Best Rifle for Nilgai, Elk, Aoudad, & Oryx

[texas shag]

How are you getting a 338WM to greater speeds than a 340WBY?

apologies, I fat fingered the bullet weight. That is my load with 210 grain partitions in-front of 76.5 grains of RL19 with a tight custom barrel.

My 225 grain handloads shoot in the 2900 FPS range.

[NatureBoy]

I shot a few aoudad with my 25-06....with 117 grain and no issues. last one was at 350 yards, bullet hit and he locked up and stumbled twice and then down the "mountain" he went. As said up above, these arent freight trains youre trying to kill. They are larger/more dense than whitetails but I would focus on shot placement moreso than hole size. Im not a fan of a 30-06 (says the person who loves his 25-06, i know) just because its not a real efficient case design but a person would be lying if they said that its not a round that can do all of north america just fine.

[txtrophy85]

lol
Why not be a big man, grow a pair, get some hair on your chest, and use a .50 cal?
A 7mm-08 will take any of those animals easily out to 300 or better... and be fun to shoot so you can practice without beating the crap out of yourself.
28 Nosler is a hot 7mm if you like big mags and doesn't kick too bad with a long barrel and a radial brake.
There's a reason the used rifle section at Cabela's is packed with big mags with less than a box through them.

have you ever shot a elk, nilgai or Aoudad? I own two 7mm-08's and I wouldn't want them on a aoudad or a elk hunt, dang sure not a nilgai.


I recently went looking to build a rifle for almost the exact same purpose, take away nilgai and oryx and add mountain goat/moose


I settled on a weatherby mark V ultralight in .300 Win mag. better bullet selection, options, availability over the .300 wby mag.

I've killed a few aoudad in del rio and a elk in Colorado with a .257 wby mag. the sheep and the elk take multiple hits ( avg 2 per animal ). its hard to get perfect shot placement every time with real life field conditions and it helps to have a little extra bullet. i'm finding this out after shooting the .257 wby exclusively for 4 years now.


I've seen aoudad soak up shots from .300's and 7mm's and run a long way. also seen them killed with .22-250's and lost with other smaller calibers. they are tough suckers and if they run can get into places that make them unrecoverable.


familiar in the field with but never killed an oryx or nilgai but they are very stoutly built animals.

[Phillip Fields]

Since he has included nilgai in the mix, remember that many nilgai outfitters either have a minimum of .300 Magnum or recommend a minimum of .300 Magnum. These guys see a lot of nilgai killed and have a reason for their recommendations.

[tward1604]

Just to throw another option in the pile, I bought a Kimber Montana chambered in .338 Federal for similar purposes. This combo topped with a Leupold 2.5-8 scope weighs in around 6 pounds. We stalked Nilgai last January for a couple of miles and it was a joy to carry. One shot dropped my bull in his tracks.

There were not a lot of rifles chambering the .338 Federal when I put mine together about 10 years ago. The stock design of the Kimber tames the recoil really well so even shooting it off the bench is not a punishment.

I acknowledge that it is not a super long range round, but stalking in to 300 yards or less is a lot of the fun of a hunt.

T

The 338 Federal is a good option and not gonna slam you every trigger pull.

PM Sent

[billfromtx]

300 Win Mag...

[Pushbutton2]

28 Nosler

[canny]

Any of the 300s slinging 180g bullets would be ideal for those animals. I prefer the 300 WBY, but a 300 WIN will work fine. Is it 100% necessary for the larger guns such as 300 RUM or 30-378 WBY that's your call. Truth is there is not one magic or perfect caliber. But anything from a 7mm Rem Mag to a 30-378 WBY will do the job just fine. Best thing is what can you shoot consistently and comfortably. Do you need a muzzle break to do so?

[txhoghunter73]

7mm rem mag or 300 RUM

[meltingfeather]

have you ever shot a elk, nilgai or Aoudad? I own two 7mm-08's and I wouldn't want them on a aoudad or a elk hunt, dang sure not a nilgai.

Yes I have.
I took an auodad at 335 yards outside of Marfa last year with a 7mm-08 and will again in a couple of weeks. I'm comfortable pulling the trigger out to 400 with it and have no doubt that I will collect the animal where it stood.
I've also taken one with a .25-06 at over 300 yards. Neither went more than 10 yards.
I've taken a Scimitar-horned Oryx with my .25-06

My opinion is that "a little extra bullet" isn't going to make up for shot placement and if you're shouldering some huge magnum because you think it will, chances are MUCH more likely that you're going to pull a shot because you're anticipating the *** whipping you're about to get.

[Outbreaker]

Yes I have.
I took an auodad at 335 yards outside of Marfa last year with a 7mm-08 and will again in a couple of weeks. I'm comfortable pulling the trigger out to 400 with it and have no doubt that I will collect the animal where it stood.
I've also taken one with a .25-06 at over 300 yards. Neither went more than 10 yards.
I've taken a Scimitar-horned Oryx with my .25-06

My opinion is that "a little extra bullet" isn't going to make up for shot placement and if you're shouldering some huge magnum because you think it will, chances are MUCH more likely that you're going to pull a shot because you're anticipating the *** whipping you're about to get.

So the sub .5 MOA groups I shoot consistsntly with my .300 RUM are flukes or figments of my imagination. Nice to know.

I will agree that shot placement is important. So is bullet energy.

[meltingfeather]

So the sub .5 MOA groups I shoot consistsntly with my .300 RUM are flukes or figments of my imagination. Nice to know.

Because I said that...

Are you arguing with what I actually said, which is that shot anticipation on big mags is more likely, or are you just putting words in my mouth so you can make an ridiculously obvious statement for effect?

[MidlandTXHunter]

30-378 wby mag, have killed 3 no problems.

[MySRT8U]

I took an elk with my .308 without any problems. Took an oryx with a .223, again no problems. I just bought a 7mag for my nilgai hunt next weekend.

[GrapeApe]

.308 I'll choose it over anything else. I shoot it the best and it's my go-to for everything.