Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Nilgai cartridge choice

The 275 is a first rate German rifle 7x57 Mauser and so is the 8x57. The 9.3x62 [ 1905 Otto Bock Berlin ]is excellent for wild boar and for deer and leopard but not the first choice for big cats bears and thick skinned big game.
None of the deer family can stomach a heavy bullet. Do not fool yourself into believing the Nilgai is as easy to stop as a deer. Nilgai is excellent practice for buffalo, indeed Nilgai were shot for the pot and not really considered worthy shikar. It is easy to walk up to them and shoot them at 50 yards. On several occasions we have taken half a dozen bulls before breakfast.
I think brenneke bullets are better than those made across the Atlantic. I believe they are very popular in Europe. TUG, TIG, and more recently TOG bullets to name but a few. Brenneke developed the 7x64 in the 20ties for the Wehrmacht; a cartridge similar to the 7 mm rem mag.
Regarding fruit cakes, let me remind you that they are baked on Christmas Day for the next Christmas, whereafter Jamaica rum or brandy is infused into it for a year. Shoot your first couple of hundred blue Bulls sonny boy and we can debate the merits of various calibres. Stationary targets are easy to shoot with any rifle, it is the one that goes awry that tests you and your weapon of choice. Shoot five thousand blue bulls and I shall eat Christmas cake with you.

That was a great response from someone with real world experience. Thanks

Sounds like this man knows what it takes.

You starting a fan club?

He obviously knows what it takes but it's odd to me that he talks all about cartridges but not much at all about bullets.

As JB points out modern controlled expansion premiums make a huge difference and citing a cartridge but not the bullet offers an extremely incomplete picture.

One thing is for sure and certain. He doesn't know $hit about a 45-70.

I believe that the physical attitude of the game animal has a lot to do with which cartridge will be adequate and which will be a better or best choice. Where nilgai are rarely hunted and not pressured or chased a good bullet in any caliber capable to killing a 500 pound animals will do quite nicely on a calm animal. I used a .338 Win. mag. simply because I shoot it well, overkill is a myth and I had a lot of 250 grain Grand Slam bullets that I wanted an excuse to use for practice and my hunt. As long as one puts the bullet in the proper place, at a reasonable hunting range and the bullet is well constructed with a higher SD I see no reason to shy away from anything in that 30-06 ballpark. And that park is quite crowded.

It's the weight of the bullet that makes the difference. You want adequate penetration which usually comes with heavier weight projectiles.

biggest one i killed was with a 270/130gr kor-loc. it dropped like a switch had been flipped.

Next trip, I'm thinking about my .375 H&H with 250 TTSX. Why? Just because...

It's a great shooter, I like it and it'll do the job. May even get me some style points...

Why has no one mentioned the Fire all around favorite, do all round, the .223AI...??

After all, the bullet is more important than the headstamp...

At least that's what I've heard, and seemingly on good authority...

DF

Fu ck it then. If that's the case I'm taking my 22 magnum. Oh wait, it's a magnum I won't be able to shoot it well...

Nothing wrong with American bullets. Indeed shot a 47.5 inch Cape buffalo with a Winchester 458 soft point in Kenya Colony with "Bali" that great brown hunter ( Muhammed Iqbal Mauladad), during the maumau days. The Ferlach over and under 458 win mag dropped it with a single round through the humerus and heart. Bali preferred his 416 rigby . Which I felt was too light for following up in high grass. He was gored by a Cape buffalo and died soon thereafter in 70. He had as ever his excellent 416 rigby with which he had shot magnificent elephants.
The 416 rigby with its' steel bullets could penetrate anything but stopping a charge is something else. The 45-70 will not deter an elephant nor a buffalo. It was a poor mans rifle in India and used by some police officers to shoot bears and Tigers at their own peril. The sheer number of bullets might stop the beast eventually. The first bullet is the one with the stopping power, for once the adrenalin kicks in the follow up rounds are not felt in the same way by a frenzied animal.
Soon it shall be my hour to return to the happy hunting grounds of old where Bali and I shall once again be young and brash and impetuous following up in tall grass.

I'd take the 375 H&H loaded with 270 gr TSX's at 2750 fps, it would be good practice in case you ever want to go to Africa and shoot some more really large antelope, plains game species.

Ben Gates never did follow up, but the entertainment continues on.

FWIW, I have no problem with anyone taking their .556 Tyranosaurus Special, if that's what you want to shoot. My objection is to guides and/or outfitters insisting that you must bring at least a .300 Magnum of some sort, especially if you don't have a .300 Magnum (or something larger) in your gun safe that you shoot regularly. A nilgai hunter should be free to bring whatever rifle he has that he has confidence in and can shoot well.

I'd probably try the 250 TTSX, have both bullets and both kill stuff.

I don't even have a .223 AI...


Mudhen,

Some of those Texican guides do insist on .300 Win Mag or above, sniff at light ordinance.

You start off on the wrong foot telling your guide you know better, even if you really do. Especially if you really do...

Them boys got it figured in their minds and don't like to be told or suggested otherwise...

DF

I understand. However, if it was my hunt, I would probably look to book with someone else, even though I have ordnance up to and including a .404 Jeffery. I was simply stating my opinion. I would not dictate a minimum cartridge size, especially to someone I have never hunted with.

I have shot plenty of nilgai from a the bed of a pickup with a sandbag on top of the cab, mostly with a .30-06 and 150 or 165-grain Partitions. They all died quickly, but that's not the kind of hunt that I would pay for.

It's a vicious circle of ignorance.

One of my buddies had a guided hunt for Texas white tail, he brought his 270. When he returned to camp w/ a nice buck one evening there was another "sport" that had tagged a nice buck. The "sport" looked at the well placed shot on my buddies deer and asked him what he was shooting.

When my buddy told him he was using a 270, he sneered and said "that's what I started with as a kid." The sport let him know that he had taken his deer w/ a 300WM and was grateful for its "stopping power" on his "tough" buck. His deer had 3 bullet wounds, only one of which was marginally in the vitals...

My buddy's s guide told him later, quietly that their typical customer shot like Mr 300WM, regardless of what rifle they were using.

David

Trying to tell one of them Texicans that he may be misinformed and you know better, may not be an easy task.

Arguing with a woman could actually be more productive...

DF

Amen!





and Amen!

The latest case in point was fellow poster BMD's African hunt with his daughter, who obviously knows how to handle a rifle. She consistently killed numerous head of plains game with a 7mm08/140 TTSX combo, including the "super tough" stuff.