best safari cartridges

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7 Best Safari Bullets Right Now

When hunting dangerous game, a lot is riding on a relatively inexpensive amalgamation of copper, brass, power and primer . After the hunt cost, travel, trophy fees, rifle, optics and related expenses, the actual ammo — the very thing that can stop a charge, prevent an animal from being lost or save your hide — is very, very inexpensive indeed.

In times past, the availability of true safari ammo — stuff tough enough to stop an animal coming in or going away was hard to find. In fact, it wasn't long ago when the death of the double rifle was going to be because of lack of ammo.

But now, thankfully, safari-bound hunters have much more to choose from than hard-to-find Kynock ammo loaded with Woodleigh bullets .

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Five best calibers for hunting Africa with the best big game hunters

A practical guide.

Debating the “best” calibers for African hunting can be a subjective exercise, influenced by individual preferences and experiences. Based on over 28 years of professional hunting in Africa, the following five calibers offer practical and effective solutions for a wide range of game:

• .22 Hornet: Ideal for smaller plains game like warthogs, impalas, and springboks.
• .243 Winchester: Versatile for medium-sized game like kudu, wildebeest, and hartebeest.
• .30-06 Springfield: A classic choice for a variety of African game, including plains game, antelope, and some big game.
• .375 H&H Magnum: The minimum legal caliber for hunting dangerous game in South Africa, offering sufficient power for lions, elephants, and buffalo.
• .458 Lott: A heavy-hitting caliber suitable for the largest African game, including elephants and hippos.

Choosing the right caliber

When selecting a caliber, consider the specific game you intend to hunt. Smaller calibers are suitable for plains game, while larger calibers are necessary for big game and dangerous game. Factors like shot placement, ammunition quality, and shot distance also play significant roles in hunting success.

The .375 H&H Magnum: A versatile choice

The . 375 H&H Magnum is a popular choice for hunting dangerous game in Africa. Its combination of power and accuracy make it a reliable option for a wide range of big game. While other calibers like the 9. 3×62 and 9. 3×74 can also be effective, the . 375 offers a margin of safety when hunting dangerous animals.

The “best” caliber for African hunting ultimately depends on your individual needs and preferences. By understanding the characteristics of different calibers and considering the specific game you intend to hunt, you can make an informed decision and ensure a successful and safe hunting experience.

Why we recommend these Five Calibers

When choosing the best caliber for your African hunting adventure, it’s important to consider the size and type of game you’ll be hunting. We’ve divided African game into three categories: small, medium, and large.

Small game:

• .22 Hornet: The Hornet is a center fire making it perfectly legal to hunt small antelope like blue duiker, red duiker, common duiker and steenbok. A few birds can be taken on the side for the pot.
• .243 Winchester: This versatile caliber is perfect for smaller game like warthogs, impalas, and springboks. It offers a good balance of power and accuracy.

Medium game:

• .30-06 Springfield: A classic choice for medium-sized game like kudu, wildebeest, and hartebeest. The . 30-06 is a reliable and powerful caliber.

Large game and dangerous game:

• .375 H&H Magnum: This is the minimum legal caliber for hunting dangerous game in South Africa. The . 375 H&H Magnum is a powerful and reliable choice for eland, giraffe, lions, elephants, and buffalo.
• .458 Lott: For the largest African game, like elephants and hippos, the . 458 Lott is a heavy-hitting caliber that delivers the necessary stopping power.

Remember, these are general recommendations. The best caliber for you will depend on your specific hunting goals and preferences. It’s always a good idea to consult with experienced hunters or a professional outfitter for personalized advice.

Why we recommend the specific five best calibers

Below is the explanation of our five best calibers recommendation. We divide your hunting needs into the different category trophy animals as we see it.

Starting with small body animals, we move on to medium body size animals and finally take a look at the large body size animals before moving on to dangerous game.

Five best calibers to hunt Africa for small body size animals

Small body plains game.

22 Hornet – what a big little guy. This is the ideal caliber for hunting small game like steenbok, duiker and klipspringer on a windless day.

The reason for suggesting this caliber is the absolute accuracy it is renowned for, and the lack of trophy damage caused by the projectile.

243 – this smaller, long-range caliber is ideal for hunting the open plains of the Free State. It is a great flat-shooting caliber that can take down medium sized game from blesbok and smaller.

It is also a great caliber for taking down wounded game at longer ranges and for varmint hunting.

The five best calibers to hunt Africa for medium body size animals

Medium body plains game.

Hyena – spotted

Lechwe – red

243 – It is a great flat-shooting caliber that can take down medium sized game from blesbok and smaller.

30 – 06 is a caliber on its own. Ballistics show there is not much difference between the 30-06 and the 308. South African hunters leaned more towards the 308 due to the availability of ammunition during the time of international sanctions. 308 was the caliber (7,62 X 51) used by the military which, by implication meant solid point ammunition could have been redirected to sport shooting.

The 30-06 had an unjustified reputation as a caliber responsible for wounding many game animals. Where and how this rumor originated remains a mystery. It is, however, our point of view such critique was due to operator error and had nothing to do with the caliber.

There are no plains game that have not been successfully hunted with the 30 – 06.

The 30 – 06 is as at home in the bushveld with sub-180 yard shots, as it is on the open plains of the Free State where shots longer than 250 yards are not uncommon.

It is our humble opinion the 30-06 is the best all-round plains game hunting caliber to have had the privilege of hunting Africa.

Five best calibers to hunt Africa for large body size animals

Large body plains game.

Red hartebeest

Roan antelope

30-06 as mentioned in the section above.

375  – the caliber that tamed Africa. The versatility of the 375 makes it an all-time great caliber.

Load it with 300 gr projectiles and you can hunt dangerous game.

Load it with 270 gr projectiles and you can hunt plains game.

Our five best calibers to hunt African dangerous game

African dangerous game.

Cape buffalo

Cape buffalo cow

Rhino – black

Rhino – white

375 – the minimum caliber to hunt African dangerous game in most African countries. The versatility of the 375 makes it an all-time great caliber. Loaded with 300 gr projectiles you can hunt dangerous game and plains game. Loaded with 270 gr projectiles you can hunt plains game.

458 Lott – this all round dangerous game hunting caliber packs enough gun to assist in any dangerous game hunting situation. The Lott is our personal favorite for dangerous game hunting in Africa.

Main advantage is being able to have five rounds.

This is a charge stopper caliber. We acknowlege you will not be able to work the bolt five times during a charge. However, a Cape buffalo running away from you can need extra motivation to stop running.

Hunting packages

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African plains game hunting packages

African plains game hunting packages are to experience the true African bushveld at least once.  

Perhaps you even get to hunt on a property that has one or more members of the Big 5 on it.

This is why African Bushbuck Adventures offer a variety of plains game hunting packages.

African dangerous game hunting packages

African dangerous game hunting packages are for hunters wanting to successfully hunt one or more of the Big 5. Very few hunters complete the coveted Big 5 hunting grand slam during a single African dangerous game safari.

Plains game hunting packages

Dangerous game packages

Best caliber to hunt South Africa

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Best Cartridges for Africa Plains Game

By Ron Spomer

Posted on Jan 13, 2020 6:22 PM EST

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You can hunt all southern Africa’s plains game species with one rifle if it’s chambered for the right cartridge. And that cartridge doesn’t have to be a big hairy magnum.

This means you can leave the .505 Gibbs, the .458 Lott, the .416 Rigby and even the .375 H&H Magnum on the dealer’s shelf. But dust off your deer rifle because it could be all you need.

The simple truth is that ordinary “deer” cartridges in the hands of ordinary hunters work to terminate ordinary African game. African farmers, ranchers and sportsmen have been hunting native impala, oryx, blesbok, warthogs, kudu, wildebeest, waterbuck, and all the rest (even buffalo, lion, and elephant) with medium caliber, medium power cartridges for more than a century. We’d consider many of them perfect for whitetails, mule deer, caribou, elk, and moose. Like most pragmatic country folk, Africans make do with inexpensive rifles shooting inexpensive, commonly available ammunition in average cartridges such as .303 British, .30-06 Springfield, and 7x57mm Mauser. Which strongly suggests we visitors might succeed in Africa with our own deer and elk rifles.

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So let’s compare three common cartridges many judge suitable for African plains game: the .308 Winchester, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .338 Winchester Magnum.

.308 Winchester

Thanks to its use by the military (as 7.62x51mm NATO,) especially snipers, the .308 Winchester has earned a reputation as a deadly accurate, rather mild-recoiling .30-caliber. It’s essentially a shortened version of the .30-06, even though Winchester engineers reportedly used the .300 Savage cartridge as the platform for designing the .308. Regardless, what they ended up with is a cartridge with the same diameter rim and head as the .30-06 family of cartridges, but a half inch shorter.

Since the .308 Winchester’s introduction in 1952. its length has become the standard for what we call short-action cartridges and rifles to match. Having a shorter action means slightly less weight, less cycling time, and, potentially, more accuracy because, all else equal, there should be less inherent flexing of the bolt/barrel/cartridge lock up. Relatively straight side walls enhance powder space, but a shallow, 20-degree shoulder reduces it. Overall the .308 Win. has sufficient room for about 56 grains of water. Powder capacity in grains varies significantly due to variable powder densities and shape.

Because it shoots .308-inch diameter bullets, the .308 Winchester can be loaded with anything from 100-grain plinkers to 210-grain thumpers. The lightest projectiles, predictably, suffer low aerodynamic efficiency, but can be driven around 3,200 fps (feet per second). They lose energy quickly and deflect significantly in crosswinds.

With bullets on the heavier end of the caliber, muzzle velocity suffers, but kinetic energy at all ranges is higher and wind deflection lower, as the ballistic table for a 180-grain Boat Tail Spire Point shows.

Because 190-grain and heavier .308 bullets are so long, they intrude deeply into the .308’s powder space, limiting MV (muzzle velocity). Nevertheless at launch speeds from 2,400 fps to nearly 2,600 fps, such high B.C. slugs scribe trajectories more than flat enough for much, if not most, African hunting. And they really help tame wind deflection, as the ballistic table shows.

For addressing many species, 2,500 ft-lbs (foot pounds) of energy at 100 yards may be more appropriate than a flat trajectory to 300 yards. Either way, you get to decide. Most experienced hunters land on 150-grain, 165-grain, and 180-grain bullets as best in the .308. Most factory loaded ammunition comes with bullets in this range, too. You could tailor bullets to specific animals, but since you never quite know what will show up during safari, it’s safer to settle on one bullet for everything except, perhaps, a specialty hunt for something out of the ordinary like a leopard, hippo, eland or 12-pound dik dik.

Recoil with a full-house 150-grain load in an 8-pound rifle should shake you with around 17 ft-lbs of recoil energy at a recoil velocity of 11.7 fps. A 180-grain load will rattle your teeth with 18.8 ft-lbs at 12.3 fps. These are recoils anyone should be able to manage, suggesting precise shot placement. Perfect.

.300 Winchester Magnum

This cartridge lands in many of our performance comparison reviews because it’s so good. Sort of a Goldilocks cartridge. Not too big or small. Just right. We could select many other .300 magnums for this spot, but none are as ubiquitous, tested, or available in affordable rifles. Not

the .300 WSM, .300 Wby. Mag., .300 RCM, .308 Norma Mag., .300 H&H Mag., or any others. But you can substitute one of those here if you wish. The results will be roughly the same.

So, at the risk of redundancy, we present the old .300 Win. Mag. of 1963 as our “middle of the road” African plains game round. Many veterans of safari would call it ideal.

As you know, this .300, an off-shoot of the longer .300 H&H Magnum, shoots the same bullets as the .308 Win., just 500 fps or more faster. And, as we’ve all heard, speed kills! In fact, speed contributes more to bullet hitting power than does weight. A basic reality of physics is that doubling a projectile’s mass doubles its energy. Doubling its speed quadruples its energy. As long as the bullet is built tough enough to withstand the impact energy, it should be more deadly at higher speeds. But things don’t always work that way, as we’ll touch on later.

The .300 Win. Mag. fits a standard action, the same as the .30-06, and .270 Win. A few ounces heavier, a smidgeon slower to cycle than the 308 Win., but eminently functional on African game. Because case capacity is voluminous (82-grains water behind a 180-grain bullet,) this cartridge can really wring performance from the heavier, higher B.C. bullets. It’ll make a 150- to 168-grain slug dance, but it comes into its own with 180-grain. At longer distances, it really shines with 190 to 210-grain bullets. If you really want to stack some energy on target, a 220-grain at 2,700 fps puts out 3,798 ft-lbs at the muzzle and retains a whopping 3,092 ft-lbs at 200 yards, 500 ft-lbs more than the .308 Win. at 100 yards. Whether this makes any difference on game is debatable.

More significant than increased energy might be decreased drop and drift. With both the .300 WM and .308 Win. zeroed about 3 inches high at 100 yards, the 300 drops almost 6 inches less at 300 yards and drifts nearly 3 inches less. That’s enough to make the difference between hit and miss. At 400 yards, of course, the difference is even greater. If you anticipate getting lots of shots at widely varying distances without time to employ a laser rangefinder, the extra reach of the .300 Win. Mag. might make it your baby.

But before rushing to select the .300 Win. Mag. as your magic wand, consider recoil. When throwing a 190-grain bullet 3,000 fps, an 8-pound rifle will kick with 37.3 ft-lbs at 173 fps. If you are not capable of handling that shot after shot without flinching, you’ll be better off with the .308 Win. Alternatively, you can carry a 9- or 10-pound rifle in 300 Win. Mag. A 10-pound rig tames recoil to 11.8 ft-lbs at 8.7 fps. With proper training, anyone without physical limitations should be able to shoot a 300 Win. Mag. without flinching.

.338 Winchester Magnum

Most hunters are surprised to learn that the .338 Winchester Magnum preceded the .300 Win. Mag. by five years. I suspect in those days Winchester thought the .30-06, .300 H&H and .300 Wby. Mag. had the .30-calibers covered while larger calibers throwing heavier bullets were falling behind the times. Wildcatters and a certain gun writer named Elmer Keith were getting plenty of attention with their .333 OKH (30-06 necked to .333”) and .334 OKH (.375 H&H necked to .338) wildcats. So Winchester engineers straightened the side walls of the .375 H&H belted case, shortened it to fit standard-length actions, sharpened the shoulder to 25-degrees, and necked it down to hold .338-inch bullets. With its 86-grain water capacity, the case had plenty of space for enough powder to propel a 250-grain bullet 2,700 fps from a 24-inch barrel. That’s fast enough to churn up 4,050 ft-lbs of kinetic energy at the muzzle and 43 ft-lbs of recoil at 18.7 fps at the shoulder in an 8-pound rifle. A 10-pound gun moderates that to 34.6 ft-lbs at 15 fps, which is still a hefty dose of ouch. Such is the price one pays to put a heap of energy on target.

While one’s instinct is to assume such a heavy bullet at a relatively tame velocity would limit performance to moderate ranges, a good boat tail spire point with a B.C. in the mid .5s (like a Nosler Accubond) and zeroed 3-inches high at 100 yards will peak just 3.3 inches high at 125 yards, hit point of aim at 240 yards, and drop just 5 inches at 300 yards. Deflection in a 10 mph cross wind would be in the neighborhood of just 5.5 to 6 inches at 300 yards. Clearly, this “big” medium caliber can run with the .300 Win Mag. At 300 yards it’s still carrying 2,800 ft-lbs of energy. That’s 100 ft-lbs MORE than the .308 Win. kicks up at the muzzle.

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Switching to a 200- or 210-grain bullet at 3,000 fps results in even flatter trajectory while sacrificing only 200 ft-lbs of wallop at 300 yards.

Factory ammunition for the .338 Win. Mag. can be found with bullets weighing from 180-grains to 250 grains, but handloaders can stuff 300-grain slugs aboard and nudge them as fast as 2,400 fps. This results in muzzle energy of 3,840 ft-lbs and 30-yard energy of 2,830 ft-lbs. Compare trajectory tables and you’ll see this is less muzzle energy than the 250-grain and minimal gain far down range, so why bother? The answer is momentum. Increased penetration. Because the 300-grain bullet is longer and has a higher sectional density, it has the potential to penetrate more deeply than any lighter bullet of the same materials and construction.

Impact Energy and Killing Efficiency

Don’t make the mistake of assuming impact energy makes all the difference. I’ve seen 150-pound antelope absorb 300-grain slugs from .375 H&H Magnum and dash off like a whitetail hit with a .223 Rem. No knockdown. No DRT. Game of all kinds and sizes has the elasticity to absorb all the energy you care to throw at them with a shoulder-fired gun without going down. Terminal bullet performance and placement are way, way more important than power. A good 165-grain bullet from a .308 Win. you can shoot precisely is more effective than a 400-grain, 5,000 ft-lbs bullet on the fringes.

Conclusions

Ponder ballistic charts long enough and you can get dizzy before emerging out the far side with some solid conclusions moderated by experience. The history of bullet performance on African plains game animals is vast, but spread over decades and thousands of individual hunters. Throw in hearsay and inevitable message corruption down the grapevine and confusion could rein. Elephants have been killed by a lucky shot from a .22 rimfire. Sable solidly hit and dropped by a .470 Nitro Express have arisen to skewer the hunter. Oryx center punched with a triad of .300 Winchester Magnum loads loped into the sands of the Kalahari, never to be seen again. Eland slapped with a .308 Winchester died on the spot.

What’s the truth?

The truth is that anything can happen and probably has happened, but the consensus is that bullet construction and placement matter more than caliber and kinetic energy. The wrong bullet in the right place can terminate the biggest animal instantly while the right bullet in the wrong place — or a half dozen of them — merely wounds. Ten thousand foot-pounds of energy applied to soft, elastic tissue of cardiovascular organs may have no more immediate effect than 500 foot-pounds.

How should we interpret this? My take is to choose precision bullet placement first, bullet construction for desired terminal performance second, and on-target energy last. I’ve seen too many large, heavy bullets hauling astonishing levels of kinetic energy strike game with no more life altering results than a target arrow. I’ve recognized my self-doubt and felt myself flinch while shooting heavy recoiling rifles and missing or wounding. And I’ve felt the confidence of precise holds and clean trigger breaks while shooting light recoiling rifles that lead to quick termination of plains game large and small. Be honest with yourself. Don’t let your ego get in the way of choosing the safari rifle, caliber, and cartridge that will help you hunt honest and shoot straight.

Best Caliber For An African Safari Hunt

Look no further to learn our recommendations regarding how to choose the best caliber for an african safari hunt..

In this article, I’ll touch on one of the most hotly debated aspects of preparing for an African Safari: choosing the best caliber for an African safari hunt. 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. Keep reading to find out how to choose the best caliber for an African safari hunt.

Best Caliber For Hunting 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 .

Best Caliber For Hunting Dangerous Game

If you are planning on hunting a thick skinned member of the Big 5 , such as buffalo or elephant, the .375 H&H is probably the best cartridge for the job. It is powerful enough to ethically take any species of game and thousands of hunters have enjoyed great success in hunting buffalo and elephant with the mighty .375 H&H. While it does have noticeably more recoil than a .30-06, the recoil is not excessive and should be manageable for most hunters. In fact, due to the effectiveness and relatively mild recoil (at least compared to the other dangerous game calibers) of the .375 H&H, the cartridge is routinely used by hunters for both plains game and dangerous game on safari.

The 9.3x62mm Mauser and the .375 Ruger are also very capable medium bore cartridges and can also be counted on during a dangerous game hunting safari in Africa. However, keep in mind that some countries have a .375 caliber minimum for dangerous game hunting, which means the 9.3x62mm (.366 caliber) would not be legal in those countries. For instance, Botswana, Tanzania, and most provinces of South Africa have a .375 caliber minimum. On the other hand, Zimbabwe has a 9.2mm minimum and countries like Mozambique do not have a minimum caliber at all.

There is also nothing wrong with going with a bigger cartridge like the .416 Rigby, .458 Winchester Magnum, .458 Lott, or even the massive .577 Nitro. These cartridges are all much better suited for elephant hunting or following up a wounded buffalo than the .375 H&H, which is why they are so popular among Professional Hunters specializing in dangerous game. However, their increased power comes with more recoil, reduced magazine capacity, and a heavier rifle.

No matter which cartridge you choose for your hunt, we highly recommend you use premium quality, heavy for caliber bullets. Don’t skimp on ammunition. Remember: the bullet is what actually kills the animal and even the best caliber for an African safari hunt may not perform well if poor quality bullets are used.

The typical bullets designed for hunting whitetail deer generally expand too rapidly and do not penetrate deeply enough for hunting in Africa. Luckily, there are lots of great bullets on the market that will work very well on African game.

When selecting the best caliber for your African safari hunt, try not to get caught up in the hype about the individual calibers. Cartridges like the 270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, 308 Winchester, and 30-06 are all excellent for plains game hunting while the 375 H&H Magnum is a good minimum to use for dangerous game.

As long as it meets those minimum thresholds and as long as you use premium ammunition, the “best” caliber is the most powerful one that you can accurately shoot.

Choosing the right caliber is definitely important, but placing your shots accurately and using the right ammunition are both vital as well.

Click below and sign up to receive a free E-Book that provides more detailed information on some of the best cartridges for hunting Africa and some more specific ammunition recommendations.

If you have questions on how to choose the best caliber for an African safari hunt with us, please contact us and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.

The Best New Cartridges for Africa

Craig Boddington Goes on Safari with the .300 PRC, 6.8 Western and 7mm Long Range Magnum

By Craig Boddington

All practice is good. 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. The only way to become consistently cool, competent and effective in shooting at game is to do a lot of it.

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. In just a week, the bag will include at least a half-dozen animals, often more, with shots at different ranges, from different positions, at animals of varying sizes.

If you’ve practiced and trained well, some shots will be validation, sort of a final exam. But you’ll still learn a lot. 

I was very young when I went on my first safari. Like most youngsters, I thought I knew more than I did. It was a time when safaris were longer, bag limits more generous and costs lower. Good thing, because my learning curve was steep. I started with embarrassing misses. Like most hunters on first safaris, I figured it out, finishing the safari with a spectacular string of one-shot kills. 

Part of the learning curve is gaining confidence in rifles, cartridges and bullets that work. There are many great choices and confidence is critical. You must know in your gut that your choice will drop the animal quickly as long as you do your part.

  TRADITIONAL VERSUS LONG RANGE 

In the quarter-century I’ve led the SCI Convention panel discussion, “Your First African Safari,” I’ve consistently stated that it’s not rocket science. For most plains game, your favorite deer rifle is probably just fine. If you are after bigger, tougher animals, such as eland and zebra, maybe a well-loved elk rifle.

 On that first safari, I used a .30-06 for plains game, and I still recommend it. Since then, I’ve used a lot of rifles and cartridges in Africa. Some new, some old. Traditional favorites like .270, 7×57, .30-06 and a long list of fast magnums, including .270, .300, and .340 Weatherby, 7mm and 8mm Rem Mag, .264, and .300 Win Mag, and all the Remington Ultra Mags, have all worked fine. 

In America, long-range shooting is more popular than ever. This has spawned a whole new class of cartridges designed around extra-heavy, super-aerodynamic bullets in rifles with faster rifling twists to stabilize them. I’ve been suspicious about how this applies to African hunting. African PHs and their trackers work extra-hard to get us close to game. This is because they’ve all seen terrible shooting by the likes of you and me. Over there, 200 yards is considered a fair poke, 300 yards is far. 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. Get close enough to be certain. 

Today’s more accurate rifles, better optics and improved bullets enable hunters to take longer shots as compared to when I was young. Provided one has the equipment and knows how to use it, even in Africa hunters are shooting somewhat farther, although extreme range remains uncommon.

LONG-RANGE RIFLES ON SAFARI 

On back-to-back East Cape plains game safaris in June, I joined two groups of hunters. First, at Carl van Zyl’s John X Safaris, then with the Burchell family at Frontier Safaris. At heart, I am a traditional guy,, but I’m also interested in new stuff. I took two new cartridges: 6.8 Western in the Ed Brown M704 action, built by Trop Gun Shop in Pennsylvania, and .300 PRC in Gunwerks’ new Nexus. The PRC was topped with a big Leupold MK V 5-25x56mm scope and the 6.8 Western had a Swarovski Z8i 1-8x24mm . 

Introduced just before the pandemic, both cartridges have seen little use in Africa, so just those two would be interesting. It got better, because hunters in both camps brought (or borrowed) an assortment of ultra-modern rifles. At Frontier Safaris, I joined SCI auction hunt winners Hamid Saadatmanesh and John Macones and his son, John Jr. Both Hamid and Macones brought well-scoped Gunwerks in .300 Win Mag and 7mm Rem Mag, respectively. They had done extensive range work, were well-dialed in and prepared for any shots that came along. 

My buddy John Stucker brought his Christensen Ridgeline 6.5 PRC. At John X Safaris, he and I joined a group of his friends who were in Africa for the first time. Most elected to borrow camp rifles, and that gave me an unexpected bonus. Unknown to me, the Gunwerks folks hunt with John X. Several of their rifles were in camp, all in the 7mm Long Range Magnum (LRM), a proprietary cartridge, sort of between the 28 Nosler and just-released 7mm PRC. These were fast-twist rifles, dialed in with heavy bullets. Altogether, I had a chance to see today’s accurate, well-scoped, semi-tactical long-range rifles with several recent cartridges at work in Africa.

ACTUAL VERSUS POTENTIAL 

Capability for long-range shooting is one thing, implementing another. I can’t imagine anyone backing off to take a shot! I prefer close, or at least close enough to be certain, but that means different things depending on conditions, position and equipment. 

In our camps, some of us were prepared to reach way out there and were hoping for the chance. Unlike many African areas, the topography of South Africa’s Eastern Cape often supports long-range shooting: Ridge to ridge or across big valleys. Obviously, with a dozen hunters and several dozen animals taken, I wasn’t with everyone for every shot, but despite potential, I never heard about a genuine extreme-range shot. 

Part of this was conditions. We caught several days of blustering wind, unusual for June. Various times we had animals way out there, but with unpredictable winds, we had to get closer. Another part was position. A shot prone from a bipod is one thing. A shot off shooting sticks is something else. Regardless of ability, range is always limited to absolute steadiness. In Africa, vegetation often precludes a rock-steady low position. Again, we had to get closer. 

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. Among us, we were shooting cartridges with bullet diameters 6.5mm, 6.8 mm, 7mm, and .30-caliber. Here’s how I felt they stacked up.

6.5MM 

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. There are still-faster 6.5mms, primarily 26 Nosler and 6.5-.300 Weatherby, shooting even flatter with more energy. 

John Stucker decided to take his Christensen 6.5 PRC on this safari. At the outset, his focus was small antelopes: Vaal rhebok, klipspringer and steenbok. He has an identical Christensen in .300 Win Mag, but we agreed his 6.5 PRC would be perfect for smaller antelopes, potentially taken at distance. 

In the first few days of the safari, Stucker was off in the Karoo, while the rest of us were at the top end of the Eastern Cape hunting kudu. He had a marvelous run of luck, everything he wanted, plus grysbok and more. His 6.5 PRC performed perfectly. Good choice! He joined us at John X’s main camp near Craddock.

Main goals fulfilled, his game changed…as often happens in Africa. One morning, I saw him drop a weird-horned “cull” kudu with a brilliant 350-yard shot. Then he decided to add a zebra. It was a calm morning. On his Spartan bipod, at 500 yards, it was a long poke. His first shot maybe could have been a couple inches farther right, but it was well-executed. More shots were required, and then the zebra went down. It stood up when we approached and needed a finisher. 

My impression of the 6.5s as loaded today has been consistent, and bolstered by John’s use of the 6.5 PRC. 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. Often, they work like lightning striking, but are questionable on animals that are big and tough, like wildebeest, zebra and larger. 

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. In my experience, they are not as effective on larger animals, simply for lack of bullet weight.

6.8 WESTERN 

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. For larger plains game, I’ve always worried about .270’s light bullets. 

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. Because of its short, fat case, it is almost as fast as the 7mm Rem Mag with similar bullet weight. 

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. It accounted nicely for a good selection of plains game, from impala-sized antelopes up through nyala and waterbuck, on up to wildebeest. 

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. For the first time, new cartridges with heavy bullets put a .270-caliber cartridge in exactly the same class as a fast 7mm with similar bullets.

.300 PRC 

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 only drawback is the increased recoil that many shooters are not comfortable with. 

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. As is the current trend, it calls for a faster rifling twist intended to stabilize long, aerodynamic bullets, with .30-caliber match bullets now available from 225 to 250 grains. 

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. Darn it, I really wanted to take an eland with that bullet and load, primarily to see how it performed. At Frontier Safaris, hunting with Fred Burchell, I got a chance on my first afternoon, and I missed. Somehow or other, the scope must have taken a bad bump and the rifle was shooting a foot high. We went to the range and quickly sorted it out. I was just happy it was a clean miss. How in the heck could I miss an eland as big as a barn door? 

The Gunwerks .300 PRC accounted for a nice assortment of game, but not an eland; despite hard hunting, I didn’t have another chance. On the first day at John X, I used it for a fine kudu past 500 yards, easily my longest shot in Africa. Later in the hunt, I took a cull kudu at something over 300 yards, flattened in its tracks. The .300 PRC also stoned a big-bodied wildebeest, one of the tough ones, spinning it over backwards and down with an uphill frontal shot. 

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. Fortunately for my wallet, this Nexus was a right-hand test gun, so I had minimal regrets in returning it. 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. However, if I was in the market for a fast .30, this is the cartridge I would look at first.

  HEAVY-BULLET 7S 

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. Long whispered about, but only released in late October 2022, Hornady’s 7mm PRC is the second. 

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. Theory is good, but there’s nothing like seeing performance first-hand. 

Oh, my! 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. If you know wildebeest, you’ll appreciate how unusual this is. 

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. I have one, and I’m looking forward to hunting with it.

  Col. Craig Boddington is an author, hunter and longtime SCI member. He is Past President of the Los Angeles Chapter, a decorated Marine and C.J. McElroy Award winner. 

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Top 5 Calibers for Hunting Big Game in Africa

Africa has long held the imaginations of hunters from around the world. It is an extremely large continent with some of the greatest diversity of plants and animals seen anywhere on the planet. Many of the animals are among the most dangerous ones for human hunters to pursue, requiring great skills and discipline on the trigger. You want your first shot to count because follow-ups on something like the Cape Buffalo can be harrowing. Fortunately, there are many great big game calibers to choose from that will serve you well on an African hunting safari .

Maybe you are looking for a versatile cartridge that's effective on a wide variety of game ranging from the tiny Damara Dik-Dik to the mighty eland. Or maybe you're looking for a more specialized big game cartridge designed for more specific situations, like stopping a buffalo charge at close range, there is something on this list of the best big game cartridges for hunting Africa that will fit the bill. Though these are far from the only acceptable choices for hunting in Africa, the following rounds have really stood the test of time among hunters in the Dark Continent. These are our top picks for anyone who planning a hunting trip to one of the wildest locations on Earth.

7mm Remington Magnum

The 7mm Magnum brings a very flat trajectory and the ability to consistently make longer range shots to the party. Most 7mm Magnum loads typically feature high velocities, excellent ballistic coefficients, and moderate bullet weights. All these factors combine to make the cartridge an excellent big game caliber for hunting some of the most hunted game in Africa. It's a great option for anyone planning on taking shots on medium sized game animals at ranges past 200 yards. Places that feature open terrain with little cover, such the Karoo region of South Africa or the Kalahari Desert of Namibia, allow the 7mm Magnum to shine in comparison to other big game cartridges.

Barnes , Nosler, and Swift produce 160gr and 175gr 7mm TSX, Partition, and A-Frame loads. All are excellent choices for hunting antelope on the plains of Africa. When using premium quality ammunition, the 7mm Magnum is suitable for hunting a wide range of game including springbok, impala, hartebeest, gemsbok, wildebeest, nyala, and kudu, among many others. The 7mm Magnum is also a great choice for hunting leopard (where legal), as they are vulnerable to properly placed high velocity bullets. Though it's possible to cleanly take very large species of plains game with the 7mm Magnum (and similar cartridges like the 280 Ackley Improved , many professional hunters consider it to be on the light side for hunting those critters. For hunters planning to down some larger, more dangerous critters, this may not be your best option.

Regardless of what you plan on hunting, make sure you use high quality bullets capable of controlled expansion. My advice is to avoid the rapidly expanding bullets designed for deer hunting. They may work great for whitetails or mule deer, but I've known several cases where hunters have shot tough animals like gemsbok and wildebeest in the shoulder with rapidly fragmenting 7mm bullets. In every case, the high velocity bullet broke the shoulder but came apart. Penetration into the body cavity was poor. These shots crippled the animal but necessitated follow up shots that would have been unnecessary if the proper bullets had been used in the first place.

.30-06 Springfield

Big Game Hunting Adventures

The venerable .30-06 Springfield is probably the most commonly used cartridge for plains game hunting in all of Africa. The cartridge is available in a wide range of bullet weights (110-220gr), and types suitable for big game hunting. A number of ammunition companies, such as Federal, Nosler, and Swift, make excellent quality controlled expansion bullets for the .30-06, most commonly in 180gr and 200gr weights.

Not only are controlled expansion bullets great for larger game, but they are a good choice for hunting small game like klipspringer and duiker because they minimize damage to their hide to a certain degree. Though the .30-06 is not as good for long distance shooting a the 7mm Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag, it is still a quite capable cartridge and does very well out to 300 yards or so (or even further in the right hands).

At closer ranges, the .30-06 will get the job done quite well without the additional recoil, muzzle blast, and larger amounts of blood-shot meat that its higher velocity cousins produce. For the vast majority of situations that a hunter will encounter while hunting plains game in Africa, the .30-06 is an almost perfect choice.

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The .30-06 is also the smallest cartridge that I would recommend for hunting eland and using the right bullets, the .30-06 can cleanly take every species of plains game on the continent.

It's also a wonderful choice for hunting thin skinned dangerous game like leopard. Indeed, the higher velocity .30-06 loads are surprisingly effective on those thin-skinned cats when hunting over bait from a blind.

If you go that route, I do recommend using a Thermacell to keep the bugs away during those long nights in the leopard blind. You don't have a lot of room for error when using the .30-06 on leopard, so you really need to make a good shot!

.375 Holland & Holland Magnum

The Big Game Hunting Blog

If the .30-06 is the king of plains game hunting, then the .375 H&H is the king of dangerous game hunting in Africa. Since the cartridge was first introduced to the hunting world back in 1912, thousands of hunters have used the .375 H&H in dozens of different types of rifles and successfully hunted virtually every species of big game on the continent.

The cartridge is powerful enough to ethically hunt even the biggest elephants, yet can also be surprisingly effective for hunting the smallest species of antelope and causes relatively little damage to the hide (when using a non-expanding solid bullet). Additionally, the .375 H&H does all this with a manageable level of recoil, thus making it arguably the best big game caliber for hunting in Africa.

There are a wide range of bullets weights and types available from the major manufacturers, though 235gr, 250gr, 270gr, and 300gr are the most commonly used. Since the cartridge is so popular among hunters from all over the world, there have probably been more cape buffalo killed by the legendary .375 H&H than by any other single cartridge.

Depending on the exact country, the .375 H&H (or sometimes the 9.3x62mm Mauser) is typically considered the minimum acceptable cartridge for hunting dangerous game. Though it will certainly do the job if placed correctly, the .375 H&H is on the light side for stopping dangerous game in a charge situation.

For this reason, most professional hunters usually carry something more powerful for backup in an emergency (more on this in a minute).

That said, if you had to choose one big game cartridge to hunt everything in Africa with, you could do a whole lot worse than the .375 H&H. By merely changing the bullet: rapidly expanding soft points for lion and leopard, controlled expansion soft points for most plains game and buffalo, and solids for elephant, small antelope, and follow up shots on buffalo, the .375 H&H can be used to hunt virtually any animal on the continent. It is tough to find a better all-around big game cartridge for hunting Africa than the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum.

Though the .375 H&H Magnum is a wonderful all-around cartridge for hunting Africa, the .416 Rigby is a better choice for those who need a bit more power for hunting big and dangerous animals like buffalo. Pushing a 400gr bullet at a solid 2,300-2,400fps, the .416 Rigby hits hard and penetrates well. It's a fantastic big game hunting cartridge for Africa, but what really helped cement the reputation of the .416 Rigby was the fact that the famous author Robert Ruark made it (along with his PH Harry Selby) incredibly famous in his book  Horn of the Hunter.

Make no mistake though: the .416 Rigby has a well earned reputation and it won't let you down as long as you place your shots properly. The cartridge is quite a bit more powerful and has more recoil than the .375 H&H. On the other hand, the cartridge has quite a bit less recoil than the .458 Lott and more hunters can handle the Rigby.

All that being said, the .416 Rigby is an outstanding choice for hunting cape buffalo. In addition to hunting thick-skinned dangerous game, the .416 Rigby is also a great cartridge for hunting big species of plains game and will also work on the smaller stuff, though it wouldn't be my first choice for them.

375 H&H (L), .416 Rigby (C) & .458 Lott (R); Credit: Big Game Hunting Adventures

As stated above, possibly the biggest disadvantage to using the .375 H&H is how the cartridge is not well suited to following up wounded dangerous game or stopping a charge. Well, that's where the .458 Lott comes in. Though many foreign hunters use the cartridge, the .458 Lott is extremely popular among professional hunters in Africa as a dangerous game cartridge to back-up clients when things go wrong.

Now the .458 Lott is not a great long range cartridge, but that's not what it's designed for. The cartridge is intended for use on thick-skinned dangerous game at close range and it does very well indeed in that role.

Hornady's Dangerous Game Solid (DGS) load for the .458 Lott propels a 500gr bullet at 2,300fps for a bone crushing 5,800 foot pounds of energy. That compares very favorably to the 4,200 foot pounds of energy produced by Hornady's 300gr DGS load at 2,530fps in the .375 H&H. Especially when the primary use of the rifle is for emergencies, this is a significant difference in power and performance.

All of this power comes with at a price. The .458 Lott has nearly twice the amount of recoil of the .375 H&H. For this reason, the cartridge may be more than many hunters can handle and still consistently shoot accurately.

At the same time, while the .458 Lott can be used for hunting plains game, it is not ideal for it due to the aforementioned difficulties with recoil and the lack of bullets designed for hunting thin-skinned game. Of course, a hunter could use bullets designed for dangerous game on plains game and it will work, but it's just not ideal. Still, all things considered, the .458 Lott is a great big game caliber for hunting Africa, especially for thick-skinned dangerous game.

What do you think of our choices for the best calibers for hunting Africa? Did we miss any?

Like what you see? You can read more great articles by John McAdams on the Big Game Hunting Blog . Subscribe to his show: the Big Game Hunting Podcast  or learn more about an African hunting safari .

READ MORE:   THIS IS THE MOST INCREDIBLE CAPE BUFFALO HUNTING VIDEO YOU'LL EVER SEE

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Home » Hunting and Outdoors » Best Rifles for African Safaris

Best Rifles for African Safaris

There are times when enough caliber is mandatory . For most of us, this thought occurs when we consider being faced with a home intruder.

In these moments, we are hoping our 9mm , .357 Magnum or .45 ACP is enough to stop the thug prior to our family or ourselves being hurt.

That is a very valid thought process. However, there is a similar process that needs to take place before you attempt to hunt something bigger and tougher than a grizzly bear.

These animals may not even notice being hit by one of the above rounds.

This includes most of the African dangerous game , and that is before you think of herbivores like hippos, elephants and cape buffalo.

Did you know, hippos kill more people than any other big-game animal in Africa? 

Calibers to Consider

When you are talking eland, lion or even warthog, the accepted calibers are not something you run off to the local Walmart and pick up.

You aren’t even finding a trusty Savage 110 chambered in these calibers.

Like most things in life, the further you pursue down a rabbit-hole of a hobby, the more specialized the equipment becomes. And hunting African safaris is pretty specific.

In my similar article aimed at North American game, I specified certain rifles and calibers that made sense.

The simple fact is, at least from a distance, most (heavy for caliber) 7mm or .30-caliber magnums are enough.

Up close, I want a little more insurance, both in a non-boattail bullet and a bit more mass.

In Africa, not only is your .300 Win Mag/PRC/SAUM not a smart idea, it isn’t a legal round to hunt most game.

Quite simply, it will lead to wounded animals and wounded/dead hunters much more often than it will lead to ethical kills. 

This means we need a dedicated platform that launches a serious round.

Conveniently, hunters have been tackling the problem of African safaris for quite some time and there are plenty of options.

Best Single-Shot Rifle Options

The first (and no longer commonly used) option for African safaris, is a single- shot rifle . This might take the form of a rifle like the  Ruger No. 1 Tropical.

Don’t get me wrong, tons of hunters have used this or similar rifles.

The problem is not the rifle’s ability to handle a big-game caliber, it is the fact that you have exactly ONE cartridge in the gun.

If you shoot poorly with your .900 Extinction round, it is 20-60 seconds before you complete a reload, while you have a gut-shot 1,800-pound beast trying its best to grind you into dust.

If you have a pro hunter backing you up, this might work, but you risk not having the satisfaction of making the kill shot.

This rifle is a limited production and Ruger only produces it in one caliber each year.

This likely means the secondary market will be the source of your Ruger No. 1 for big game.

It has been produced in .375 H&H, .405 Win, .416 Ruger, .416 Remington, .416 Rigby, .450/.400 NE, .458 Win Mag, .458 Lott and .404 Jeffrey.

This provides a suitable array of choices providing between 4,000 ft/lbs to just under 6,000 ft/lbs of energy.

Best Bolt-Action Rifle Options

The next, very common choice for African safaris is a bolt gun .

While you may only get one shot in a close or surprise encounter , at least you have a one to three-second reload available and two to five back-up rounds available to you.

A great example of this is the 602 Brno/CZ 550 Safari Magnum. This is a bolt-action rifle specifically designed for big-game rounds.

This is important because some brands take their standard magnum action and hog it out to allow use of the African game rounds.

This does two things, one it leads to a marginal strength action and second, it often limits capacity to 2+1 even with the smaller rounds like .375 H&H.

This is not an issue with the CZ , as it has 5+1 capacity in .375 H&H.

The rifle is just over 46 inches in length, with a heavy contour 25-inch barrel (for most calibers) and weights it at roughly nine pounds.

This helps (slightly) reduce muzzle climb with a front weight bias and insures full powder burn. The gun is a controlled-feed action.

The bolt has a mechanism for grasping the round from the magazine and controlling it all the way into the chamber.

This creates a minimal likelihood of feeding issues and is often a requirement among professional hunters.

Factory chamberings vary over the years and there are always custom options, but common choices in the gun are: .375 H&H, .416 Rigby, .458 Winchester, .458 Lott and .505 Gibbs.

These provide a range from a 300-grain A-Frame at 2,560 fps, 4,360 ft/lbs muzzle energy to a 600-grain FN at 2,100 fps, 5,850 ft/lbs muzzle energy.

Another very suitable bolt gun would be a  Winchester Model 70 African Rifle. This rifle also provides a controlled-feed action for reliability.

The mechanism is different, but yields a similar result to the CZ and meets the pro hunter requirement.

The medium-heavy contour barrel is 24 inches for all big-game calibers and the rifle has a total length of just over 44 inches and just over nine pounds.

The slightly shorter and lighter barrel makes for a faster rifle to bring to bear, but will be slightly less help controlling recoil.

But with these calibers, technique and practice is the real method of controlling recoil.

The current caliber offerings are .375 H&H, .416 Remington and .458 Win Mag. Each of these calibers has a 3+1 capacity hinged floor plate magazine.

This provides a range of muzzle energy from 4,360 ft/lbs to 5,400 ft/lbs.

Best Double-Rifle Options

The next choice in platform is a double rifle .

The simplest way to describe these is to think of a side-by-side shotgun , but chambered in a serious rifle caliber.

Most are double-trigger set-ups with the barrels regulated to converge at 70-100 yards.

These rifles only have two shots, but both are already loaded in their respective actions.

Essentially, you are carrying two complete rifles that have been bonded together.

This eliminates the possibility of a misfeed, thus all but guaranteeing two shots in very quick succession.

This is what many pro hunters/guides carry, in case your shot is not successful. 

Most of the above listed bolt-actions guns can be purchased in a no-frills variant for between $1,200 and $2,500 dollars.

The fancier versions may run a bit more. Double rifles are quite a bit more spendy.

Sabatti makes such a double in their Big Five EDL.  

This rifle starts with a two proprietary oversized steel actions to ensure the pressures of safari loads are handled.

The actions are mated to cold hammer forged 24-inch barrels that are regulated at 70 yards.

The rifles weigh in a bit heavier than their single-action/single-barrel compatriots. All of the Sabatti choices are 11 pounds or heavier.

This extra weight is not as much fun to carry, but certainly aids in recoil reduction.  

For the double-rifle market, this Italian brands offerings are considered quite economical. The street prices run from about $3,500 to $8,000.

The current caliber choices are .370 FL NE, .450/.400 NE, .450 NE, .470 NE, .500 NE and 9.3x74R.

Purdy would be at the other extreme of this curve. Their bespoke double-rifle packages sell for as much as $500,000.

If you have the time and money, they will build it with just about any exotic wood or any other way you want it.

It can be carved, precious-metal inlaid, jeweled and in any big-game or custom caliber you want.

They come matched with a carrying case, made of the same exotic wood, matching inlay or other items specified in the gun.

Typical wait time for such a rifle is two to four years. Quite often, they are built as a matching set. For some, this is a his-and-hers rifle set.

Conclusion: Best Rifles for African Safaris

For some, it may be to provide a choice in calibers, perhaps .375 H&H for smaller African game and .600 NE (900-grain at 2,150 fps – 8,400 ft/lbs muzzle energy) for the big guys.  

For those with money but not the time, there is also a strong (read as not much cheaper) secondary market where you can buy a slightly-used gun, without the wait.

There are at least a dozen other semi-custom and full-custom companies that will create your double safari game rifle.

Their prices range between those of Sabatti and Purdy, with a few being even more pricy than Purdy.

What is your go-to rifle for big-game hunting or African safaris? Let us know in the comments below!

About the Author:

Are you a fan of old revolvers? How about cowboy action shooting? Share your answers in the comment section.

Comments (3)

I have a Winchester M70 safari express in 458 win mag, topped with a 1-4 Swarovski.

I bought it several years ago for an African safari that fell through.

I hope that I eventually get to use it.

Let’s be practical and deal with rifles accessible by common hunters.

My one rifle recommendation is the 416 Ruger in the various Ruger models. They can be found in 20″ Alaskan, Guide Gun, and 23″ African models. All are excellent. All reasonably priced as “entry-level” safari guns, medium weight (around 8 pounds), and functionally reliable including controlled-feeding.

The 416 provides a little more punch for dangerous game than the commonly used 375s. With 330-350grain monolithic bullets the 2600fps muzzle velocity provides for easy hunting ranges out beyond the 300 yards that is the outside limit of 98% of African hunting. If you know your rifle and load, you can be confident even to 400 yards.

Many bring a second rifle, which may be your favorite NA rifle from 270-338. The 308, 30-06, and 300 mags are all great antelope calibers, as well as the 270 and 7mms with newer monolithic bullets for guaranteed penetration. However, if possible something a little more robust could be suggested, like a 338WinMag. The 338 is a better “second” should it be in you hands when you run across a nice buffalo while trying to follow some eland or roan. All rifles on a hunt should have flat-nosed solids along, too. That makes them elephant and hippo worthy.

J.Gefroh 8 gauge[.810″]flintlock muzzleloader[rifle] with adjustable sights.150-270g FFg powder with 2 oz round ball.It weighs 14 lbs.It’s pretty too. Alternatively October Country’s single and double barrel percussion muzzleloader rifles in 8 gauge,4 gauge,2 gauge.All use roundballs

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Most Beautiful Metro Stations in Moscow

Visiting Moscow? Get yourself a metro card and explore Moscow’s beautiful metro stations. Moscow’s world-famous metro system is efficient and a great way to get from A to B. But there is more to it; Soviet mosaic decorations, exuberant halls with chandeliers, colourful paintings and immense statues. Moscow’s metro is an attraction itself, so take half a day and dive into Moscow’s underground!

The best thing to do is to get on the brown circle (number 5) line since the most beautiful metro stations are situated on this line. The only exception is the metro stop Mayakovskaya one the green line (number 2). My suggestion is to get a map, mark these metro stops on there and hop on the metro. It helps to get an English > Russian map to better understand the names of the stops. At some of the metro stops, the microphone voice speaks Russian and English so it’s not difficult at all.

Another thing we found out, is that it’s worth taking the escalator and explore the other corridors to discover how beautiful the full station is.

Quick hotel suggestion for Moscow is the amazing Brick Design Hotel .

These are my favourite metro stations in Moscow, in order of my personal preference:

1. Mayakovskaya Station

The metro station of Mayakovskaya looks like a ballroom! Wide arches, huge domes with lamps and mosaic works make your exit of the metro overwhelming. Look up and you will see the many colourful mosaics with typical Soviet pictures. Mayakovskaya is my personal favourite and is the only stop not on the brown line but on the green line.

2. Komsomolskaya Station

Komsomolskaya metro station is famous for its yellow ceiling. An average museum is nothing compared to this stop. Splendour all over the place, black and gold, mosaic – again – and enormous chandeliers that made my lamp at home look like a toy.

3. Novoslobodskaya Station

The pillars in the main hall of Novoslobodskaya metro station have the most colourful stained glass decorations. The golden arches and the golden mosaic with a naked lady holding a baby in front of the Soviet hammer and sickle, make the drama complete.

4. Prospect Mira Station

The beautiful chandeliers and the lines in the ceiling, make Prospekt Mira an architectural masterpiece.

5. Belorusskaya Station

Prestigious arches, octagonal shapes of Socialistic Soviet Republic mosaics. The eyecatcher of Belorusskaya metro station, however, is the enormous statue of three men with long coats, holding guns and a flag.

6. Kiyevskaya Station

The metro station of Kiyevskaya is a bit more romantic than Belorusskaya and Prospect Mira. Beautiful paintings with classical decorations.

7. Taganskaya Station

At the main hall Taganskaya metro station you will find triangle light blue and white decorations that are an ode to various Russians that – I assume – are important for Russian history and victory. There is no need to explore others halls of Taganskaya, this is it.

8. Paveletskaya Station

Another and most definitely the less beautiful outrageous huge golden mosaic covers one of the walls of Paveletskaya. I would recommend taking the escalator to the exit upstairs to admire the turquoise dome and a painting of the St Basil’s Cathedral in a wooden frame.

Travelling with Moscow’s metro is inexpensive. You can have a lot of joy for just a few Rubbles.

• 1 single journey: RMB 50 – € 0,70
• 1 day ticket: RMB 210 – € 2,95

Like to know about Moscow, travelling in Russia or the Transsiberian Train journey ? Read my other articles about Russia .

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Wow! It is beautiful. I am still dreaming of Moscow one day.

It’s absolutely beautiful! Moscow is a great city trip destination and really surprised me in many ways.

My partner and I did a self guided Moscow Metro tour when we were there 2 years ago. So many breathtaking platforms…I highly recommend it! Most of my favorites were along the Brown 5 line, as well. I also loved Mayakovskaya, Arbatskaya, Aleksandrovski Sad and Ploshchad Revolyutsii. We’re heading back in a few weeks and plan to do Metro Tour-Part 2. We hope to see the #5 stations we missed before, as well as explore some of the Dark Blue #3 (Park Pobedy and Slavyansky Bul’var, for sure), Yellow #8 and Olive #10 platforms.

That’s exciting Julia! Curious to see your Metro Tour-Part 2 experience and the stations you discovered.

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