Plains game best calibre

[Royal27]

Disclaimer; I have never owned a 30-06! Go figure!

You really do need to correct that Tim... I mean you're even USMC!

 

[tarbe]

You really do need to correct that Tim... I mean you're even USMC!

I have owned and used a number of .308 Win rifles. One is even an M1a.

Do I at least get partial credit?

 

[Royal27]

I have owned and used a number of .308 Win rifles. One is even an M1a.

Do I at least get partial credit?

Being USMC is always full credit in my mind!

 

[Norwegianwoods]

I agree with all above even if I think the 30-06 is utterly boring
Personally I would rather own a 9.3x62

 

[spike.t]

Personally I would rather own a 9.3x62

such good taste

 

[jduckhunter]

I agree with all above even if I think the 30-06 is utterly boring
Personally I would rather own a 9.3x62

I have to agree with you I have been bored with them since I bought my first one back in 1971. All they do is shoot great all the time and kill everything you shoot with them. I guess that's why I only own 4 of them at the moment, but that is subject to change at any time.

 

[BigSteve57]

I hunted North American Whitetail deer for 25+ years with the 30-06 and obviously had no problem. But while I knew that the 30-06 was an excellent round for deer I had no idea what the 30-06 COULD do until I went to Africa.

We took a 30-06 (180 gr Nosler partition) and a .375 H&H (300 gr TBBC) on our first Safari for plains game in Namibia.

The old 30-06 frankly amazed me. We took [edit: with 1 shot] a good sized Burchell's Zebra, Blue Wildebeest and Oryx and the 30-06 seemed more than enough. For the large Eland & Kudu I used the .375 H&H.

Could I have taken the Eland and Kudu with the 30-06? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm still learning the limits of this load but the 30-06 is, I have learned, a very powerful round. Much more so than I would have thought.

 

[Norwegianwoods]

I think the 30-06 is a good cartridge for PG with the right bullet.
There is a reason for why it has been so popular for so many years
It works very well for most of the animals people usually hunt around the world.
I would not hesitate to use it with Swift A-frame or Barnes TTSX on Eland.

But I also think the 9.3x62 with a heavy bullet is a even better option if the shot distances will be 200 yards and less.
Dead is dead, no matter what cartridge you use, but there is no doubt when you hit them with a heavy bullet from the 9.3x62
The Norma ammo with the 286 grain Swift A-frame is a great choice and I like the Norma ammo with the 325 grain Oryx even better

But it is important that you are able to shoot the 9.3x62 as well as the 30-06.
If not, it is better to use a 30-06.

 

[Bsums]

30-06 or anything similar is good. Just need good shot placement and not to far away for the big guys like Eland. Although many guides will have an extra .375 or so that you can always barrow to use on an Eland or something similar in size.