The .223 and .280 in South Africa

[grayghost]

I decided to take my Remington model 700 Varmit Special in .223 and my Ruger M-77 in .280 to Africa for a 10 day hunt. The ammo I chose was Federal Vital Shok Premium loaded with Nosler 60gr Partitions for the .223 and 160gr Accubond for the .280. My report is listed in the African Hunting forum if anyone is interested. The post is: 10 days in South Africa. Good hunting, grayghost

[John Duarte]

greyghost,

I read your post about your hunt. My feeling was that the .280 would have been all you needed. On my hunts to Namibia I used a .300 Win. Mag a .300 Weatherby and a .30/06. The first two hunts I used 200 grain Noslers in a .300 Weatherby and killed animals ranging in size from springbok to eland. The next two trips the .300 Winchester was used for warthog to kudu encluding hartebeest and oryx. This past May I used my .30/06 and shot a zebra, waterbuck, warthog and oryx. Comparing the results with the three cartridges, I couldn't see much difference among them. The bullets in the .300 Winchester and '06 were swaged by me and they weighed 220 grains. The ones shot from the magnum were bonded the .30/06 bullets were not.

Interesting topic.
John

[grayghost]

Hi John;
My reason for the .223 is my past profession. I was a Taxidermist. Having seen the end results on many small animals that were shot with big bore guns or high speed mid range rifles, I chose to try and limit the possible damage. Two years ago, my friend took what will come to be the #37 Steenbok with a 7 mag. It cut the animal nearly in half. He just managed to get a shoulder mount but would have preferred lifesize. Shotguns on Blue Duiker, Caracal Cat, Genet....it ain't pretty. Vervet Monkeys...we won't go there I'm seriously considering taking my .17 HRF next year. It would be just the ticket for Monkeys, Springhare, Blue Duiker etc. Plus, I figure why own several guns and never use them. None of my friends have ever used their .223 in Africa. I did, and it worked very well. May take it back and let my wife use it for Springbok, Gray Duiker etc. Now that we have the Nosler partition in 60 grain, maybe their will be a Grand Slam or TB Bear Claw or Barnes coming. Good hunting, grayghost

[buckhunter]

Like you I'm a big fan of the 280. Awesome round. I use a 140 Nosler for most of my normal hunting but with a 160 grainer I have shot a 700 lb moose. I have alway felt that we Americans are overguned on a lot of stuff or is it that all the big game in this country is wearing armor.

[grayghost]

Good info and observations John & buckhunter, I agree. I had more Taxidermy clients crying over lost game due to buying a big bore rifle for Elk thinking it would be a no brainer. Only to not develop the shooting skills with a larger bore that has some kick to it. Shot placement. We all know the drill there. Next year I'm planning on taking my .300RUM. It does kick like a mule, but I deal with it. I priced the new Federal 300RUM in Barnes TripleX (I believe it's called) 180 grains at $56.99 per box. Time I pay shipping they're $3.25 per round. Geezus! Right now I have plenty of 180gr Swift Scirocco's. May stick with them on Zebra, Blue Wildebeast, Kudu etc. I only have firm plans on the Zebra and Wildebeast. All other larger Antelope will only be if they better what I took in July. In S. Africa that may be a challenge, but that's hunting. I saw no less than 3 Cape Kudu (Greater Kudu's slightly smaller Cuz) that would go 50" or better. One probably would touch 55 inches. At 1008 yards (rangefinder) using my Steiner 8 powers, I could see he had about 3 inches of ivory on both tips. This would have been the Cape Kudu of a lifetime for most of us, but once we worked into close range the terrain had changed completely. Glassing at that range the Acacia's, Bloemspeck and other brush looks 3 feet tall. By the time you get there, it's way over your head. That bull could have been within 20 yards and I'd never seen him. That's OK, I know where he resides Good hunting, grayghost