Bullets for Africa

[marvin sloan]

I have a plains game hunt booked in South Africa in March 2006. Which bullet would be recommended for small antelope such as Bushbuck, Impala, Blesbok, and for larger species such as Kudu, Gemsbok, and Waterbuck or Eland. The rifle I am planning on taking is a Ruger M77in 30-06 Sprg. I was thinking AccuBond in 180 grain for the smaller species and 180 grain Partition for the larger animals. Is this a good selection or are there other choices that would be better suited?

 

[Eagleye]

Marvin; You have it figured out quite well!! The 180 AccuBond would probably do for it all, but the Partition is a long-term proven projectile that I have the utmost confidence in. The Accobond is still in testing, being somewhat of a "New kid on the block" I have shot 4 animals so far with the AB without any problems. Only one recovered. Regards, Eagleye.

 

[BFaucett]

Marvin,

Just a suggestion: Pick one bullet and use it for everything. You never know what you will run into or when and you may not have time to change the loads in your rifle. The Nosler 180 gr Partition will handle the smaller stuff just fine along with the larger animals. Also, give some consideration to the 200 gr Nosler Partition.

I took my Ruger M77 Mk II .30-06 to South Africa in 2002 loaded with 220 gr Woodleigh RN bullets at 2460 fps. I was hunting in the northern part of the Limpopo Province which is bushveld country (ranges are usually shorter; around 50 to 150 yards on average). I took Steenbok, Impala, Bushbuck, Warthog and Red Hartebeest with it. The 220 gr Woodleigh worked just fine on all of them.

My two cents....
-Bob F.

 

[Taos]

On my one and only plains game trip I used x bullets on everything from Gemsbok to Eland in a .264 . I would not hesatate to use partitions but you want a tough bullet that will penetrate well. Enjoy your hunt !!

 

[centurian]

Taos

What cartridge did you bring to SA? Im guessing a .264 win mag, did you recover any of those X bullets?

 

[Taos]

just 1 on a n ass shot on a kudu. It went in about 1" to the rt of the tail and penetrated over 30" of kudu. He needed a finisher but I was pleased with it's performance.