An American's hunting rifle.... what would work for South Africa or Namibia?

[Miami_JBT]

At some point I'd like to cross the pond as a civilian and do some hunting.



Some of the hunting rigs I have....

Ruger M77 .30-06 Springfield
HK SLB 2000 .30-06 Springfield
Remington 700 ADL .308 Winchester
Browning BLR Lightweight '81 .308 Winchester
CZ 527M 7.62x39mm

What would work for hunting on your end of the world?

[Pirate]

Of those, the Ruger or the Remington. If it was me, the Ruger. Semi's are no-go for hunting here, personally I don't think a lever-action is ideal (especially not on the great open spaces of Namibia) and 7.62x39 isn't really a suitable general hunting caliber for our conditions and game.

Leave the ballistic tips at home, get a good load with a high-quality bonded or mono bullet, or better yet, save on the ammo transit and import charges (which I hear is quite exorbitant) and buy PMP African Elite here (it's loaded with Swift A-Frames), which (given that you've studied shot placement on African game) should have you GTG for most non-dangerous game.

[Miami_JBT]

Of those, the Ruger or the Remington. If it was me, the Ruger. Semi's are no-go for hunting here, personally I don't think a lever-action is ideal (especially not on the great open spaces of Namibia) and 7.62x39 isn't really a suitable general hunting caliber for our conditions and game.

Leave the ballistic tips at home, get a good load with a high-quality bonded or mono bullet, or better yet, save on the ammo transit and import charges (which I hear is quite exorbitant) and buy PMP African Elite here (it's loaded with Swift A-Frames), which (given that you've studied shot placement on African game) should have you GTG for most non-dangerous game.

The BLR is a fantastic rifle that operates very much like a modern bolt action. Detachable Box magazine design with a AR style bolt and lock up. Surprised the BLR isn't popular there. They're accurate and well made.

[Ds J]

What would you like to hunt over here? That would determine your choice of calibre.308 and 30-06 are popular calibres with sufficient killing power for our regular hunting needs. Finding ammunition should also be easy.Practice to hit a tennis ball out to 250 yards and all should be well.If you have a plains rifle available (300 Win Mag or similar) I would tag it along.

[Miami_JBT]

What would you like to hunt over here? That would determine your choice of calibre.308 and 30-06 are popular calibres with sufficient killing power for our regular hunting needs. Finding ammunition should also be easy.Practice to hit a tennis ball out to 250 yards and all should be well.If you have a plains rifle available (300 Win Mag or similar) I would tag it along.

250 yards is doable for me. Don't have a .300 Win Mag. Florida is thick brush and woods. My hunting out west is in Oklahoma which is plains broken by tree lines. Never had the need for a rifle like that. My bruiser has always been a .45-70 Government.

[Ds J]

250 yards is doable for me. Don't have a .300 Win Mag. Florida is thick brush and woods. My hunting out west is in Oklahoma which is plains broken by tree lines. Never had the need for a rifle like that. My bruiser has always been a .45-70 Government.

The usual hunting distances in SA are 50-250 meters. 300 meters are generally considered the upper limit for most hunters' accurate shooting. If you can do better it is good.Other folks will tell you more about hunting in Namibia. I have very often heard that it requires long shots of 400m.

[Ds J]

250 yards is doable for me. Don't have a .300 Win Mag. Florida is thick brush and woods. My hunting out west is in Oklahoma which is plains broken by tree lines. Never had the need for a rifle like that. My bruiser has always been a .45-70 Government.

The usual hunting distances in SA are 50-250 meters. 300 meters are generally considered the upper limit for most hunters' accurate shooting. If you can do better it is good.Other folks will tell you more about hunting in Namibia. I have very often heard that it requires long shots of 400m. You should be able to safely take anything up to eland with the 30-06. The 45-70 will be an excellent bush rifle.

[Koebelwagen]

Of the rifles you show I would leave the braked Ruger at home and take the Remington, your PH will thank you for not obliterating his ears. With a .30-06 you can hunt any non-dangerous game animal successfully and legally provided shot placement is good. Then if you want to take a second rifle maybe consider the 45-70 as a bush rifle.

[pre 64]

.A specific caliber choice would be dependent on the animals on your wish list and to a smaller extent,the area you are hunting.
.A bolt action rifle in sporter weight.
.Scope in the 3-9 magnification range.
.No muzzle brake.
.Suppressor required on more and more farms
.Premium bullets please.
.A rifle/scope combination that you use a lot and are completely comfortable with.
.Leave the super duper 4000fps ultra magnum lightning obliterater rifle at home.The humble 3006 is a better choice.
.The BLR is actually a damn nice rifle and can be used on most game farms as they have CAE's [certificate of adequate enclosure]. But are not allowed to be used on open farms.

[BBCT]

.
.The BLR is actually a damn nice rifle and can be used on most game farms as they have CAE's [certificate of adequate enclosure]. But are not allowed to be used on open farms.

Hi Pre

Please explain this? How & why would the "useability" (legality?) of the BLR be affected by whether the farm has a CAE or is open?

Thanks