Hi Bakes,

I'd put them in the catagory of "only just" As I said, anything under .30 cal is liable to make things more difficult....... and only bullets of 180 grains or heavier tend to get my (full) approval...... Of course lighter calibres will work, especially on smaller game, but you never know what you're going to see when you're hunting.

Your other choice of a .416 (or .375 H&H) would be a far better choice for all African hunting. Assuming a good bulet choice. It will shoot straight through the smaller antelope without damaging the cape any more than a .30 and it obviously copes brilliantly with the larger stuff such as Eland, Zebra & Wildebeest...... to say nothing of being able to use the same rifle on Dangerous Game.

I'm sure that some will say, well what about meat damage?... well, what about it. The hunter is paying a great deal of money to hunt trophies, and the meat damage consideration is irrelevant. There will still be plenty f good meat left, but more to the point there's far less chance of the animal running away and being lost.

I have a regular client and friend named Eddie Priscott who owns a company called Frogs Island 4x4 who hunted with a 25-06 last year. Eddie shoots like a demon and took some great trophies including some of the larger antelope, but we often had some challenging tracking jobs to find his trophies, and despite the fact thet he killed everything he shot at, most animals ran for some considerable distance. Even he at the end of the hunt, agreed with me that the calibre was a bit too light to be comfortable with.

Another regular client & friend is Peter Lang who shoots a .416. Peter also shoots very well indeed, and has hunted everything from the smaller antelope to Buffalo with me on various hunts and I doubt we've ever had to track any animal he's ever shot with me for more than 50 yards.

Tells it's own story doesn't it?