one caliber for africa

[glen1]

I think you'd be silly to go to Africa with one rifle if it was less powerful than 9.3x64 or 375 H&H.
9.3x62 has a good reputation as a flexible round but it would be better as a plains game rifle and a dangerous game defence rifle when nothing bigger was on offer.
So I reckon the old 375 H&H would probably be the ideal.
Ammo is available every where, people know it's performance specs, there are loads for long range plains game AND dangerous game.
Rounds like 450/400 NE 3¼" look like a good idea but they are limited to a minimum or 400gr pills and while dangerous game is a consideration in African hunting it isn't the be all and end all.

i think like you say if i was going to africa and could take any gun i wanted i think i would take a 50 bmg and shoot 800gr rounds at 2900 fps now that would but a end to most big game fast

[use enough gun]

In many countries over there military cartrigdes are not legal. The 9.3x62 is smallest legal round allowed in some places. Dave

[AZ Shooter Gal]

well Glen, I think you would get no shots at anything close or moving. You would be pretty much limited to game at some distance, so it would not be spooked by you, and standing still since I think trying to lead an animal with a 25+# rifle would be a bit tricky.

[Steveb]

IMHO .... a 9.3mm. African game has a "rumour/talked about" to be a lot tougher than most game from the rest of the world. Of caus i cannot vouch for this as i have only hunted in africa and cant copare my exprience elsewhere. Some contribute the hardiness on the cape buffalo to the 'Rinderpest' a viral diesease in cattle which in the 1890's in southern africa killed +- 80 to 90 percent of all cattle. Therefore the buffalo were also hard hit as the mortality rate is about90 %. Of course the fittest survive therefor only the hardiest and buff with best genes. Thats one theory to explain the reason buff tend to absorb a lot of bullets from all rifles. The rifle that counts is the one that shoots straight!

[Noyb72]

Although Iv'e been there, I haven't been able to hunt there often enough to be a reference. However, I've spoken to dozens of hunters going in and out of Cape Town and Jo-berg. Hunters are successful in Africa with a crazy aray of rifles. One individual hunted for 10 days with two rifles in the plains. His light gun was a 6mm Rem and his Heavy was a .308!! He had to stop early due to running out of funds for trophy fees.

Another one I've heard alot about is 25-06 it seems to be really popular for sports that want to take the long shots.

Ron

[Bushwack]

I have been using all my life a .270 for the Kalahari, Western Cape and Karoo hunting area (shooting like Red Hartebeest, Springbok, Oryx, Impala, Zebra), .3006 / .308 for the larger animals and more Bushveldt environments (Eland, Blue Wildebeest, Waterbuck, Kudu) and a .375 (Eland, Buffalo, Leopard, Lion, Hippo).