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Thread: .308 kill an eland?
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08-04-2020, 11:38 #51
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Re: .308 kill an eland?
I have to, respectfully, disagree with you here. I have personally shot more than 120 eland and have guided clients on more eland hunts than that. The majority of the eland I shot, was shot with the .300 win mag (a .308" caliber), only 5 were shot with a larger caliber (9.3x62). A .308 win with a monolithic expanding bullet or a partitioned bullet (Nosler Partition, Swift A-frame) will penetrate into the vitals of even a large eland bull from any sane angle and kill it cleanly. Bullet construction (as Messor explained in his post) is far more important than the caliber of the bullet or the case it was launched from.
To illustrate my point, I have seen three consecutive 300gr Hornady interlock bullets fired from a .375 H&H fail to penetrate into the vitals of an eland bull, standing broadside on, because they disintegrated in the shoulder. The day before yesterday I shot two young bulls with my .300 win mag (180gr GMX), one at 300m and one at 350m, both went down within 50m. Two hours ago I shot a young bull with my 9.3x62 (230gr Peregrine) at 160m, he went down within 50m. All three the shots were at broadside animals, all were placed in the center of the vital triangle, all three bullets exited. The .300 win mag probably has less energy at 300 meters than the .308 win, with the same bullet, has at 200.
So is the .300 win mag and the 9.3x62 better eland cartridges than the .375 H&H? Certainly not. Again, it is the bullet that kills the eland, not the cartridge it was fired from.
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08-04-2020, 12:18 #52
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Re: .308 kill an eland?
The statistics I noted included the calibre, bullet, weight, etc If I remember correctly it was mostly ordinary bullets like Speer Grand Slam, Sierra, Remington, and some Nosler Partitions. I Remember one occasion where a Nosler P hit the shoulder bone and barely penetrated into the one lung. The eland ran for several hours and I finally got a chance to kill it with a 285 gr Norma bullet from my 9,3 X 62 rifle.
I think one can debate the merits and demerits and have numerous different examples and opinions about this. This is just my view. Others are welcome to differ and use whatever they believe could do the job.
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08-04-2020, 12:52 #53
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Re: .308 kill an eland?
I would shoot an eland every day of the week with my 130gr TSX load in my 270.
But, if we want to add value to the topic then a few things needs to be said.
A hunter can only hunt with a rifle available to him, and his PH/land owner must decide if that is enough gun because it’s his property.
Now regarding cartridge, I’ve said it before, if you go after big game take the biggest cartridge you can comfortably control. This is very important because not all people shoot big rifles very well. But let’s say a person shoots his 375 very well, why would he take the 308 if we assume he is using quality bullets in both? Example, I need to hunt a big eland on the plains, why would I take my 270 instead of my 338, I shoot both equally well, such a choice just would not make sense, the 338 is almost designed for exactly that.
Our little quote must thus be amended.
Use enough gun, the biggest you can shoot comfortably, and use enough bullet as well.
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08-04-2020, 13:34 #54
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Re: .308 kill an eland?
Shot placement - Bullet type then Caliber? Is that agreeable.
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08-04-2020, 15:23 #55
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Re: .308 kill an eland?
Shot placement and bullet quality are equally important in my opinion. An excellent bullet that is placed in the wrong spot will result in a wounded animal, so will a perfectly placed bullet that does not manage to penetrate deep enough to reach the vitals. Within reasonable limits, caliber is not very important. Short of giraffe, hippo, buffalo, rhino and elephant there is no African land animal that I will not happily hunt with any .308 caliber rifle from the .308 win to the .300 magnums.
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08-04-2020, 19:09 #56
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09-04-2020, 13:40 #57
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19-04-2020, 20:04 #58
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Re: .308 kill an eland?
"Short of giraffe, hippo, buffalo, rhino and elephant there is no African land animal that I will not happily hunt with any .308 caliber rifle from the .308 win to the .300 magnums."
This is also known as the inconvenient truth!!!
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
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19-04-2020, 20:32 #59
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Re: .308 kill an eland?
I need to be set straight here !.
When we say .308, we mean .308 Win which is also a 30 cal
When we say 30 cal we mean .308 and all the other .308 cal rifles lumped as 30 cal
.............................Or what ?
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19-04-2020, 22:09 #60
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Re: .308 kill an eland?
You got it Treeman. Perfectly complicated in its simplicity.
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