Perfect Rifle for Eland and Lion

[Neophyte]

I’d use my .338 Win Mag or my .375 Ruger.

Your 9.3 should work fine too if legal.

 

[Neophyte]

I’d use my .338 Win Mag or my .375 Ruger.

Your 9.3 should work fine too if legal.

Just to add:

I’ve never hunted in Africa but based my answer from asking a friend that has made over twenty trips in the 1970’s and 1980’s and has taken more animals than I could dream of.

He’s like a second father to me and is encouraging me to go over.

 

[Neophyte]

Going to see if I can find some 375 ammo with 300 grain Nosler Partitions. I have 300 grain TSX and have killed enough hogs with them to be very confident in their ability to immobilize quickly.

But a Partition is supposed to be the gold standard on big cats.

Might want to look at the Nosler Accubond.
Not the long range stuff but the regular Accubond. It was designed to perform as well, or better, than the Partition and is the replacement for the Partition from what I understand.

 

[ingwe500nitroexpress]

I am in the planning phase for a return to Africa.

On my first trip, I used a 416 Remington for Buffalo, zebra and kudu as well a a 308 for smaller plains game.

The two animals that I especially want to hunt in the future are eland and Lion.

I have a Steyr SM12 in 9.3x62 that I have with loads featuring a 250 grain Barnes TSX that chronograph 2700 fps.

I feel like this should be about perfect, I have a friend who has killed 17 cape buffalo with his 9.3 guns. 14 of them with the 250 grain tsx.

What do people here with experience on eland and lion consider ideal in terms of cartridge and bullets.

I have a Model 70 Alaskan in 375 H&H as well as a Merkel double in 470 along with my 416 and 9.3 x62.

But the questions are:

What cartridge and bullet is ideal for lion?

What cartridge and bullet is ideal for eland?

Is anything perfect for both?

“Use enough gun”. If you’ve had success with that .416, use it again. Not to be a contrarian, but I’ve killed more buffalo than years I’ve been alive. Every buffalo charge I’ve had, has stemmed from the .375 H&H. I own 8 doubles, mostly being London bests, and a few being “entrance level” (Heym 89b, chapuis, thys) and those buffalo were all hit brilliantly and multiple times from the .375. Do they work? Sure. Do I think they’re enough? No. I understand peoples hesitation to avoid recoil, but if that’s the case, I’m not sure they should be hunting buffalo, if they plan on hunting more than one buffalo. I don’t want any more charges. I think you’ve had success with your .416, so “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke”. Just my 2 cents (sense).

 

[flatwater bill]

@Ruraldoc your 9.3x62 load is a screamer. I could not get 2700fps with mine and the 250 grainers....especially the mono's. If you don't mind sayin, what powder were you using? I'm getting 2740 on my 270 grainers for the 375, so you're right up there.................FWB

 

[sgt_zim]

Did you ever get your hands on some 250 gr NABs? I have a box I'd be willing to sell, never could get them to shoot accurately out of my 9.3.

If you haven't yet settled on a bullet, 285 gr Oryx might be a good choice. Soft and bonded, but the jacket isn't tapered the way A Frame is, rapid expansion and bullet integrity are high with them.

 

[Beck]

.375 H&H - Adequate for basically anything on the planet - Perfect for Lion, Eland, Moose, and Brown Bear - I would use Nosler Accubonds for the thin skinned monsters

 

[Beck]

.375 H&H - Adequate for basically anything on the planet - Perfect for Lion, Eland, Moose, and Brown Bear - I would use Nosler Accubonds for the thin skinned monsters

I will admit that a 9.3x62 or even better a 9.3x66 would also be great medicine for these animals

 

[Green Chile]

.375 H&H - Adequate for basically anything on the planet - Perfect for Lion, Eland, Moose, and Brown Bear - I would use Nosler Accubonds for the thin skinned monsters

100%. The .375 also makes a great one rifle solution to cover all the bases from T10 to DG. I really have enjoyed the times I have taken a .375 to cover everything. It's so nice to have one gun, one load, one solution. For me that has been with the 300 TSX but a 270 would be fine also.

I'm even branching out with the 375 to cover some non-traditional areas like big black bears. It gets that all important exit to improve blood trails. It will punch 2 holes from any angle on the black bears...in some ways, more gun than needed but in heavy cover, getting 2 holes on a bear is a great thing so is it really overkill? Not in my mind.

 

[Andrew62]

I've taken several eland and one male lion with my .375H&H using Barnes TSX bullets. Perhaps if I were hunting lion again I would opt for Swift Aframes this time.

 

[Tom Leoni]

Like others have said: the .375 H&H is a perfect cartridge for either one. Either that, or its European cousins. Easy peasy.

 

[dogcat1]

I have hunted both, a lot.
I used a 9.3x62 for lion and eland successfully and a .375 HH for eland.
Eland go down fairly easy, so I would use one of these two.

 

[dogcat1]

I used TSX bullets on both as well as an off brand with softs on a lion. Softs or copper are fine. I would avoid solids.

 

[IvW]

9.3x74R O/U double.......