Greetings,

My wife and I are looking at getting two rifles with interchangeable barrels; Heym SR-30 and/or Blaser R8. If we were to get swappable barrels, the intent is to keep the same caliber class i.e. magnum/magnum. Therefore, the question is between the following combinations for her and I.

7mm Rem Mag & .375 H&H/Ruger
.300 Win Mag & .375 H&H/Ruger

My gut is telling me that the 7mm Rem Mag is really the way to go since it broadens the fielding of the rifle down to smaller game substantially. I have had two 7 mags in the past and loved the guns but sold them for life circumstances years ago. Am I wrong in thinking that the 7 mag leaves no gaps until you need a .375? I'm also considering that the 7 mag will kick a lot less for my wife.

FWIW, I also have a .308 and the wife has a .270. We are just looking at a nice all-in-one combo for future Africa trips. I hunt in North America and Europe.

Thanks.

I’d rather have something very small like a 6mm. I’ll shoot anything with a 375 though. For your wife, if she’s likely to get scoped, I can see it.

If you want a good pair that has the same bolt, 6mm and 9,3x62. I took the latter to Namibia, it’s a killer.

A few years ago some magazine took a bunch of 'gun writers' on an African hunt.  All had two or three rifles.  Almost every one later wrote that to their surprise almost everything they did was with the 'little' rifle such as 30-06, 270, or similar.  The game they shot was similar to the game they shoot here.

The larger things I shot in Africa were loose or elk sized and I don’t shoot moose or elk with a little gun either.

Unless your wife is a sturdy woman she will find 7mm mag unpleasant.

Possibly necessary, but no less unpleasant

I hunt there often. I don't go to safari outfitters though. I go to the farms of people I know or my own. 7mm Rem is best for longer shots than you'll be taking and really fucks up the meat on shorter shots. .300wm is extremely destructive and fucks up hides bad on things up to about blesbok size. Every time someone uses a 7mm mag or 300 mag over there on something under 400lbs what I end up seeing is shredded hide on the off-side shoulder. .375H&H is fine for very large stuff and will work very well on the smaller stuff too. On smaller things you can shoot behind the shoulder instead of directly into it and it pokes through with usually fairly little pelt damage and it knocks the absolute piss out of kudu/eland/wildebeest/etc... For stuff like springbok, blesbok, warthog, jackal, baboon, etc... up to about 300lbs a 6.5CM or 6.5x55 is about the perfect option really and I've seen large eland taken and kudu with chest shots with a 6.5CM though I personally usually use a .338WM on game from ~400lbs up to about 1200lbs. I've personally taken black wildebeest, waterbuck and an eland with a .308 but those were headshots and you probably will want to take body shots. Pro-tips: Study the anatomies. True antelope are different to deer. African game are ridiculously tough and you want to plant them on the ground because it's actually pretty easy to not be able to find them if they get into a run. I'd just bring a .375 but recoil is a factor so a brake or suppressor is something I would require. I'd also think about a .375 Ruger (I've used one a few times there) if you can get your rifles chambered for that and find ammo for it. Same horsepower as a H&H but not belted and much shorter so longer case life and lighter gun. Also, for a few hundred bucks you can buy a suppressor in ZA (you'll have to work that out long in advance but euroopticafrica.co.za can probably help, I know some of those guys and they're pretty darned helpful) and your PH might have one on hand. Everyone will appreciate you using one. You just need to have the right threading. Ask them about that. I own a few suppressors there. They're not regulated items in ZA, which is funny since I can't have them in Kommiefornia at all. Alternatively, just use a loaner gun while you're there. They'll definitely have the right chambering for the game at hand and they'll almost certainly have a suppressor on it already.

300 win mag and 416 Rigby.

Not really much difference between 7mm magnum and 300 WM, but you can push heavier bullets with the 300 and I personally like heavy for caliber bullets for hunting.

Too bad Blaser doesnt offer a 300H&H barrel.
The 300HH is a pussycat for a 'magnum'.
300H&H and 375H&H FTW.
If only.


So, 300WM and 375 H&H
Depending on how the barrels shoot, you could have bullet weights from 150-220 for the 300, and 235-350 for the 375.  That is quite the range.


ETA
Eurooptic has 458 Lott/ 300 WM used combos on sale.  $6500 vs nl $8600.
458WM out of the Lott barrel wouldnt be all that bad, but not as versatile as 375.

Wow! You're the first person in the US I've ever seen talk about owning land in Africa. Which country? Do you expect to have problems with so-called "land reform" in the future?

I've never been.  But I think a .275 Rigby and a .416 Rigby would be a very usable 2 rifle battery for Africa if the bigger animals are on your list.

Switch barrel rifles are a massive PITA and neither you nor the PH will enjoy the time wasted switching barrels so that you have “the perfect caliber” for each animal shot.

I have been 3 times and including culls I have shit 48 head of African game.

Unless you are hunting DG the 375 ( or any other heavy) is unnecessary. Now if that’s what you WANT take by all means do so. My first trip over I took and 06 with 165 TSX and an 8x68S with 220 TSX.

I shot my Eland, Blue Wildebeast (and several culls), Waferbuck, and Bushbuck (it was what I had in my hands at the time) with the 8mm and I could have just as easily killed them with my 06.

My suggestion is 2 rifles is that you take 2 rifles that you are both comfortable shooting so you can each have one on the truck.

For a lighter rifle a 243 is amazingly useful as is a 6.4x55

For you larger bore rifle pick whatever she shoots well but an 05 would do you just fine.

If you can handle the recoil of something that has a large, heavy bullet and enough velocity to take shots at the ranges you’re likely to encounter, you only need one rifle. Something like a hot 9,3 or a 375 Ruger would be ideal for most things short of Buffalo and would work on a Buffalo too.

Can I recommend a 30-06, and a .375 ruger.

The .375 ruger is designed for a long action, not a magnum.
90% of the time I use my 30-06, saving my .375 ruger for dangerous game.

The 30-06 is fine for anything other than dangerous game.
Use solids for the small stuff under 50 lbs.

I have had really good results with Remington Cor-Lok 180 grain on African critters, although I did take som handloaded ttsx for kudu