Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa .375 H&H Bullet Selection

Next year I'm going on a big-4 hunt--lion, leopard, ele, and buff. My PH talked me into getting a .375 instead of trying to shoot a lion off bait with my .300. So I'll bring the .375 and my .458.

The .375 will be used for lion, leopard, any plains game, and, should I encounter one by accident, elephant or buff, though the .458 is intended for those animals. I'll bring 10 or so .375 300 grain solids. The question is what kind of soft points to bring.

I've been working up loads and think I've got three choices: the 270 grain Barnes TSX, the Nosler 300 grain Partiton, and the plain old Hornady 300 grain round nosed Interlock. The 300 grain loads would go about 2550 fps and the 270 grain load 2700.

Surprisingly, according to the JBM ballistics calculator, all three of these loads have similar trajectories. Sighted in at 200 yards, mid-range difference among all three is only about 0.5" and the difference at 300 is only 3 inches.

I'm considering the plain old Hornady round nose. Why? First, it gives the best groups in my rifle. Second, it's easier to load. The base is slightly bevelled and the crimping groove seems to work a bit better with my Lee crimping die.

So here's my question: Does anyone have any experience with, or informed opinions about, shooting lion or the first shot at buffalo (subsequent ones being solids) with plain old 300 grain .375 Hornady Interlocks?

Indy,

I use the 375H&H/458wm combination and it is hard to beat.

I would skip the 300gr RN Hornaday Interlocks. But maybe you are thinking the DGX? PH Rich Tabor related a story about a fellow who showed up with a 375 Ruger and the 300gr RN Interlock for buff. Despite Rich's admonition to use a solid instead, the fellow used the RN soft. The days of tracking that ensued nearly killed the client, who ended up staying in camp while Rich tracked the bull. He caught and killed the bull, and inspection revealed that the bullet had broken up and failed to penetrate the shoulder into the vitals.

FYI, Hornaday lists velocity of that load at 2660fps, not far from "top" H&H velocity.

If you want to go RN, Woodleigh makes both 270 and 300gr RN softs. Woodleigh suggest limiting velocity to 2400fps, but at least they are a bonded bullet. Their semi-spitzer 270 and 300gr softs are rated for 2700fps.

I use 300ge Woodleigh solids for my 375H&H, fwiw.

I tried the std velocity Federal 300gr Trophy Bonded load, and it was so accurate I stopped there. Performance on game from impala through eland has been phenominal. Maybe triy these?

Also North Fork makes excellent softs in 270 and 300grs. And of coursr thier 300gr cup point and FN solids.

Of the three you list, I would rate the barnes, then the Partition, and skip entirely the Interbond, but not the DGX, which should do fine, though their seem to be mixed reports on the DGX.

JPK

I'm certainly no authority and have limited experience, but I agree with JPK's ranking of your listed bullet choices, with the Barnes first, then the Partition. North Forks have a great reputation, so as JPK said, you might want to try those. I'd also throw in the Swift A-frame, one of my favorites. You never hear anything bad said about the A-frames over in Africa. They've always given me very good performance.
Test

Yes, the Swift A-Frames too. Meant to mention them, but in a rush, I neglected to include them.

A BIG +1 vote for the 300 gr. Swift A-frame..

Ingwe

Since starting this post, I went back to the range with some H4895 loads. The Barnes 270 grain TSX are now the most accurate loads. One 3-shot group was 0.6 MOA!

Further, the center of the TSX group was 2.2" higher than the 1.0 MOA group I got with the round nosed 300 grain Hornadies using H4350. The 300 grain Hornadies chronographed about 2560 fps and the 270 grain TSXs about 2690 fps.

Now if 300 grain solids will group where the Hornadies did, I think I'm done. "Good enough" is good enough. I've ordered some North Fork 300 grain solids. Probably end up taking 270 grain TSXs and a few solids.

Incidentally I couldn't get Partitions to shoot at all. 2 to 4 MOA groups strung horizontally despite the 180s shooting so well in my .300 Wby.

BTW: North Fork is having a sale until May 7. If you enter ARRulz in the coupon code, you get 10% off. I ordered 50 each flat point solids in .375 and .458. Even with the discount, this cost about $180.00.

I'd like to echo staying away from the interlocks, and of the other ones, I'd shoot the one your rifle likes best, all else being equal, the 270 TSX would be my choice. Cats HATE velocity and I'd push that 270 as fas as I could and it will penetrate with the other 300gr pills. jorge

What about a 235gr TSX in the .375? For cats and plains game.

i had great results with 235 on kudu,oryx,zebra, impala,eland. all exited but the eland . it was taken at 325 yds and found just under the skin on the off shoulder and it weight was 234.6 i would use again in a heart beat

IndyCA35, I think your PH is spot on when it comes to using that .375H&H caliber. I wish you lots of good hunting!!! Please do take lots of pictures.

I don't have any experience shooting lion or buffalo but I will pass along my experience with using the .375" 300 gr Hornady InterLock round nose bullets on plains game.

On my first safari to South Africa (back in 2000) for plains game I handloaded the .375" 300 gr Hornady InterLock round nose bullets to a chrono'd average of 2480 fps out of my Ruger M77 Magnum rifle in .375 H&H with a 23" barrel.

Here are two bullets that were recovered:



The bullet on the left is from a Warthog that I shot at a distance of about 50-60 yards. The bullet on the right is from a Gemsbok that I shot at about 120 yards. After I shot the Gemsbok then the chase was on! We finally chased him down and I put a finishing shot into him (that bullet wasn't recovered).



The Gemsbok


I learned a lesson on my first plains game safari. Use GOOD bullets!! I used Woodleigh round nose bullets on my next two trips to South Africa for plains game. I was VERY pleased with the performance of the Woodleighs.



Would I personally use the .375" 300 gr Hornady InterLock round nose on lion or buffalo (if I ever got the chance to hunt them)?? The answer is NO!!

Just my two cents worth......

Cheers!
-Bob F.

Worthwhile info Bob. Thank you!

Guy

I have used the 270 TSX on lion and it did a great job.
I have also used the 300SAF on Buf. Solids in the 375 are great for small antelopes.
Using the TDS reticle in A Swaro scope shots were made way yonder so it has plenty of range.

What did the 375 say to the Lion?

Here, kitty kitty.

Wayne

A pard and I used the Hornady interlocks on Plains game in both the 270 grain and the .300 grain. The 270 grainer I would consider ideal... the 300 grainer we used was their BTSP and it performed great as well...never recovered one...all were hanging around 2500 fps...

That being said when it was time for Buffalo i went to 300 gr. swift A-frame and solids...just because...and I was likin' the way they performed...

Ingwe

As usual, whenever I ask a question here, I get fantastic advice. Thank you, all of you.

I'm going to increase the 270 TSX powder a bit and see if I can get about 2750 fps. I will probably take that load and a few 300 grain solids.

The Interlock is out. The Partition is out because my rifle doesn't like it.

I don't want to take any 235 grain TSXs because I don't like to have lots of different ammo. The 270s shoot plenty flat and I would be more confident if by chance I had to use them on buffalo.

Since I'll also be taking my .458 with my proven 450 TSX and 450 North Fork flat point solid loads, I'll not only be set up for cats but one rifle can substitute for the other if need be. For all game. I've even got scope redundancy with 1.5--5 VX3s on both rifles in Tally QD mounts.

After this trip I don't know what I'll do for an encore. Maybe hunt elk with the .375 instead of my .300 Wby. Or maybe the .458. I've gotten 2700 fps with the .458 and 350 grain TSXs. Originally I thought to use that on lion, but the POI is so much different from the heavier bullets. I don't want to be fooling around with sight changes in Africa. I should tell you about the time I turned the windage the wrong way in the National Trophy match at Camp Perry and was down 15 points after the first 2 shots.

Indy: 72gr of RL-15 and Fed 210 primers will give you that. You can work it up to 74. jorge

Don't mean to hijack thread, but does anyone have experience with terminal (terminating?) performance of Hdy 300gr Interbond? I got 6 boxes at closeout price, should I save them to hunt my next Africa trip or blast away in practice/ whitetail hunting?

jimone: Personally I have no experience with them, but have read about it a lot here and on other forums. I shy away from bonded bullets like the Scirocco, AB and IB but others swear by them. I'm sure they will work fine, but my preferences are TSX and Swift AFrame. jorge

I hate you!

Now that we have that out of the way, I vote for the TSX. It is not the most accurate bullet in any caliber I've tried, but it is good enough and the terminal performance is great. I've buffalo, kudu, lord derby eland, and a host of others hanging on the wall courtesy of Barnes TSX. I've got a pair of 40 lb elephant tusks near the fireplace courtesy of Barnes solids.

I'd never think twice about using a Nosler Partition, but the TSX has been best of all worlds to me.

Sounds like you've got a great safari lined up. Envy, envy, envy from here!