The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - 243 vs 260 vs 270 for longrange small/medium game hunting in south africa

lt dan · August 20, 2009, 03:31 AM

piet, i have struggled with the same question the last two years.

i have a 300magnum a 308 and a .22. i live in the N-west and we do a lot of medium game hunting wart-hog and a lot of varmint hunting.

at the moment i do this with the 308 seeing that my 300H&H is still being built. however my hunting buddies shoot with a variety of calibres amongst them are 223, 222, 22-250. 25-06, 270,303,308,250-3000 7x57 and even 300wm.

from all of these i finally decided on the 243win. the 270 and the 25-06 are close seconds. i have no experience with a 260 and have never seen one, or their ammo over here. being Africa like we know it i would stick to calibres that is common and as a guide i would suggest sticking to calibres that are locally produced (PMP calibres). every now and then there are rumours that the Americans see the political leaders in s-africa as borderline terrorist sympathisers and the net result is stricter regulating of guns and ammo related exports to us, and to be honest and don't blame them. hence the fact that you see so many European and former east-block ammo and reloading equipment in our local gun shops. add to this our local gun laws i would strongly suggest to keep to the "every day calibres".

taking into consideration that you don't have a flat shooting 30 calibre for plains game, and you want to do both plains game and varmint hunting i think you may rate the 270 and the 25-06 above the 243.

finally i would suggest to do the dedicated hunters course. that would allow you under the new laws to own limitless calibres including shotguns. you can then own a semi-auto shotgun and one extra handgun. as well as the fact that you can keep more ammo and powder. since i have done this course people have offered me their rifles rather than have it destroyed or handing it in at the police.

if you haven't tried it already go to wikipedia and search all the calibres you are interested in and compare them, it makes for some interesting reading.

good luck with your choice. (keep the 243win in mind)

August 20, 2009, 03:31 AM	#32
lt dan Senior Member Join Date: March 4, 2008 Location: south africa Posts: 328	piet, i have struggled with the same question the last two years. i have a 300magnum a 308 and a .22. i live in the N-west and we do a lot of medium game hunting wart-hog and a lot of varmint hunting. at the moment i do this with the 308 seeing that my 300H&H is still being built. however my hunting buddies shoot with a variety of calibres amongst them are 223, 222, 22-250. 25-06, 270,303,308,250-3000 7x57 and even 300wm. from all of these i finally decided on the 243win. the 270 and the 25-06 are close seconds. i have no experience with a 260 and have never seen one, or their ammo over here. being Africa like we know it i would stick to calibres that is common and as a guide i would suggest sticking to calibres that are locally produced (PMP calibres). every now and then there are rumours that the Americans see the political leaders in s-africa as borderline terrorist sympathisers and the net result is stricter regulating of guns and ammo related exports to us, and to be honest and don't blame them. hence the fact that you see so many European and former east-block ammo and reloading equipment in our local gun shops. add to this our local gun laws i would strongly suggest to keep to the "every day calibres". taking into consideration that you don't have a flat shooting 30 calibre for plains game, and you want to do both plains game and varmint hunting i think you may rate the 270 and the 25-06 above the 243. finally i would suggest to do the dedicated hunters course. that would allow you under the new laws to own limitless calibres including shotguns. you can then own a semi-auto shotgun and one extra handgun. as well as the fact that you can keep more ammo and powder. since i have done this course people have offered me their rifles rather than have it destroyed or handing it in at the police. if you haven't tried it already go to wikipedia and search all the calibres you are interested in and compare them, it makes for some interesting reading. good luck with your choice. (keep the 243win in mind) __________________ If youth is wasted on the young, then Africa is wasted on the Africans