Hopping that in the not too distant future (that is before I kick the bucket) I can go on a Cape buffalo hunt. I want to know what bullet you would recommend, either solid and/or soft point, in order to get the maximum killing efficiency out of my most powerful rifle. This is a CZ 550FS, that I have tweaked so it’s reliable, with a synthetic stock, a 2.5x Leupold scope, a 20 inch barrel. It fits me well and the recoil is tolerable.

Also taking into consideration that I am a passable shot, in other words I am a little better than most, but no Annie Oakley. I know the 9.3x62 is not as power full .375 H&H, and some places but not all require the .375 as minimum. I asked my PH when I was in South Africa and he explained that not all provinces have the requirement of a minimum cartridge also some other countries don’t have a minimum at all. Besides I am not getting another rifle.

So what would be your recommendation it can be loaded ammo or bullets only? I hand load.

Thanks.

The two bullets I would recommend are the 250-grain Barnes TTSX and the 286 Nosler Partition. Haven't taken Cape buffalo with either, but when I hunted buffalo in Tanzania in 2011, my PH was so impressed with the way the 286 Partition worked on heavier plains game that he wanted me to use it on my second buffalo. (The first was taken with my .416 Rigby.) Both of us wanted me to take a bigger buffalo than my first--which was very good--but unfortunately we never found a bigger one. We did get up on a big bull that had one broken horn, and in hindsight I should have taken it, but....

Should also mention that though technically the 9.3x62 isn't legal for buffalo in Tanzania, the government game scout that accompanies safaris agreed to let me use it, as he had also seen what it did. African caliber requirements are somewhat flexible, due to various factors.

In my tests both on various kinds of media and big game, the 286 Partition slightly out-penetrates the 250 TTSX, but the difference is slight. In your 20-inch barrel I'd be tempted to use the 250 TTSX, which modern--pressure handloads should result enough velocity to expand well. On the other hand, the 286 Partition's soft front core will definitely expand even when started at somewhat lower velocities.

Forgot to mention solids. In my experience, in both my own hunting and the buffalo my hunting partners have killed, solids aren't nearly as effective as expanding bullets, especially in smaller calibers like 9,3 and .375. But have even seen a buffalo shot several times all in the "boiler room," with modern 500-grain flat-nose solids from a .458 Lott that resulted in a long follow-up on a very hot day. The guy was actually hunting elephants instead of buffalo, the reason for only having solids, but they were far less effective than a good "soft" from a smaller cartridge.

Mule Deer, your opinion on 320 grain Protected Point Woodleighs at 2400 fps sufficient for the Cape Buffalo where legal?

Have never seen them used on Cape buffalo, but have seen Woodleighs in calibers up to .416 used on other game--and the few African PH's I've run into who have any experience with Woodleighs said they worked well.

One virtue of even the heavy Woodleighs is they open so widely they don't tend to "over-penetrate." which when hunting buffalo in herds can prevent a bullet exiting and wounding a second buffalo. Thee wide expansion also results in a big wound channel, which usually kills quicker. On the other hand, have also seen a .416 340-grain stop in a 100-pound fallow deer doe, on an angling shot from the right rear of the ribs to the left shoulder.

10-4, Thanks Mule Deer, hoping these being the Protected Point and only driven 2400 fps they'd dig a deeper hole before mushrooming vs the big bulbous round noses, same/same with my 500gr PP 458's and 600gr 505's, need to get back up on the Limpopo and try em out instead of wondering ; ]

The 340 .416 was a Protected Point, but the sectional density of the 340 .416 is considerably less than the 320 .9.3--and if I recall correctly the muzzle velocity of the .416 was around 2600 fps.

You bet, higher velocity with shirt button bullets is asking for a rodeo, and possibly worse messing with buffalo, the reason i never looked to 525/535gr bullets for my 505, i'd shoot a 700-750gr in it if they made them, and 2150 fps is plenty of speed to do it all with the big bores, particularly at iron sight ranges, imho.

No doubt, if that's what you want to use.

In my experience, not just on buffalo but a wide variety of game, various calibers (as in bullet diameter, not cartridge) work very well, as long the the bullets are put in the right place and penetrate and expand sufficiently.

Long ago lost count of the PH's (and their teenage kids) who've killed buffalo very well with cartridges far under 9.3/.375 diameter, using bullets weighing 175-200 grains. The most PH I've hunted with the most, also among the most experienced, grew up in what was then Rhodesia. One of his early jobs was shooting buffalo on a big cattle ranch, both for meat for the ranch workers and to clear the country for commercial beef cattle. He killed over 500 with a .30-06 and 180-grain Nosler Partitions, and not by head-shooting at night, but on day-time drives, with the ranch workers pushing herds toward him. This includes everything from calves to big bulls, and he never had a problem. (He preferred the .30-06 to larger cartridges, due to being able to get more shots off in a hurry, thanks to lighter recoil.)

Later on, after he'd been PHing for decades, he often used his .375 H&H as backup on buffalo hunts--though he sometimes chose his .458 Lott (which he preferred for elephant guiding) in thicker stuff. He said with the .375 he was often "way under-gunned" compared to his clients--but on a number of occasions had to finish off their buffalo. I asked him about his preferred bullets, and he said he'd used at least a half-dozen different "softs." This was due to ammo being so expensive and, sometimes, hard to find in various African countries. As a result he used whatever left-over .375 ammo his clients left behind, since "these days all the bullets are so good." The ammo shot close enough to the same POI at typical back-up ranges to work fine.

NICE! Thanks for the lessons, great to hear "real world" instead of my mindless speculation, one of my PH's told me a 338 Win with 250gr bullets will stone "any" Cape Buffalo bull, i asked, even plain Hornady interlocks?........in a New York second he said.

Have been impressed with Interlocks (of whatever caliber and weight) for a long time, because they especially turn into "premiums" at around 2700-2800 fps. Have seen it both with the 250 in the .338 Winchester Magnum, and the 225 at .338-06 velocities.

John,
I was interested in your comments about the 9.3 using a 250 TTSX. On my last trip I visited a very experienced PH who is a big fan of the 9.3-62 with just about any bullet. He says it is easy to shoot well with it. With that Barnes bullet loaded to modern pressures it should be more than OK.

Until the last 20 years or so most buffalo hunters relied on solids which likely accounts for the idea that the 375 is marginal. Today’s expanding monolithic bullets have dramatically changed that calculus.

R

I'll just add that the Woodleigh 350PP's work very well on buff @ 2400fps in the H&H so if you can get the Woodleighs close to that with the 9.3 they should work fine although if I make it over there again it will be 270TSX with the 375.
Either way with today's bullets it's hard to go wrong.

How would you rate the 9.3mm/286 gr. Swift A-Frame bullet against the Nosler Partition on Cape Buffalo, given that they are also "partitions," but has the added toughness of a bonded front core?




GR

I really do want to hear John's opinion on the Swift bullets......
Charlie

I personally know 2 people that used the 320 grain Woodleigh Wildhorse in 9.3X74 doubles on cape buffalo and they worked perfectly for them

Is the 286 Barnes considered to be too much with the 9.3x62? Curious as I have a few and they shoot nicely. Wondering about that bullet for grizzly or brown bears down the road. Can always trip them and buy some partitions or 250 tsx if a better choice.

Garandimal,

The 286 A-Frame actually isn't any tougher than the 286 Partition, despite the bonded front core. Or at least they both typically retain about the same amount of weight, because the 286 9.3 Partition is one of the heavy-duty models with the partition moved forward.

Also the jacket of the A-Frame is copper, with is softer than the gilding metal of the Partition jacket, and the Partition's jacket it also thicker over the rear core. Plus, as you are apparently aware of (some people aren't) the rear core of A-Frames isn't bonded. As a result, when A-Frames expand they often do so both in front AND the rear. This makes a bigger hole, but doesn't typically penetrate as deeply as the Partition. It's unusual for a Partition's rear core to expand even a little, due to the thick gilding metal jacket--and the unbonded front end doesn't open as widely as the bonded front end of the A-Frame.

Both usually work very well, but in somewhat different ways, despite the similar percentage of retained weight. The A-Frame doesn't exit as often as the heavy-duty Partitions, even on broadside shots, due to the wide mushroom--which a lot of PHs like when hunting buffalo in herds--though Partitions won't exit as often as other brands of bullets, especially monolithics.

Whether any bullet exits buffalo also depends a lot on the cartridge, velocity and size of the buffalo. Cape buffalo also have far bigger and tougher ribs than most other big game, which can affect how how much bullets expand--and how often they exit.

I've taken both Cape Buff and NW Red buffalo with the 250 TSX and love it. I've seen my hunting partners have same results with it.
Let me add I had the same experience in Tanz. While "not legal", my PH and Game Guard had no issues with 9.3 x 62, especially after seeing early results.




Saw similar results with the 286 Barnes solid on Cape buffalo. It killed them, but they ran off in the thick stuff to die, waiting for a chance at revenge. One attacked a tracker and was put down before he could do any life threatening damage. My dad insisted on solids, he had a longer follow up than I did with TSX every time. Same rifle and well placed shots. Made me a TSX believer.

Mule Deer

Ten to fifteen years back I shot the .375 quite a bit. However, only shot deer and pigs for the most part. Yeah, overgunned but it was fun at the time.. Since the Hornady 270 spire point was cheaper than the premium bullets I shot them a bit. One day happened on a coyote, he was not much over 100 yds. He was broadside and I shot him in the neck just under his skull, I think. When I walked out to him I was totally amazed,
everything forward of his shoulders was GONE. I walked past him 20 or 30 yards and found nothing but a slight mist of blood on he grass.. I’ve killed a lot of stuff over the last 50 years and haven’t seen anything like that before or since. That particular bullet failed miserably!

While no doubt a stout bullet, as is evident by the reinforced partition, it's location does not look all that much different from, say, a heavy .308.



Was led to believe that the A-Frame was a >90% retained wt. bullet, where as the Partition was more in the 70-80's.




GR

The heavy-duty Partitions I've recovered from various animals (286 9.3s, 300 .375s and 400 .416s) have averaged 87%. They're designed to retain at least 75% of their weight, though that can be higher depending on the caliber/model, even if they totally lose the front core. But in general they tend to retain the core far more often than lighter, faster Partitions, due to the thicker front jacker. The one .416 400 that lost it's front core retained 83% of its weight. Several have retained over 90% of their weight, including another 400 .416 at 95.2%. The first 286 9.3 that I recovered came from a big bull moose in northern British Columbia, and retained 90.4%.

The recovered A-Frames I've have averaged just about the same, and have weighed some that retained considerably less.

Great, Thanks for that, that PH squinted into the sun and said, the Three Three Eight hurts em.

Good information, JB, and thanks for that. The A-Frame's propensity for staying inside a buff was my PH's primary reason for recommending them over the NP when I went in 2015. I used A-Frames again in 2019 just because they worked so well for me the first time. But I've been looking at bullets for a 9.3x74R Ruger No. 1 I'm considering.




Spot on regarding the buff's ribs. They put brontosaurus ribs to shame!