Iqbal, I've never shot a horned sheep, but I understand they're pretty damn tough and perhaps one day I'll be lucky enough to...... as long as I don't have to climb too many of your mountains I've heard so much about!

Yes the .270 is a better calibre than the 243 for Africa and it's also one of those calibres that seems to perform a lot better than it looks on paper, but I believe it's still slightly on the light side. I like to work on the principle that you never know when you're going to come across one of the bigger antelope etc, and any bullet lighter than about 180 grains (in any calibre) might cause problems.... having said that, I believe that most hunters let their interest in ballistics lead them straight into the arms of the gundealer....... We often see clients pitch up for a plains game hunt with 3 or even 4 rifles, and quite honestly, they don't need them. I'm not saying they don't enjoy using them , just that they are unnecessary. They see an animal in the bush and by the time they've buggered about sorting out which rifle they're going to use the animal is long gone. All any hunter really needs to bring on a safari is 1 rifle and 2 at the very most. You probably know the old saying of "beware the man with one rifle.... because he can use it well" A .375 or .416 will kill any animal in Africa if the man behind it knows how to use it.

Bakes: As to loads, I personally love reloading and rate a handloaded round with a good bullet choice as unbeatable. My personal choice for all plains game is 180 grain Win Silvertip in any .30 calibre. It's an old round, but it's about the only bullet I have NEVER seen fail..... it's also like stepping up a calibre in it's effect..... but I'm sure that a lot of people out there who don't agree and I look forward to many years of campfire discussions about it..... I've even used them and seen them used in .375 H&H on Buffalo bulls and they performed bloody well.

There's not really an African word for Zebra as each tribe has it's own language/dialect. But the Zulu call it E'tobi pronounced Eh- toh-bee and in Swahili it's Punda Milia, pronounced Poondah Meeliah. Both roughly translate into meaning donkey in pyjamas.

Africa has a wide variety of languages, but if you can speak a bit of Zulu, Sawahili & English then you can make yourself understood pretty much anywhere in Africa