.
For the general run of African game, I am mostly a .30-caliber guy. The old .30-06 is still a fine safari cartridge, but the magnum .30s offer flatter trajectories with heavier bullets. I’ve used a bunch of them: .300 H&H, .300 Win Mag, .300 Wby Mag and others.
The .300 PRC was not designed for maximum velocity, but rather maximum efficiency with heavier bullets. It is based on the full-length 2 1/2-inch .375 Ruger case, so unbelted, with straight taper, and a longer case than the shortened 6.5 PRC.
In Africa, I was shooting Hornady’s new all-copper 190-grain CX at 3,000 fps. There are faster magnum .30s, but accuracy was excellent and on non-dangerous African game, there isn’t much you can’t do with a heavy .30-caliber bullet at that speed.
There were no revelations. I know what a fast .30 will do, and few choices are more versatile or effective on the full run of African plains game. With switch-barrel capability and a wonderful new stock with leather inserts, the Gunwerks Nexus was a most impressive rifle, and I’m equally impressed by the .300 PRC.
I don’t own a .300 PRC and may not; I have good left-hand rifles in .300 Win and Wby Mag that I’m fond of. Since 1892’s 7×57 and continuing with 1962’s 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm cartridges have maxed out with 175-grain bullets.
That’s a lot of bullet weight in a .284-inch case, but traditional heavy 7mm bullets have had poor aerodynamics, due to both rifling twist and action-length limitations. The 28 Nosler was the first production cartridge calling for a faster twist and designed for long, aerodynamic, heavier 7mm bullets.
The 7mm LRM, a Gunwerks proprietary cartridge, used by most of my campmates at John X, is similar. It uses the full-length PRC case, while Hornady’s production version uses the same case shortened slightly to 2.280 inches. As intended for all their PRC cases, Hornady designed it for maximum efficiency with heavy bullets, calling for a 1:8-inch rifling twist.
It is thus not quite as fast as the 28 Nosler, 7mm LRM, or longer-cased 7mms. Good engineering move because, by sacrificing a few dozen fps, it avoids being over bore capacity, extending barrel life and expanding the variety of suitable propellants.
It also fits nicely into a standard (.30-06-length) action. Although the case has less powder capacity than the Nosler and LRM, the 7 PRC is not slow: Hornady’s initial loads propel a 180-grain bullet at 2,975 fps.
The 180-grain Match bullet carries an off-the-chart G1 Ballistic Coefficient of 0.796, for awesome downrange performance. My week at John X Safaris, with several of my camp-mates using the 7 LRM, was my first chance to see 180-grain 7mm bullets in use on a wide variety of game.
Again, situations were never quite right for extreme-range shooting, but I saw wonderful performance on game up to kudu, gemsbok, wildebeest and zebra, mostly beyond 300 yards. One afternoon, I was out with Michael Sydnes, trying desperately to get him a shot at a big wildebeest bull before we ran out of light.
We finally got the drop on the herd about 350 yards, moving and stopping. The bull stopped and was clear for just an instant and Michael was ready. One shoulder shot, down in its tracks with no movement.
I’ve usually used lighter bullets - 160 to 165 grains - in my fast 7mms because existing 175-grain bullets either weren’t very aerodynamic or couldn’t be pushed fast enough. With faster twist, heavier bullets, and maximum aerodynamics, the new 7mms offer the best of all worlds: Less recoil than a .30, plenty of bullet weight, and downrange performance.
With Hornady’s marketing team behind it, I think the 7mm PRC will be a success. Mossberg’s Patriot is the first production rifle chambered to 7mm PRC.
You do not necessarily have to take two rifles to Africa. One rifle will suffice if necessary. If shooting larger plains game such as eland or sitatungua your rifle should be a minimum of .300 caliber. If I was going after buffalo and plains game and could only take 1 rifle, it would be the 375 H&H.
If you choose not to travel to Africa with firearms, most outfitters offer the use of rental rifles and shotguns for a fee of $20-$35/day. My experience has been that the quality of these rifles (especially the scopes) varies greatly. If you are big game hunting, your odds of getting a better rifle/scope combination go up significantly, as the PH will have to deal with any wounded dangerous game situations.
Your best bet is to carefully question them as to the availability and condition of rental firearms before you decide whether to take your own. Don’t let the lack of a firearm keep you from hunting in Africa!
Ammunition is expensive in Africa and don’t be surprised if you are charged $2-$3/bullet in South Africa and significantly more in the other African countries.
You should spend time at the range before departing for Africa. Make sure your rifles are sighted in and that all parts are functioning. Clean the barrels and then fire a fouling shot or two before packing it for the trip. Several of your shots in Africa may be made using shooting sticks. If possible, try to practice shooting off of sticks before you depart for Africa.
You will be much more confident when the PH spreads the sticks and motions for you to take the shot.
Power and accuracy are essential attributes in a rifle caliber for a successful and ethical hunt. However, as power increases, the felt recoil and muzzle blast usually increase correspondingly.
This typically will reduce the accuracy a shooter can reasonably expect to obtain, especially when shooting a light rifle that is pleasant to carry on a long hunt. A .600 Nitro has more than enough power to easily take down even the largest bull elephants, but this is absolutely worthless is the hunter is afraid of the rifle and cannot shoot it accurately.
As a result, you must make a compromise when it comes to power and choose a caliber that is powerful enough to ethically take the species you will be hunting, yet one that you can shoot accurately. After all, a properly placed shot from a lighter caliber is typically much more effective than 2-3 (or more) poorly placed shots from a more powerful caliber.
What Are The Best Hunting Calibers For African Game?
Recommended Calibers for Plains Game
Generally speaking, the .270 Winchester is the minimum caliber suitable (and legal) for most species of plains game like impala and springbok, though some countries have a 7mm minimum caliber. When using good quality bullets, the .270 (and similar cartridges like the 7mm Remington Magnum) is perfectly capable of taking some larger antelope as well.
However, the .30-06 Springfield is probably the best all-around caliber for hunting plains game in Africa. When using premium 180gr (or heavier) bullets, the .30-06 is powerful enough to ethically take virtually every species of plains game proper shot placement.
It is also an excellent choice for hunting thin skinned dangerous game like leopard. At the same time, the .30-06 Springfield has a relatively mild recoil, has a trajectory suitable for taking shots out to several hundred yards, and most hunters can shoot it accurately. The same could be said about the .308 Winchester.
More powerful, higher velocity, calibers such as the .300 Winchester Magnum, the 8mm Remington Magnum, or the .338 Winchester Magnum certainly have their place in Africa, especially for longer range shots or on really big species of plains game like eland.
The drawback of these cartridges is the fact that they have more recoil and muzzle blast than lower velocity calibers like the .30-06 Springfield. However, if you can shoot them accurately, any of them will perform very well on a wide variety of African species of plains game.
So, if you’ve got a .300 Win Mag, .300 Ultra Mag, or similar rifle that you shoot well and are comfortable with, by all means take it with you to Africa on your safari hunt.
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