BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[bassman58]

i'm going to namibia in july to hunt plains game i.e. kudu gemsbuk,wildebeast , hog etc. i want to bring my 270 cause i can shoot bottle caps at 200 yrds. consintintly. i'm also bringing my 30.06. what loads should i bring for then,.

lou horn

[kevin davis]

for the .30-06 i would recommend 180 or 200 grain bullets. barnes x/xlc work very well as do the nosler partition. i have used regular remington corelokt 180 with excellent results on zebra, leopard, but that was a .300 win mag.
i have never used a .270 so cannot give any advice for that caliber. have a good hunt. have you actually booked yet?

[jim muir]

Although I've never hunted Africa, I've seen what a .270 with 140 and 150 grain bullets can do to 800+ pound bull moose and a few 400-500ish pound black bears. I'd imagine any premium bullet designed for high wieght retention and controlled expansion would do the trick for plains game.

[91xlt]

i agree with kevins selections for the 30-06, also maybe add 180 gr swift a frames to the list...
whichever seems to shoot best from your rifle. :thumbsup1:

[buffybr]

The .270 Win, 7mm Rem mag, and .30-06 are so close balistically that in most hunting situations, the animal wouldn't know which one killed him.

I used a 7mm Rem mag for two Plains Game hunts in South Africa for the animals you mentioned plus a few more. I used 140 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips and 160 gr Accubonds. Most of the animals that I shot were one shot kills.

I have also used the .30-06 with 180 gr Nosler Partitions for quite a few Pronghorn Antelope, Mule Deer, Elk, and Caribou. Again, most were one shot kills.

I also have a friend who used his .270 Win with 140 gr Trophy Bonded Bearclaws on two Plains Game hunts in Namibia and Mozambique with good results.

I would recommend a 140 or 150 gr premium bullet in your .270, and a 165 or 180 gr premium bullet in your .30-06. Whatever is most accurate in your rifle.

Shoot the animals "on the shoulder" not "behind the shoulder" like we do here in North America.

[bassman58]

why do they always want you to shoot the animals on the shoulder? i know that their vitals are a little different but just right behind the shoulder seems to be the shot for heart-lung area instead of breaking the shoulder and not getting much penetration.

[Single Malt]

take your 270 and 30-06 both are fine for PG buy Barnes TSX and reload them or have someone do it for you.
Heavy gr bullets for caliber is the trick.
I've killed over 150 animals in RSA, Na, Zim using a 270 and a 30-06 including a 1 ton eland bull with the 270 an Nosler Partions

Bassman shot placement is almost always straight up the front leg 1/3 the way up from the brisket...take the oryx (gemsbuck) as an example if you hit him higher you'll go right over the vitals..go 1/2 up from the brisket and you'll miss the spine too.
Buy yourself a copy of Robertson's book on shot placement for African game and you'll quickly see why they suggest low shoulder shots on most game.

[kevin davis]

i second the idea of at least reading robertsons book on shot placement. it is excellent. i have read it through and it makes a lot of sense about shot placement. best of hunting. :thumbsup1:

[bassman58]

thanx guys just got my copy today and can't wait to read it

[buffybr]

I too agree with the advice of reading Robertson's book on shot placement. The diagrams in it show very well how the heart and most of the animal's lungs are "protected" behind it's shoulders.

I think most North American hunters, myself included, were brought up hunting with the "hold just behind the shoulder" shot. I see two reasons for this shot. First, the crease line of the back of the shoulder is easy too see for a good aiming point. Second, most of us hunt at home for meat, and a high velocity bullet "in the shoulder" will ruin alot of the shoulder meat.

In Africa, the hunting situation is different. Yes the vitals of African animals are a little more forward than the vitals of North American animals, but in most cases there is also a big cost difference. For example, here at home I've shot over 30 elk for little more than the cost of a resident license, gas, and a bullet. To hunt in Africa you have a $2000 +/- plane ticket, you're paying your outfitter several hundred to over $1000 a day to hunt, and you have a several hundred to several thousand dollar trophy fee for each animal (which also must be paid for wounded and lost animals). With all these costs, you're not worried about loosing a few pounds of blood shot shoulder meat. You want to put the animal down as quickly as possible. A shoulder shot yields a quick, humane kill that will result in little or no tracking.

A good premium bullet is also recommended to insure that it penetrates through the shoulder with enough energy left to destroy the heart/lung vitals.

[shooter_PT]

Hi! the bullets to use in Africa in the case of the 30.06 caliber they must be
between 180gr and 220grains, because they have good penetration and stopping power, the shoot is always when the animal is stopped, eathing,
relaxed, i advise to take the hornady light magnum 30.06 180gr and the federal soft point 220gr, in case of hit in the shoulder it will pass and do the job.
regards

[DUGABOY1]

bassman58 wrote: i'm going to namibia in july to hunt plains game i.e. kudu gemsbuk,wildebeast , hog etc. i want to bring my 270 cause i can shoot bottle caps at 200 yrds. consintintly. i'm also bringing my 30.06. what loads should i bring for then,.

lou horn

shooter_PT There isn't a spit of difference between the 270, and the 30-06 till you get to the heavy for caliber bullets in the 06! With an180 gr bullet in the 06 it has a great deal of advantage over the 270.

The 30-06 with a 180 gr Nosler Partition, 52.0 grs W760, for 2660 fps, fills the case to 96% capacity. This is a good load for the gemsbok, and wildebeast, Kudu, all of which are tough animals, and unless hit perfectly can traverl some distance, and the shots are longish in Namibia!

The 270, OTH, with only a 160 gr Nosler Partition, with 51.5 grs of RL 19 will only give you 2620 fps, with 81% case capacity.

My pick would be the 30-06 of the chamberings you list, so I could get all the weight I could, that would still shoot pritty falt, for those animals. I can assure you these animals will notice the extra 20 grs of bullet weight, and 40 fps difference in velocity! :thumbsup1: