On those bigger animals, I would just send bigger and heavier bullets. A 200 AB, Hornady 200 or 220 ELD-X, even the 212 ELD-X, and 200 or 220 Partition would all do well.

Thinking on sticking with the 180 grain accubonds in the .300wm. I would hate to change ammo or have to carry two different loads which odds are I wouldn't get to interchange anyway.


Now the wife is shooting her 7mm-08 with her animals being Kudu ( hopefully ), Nyala, Springbok and Zebra.

Should I stoke her gun with 140 grain accubonds?


I can buy her federal ammo in a 140 grain partition, but I've always liked Nosler Factory ammo

Why not 162 gr bullets?

No need for long/high BC bullets on plains game hunts IME. I've been 4 times, shot close to 50 animals ( no eland yet though) with 7mm 160 accubonds. Performance is fantastic when you hit 'em where you should. I've never had a shot over 160 yds over there, and it's much closer than that most of the time. It is a very brushy environment, so walking and stalking in close is the ticket. I LOVE accubond bullets, but if I were going on a plains game hunt with a 7-08, I'd load TTSX's as fast as you can get without losing accuracy. An E-Tip or GMX would work just as well.

Hope you have the time of your life. Africa is very special.

I had a bad scope on my rifle at the time, but hit mine with a 180 x bullet out of a 300 ultra mag right in the shoulder blade and it didn't even break the bone. If I had bigger, I would use it, but with good placement, the win mag will work.

Yup

Yep, your 300 Win mag and 180 Accubonds are good to go.
To put things in perspective:
Your wife's choice will do the trick as well. About anything on the continent has been killed with a 7x57. Her 7-08 will do anything a 7x57 will do. Either with a bonded 140 or a 160 cup and core.

When you say “180 x bullet,” are you talking about a Barnes X bullet?

The second eland I shot was with a 300 Weatherby, 180 grain TSX.
I was the back up as the sun was setting, just short of 400 yards. First shot was a 6.5-284, 140 Partition, animal was staggering but didn't drop and the PH said "shoot, shoot". 6.5 went through heart, 300 broke second vertebra in neck. Both bullets were under skin on far side looking like bullets in advertising.

First eland I shot was two days earlier with a 460 Weatherby, no second shot required.

M

I can't remember all the instances of lack of penetration I experienced with the Accubond, but two that stand out are taking a quartering shot on a 75 pound warthog where no bone was hit but the bullet didn't make it through. And then there was the gemsbock I shot in the neck as a follow-up shot. The bullet just flattened on the vertebrae.

Sneaky

It was one of the blue coated x bullets that were around in 2002 when I went to Zimbabwe. The skinner dug it out of the scapula on the side I hit him on. Granted, had I hit him where I was aiming I am sure the bullet would have done the job.

I thought about loading her up with E-tips or GMX superformance

why would I use 162 grain bullets?

shots are gonna be around 100 yards give or take

When I was in the East Cape, I had to shoot at over 200 yards three times and I had to shoot at over 300 about that many times in Namibia. When the ph puts up the sticks you need to be able to shoot within about 5 seconds which is harder than it sounds, particularly when it’s windy.

Man, that’s wild. They’ve got some tough critters over there.

I think I've told you of my, not one, but two eland fiasco's. ('Second one I think I just hit his dewlap, so he was probably fine, but that single drop of blood was their money-maker). The first one was just a little too high in the shoulder (with a .375), and our death march began. 'Never recovered. I redeemed myself twice since then, but I still have nightmares.

Just take my .416 Rigby and be done with it. I think I have enough ammo still. I shot my steenbok with it. You read that right. No tracking him! And yes, there was enough left for a shoulder mount.

6.5 CM. Bullet type doesn’t matter. Just shoot the gun in air and it’ll fall over dead. If your rifle has a muzzle break there is a good chance the one standing next to it will die too.