Planning for Africa

You may have mentioned it caster, but what are you shooting? For pure value, a CZ can't be beat in a new rifle. The field grades show up scantly over a grand. If you're taking your own gun, just make sure it's one you're happy with for life, a lot of memories will be made with it. My rifle was a compromise, a lowly Ruger, but a nice compromise that I'm pleased with and will never sell. There's a Ruger African on the forum for 750 if I remember correctly. A .375, perfect all round rifle, takes Impala as well as it takes Buffalo. Shoot lots before you go, especially if you're going after heavier stuff as .375 and up can take some acclimitization so to speak.
 
Quick and dirty:

- fly through Frankfurt not Londons Heathrow
- arrange your gear so it can be lugged on wheels, while traversing the airports etc Tuffpacs are good
- Melatonin is really good for sleeping on the plane and no hangover
- talk to your PH before you arrive and sort out the airport tipping etc. a good PH will have all of that stuff arranged before you arrive and it should not cost you anything
- slow down... nothing happens fast over there, Africa time is way different than yours and all you will do is agravate yourself by getting in a rush
- your ph will be very impressed if you show up with a well used rifle shooting heavy for caliber bullets
- bring the max allowable ammo and if your PH shoots the same caliber leave what you don't shoot with him
- Malarone is my prefered daily malaria profaxis, do not take on an empty stomach
- something with 99% Deet is required to keep Tse Tse flies away
- Cipro broad spectrum antibiotic, Immodium and Gravol should be in your pack, this is for anything and everything that can make you sick, leave it for the PH when you leave
- bring a tupperware medicine pack, antibiotics, ibupro, bandages, Polysporin, tensors, sutures, tape etc. You may not use it but the camp will sure appreciate you leaving it for them when you leave
- practice shooting off sticks in a standing position and realise that as soon as you get into position someone is going to shove sticks in front of you. Ask for 2 legged sticks as they can be leaned back or forward to adjust shooting height without repositioning
- bring some warm clothes, it can be really cool in the morning until the sun comes up
- tipping at the end of the hunt is to your discretion, 10% is the norm, distributed as you wish
- unwind, rely on your PH and have fun

The above is geared towards remote areas Chewore, Dande, CAR, Selous not so much SA, Namibia etc.
 
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Boomer and B.U.M., some great pictures. Last year our Daughter & Son In Law hunted in Africa for the better part of a month and gave us the opportunity to spoil the Granddaughter. They had quite a trip and in the Hunting forum, Graylake posted pictures, 08-26-2009, and info on the trip on the thread 1st Trip To Africa...... Dial up Bewarned.
 
Ardent said:
You may have mentioned it caster, but what are you shooting? For pure value, a CZ can't be beat in a new rifle. The field grades show up scantly over a grand. If you're taking your own gun, just make sure it's one you're happy with for life, a lot of memories will be made with it. My rifle was a compromise, a lowly Ruger, but a nice compromise that I'm pleased with and will never sell. There's a Ruger African on the forum for 750 if I remember correctly. A .375, perfect all round rifle, takes Impala as well as it takes Buffalo. Shoot lots before you go, especially if you're going after heavier stuff as .375 and up can take some acclimitization so to speak.
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I'm not sure right now. I have two rifles, a .243 and a 45/70 guide gun. I would love to take the GG but some have said to stick to just one because of the possible cost of taking two rifles. I would also like to take my bow because the outfitter that I talked to said taking something with the bow should be no problem. So that might cause some problems at the airport trying to wrangle all my bags.... unless I hire a trained octopus.

I thought about the Ruger .375 Alaskan but once I get back to Canada it's, IMHO, useless here on the prairies. If I go north for bear, moose or elk it's the guide gun all the way and I'm afraid the .375 would get forgotten and I don't want that to happen. So.... I'm leaning towards one of the higher power 30 cals. Nothing is set in stone as I still have a few years to work this all out but it definetly needs to be something that I can still use on a regular basis for the small white tail we have here in Saskatachewan ;)

Suggestions?
 
peter338 said:
Quick and dirty:

- fly through Frankfurt not Londons Heathrow
- arrange your gear so it can be lugged on wheels, while traversing the airports etc Tuffpacs are good
- Melatonin is really good for sleeping on the plane and no hangover
- talk to your PH before you arrive and sort out the airport tipping etc. a good PH will have all of that stuff arranged before you arrive and it should not cost you anything
- slow down... nothing happens fast over there, Africa time is way different than yours and all you will do is agravate yourself by getting in a rush
- your ph will be very impressed if you show up with a well used rifle shooting heavy for caliber bullets
- bring the max allowable ammo and if your PH shoots the same caliber leave what you don't shoot with him
- Malarone is my prefered daily malaria profaxis, do not take on an empty stomach
- something with 99% Deet is required to keep Tse Tse flies away
- Cipro broad spectrum antibiotic, Immodium and Gravol should be in your pack, this is for anything and everything that can make you sick, leave it for the PH when you leave
- bring a tupperware medicine pack, antibiotics, ibupro, bandages, Polysporin, tensors, sutures, tape etc. You may not use it but the camp will sure appreciate you leaving it for them when you leave
- practice shooting off sticks in a standing position and realise that as soon as you get into position someone is going to shove sticks in front of you. Ask for 2 legged sticks as they can be leaned back or forward to adjust shooting height without repositioning
- bring some warm clothes, it can be really cool in the morning until the sun comes up
- tipping at the end of the hunt is to your discretion, 10% is the norm, distributed as you wish
- unwind, rely on your PH and have fun

The above is geared towards remote areas Chewore, Dande, CAR, Selous not so much SA, Namibia etc.
Click to expand...

Awesome info... thanks a bunch.:cheers:
 
casterpollox said:
I'm not sure right now. I have two rifles, a .243 and a 45/70 guide gun. I would love to take the GG but some have said to stick to just one because of the possible cost of taking two rifles. I would also like to take my bow because the outfitter that I talked to said taking something with the bow should be no problem. So that might cause some problems at the airport trying to wrangle all my bags.... unless I hire a trained octopus.

I thought about the Ruger .375 Alaskan but once I get back to Canada it's, IMHO, useless here on the prairies. If I go north for bear, moose or elk it's the guide gun all the way and I'm afraid the .375 would get forgotten and I don't want that to happen. So.... I'm leaning towards one of the higher power 30 cals. Nothing is set in stone as I still have a few years to work this all out but it definetly needs to be something that I can still use on a regular basis for the small white tail we have here in Saskatachewan ;)

Suggestions?
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I'm going to assume you are looking at plains game only.

You will need a new rifle, I would suggest a new Model 70 Featherweight in 30-06, 2.5 x 8 x 32 Luepold VXIII. Loaded with 200 gr Nosler Partitions and you my friend are in serious African plains game hunting business. When you get back to Sask the rifle should prove adequate on whities with 150 and 165 gr bullets.

You will get as many suggestions to this as there are trees under the sun. This one has proven itself for over 100 years without fail. You are going to the dark continent to hunt and kill game, not reinvent ballistics and bullet testing.
 
Peter has a point, but if Eland is on the menu, even a good strong Gnu (wildebeest), .30-06 is a good triffle on the light side. Also, THE bullet of Africa these days seems to be the Barnes TSX. PH's get a twinkle in their eye when they see you've loaded them.


I'm positive this has been said to death in the thread, but you can't use a gun smaller than .375 on dangerous game as a general rule. Most areas have laws against it, and where you can, most PH's have better sense than to allow it. So buffalo's out with a .30 cal. As for .375's, they are about the most versatile rifle going. I've shot from coyote to Cape Buffalo with mine. Even a perfect deer gun, in my opinion. You can load a 235gr and get extremely flat shooting between 0 and 400 yards, load a 270gr and be set for any creature up to 1,500lbs and still shoot as flat as a 180gr .30-06, or load all the way up to 380gr bullets at the "classic" safari heavy rifle velocities of 2,100fps range. Just doesn't get better, and the recoil's not bad, more than small "magnums" like .300 Win Mag and 7mm Rem, but not abusive. The Alaskan's too light for its caliber, and its barrel's too short. The African will suit a hunter much better. I chose a Ruger Safari Magnum, the RSM in .375 H&H, a bit more $ but one hell of a rifle for Africa.
 
I carried a M77 African on my trip in Zimbabwe and shot everything from Buffalo to Baboon with it. I wasn't looking forward to using the 375 Gatehouse, and was actually going to use my PH's well worn M700 416 Remington (I know - double dickdropoffitis - Push Feed and the 416 Rem!) but after the reticle in the scope broke while shooting my sighting shots (good way to make friends and influence people) I went to the company rifle. All in all I was impressed with it and the cartridge has enough power to get the job done. If I were in the market and looking to do a trip to Africa I would pick one up without hesitation.
 
You could do far worse than using a .375 for everything.Its not so much that you "need" it for plainsgame, but if you are ever going to take on buffalo its the minimum allowed. (For the most part).There's no better way to learn your rifle than hunting with it, and its hard to get more trigger time in a hurry than Africa. Take the money you save on gun buying and buy plane tickets with it, it'll get you farther.
Practically everything I've shot on African hunts has been taken with a couple H&Hs, except for 1 wildebeast, 1 buffalo, 2 elephants and 2 impala taken with the .416.
I managed to sneak in 3 buffs this spring with the three seven five, albiet on a different continent. They were just as black, bigger, and soak up lead just as well as the capes. The Swift A-Frames absolutely hammer whatever they hit.
 
Thanks again, some great info going around.

Plains game is looking like the game for this trip and while a second trip will likely be in order later down the road... if I can afford to go after buffalo and other dangerous game, then I'm sure I can afford a new rifle for that trip to.

Besides, we all need another excuse to buy something new, right. :D

I thought about the .375 for some time but I just can't see myself using it back here in Canada. As much as I'd like to say I would, I just can't see it and I would hate for it to sit in the safe and get ignored. The only 235gr bullet I could find was in a TSX and those suckers are expensive to be using on deer. If I went that way I would use them for this trip though.

From what I've been reading in other threads, other websites and even watching a few videos, a lot of guys are using their favourite elk or moose rifle for plains game with solid, well constructed bullets, like the TSX. I've seen the .270 used a couple times now, the 300's used a lot, the 30-06 and even the .308.

Last night I was going through some of my reloading books and started to think a lot about the .308. According to the Hornady book that I have, it's only 300fps slower than a 30-06. (I currently do not shoot either so be gentle with your comments) Another reason I was looking at the .308 is because it comes in the Savage Precision Carbine that I really like.

Again, just kicking things around for the time being. Still lots of time before the trip... unless of course the perfect deal comes along.

PS, forgot to ask before posting... Ardent, why is the barrel to short on the Alaskan version? Does the extra 3 inches on the African really make that much of a difference? Thanks in advance.
 
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At the end of the day, and within reason, caliber choice isn't going to make a huge difference on a plainsgame hunt.
Bring good bullets, some shooting ability and lots of money and you'll do OK.
 
Price of a good bullet means diddly, so I wouldn't worry about that, how many deer does a guy shoot in a year? A box of 50 TSXs or A Frames might last a couple years or more even with developing a load. Plus, the game deserve a good bullet, in my opinion, anywhere on earth.

As for the Alaskan, it's a 'whiz bang' set up, but this is just my opinion. A 20" barrel in a real magnum equals viscious muzzle blast, and with the light weight, sharp recoil. Just shoot an Alaskan and an African side by side if you ever get the chance, you'll see what I mean.
 
I wish I could shoot them side by side. Even anything in .375 before I buy but I'm not sure about that.

Thanks to BUM for his review of the African that he posted in the hunting arms section. Great read!

The jury is still out but I havnt fully excluded anything yet.
 
To sum it up:

African: Slightly heavier, a lot more tasteful (who would hunt Africa with a synthetic stock? ;) Disturbed.). Longer barrel extends reach and ballistic performance, and reduces muzzle blast signicantly. You are likely shooting close to your PH, without hearing protection. Both of you will appreciate that little extra barrel. Recoil becomes more push like than sharp, wrenching, and flinch inducing. That little Alaskan can be quite uncomfortable to shoot with Buffalo loads. Unless you're 5'7, 3" isn't going to make a difference in handling, so I see little use for a 20" barrel. 3" of steel tube out front hasn't ever slowed down my sight and follow either... but that's just me. I'm taking this off on a tangent, forgive me. But seriously, for 750, why not pick up that African on the forum and just see if you like it? That's a damn fine deal, and if you don't, just sell 'er off and take it as a learning experience.
 
casterpollox said:
I wish I could shoot them side by side. Even anything in .375 before I buy but I'm not sure about that.

Thanks to BUM for his review of the African that he posted in the hunting arms section. Great read!

The jury is still out but I havnt fully excluded anything yet.
Click to expand...


Where do you live from Toontown? Shooting a .375 would be pretty easy to arrange.
 
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