gun gurus ... need opinions

[judge88]

im looking for a big game gun. something i can take to africa, alaska for big game and make a quick kill. i have a 300 mag now and the african guide laughed at me when i asked if that was enough gun. ive narrowed it down to. .338 ultra mag, .340 mag,.375 h&h. does anyone have any first hand experierence with these guns. how hard is the ammo to get with certain ones. recoil is not a problem the gun will be worked on. also what brand of gun seems best in these big calibers? sako is what i was thinking. anything cheaper thats just as good?

[Old-Grady]

.338UM should be a good choice being you can shoot a 300gr bullet in that caliper. If you feel the .300 gr bullet is enough then you could go to the .375 H & H with a 350gr bullet. My personal feeling is the .338 would be plenty with the 300gr but there again it's all in what makes you feel good. I too like the .300WM myself but you are limited to a 220gr bullet for it which should be fine for most game animals in Alaska and Africa until to get to the large size animals and then it may be very marginal on clean kills.

[Bay Bob]

The bear guides in Alaska, and most of the dangerous game guides in Africa carry, or at least did in my days, the 375 HH. All of the forest service and Alaska Fish and Game folks carry the .375.

Now, If you have that 375. backing you up you might feel free to use and carry the .338 or the 340.

That 300 grain Barnes in .338 is a real ass kicker at close range. That was always my number 3 and 4 load in my Alaska brown bear days. I once traced one of Barnes heavy jacket bullet through 6 foot of bear, left fore quarter , traversed the bear and lodged under the skin in the right hind quarter. My bullet of choice for longer range ( and you really want to tackle dangerous game at longer ranges) was the Sierra 250 gr SBT. At the time it had the highest ballistic co-efficient of any projectile made. It shot damned flat in my Ruger.

so if you are going to be alone by all means go with the .375, if you have professional back up the any of the .338s will fill the bill.

IMHO

BB

[Russ D]

I really like the .338 UM for alot of reasons. Saying recoil is no problem makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong because any gun bigger than a .300 Um kicks my ass!

[mikie]

I don't have any personal experience - but everything I've read says the .375 H&H is the bottom of the totem pole for African big game.

[judge88]

well the standard .338 dosnt have the trajectory the ultra mag does. thats my main reason for liking the ultra . .375 is nice also. cant beat 5,000 lbs of energy at the muzzle. recoil dosnt bother me at all as long as i know what to expect. either gun i buy will have porting and a brake so it should help alot.

[bravo-4]

If indeed you are going to Africa, go with the .375, it is pretty much the staple there and spare ammo and local speciality loads are available, good hunting.

[ghrousseau]

Proven caliber and more common should you have to buy ammo in Africa. Most PH's would call that the minimum for the big five. I guarantee your PH will be backing you up with a .470 NE or bigger in a double rifle with open sights. Here is a pretty good link with some comments on the .375 H&H


.375 H&H Magnum - All Around Caliber (http://webpages.charter.net/375magnum/allrd.htm)


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