Great post jj
After my first hunt in South Africa, I switched to "premium" bullets. In 2005 I returned to Africa to hunt Cape Buffalo in Zimbabwe and Plains Game in KZN and the Free State. For Buffalo and several of the PG I used my .375 Rem Ultra Mag with 300 gr TSX bullets at a MV of 2840 fps. Most shots were one shot kills with the bullets completely passing through the animals, except for the Buffalo and Zebra. I only recovered the bullet from the Buffalo.
My other rifle on the 2005 hunt was a 7mm Rem Mag shooting 160 gr Accubonds. Again, most shots were one shot kills and complete pass throughs. Both of these rifles and bullets shoot 1" 3-shot 100 yd groups.
In 2007 I hunted the Eastern Cape region of South Africa for a variety of Plains Game antelope from Steenbok to Cape Eland. For this hunt the only rifle that I took was my .375 RUM, loaded with 270 gr TSX bullets at a MV of 3043 fps (that's 5553 fp of muzzle energy!). This bullet also shoots into 1 inch at 100 yds.
Again, most shots resulted in one shot kills and complete pass throughs except for the Eland and Kudu. The only bullets that we recovered were from the Kudu. On the first shot, the Kudu was quartering to me at 160 yds. The 270 gr TSX entered the left front shoulder and stopped under the skin of the right hip. The bull ran about 30 yds and stopped broadside. Since the sun was setting, I anchored the bull with a TSX into the left shoulder that stopped under the skin of the right shoulder.
This picture shows the TSX bullets that I recovered from my African animals. They look just like the TSX bullets that jjhack posted. [img]
[img]http://www.jesseshunting.com/photopost/data/500/11-07_018_Small_.jpg[/img][/img]
Also, about 30 years ago I rechambered my .30-06 to .30 Gibbs. With the added velocity of the Gibbs, I wanted a bullet that would insure deep penetration, so I started loading 180 gr Nosler Partitions in it. These bullets chronographed 2990 fps muzzle velocity, and grouped 1-1 1/2" at 100 yds. I shot about two dozen elk and a couple of Shiras Moose with this combination. I was not in to recovering bullets, but I did recover some that stopped just under the skin of the "off" side.
This picture shows the 180 gr Nosler Partition bullets that I recovered from elk or moose that I shot. They look just like the NP bullets that jjhack posted. [img]
[img]http://www.jesseshunting.com/photopost/data/500/180_NP_Small_.jpg[/img][/img]
