Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa .308 180 Accubonds for leopard

In my experience, on baited leopard hunts the PH advises sighting-in at whatever range it is from the blind to the bait, which is usually 50 yards maximum. A sight-in 2" high at 100 yards will usually be dead-on around 35 yards, but it also depends on the specific ammunition and scope-height above the bore.

Using the 180 Accubond at 2700 fps with 1.5 inches scope bore above rifle bore axis, I get with the figures I input, zero at 60 yards if also zeroed at 100 yards.

The vast majority of all African game is shot at 150 yards or less, probably 90%+ of all game. With that in mind any zero from dead-on at 100 to 2” high at 100 will work great for leopard and also anything else you might hunt. Just know exactly where your rifle hits at 50 yards and you’ll be fine. The 3 leopards I’ve shot were at 40, 25 & 47 yards and my rifle was zeroed at 2” high on the first two, but zeroed dead-on at 100 on the last one. I think an illuminated reticle like Leupold’s Firedot is more important than the distance your scope is zeroed. That bright red dot makes precise shooting easy, especially in low light.

I'll sight in 1" high at 100 yards, taking into account what you and MD say. That will be better for any medium range shots at antelope beforehand than zero at 100 yards.

I sight in all my rifles at 200 yards. I will then verify at 100, 200, 400, 500 for sure. Sometimes all the way to 800. I am not a big LR hunter, but shooting LR makes the shorter shots much easier.

Except big bores, like 404 Jeffery, 416 Rem Mag, 45-70. Then it is 100 yards.

For leopard, I would probable zero at 100, or closer if PH desires.

On my first post I mentioned that my friend dislikes TSX bullets on cats… cats in general. He mentioned lion as well. He said they didn’t kill as quickly as lead core soft points. So as others have stated cats being susceptible to “shock” I too would assume the TSX bullets perhaps aren’t transferring or “dumping” as much energy in the cats. I’ve shot a lot of game with tsx and TTSX…. personally I wouldn’t be afraid to use them. I can’t imagine a 130TTSX at 3100fps wouldn’t turn a 150lb cats lights out very quickly. But again I have zero experience with leopards so take that for what it’s worth. One thing I thought about commenting on earlier was that the choice of scope would probably be at least as important as the choice of bullet. There have been many times I’ve turned the magnification DOWN on my scopes to improve my eye’s ability to see the intended target. I would be reluctant to use a Set power 8x scope. Essentially on a very short range shot. I’m pretty sure MD wrote a very good article on scope magnification/ objective diameter/ exit pupil and how they all translate into the best/brightest image as viewed through a rifle scope. Hopefully he will again share his knowledge and opinions on that topic as well.

Benbo, while TSX & TTSX bullets are excellent for most game and have certainly killed many lions & leopards, There are better bullet choices available. Personally, I think a Nosler Partition or Trophy Bonded Bearclaw are about as good as you can use. I also think a Sierra Game King or Remington Core Lokt would be very good on a leopard. Here’s a picture of the exit wound on my last leopard. The bullet was a 225 grain Bearclaw from my 338. This cat (the same one in the video I posted) went about 20 yards from the tree The picture says it all…

Benbo,

I would not be afraid to use a 130gr TTSX at 3100fps either. But we are discussing absolute perfect for leopards.

Following that line of thinking. A 270 pushes an 85gr TSX to 3800fps, and a 95gr TTSX to 3600 fps. There would be a some "shock" there just due to impact velocity.

From what I have seen the Accubonds and the Partitions don't seem to be much different in their performance on game.

Well, my sister has killed quite a few moose and caribou and also 3 or 4 brown bears with her 308 loaded with 180 grain Partitions. All of her bears were 1 shot kills too.

So if my assumption that the 180 gr Accubonds and the 180 gr Partitions are pretty much equal to each other, I'd guess brown bears and moose are going to be harder to kill then Leopards. And they died just fine.

I imagine almost any expanding rifle bullet in the 150-180 grain range out of a .308 would kill a leopard very effectively if the shot is on target. After all, a good sized male leopard only weighs about 150 pounds. I mentioned Craig Boddington's comments on leopard bullets with reference to his suggestion that bullets that expand fairly easily may give a quicker kill than a tougher bullet. He specifically talks about the importance of this with .375 bullets and suggests that .375 bullets that are ideal for buffalo and other large game may not be ideal for leopard and that a lighter, softer bullet is better.

In cartridges that are commonly used for deer sized game, like the .308, the difference between tougher and softer bullets is probably not so important. But if you're looking for the ideal leopard bullet in a given cartridge, including the .308, it could be worth considering.

Obviously, all this nit picking about bullets is very secondary to shot placement, which is the key to a quick kill, on leopards or anything else.

You also want it to kill if not exactly on target, as that sometimes happens even if you're a good shot.