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

Alright, after much deliberation and thanks to the help from this board as well as my PH, I'm taking my 375 H&H for a Cape Buffalo hunt in July in Zim. I have a load right now with 270 TSX's at about 2700 fps that shoots 1-1.5" at 100 yds. I have not played with it much and I'm sure I could find something a little tighter but there is really no major need. I can load that as my soft. I also picked up some Barnes 300gr Solids on sale the other day. My PH is fine with this soft/solid combo but he said that his favorite bullet is the Swift A-frame. My questions are this:

270 gr TSX/300 gr Solid?
300 gr TSX/300 gr Solid?
270 gr Swift A-frame/300 gr Solid?
300 gr A-frame/300 gr Solid?

Should I use a different bullet and Solid combo? What do you think? I understand the need to find a combo that shoots to the same POI at 25/50 yds. Just looking for advice. Thanks again.
Lee

I used a 300 A Frame/ 300 solid combo...

But youll find maybe you rifle shoots to the same POI with 270s and 300s...

I would think the .270 TSX would be good....


Ingwe

I guess I should probably work on the Solid load and then see if I can make it shoot the same place as my TSX. If not, I'll load up some A-frames.

Ebby,
You're exactly right with your last post. See where your solids land with respect to the 270gr. TSX's and if you're very far off, try the A-frames and see how close those are. When I was buff hunting, I had the 350gr TSX's shooting very good from my .416 Rem. However, the solids hit about 4 inches below the TSX's. At the time, I wasn't comepletely sold on the TSX's for buff and really wanted to use the A-frames for my soft. What I found out was that the A-frames printed almost exactly where my solids did, so that made the choice very easy for me. My PH was very happy with my choice as well since he had a lot of faith in the A-frame but not so much with the TSX's. Not that you need to please your PH with your choice in bullet, but it does help matters if your PH has confidence in you and your rig, rather than doubts in his mind. On that note, you might inquire with your PH (if you know him) as to his thoughts on the two bullets.
Test

Yeah I talked to him about it and he was fine with the tsx. He said that he did not have a lot of experience with them but that they would be ok if that's what shot best. He said the he prefers the A-frame though just because of experience. He is mainly shooting the 350 gr .416 a frame though.

Should I try something else like Woodleighs? Or TBBC?

Are there any real differences in Solids? I have not experience with those.

Solids are generally good if they are monolithic....the new Barnes banded solids are impressive....
Couple other companies make derivations on the theme..

Ingwe

Thanks Ingwe. THat's what I picked up. I hope they will work nicely with my Softs.

It is REAL easy to get them to shoot REAL good!

Ingwe

Try that 300gr. Solid with some Reloader 15. Works really well with mine. It's a M70 with factory 24" barrel. I think I used up to 72gr. of R15, but not sure on that and don't have my load book with me. It's a book load, I'm pretty sure. The top load gives me close to 2650fps with the 300gr. tsx and banded solid. Same POI as well.

Thanks for the load info. I'm on the lookout for data. That's pretty good speed with the 300gr TSX. Mine shoots about 2725-50 with the 270gr tsx. I have not really leaned on it or tried many loads though.

Anybody else got any secret loads?

Yeah, FWIW, H380 was always nice in my gun, and I used alot of IMR 4895 as well...

Ingwe

I'm not a monolithic fan..I personally like the 350 Gr. Woodleih in my .375 followed by 285 gr. Northfork flat nose solids..I also dearly love those Northfork cup points and I suppose they are a monolithic of sorts..I have these bullets on a truck load of buffalo and they suited me better than anything else I have used..I have used IMR-4064 in my .375 for years, out of habit I suppose, and I like RL-15 real well.

Bottom line is use the heaviest bullet you can, monolithic or otherwise for buffalo. I am adament on that.

Ebby, Yeah, it's pretty fast out of my rifle. It was shot in the summer, as I recall around 85-90 degrees, and it showed no pressure signs. I had determined that I'd back it down a grain or two just for insureance. It clocked for me, IIRC, about 75 or so fps faster than book. Like I said, check the charge, but I'm pretty sure it was 72gr. Work up of course cause your rifle might not like that much powder. Usual safety speech, and so on.

If I were doing it, personally, I'd be taking the 350 Woody's over 72gr. H4350. But that's just me.

David

I don't have the experience many here do - just took my first buffalo last December. I used a 375 with 300 grain A-Frames
and also took 300 grain solids. Both were factory loads and
each had the same POI. At 80 yards the A-Frame took the top of the heart, entered the paunch, exited the paunch, lodged somewhere in the hip. An unneeded "finisher" entered the shoulder, broke a rib, entered the heart, and lodged against
the off shoulder. The recovered finisher showed perfect performance. I'm an A-frame fan. I suspect your PH will care more about shot placement than which flavor you use.

Good luck on your hunt!

Dave

"I suspect your PH will care more about shot placement than which flavor you use."

Truer words have never been spoken. Assuming any good quality soft of course. Don't even consider some of the Sierra or Speer stuff. Stick with one of the premiums and make 'em count. All will end well.

David

having never hunted in africa, i can't necessarily speak to ongame performance, but i'll say this much. when i go, i'll be packing my 700 classic 375H&H and it'll be stoked with 300 grain failsafes. that ought to do it! -keith

I've gone full circle on the issue of solids. As a client, I only pack SP's for anything except elephant anymore. I have used SP's and solids in my doubles and in my 9.3 X 62 for eland and buffalo and such, and have come to the conclusion that premium SP's are more effective. I use TSX's in my 9.3 exclusively now. The terminal performance is excellent every time. When the shot is true, nothing goes far, not even the buffalo.

I'm sure A-frames would be good, I've never used them. I leave the solids to the PH's who have to back up.

My only objection to softs and the .375 is frontal shots, I have seen softs turn and go between the shoulder and the rib cage on about 3 different ocassions if my recall is correct, maybe 4 times...Just use a solid on frontal shots and going away shots and the .375 is excellent..It does not kill as fast as the bigger bores but it does kill'em...Most folks can shoot the .375 pretty well also.

I personally prefer the 40 calibers, 416, 404, 450-400, class of cartridges if you can handle the recoil, there is a difference in that the buff don't run as far to go down, as they do with the 9.3 and 375. About half as far generally but there are exceptions of course..

With the 270 grain TSX you will have more than enough penetration with no real need for a solid.

The 270 Grain TSX will exit on any broad side shot, so make sure there is not another Buff behind the first one

I have seen the 270 gr. TSX fail on one frontal shots, and not get to the good stuff on a going away shot after breaking the pelvis and it stopped somewhere in the paunch. It is great on broadside shots. I have seen two of them bend like a bannana and the point was pinched shut on two ocassions. I have not seen the 300 gr. BarnesX fail..

Saeed has a couple of hundred of the 270 gr. Barnes X bullets in 375 and a few more in 416 that he recovered from buffalo and has displayed on AR over the years, I was there for a large number of those kills, and you will see a number of failed bullets although all bulls were killed with followup shots..Just because a bullet fails, doesn't necessairly mean it didn't kill the animal, but it could have if the circumstances were changed just a little. For what its worth.