I shoot an improved .375 H&H (.375-.358STA) and a .375 RUM and have killed many things over 500yds. My Kudu was 513 and a couple elk pushing 600 along with a few deer past 500. I have also killed elk at over 400yds with my .416 Rem Mag with 350gr bullets. The drop on the .416 get's pretty crazy past 400yds though. The .375's with 250-270gr bullets are pretty impressive on game and the bigger .375's have no problem getting around 3000fps with those bullets.

That aside hunting cape buffalo isn't a long range game. So if I go back for buffalo I will either take my .458 Lott or my .416 Rem. Mag loaded with heavy bullets. If I wanted to buy one gun to cover buffalo and still hunt big game with it here I would probably go with a .375 RUM.

 

Did a bit of casual research on this a while back (years ago), and a two rifle set up looked to me something like .375 H&H and then another along the lines of .458 Lott. A one rifle choice lead me to .416 Rem Mag.

I would look at the specific game regs where you plan to hunt, as there are minimums which must be met.

 

im starting to lean towards the .375. dont want to get into anything in the .40 range. not a whole lot out there on these guns ( at least i couldnt find much) on the net. thats why im asking thanks for the help. how hard is the ammo to find for these big guns? .375 and up

 

Expensive but readily availble. You cant go wrong with the .416 Rem though.....very popular in Africa.

 

.375 H&H is very readily avbailble. .375 Ruger is currently only loaded by Hornady. .375RUM is probably a little harder to find at your average shop. Specialty rounds will be even more limited and most reload there own.

Hondo

 

I don't think your gonna need to worry about long range on a buffalo hunt, I would say the 375 H&H would be my choice if I could only pick one. I also love the 458 win mag, but a 458 lott would be better and you can shoot the win mag in it. A 416 Rem would be great but I have no expieriance with that. I just got a 8mm Rem Mag but haven't shot it yet. and of course the 50 BMG is the big daddy with minimal recoil from the one I have but to heavy to even think of hunting with.

Good luck with what ever you pick

 

Your .300WinMag is a fine weapon for all Africa game except maybe the BIG 5. Even then it will do the job with proper bullet construction and placement. A lot of people go with the biggest rifle they can find for Africa hunts and end up losing more game due to poor accuracy. Not from rifle but from hunter flinching. Proven fact that most people reach a recoil limit around the size of a .30-06 or .300 WinMag......anything larger and most develop flinches and anticipate the shot which results in poor hits or misses if lucky.

Here is my recommendation as I have hunted a few times and also have good friends that have hunted more than a few times there and here. I would take your .300WinMag for all the plains game including the big Kudu and Elands without any concern.
Then I would take a Marlin 1895 in .45-70 for the big bad boys. Quick handling, great bullet, massive damage and you can get custom rounds from Buffalo Bore and Garret Ammunition that will knock a Cape Buffalo in the dirt and has been done many many times.
I also think you will get more use out of that levergun .45-70 once you return home on hogs, black bear, moose, etc...than you expected rather than having an expensive .375 wall hanger. Just my 2 cents....
http://www.garrettcartridges.com
http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/photos.htm

Sure my recommendation is not the popular one...but much more realistic in the big scheme of things. I have seen more people buy a rifle for a hunt on big game and never shoot it again because of recoil and they just cant hit side of barn with the thing from flinching. Seriously read up on the .45-70 with rounds from Buffalo Bore or Garret (I recommend Garret)....most of your shots at buff are going to be less than 100yds I am guessing unless you are in an area that is devoid of the brush and high grass they run to when spooked or injured.
Good luck and shoot straight above anything else. My good friend went over with his recurve bow and wooden arrows and shot 6 good animals including a Kudu. One of the guys in camp shot a Cape with his longbow and a fiberglass arrow that weight almost 1200 grains from 18yds. Shot placement...always comes back to that...

 

Brock, personally I like your suggestions for plains game as well as the Marlin for Buff. The .45-70 is on my short list for when I go though I will probably take a .375 H&H or Ruger. I have to disagree with you though on the .375 being an expensive wallhanger when he gets home though. The .375 would be an excellent cartridge for any of the bigger North American species, especially Brown Bear and Moose.
Now this is strictly personal, but if I can't get within 300 yards of an animal and preferably 100-200 I probably don't want to shoot it. (Except for woodchucks then farther is better). If I am going to pay all of that money to hunt big game then I want to "hunt" it. The "kill" would be the icing on the cake. Probably why I prefer bowhunting over all else.

Hondo

 

I'm not a fan of hunting just for the sake of killing, but if I were and I were hunting Cape Buffalo I think I'd invest in something pretty powerful. Something like this...

 

I should have mentioned the recoil difference as well. The .375 H&H is by far the lightest kicker of the .375 and up calibers I have shot. With a long barrel you can get around 2800fps out of 260gr Accubonds or 250gr Sierras. I dont think the H&H kicks anymore than the .338 Win Mag. The improved .375's step the recoil up a notch and the .375 RUM takes some getting use to. It's a pretty vicious kick with a light weight rifle.

The .416's pound you pretty good with heavy bullets and take a lot of range time to get comfortable with, especially with heavy bullets. 300gr X's aren't too bad and hammer stuff pretty good. I literally piled up a black bear this spring with one. My .416 shoots them at 2960fps and it went through both front shoulders at 100yds.

My Lott is in another league. I still haven't got comfortable shooting it from a bench. I know I will be able to but it's going to take a lot of range time to do it (one thing that I haven't had time for recently).

Out of all the .375 and up calibers the .375 H&H will have the best ammo selection world wide. If I was stuck using factory ammo that would be the caliber I would choose hands down. It's also chambered in more guns than anything else over .375.

After being disapointed shooting elk with .300 magnums I jumped to a .358STA. It's a great caliber but I wanted to try a .375 so I built the .375-.358STA and it was even better. The .416 is good as well but I haven't killed as many animals with it to be able to tell if it is in the same class as the .375's. The trajectory out to 500yds is close to the same as the big .375's with 300gr X's but go up in bullet weight and it drops crazy fast.

 

Hoss, pretty tough to fit the concrete bedliner in that thing.........

 

The problem with the big guns is that it takes a lot more weight to tame them.

Unless you get one of these:


Try the bullpup version...

 

If I may add to this list .475 Alaskan or the .50 Alaskan.Check out Wildwestguns.com May not be the cheapest but darn nice.I have the Copilot works very well at 200 Yrds.

 

I shoot a .340 WBY. Love the gun. If I were going to the Dark Continent, It would be my main gun unless I was going after dangerous game. Having said that, I would also look at the new Ruger .375 - it's based off of a standard case size (like an '06) but gets H&H performance.
here's a link: http://www.hornady.com/story.php?s=482
Only other advice I would offer is get something you won't be afraid to shoot often. Practice. IMHO, the .416s start to really push the envelope.
Hope that helps,

 

and that is why i hunt with an osage selfbow or a recurve with ash arrows tipped with 160 ribteks or snuffers for 90% of my game from small game to bear....LOL Nothing beats getting close and personal...especially on the ground. Good luck..... and for grins....go to the Garret site and read the story of the guy that got the Africa Big 6 all with his 45-70. Quite the hunt from reading it....

Got to love that .458 bullet in the 45-70....
Good luck, straight shooting, and cant wait to see the pics...