Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Bullet Choice for DG hunt?

My choice for Buffalo with sub .435cal is Swift A Frames and Woodleigh FMJs.
.435 and up I use Woodleighs in Softs and FMJs.

Some recovered 9.3mm 286grn Woodleighs & a 300grn Swift.

Ray,

I believe Saeed has settled on his 300gr Walterhogs now? Prior to that from what I could gather, he was using the 300gr TSX out of his 375/404. Did he find the 270 TSX lacking?

And would you use the 350TSX if and when it is released, if you were using a 375 on buff? I know you are a fan of heavy for calibre bullets.............

Blair.

Blair,
IMO the 350 gr. monolithic of any make might be too much of a good thing, that would be a very long for caliber bullet and I would concerned that it would tip on impact and perhaps bend or break or fail to penetrate enough...I have been concerned the 300 gr. BarnesX would do that also, but they seem to work as I have never seen a 300 gr. BarnesX fail to penetrate from any angle or a 300 gr. Walter Hogg bullet either from any .375 caliber gun...They work fine..

Like I said, I am not a Barnes fan, but that does not mean anything other than that...I know a lot of very experienced folks that I have a world of respect for that dote on them, I also know many with as much experience and respect that do not like them at all...So in order to deal with these mixed opinnions I simple opt not to use them for the most part, as I have had such good luck with Woodleighs, Northforks, Noslers, and GS Customs monolithics..

I did use the BarnesX 75 gr. 6mm bullet in my 6x45 and shot a world of deer, antelope and African plainsgame with it and I loved that little bullet, it never failed me. but of course they discontinued it!! I now use what I have left of the Barnes's and I have a new stock of 75 gr. GS Customs that work as well.

One thing that a lot of folks over look and that is that you cannot condem any manufacturer for all his bullets, but you can dislike any one of his individual bullets. That is where all the hoopla comes from on these boards....One guy complains about the 120 gr. in his 7-08 Sierra being too soft and the next guy jumps up and says he has used the 180 Sierra in his 30-06 with success for 50 years and both are right, not contest, they are talking about two completely different subjects. It just doesn't work like that, but its seldom discussed..

I am a Nosler fan, but I don't like Nosler in caliber below 270. I love the .284 130 gr. Speer but I don't like some other Speers in different calibers...I don't like the 164 gr. Hornaday in my 7x57 but I love the 154 gr. Hornadys and most other Hornadys...

Bottom line is I like a lot of Sierra bullets, and I dislike some of the Sierra bullets and I can say that about most makes of bullets.

I don't wonder that confusion and heated arguements come about on this subject..but I see little reasoning in most of them.

I have had excellent results with Swift A Frame. Here are two recovered 350 gr. 416 bullets.

For 99% of shots the 270 TSX is going to be ideal, for the other shots, the solid will be the ticket. According to Craig Boddingtons latest article and book plus my own experience and still often talking with the PH's I worked with and booked hunters with a good soft like the TSX followed by solids is still the far and away most suggested way to go. I say, go with what most PH's are still reccomending and what has worked quite well for many, many years updated only by the better bullets we now have exemplified by the Barnes TSX and Mono solid you are using. Load, em, pack em and go kill some stuff. You are ideally armed here.

I used the tsx 270's out of my 375HH for buff 2 years ago and they worked great. Started at 2800fps and all pass thrus.

"Blair,
IMO the 350 gr. monolithic of any make might be too much of a good thing, that would be a very long for caliber bullet and I would concerned that it would tip on impact and perhaps bend or break or fail to penetrate enough...I have been concerned the 300 gr. BarnesX would do that also, but they seem to work as I have never seen a 300 gr. BarnesX fail to penetrate from any angle or a 300 gr. Walter Hogg bullet either from any .375 caliber gun...They work fine.."

Ray,

I'm inclined to agree with you that the 350gr might be too much of a good thing, being a monometal.

The 350gr Woodleigh has a very good reputation here in Oz for scrub cattle and water buffalo. And I have heard good things about the 380gr Rhino with regard to it's terminal ballistics, but evidently accuracy can be a problem with them.

I just wish Lapua would come out with a 300gr Naturalis in 375 calibre!!