I just came back in from shooting my vote - a Browning X-Bolt stainless stalker in .375 H&H. 6 lbs. 13 oz. of Thor's Hammer, for around $1000. Bare rifle, it isn't that bad to shoot at all. The cartridge's capabilities in Africa are beyond dispute, and it works great on deer with little to no meat damage. If you reload, all sorts of possibilities present themselves, such as cast bullets at reduced velocities and cost.
Rifle for Alberta and Africa??
- Thread starter TikkaWSM
- Start date
OK, you called me on it, I'll reply, from my hunting journals:
Yes, they were chronographed, and instead of list every load for you, sorry, not being an ass, I don't have that much free time to copy everything from my hunting journals and reloading records - just suffice to say that each bullet weight was going the approximate expected velocity for weight/caliber/chambering.
300 mags (I won't differentiate between 300Win/Wby/RUM, etc, because I've never been able to see the difference on game). Bullets used: 165's - Hornady Interlock; 180's - Speer Grand Slam, Nosler Partition, Barnes X/TSX/TTSX; 200's - Nosler Partition.
- 12 Whitetails - 17-240 paces (forgive me, but I didn't always own a laser rangefinder. My pace falls closer to a meter
than a yard, you can do the math)
- 7 Mule Deer - 68- 280 paces
- elk - 3 calves, 4 bulls, 5 cows - 24-365 paces
- moose - 4 bulls - 75-240 paces
- Mountain Goat - 2 u/k number of paces, but I "figured" one at about 175 yards, the other about 250.
- black bears - 4
- grizzly -1
338 Win - Nosler Partition - 210, 225, 250 grain
- Whitetails - 3, 65-100 paces
- Mule Deer - 3, 12-220 paces
- elk - 3 bulls, 63-115 paces
- moose - 2 bulls
- Mountain Goat - 1, figured 125 yards
- Mountain Caribou - 1
- black bears - 2
340 - Nosler Partition 210, 225, 250; Barnes 225 TSX/TTSX
- Whitetails - 4, 47-152 paces
- Mule Deer - 5, 80 paces to a "figured" 300 yds
- Elk - 3 cows, 7 bulls, 90 paces to last two bulls lazered (finally got one!) at 216
yds, and next year at 217 yds (if nothing else, consistent!)
- Moose - 1 cow, 2 bulls, 180-375 paces.
- black bears - 2
- grizzlly -1
My math puts that at a personal total of 19 Whitetail deer, 15 Mule Deer, 18 elk, 3 mountain goat, 9 moose, and one Mountain Caribou taken with the calibers/chambrings in question. Add to that the numerous game I observed being shot with these rounds while guiding for 5 Falls and 4 Springs, and while hunting with friends, and I'd say I have an "extensive enough" personal experience with these rounds to have formed a few opinions. I've never been able to see the difference on game between a 300 mag and a 338 Win (or from a 30-06 and a 7mm Rem mag for that matter, but we're not talking about those ones). I have observed a difference going from either of those rounds to the 340 Wby.
I've shot at least another dozen more whitetails and mule deer, another 2 cows/1 bull elk, and 3 bull moose with 7x57/7mm-08/270/30-06/7mm Rem Mag/257 Wby, but they don't count in this discussion.
Hopefully these observations have answered your questions.
You've left A LOT un-answered in your statement above - how many and what animals;what range; angle of penetration; any bone hit or just a double lunger; number of shots?
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With lighter bullets, the recoil is pretty similar - we can't evade physics. It's a little heavier with 250's, but not all that much more than a 300 with a 220. The real reason IMHO, that there are many 300's out there for every 338, is that the 338 is more of a niche round than an all-around round. Yes, I would agree that lighter premium 338 bullets make that bore more versatile, but in a direction toward any of the various 300 mags, not away from them.
), there is a big difference.
Ar180shooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ottawa, ON
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the 325WSM as a candidate.
Craig Bottington may have the answer to your question. He has hunted and travelled Africa than most people and knows firearms quite well. If my memory serves me right I think in a past rifle magazine (2012) write-up, he thinks that the best all around cartridge for North American and Africa (plains game)hunting is the 300 Weatherby.
God I would hate to have to agree with Craig Boddington, but I feel I must..........the 300 Wby is a do-all cartridge and as much as I dislike Boddington his conclusion is hard to knock. I've used one all over the globe for the past 25 years and I cannot disagree with the man. It is a truly universal cartridge for non-dangerous and thin skinned dangerous game world wide. I have proven this to myself and I must agree with him on this cartridge conclusion.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Seeing that Roy Sr. rugged an elephant with a .300 Weatherby, its hard to argue with that logic. As for Boddington, he was bound to get something right . . . eventually. Since I'm not enamored with high velocity, and since I don't have to rely on people agreeing with me to ensure my pay cheque, my personal choice for a globe trotting rifle would be a big case .375, either an Ultra or a .378. The trajectory is relatively flat, sufficient for the occasional quarter mile shot, and terminal performance is adequate without objectionable recoil, so I can shoot slung-up-prone when I need to. Now someone will say a .375 is too heavy to drag around in steep country, but my first one weighed in at a hair over 7 pounds, so I might manage. Once I'm 10 feet above sea level I'm pretty much screwed anyway.
I read an article, I think by Boddington a few years ago in Sports Afield about PH choices and distinctly remember reading something about nothing Weatherby. PH's don't care for the actions, they don't like the dust and dirt in the 9 lug bolts or something.
I consider myself a somewhat normal shooter/hunter and while not terribly recoil sensitive, the most powerful rifle I can get the second shot off quickly and accurately is a 300 Win Mag with a full load. Anything with more recoil than that and it starts to affect me and I can't practise with it enough to get good at two quick shots.
Just my two cents.
Not planning to shoot thick or thin dangerous game, but if I had a 338-06 or 35 Whelen would that be adequate for the Northern Cape area? Would prefer to shoot a gun I know vs buying another. Just curious and not trying to start a war here LOL
I've found that people who can handle the .300s can usually manage the .375 as well. While there is more of it and moves you around, it just doesn't seem to have the sting. Mind you, that's with .375s that weigh a bit over 10 pounds. 270 grain bullets also are a lot easier to take than 300s. Some 270 grain factory loads are downright mild, and from what I've seen there really isn't any advantage to 300 softs anyway.
I often offer shooters at the club range a chance to shoot the "bigger" guns, partly because I'm interested in their reaction and partly because for many it might be their only chance. Almost without fail the reaction to the .375 is "That's it?"
My favorite comment of the bunch was from a slightly older gent who is a regular at the range and between him and his brother own more rifles than most armies. His comment was "So why have we wasted all these years getting the #### kicked out of us by little guns?"
They would work fine. African ranges tend to be short to moderate, and that plays to the strengths of the mild "mediums". I don't use my Whelen much anymore, but that's because I hate giving up long range ability for short range thump. When the ranges are almost certain to be short that objection goes away.
I should have clarified, gun weight really matters to me, I have shot a few 375's that were just fine. The few very fast 30's and the 338's I have shot have all been a bit light. My first 30 cal magnum rifle was a browning Abolt in 300WSM, abrupt, so I sold it and bought a Sako AV in 300 Win, the extra 1.5 pounds made it very comfortable to shoot.
If I am walking around for whitetail only I like a nice lightweight rifle, in the 6-7.5 pound range with scope, but those are not magnum cartridges.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
9.3x62. Classic rifle for that sort of hunt. Not much different than the 35 Whelen in terms of performance and recoil but more bullets available to the handloader. Think of it as a the twin brother to the 35 Whelen with a bigger Johnson. They do everything pretty much the same, but given all the givens wouldn't you rather have a bigger dink?
