Just my opinion but i dont think that would do for kudu or Gems, It would prob. be fine for the smallerlike the Impala and springbuck and such. Let me ask this do you know where you are going already i mean with what outfitter?

I'll most likely be hunting with Graham van Heerden of Cape Hunt Safaris. I'll be in Cape Town for a meeting, and will only have 2-3 days to hunt. Graham is offering me a pretty good deal in the Western Cape, so I won't have to pay for another flight to get to a more distant hunting area. I've exchanged emails with some previous clients, and they all said he does a great job.

FYI, the .264 Winchester Magnum hits harder and shoots flatter than a 30-.06, which is a caliber that is often recommended for plains game. I can tell you from personal experience that it blows a good-sized hole right through an elk, so I'm assuming it'll be fine for gemsbok. Not so sure about kudu, but I assume it'll do the job if bullet placement is on the mark. Any opinions would be welcome.

Happy hunting.

Oh well if you can do that to a elk with it then you will have no prob with any of the plains game> the only thing that was making me ifee was the 140 grain. But i will be the first to admit im not the best when it comes to firearms lol.
Thats cool where you are going if you ever want to try out the eastern cape let me know. Have fun and good hunting!!

Since I have hunted Africa a few times, I would suggest to you a caliber that is not so fast and shoots larger bullets. Most of your shots will be less than 100 yards as a general rule, unless your hunting in the mountains or the Free State. I have wittnessed to many times the effects of hunters using a 270 with 130 grain bullets and their chasing animals later on after the shot. Those lighter calibers just don't anchor African game as well as whitetails in the USA.

I like the 30-06 using a 180 grain bullet or the 300 Win mag using a 200 grain bullet for everything on your list. You will certainly be glad you brought along those heavier bullets. Those animals don't go down like whitetail deer!

I recently returned from S. Africa, where I used a .270 Win to take gemsbok, springbok, and black wildebeest. The gun was a Brno mounted with a Redfield scope, hired from my outfitter so that I didn't have to worry about importing my own rifle.

They were all one-shot, pass-through kills with factory loaded 140 grain Core-Lokt bullets. I shot the gemsbok at 310 meters, the wildebeest at 155 meters, and the 2 springbok at 30 meters (amazing stalk!) and 160 meters. These animals were hunted in the Great Karoo, which is a very open habitat.

Based on these results, I'm a bit disappointed that I ended up not taking my .264 Win. Magnum. It would have pushed the same bullet weight, but with a slightly higher sectional density and at a slightly faster speed. So long as shots are placed well, I see no reason why this round wouldn't be deadly for plains game up to kudu size.

Just my final two cents.

Congratulations (from a fellow Utahn) on a successful hunt and thanks for the follow-up feedback! Either caliber would have done the job just fine.

Too bad the 264 Win Mag is taking a back seat to the 270 Win, as has the 280 Rem and 284 Win Mag. I'm only aware of two manufactures that load this 6.5mm cartridge and they both use 140-gr. bullets:

* Remington Core Lokt @ 3,030 fps.
* Winchester Power Point @ 3, 030 fps.

Reloading is perhaps your best option for more versatility with Nosler, Speer, and Hornady offering premium bullets to select from.

In short, although the 264 Win Mag fires a smaller diameter bullet than the .277 of the 270 Win, it's larger case capacity enables it to shoot a heavier but thinner 140-gr. bullet at similar speeds as the 270 does with a fatter but lighter 130-gr. load. This bullet has an outstanding SD as well, resulting in excellent penetration characteristics.

Again, thank-you for the report! Additional follow-up details are welcome.

Here are a couple pictures from the hunt described above. Click on the images for a higher-quality picture.

No trophies here, but nice representative animals. I'm very happy with them.

Preview	Attachment	Size
	1 Bob & Regis_Sprbk Ram.JPG	1.41 MB
	4 BL. WILD_Bob & Graham.JPG	1.36 MB
	10 Bob Gemsbok.JPG	1.37 MB

Never been to Africa and probally never will. But you might want to get P.O. Ackley-volume one (think thats the one), hell get one and two, they're great. Anyway, theres a great article in it on "killing power". Test's done on hog's, Cow's and goats to determine the effects of bullet wounds. I believe most testing was at "Edgewood Arsenal". It mentions in the article that to much velocity can actually reduce penetration!

Also get's into hydrolic effect and the difference between tence and relaxed tissue and secondary projectile's. Make's you think about the buttet more; not that you need some super preimum, but one thats well constructed. That is as apposed to the light for caliber bullet's being favored these days because of they're construction.

While the 264 win mag may work well, I'm led to believe that a 6.5x55 or 7x57/280rem might in fact be the better choice. I do have a love affair with those cartridges so reason may be tainted. I concider 140 gr loads in the 6.5. W.D.M. Bell used, I think I read, 156 gr bullets on elephant and quit because those long bullet's had a tendicy to bend while penetrating. In the 7mm's I think I'ed take 175 gr loads.

I don't know the ranges you shoot in Africa but, all these loads will give you plenty at any range you "should" shoot. To much is made for the ability to deliver a load to well in excess of 300 yds when most don't shoot well enought to do that. Then too, a bullet that preforms at optium at say, 300 yds, can't possibly be that great at 50 yds!

I'm sorry, I feel like I'm preaching here. I have a real problem with many peoples attitude on shooting at game. Amazing that many feel the range you can shoot is directly related to the danger involved should they have to go into the brush looking for a wounded animal. So it's ok to shoot a deer at 800yds but you need to be much much closer to a brown bear. Yet they are both living animals deserving a clean kill if we shoot them for sport.

I envy your trip. Have a great time.