Africa Hunt
 

My son won a hunting trip to South Africa and is taking me along. We will be hunting from Oct 1st to Oct 8th. Right now I'd like to take a Zebra, Gemsbuck and Impala. I'd like to take my .45cal White ML on the trip and shoot my 465gr conicals. The problem is getting either 777 or Swiss 3F powder. From what I've been told you need a permit to purchase black powder and my Outfitter doesn't have one nor does he know of anyone who does. So unless the Outfitter is able to obtain black powder somehow I may be forced to take my 280Rem along. Question is I'm leaning to using 150gr bullet. but what bullet would you recommend for a Zebra and Gemsbuck?

Thanks for your suggestions.

Ed

I don't have any advice for you. I believe Flags has some African hunting experience so hopefully he sees this and him or someone else can help you out. I look forward to hearing about this hunt though, be sure to post and let us know how it goes. Hunting Africa would certainly be an experience! Enjoy it.
-Jake

While something like the 280 Rem will work for the animals you've listed (I have taken all 3 with a 7mm Mag) the caliber is on the light side just like it was when I did it. Both zebra and gemsbok are tough animals. Impala are not. My recommendation is to use a bigger caliber than a .284. However if you insist on using it, use very good bullets and be sure you place them in the right spot. Zebra are notoriously difficult to place a bullet on since the stripes seem to through people's aim off. See which one of the premium bullets your rifle likes and use them. However there aren't really a lot of choices in the .280 Rem and you didn't say if you handload or not.

One problem with something like the 280 Rem is that if your rifle shows up and the ammo doesn't (this did happen to me once) you may not be able to find any where you are. Some of the more unusual rounds aren't easy to feed in many places in Africa. South Africa is a pretty big place so you make be in an area where there are few gun stores. That's why many people take common rounds such as 375 H&H and 30-06/270 Win/7mm Rem Mag on safari. You can get ammo just about anywhere for those calibers. That is always something to consider.

Flag, I do reload and was thinking of using the Barnes 150gr TTSX or TSX bullet. While I have to check with TSA I'm hoping I can ship the bullets with the rifle? If not, I'll pack them with my luggage.

280 in Africa
 

The zebra is the toughest of the game on your wish list but a well placed 280 bullet will do the job quite well.

I have used 160 grain Nosler Partitions, 160 grain Nosler AccuBond, and 160 grain Barnes TSX on all of your list. I did not like the 160 TSX performance and would switch to the 150 grain or 160 grain TTSX if I use Barnes bullets in a 280 again in for gemsbuck and the like. The TSX 160 had a bit of an expansion problem on one kudu although it did the job.

This year I will use a TTSX in a .30-06 as my light rifle for a Botswana hunt. If you can kill it with a .30-06 you can kill it with a .280.

Pack ammunition in your check-in luggage and put it in a container that you could check separately if the folks in Johannesburg require it. Sometimes ammunition is required to be checked as an individual bag in South Africa, sometimes not. Use a sturdy container that will accept a lock for the ammo, put it in your check-in (not rifle case), and declare it at the airline check-in counter.

TSA is not the problem. TSA allows ammunition in the rifle case but most airlines do not. The airports in Africa will not allow it.