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

Would anyone happen to know whether 180 Accubonds at around 2700 fps muzzle velocity from a .308 (with a 3" box) would be suitable for leopard? I think they would be fine for the antelope used as bait, but not sure about on leopard itself. Thanks.

I've never shot a leopard, but have seen them in Africa, and based on what I've read from various sources including Craig Boddington, a 180 grain Accubond should work fine. In his book on leopard hunting, Boddington says more velocity is a good thing, so a 165 grain Accubond might be a little better than a 180.

I've thought about doing a leopard hunt, and the 165 Accubond out of a .30-06 was what I had planned to use.

Ask ky221 he shot a leopard last year with his 308.

I've not hunted Africa or any cats larger than feral ditch tigers

If I wanted to kill something the size of a leopard quickly, I think I'd prefer a 100 gr 6mm or 115 .257 pushed hard.
But that's just me, and if I ever see a leopard through a rifle scope things haven't gone at all as planned...

I currently use the 180 Accubonds at just over 2700 fps, and unless they are not suitable, such as being too hard, I would rather stick to my current load.

I have killed elk, hogs and deer with that bullet.

It’s pretty tough and has not been a real quick killer on deer.

I’d use the 165 trophy bonded tip, which was a quick killer in Africa for me, and it exits on broadside shots.

I've also used the 180 Accubond on elk, deer and pigs and I agree that it's a fairly tough bullet, although it's always worked well for me. That's one reason I suggested a 165 Accubond.

Probably any decent 165 including Hornady Interlocks would work well on Leopard. And that basically lines up with what Boddington says. He has a great deal of African experience so I listen to what he says about African hunting.

I have his book Buffalo II which I have read a couple of times. Might buy his leopard book.

John Kingsley-Heath was a long time African PH who among other things specialized in both hunting leopards himself and guiding leopard hunters thought the .243 Winchester was the perfect leopard round. He had experience on hundreds of 'em in at least five different countries. It not only knocked the snot out of them with 100-grain bullets put in the right place, but did less damage to the hide (the "trophy" with leopards).

Have mentioned this before on the Campfire, but of course a bunch of other members (many of whom had never seen a wild leopard) objected to his opinion, saying the .243 was too light.

Have never had any desire to kill a leopard, but was along when a companion shot one out of the typical baited tree with a .300 Winchester Magnum. It dropped with a thud, but after landing took off and we never found it--apparently because he shot it in the shoulder, which was stretched forward to reach the bait, and the vitals on leopards (and other cats) are farther back than on much other big game. (I was asked by the PH help follow it up in the dark, which was interesting. The PH said he would rather follow one in the dark than during daylight, because you can see the eyes in a powerful flashlight in the dark, and during daylight you usually can't see a leopard until it charges at close range.)

I was talking to my last PH over sundowners in October, and he told me the quickest he saw the lights turned out on a leopard was a 270 Win w/ a 150 grain Partition. Leopards are thin skinned and not to hard to kill if you hit them in the right spot.

Though a bit smaller I used the 168 GR TSX on this cheetah. A great spot and stalk hunt that ended in a 30 yard shot as it sunned laying under a tree facing away. A back side shot just below the head. I would have zero issues using it on leopard.

Having only shot ONE leopard, I'm far from an expert but I used a 150g Hornady Interlock on my Tom. Muzzle Velocity was 2,787 fps. Shot was only 62 yards. Leopard was facing away and standing at the base of the bait tree. The bullet went entered through the shoulders and exited the right armpit.

BangFlop.

I suspect your accubond load would work just fine.
As others have stated. They aren't hard to kill. It's just a shot you really don't want to mess up. That's more important than your bullet choice. Any good deer bullet ought to work fine.

I also use the 180 grain Speer Spitzer flat-base Hotcores which have the exact same point of impact at 100 yds. Sounds like that might be a better option. The only thing is, the lead tips get flattened in the magazine with the recoil. My third load is the 150 grain E-tips at just over 2900 fps...I'm thinking they might be a bit too hard.

I'm no expert, but I would use that without a second thought. The one I shot was with a 165 TSX pushed a little bit faster than that. The hunt was unplanned and took place on a couple of hours notice, but the cat died plenty quick with no drama despite my not having to figure out the perfect rifle and load.

I would guess (and it's just that) that a .308 or .270 or as Mule Deer suggested, a .243, would've worked just fine also.

The diciest part of the experience with mine was the elderly Afrikaans woman who was giving me hugs and kisses and repeatedly asking me to buy a donkey. I shot it about 200 yards from the back door of her house. Her and her son had lost a bunch of yearlings to that cat.

A 150 Partition worked great on two cheetahs and several mountain lions so i expect your 180 AB will work just dandy

Your load is a full 300 fps faster than mine, in Tanzania 2020 i took a 400 H&H with 400gr Swift A Frames as my light plains game rifle, the 577 double done the heavy lifting on Hippo and Cape Buffalo bulls on the ground at 18 and 26 yards, knew going in i would be Leopard hunting with the 400, also knew it was slow and the A frame was tough.

Took a flat file and removed the small lead tip, hit the now small flat meplat with a center punch, drilled 1/4" deep holes with an eighth inch drill bit making some homemade hollow point Leopard bullets, they landed three inches high at 100 yards with the originals, picked out a black spot at the rear edge of my cats shoulder dead broadside 77 yards from the blind, he landed with a dead thug, my young 28 year old PH was so happy he hollered " i love you Sir" lol, you see one of the trackers on this trip had already left camp and returned from getting antibiotic shots from a Leopard bite right before Wife and i got there.

Last hunter before us wounded a cat, the PH had to place the barrel of his 450 Rigby against the cat and blast him off the tracker, what a damn dangerous mess poor shooting can be, my slow rifle and load accounted for plains game from 77 to 287 yards, it's all very easy shooting from sticks or blind if you practice and know your drops.

I think your setup will be perfect for Leopard and any other plains game you may encounter, have fun, shoot straight and let those lifetime memories that will never leave you march right in and settle in your head.

i've never shot a leopard, but count me in on the 'I object" crowd. No doubt (obviously) a leopard will die with a 243 (all cats are affected by high velocity) but a 30 cal will hit with even more authority plus you can use it on larger plains game. As to the AB in a 308, of course it will work and work well. Leopards are shot at close ranges, usually less than sixty yards and that 308 will hammer him well and open up. Now what would I use in a 308 for leopard? Hornady Interlock

Rifle hunter, a 180 grain Accubond at 2,700 fps is a perfect bullet & load for any leopard. You’ll have no problems at all as long as you put the bullet where it should go. I’ve shot 3 leopards and one was shot with a 180 grain Partition going just a bit faster (300 win mag) than you mention. The big Tom was stone dead as he fell off the limb.

You’ve got a great load, don’t over-think it. Just practice shooting sitting down off a rest at 50 yards and hitting a small target consistently. Shooting a leopard is actually easy, but you have to be patient and wait for a broadside shot. The last Leopard I shot, I had to wait over 4 minutes for him to present a good broadside angle to shoot. He was feeding on the limb, but facing me, in broad daylight and while I could have killed him it was wise to wait for the right angle before shooting. By waiting for the right angle, we had a dead Tom laying in the open near the tree.

Never hunted leopard, but i've been loading 150g partitions in my 270 win to 3000 fps for 40 years. Great killer of deer, elk, and black bears. Never lost an animal.

I suspect the 243 would work as well as anything. Only thing that would keep me from it is the animals I might run into looking for that cat. 308 with a 180 should work vey well in fact even with a 165gr. But dangerous game country is not the place to experiment with smaller cartridges and what might be actually possible! If I was to go there looking to shoot a leopard I'd take my largest cartridge rifle with a heavy for caliber bullet! That would be my 30-06 with a min 180 gr bullet. That is assuming I'm shooting it very well. A miss placed shot from any rifle with any bullet would not be something I'd look forward to. I think the real answer depends on the bullet's available in the cartridge you take. Take that 243 even with a 100gr bullet and you are looking for trouble and just might find it! If I handled magnums well I'd look at something like a 338 magnum and 250gr bullet's. Better to over react in a bad situation than under react!