Plains Game Bullet Choice

u32dw

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

I am planning a trip to Namibia next year for Plains Game. I plan on taking a .300 win mag which will hopefully be "enough gun". I have been looking at the various brands of ammo that are available, Nosler partition, Barnes Triple shock, swift a-frame...the list goes on! For those of you that have been before, what type of ammo did you take / would recommend? I think 180gr should be enough. I really need to make a choice soon so i can get used to it and work out my drops at the various ranges.

Any sugestions would be great.

atb,

Dave
 
Hi Dave
I use a Blaser .300 Win Mag and have done for 8 African trips.
I use Norma 180 Grain with excellent results.
Where I hunt it is very flat, so animals seeing you from afar,so shots are are 300 yards + very flat shooting.
Look at my gallery, enough proof that it works.
What I do is go onto www.mytargets.com and there is one that you can use to zero to 300 yards.
If you have any problems getting it PM me and I will sort it out for you.

Have a good trip.

Regards

DavieH
 
I only went to S.A. twice and on the first visit used a Weatherby Mk.5 in 8X68S calibre with the RWS 187gr H.Mantel copper hollow-point bullet.
These worked perfectly on all species but it was `too much gun` for my feeble frame and I had the `ring of incompetence` on my forehead after the first shot. In the heat of the moment I forgot I was using this bruiser.

For my second trip I took a Sako TRGS in .300 Win.Mag. calibre with 180gr Nosler Partitions which killed everything up to Kudu and Red Hartebeeste in fine style but did not half-kill ME each time I pulled the trigger.

HWH.
 
Hi DavieH,

Thanks for the info. Are you talking about the 100 yard big game target zeroing 3" high? I will be collecting my rifle today, Browning A-Bolt with Boss, cant wait to get my hands on it and get some range practice in before the trip!!!

atb,

Dave
Hi Dave
I use a Blaser .300 Win Mag and have done for 8 African trips.
I use Norma 180 Grain with excellent results.
Where I hunt it is very flat, so animals seeing you from afar,so shots are are 300 yards + very flat shooting.
Look at my gallery, enough proof that it works.
What I do is go onto www.mytargets.com and there is one that you can use to zero to 300 yards.
If you have any problems getting it PM me and I will sort it out for you.

Have a good trip.

Regards

DavieH
 
Hi Dave,

.300 Win is a great plains game caliber, i have shot a lot of stuff with one. Personally i'm not a fan of partitions, or triple shocks, and neither are many PHs. I use Swift Aframes exclusively in African rifles requiring soft bullets, in my .300 i use the 200 grain Aframe loaded to 2740fps. This may not be the fastest you can push this bullet, but in Africa you dont want to be running hot loads, as it will ruin your trip when your gun keeps jamming.

In terms of zeroing, this may sound simplstic, but when you get to camp, set up a target at 35yds and zero. This will put you 1.6 inches high at 100yds, .35 inch low at 200, and 8.6 low at 300, which is an easy trajectory to compensate for.
 
Thanks Danpd,

Do you home load these or are they available as factory loads? I think i will get a box of Federal and swift 180gr and see which "tunes" better with the Boss Brake on the rifle and go with that.

I like the idea of the Zeroing you suggested, I'll try this out at the range here once i've found the load that works best. A little off topic, but what do PH's think of guys using rifles with muzzle brakes...

atb

Dave



Hi Dave,

.300 Win is a great plains game caliber, i have shot a lot of stuff with one. Personally i'm not a fan of partitions, or triple shocks, and neither are many PHs. I use Swift Aframes exclusively in African rifles requiring soft bullets, in my .300 i use the 200 grain Aframe loaded to 2740fps. This may not be the fastest you can push this bullet, but in Africa you dont want to be running hot loads, as it will ruin your trip when your gun keeps jamming.

In terms of zeroing, this may sound simplstic, but when you get to camp, set up a target at 35yds and zero. This will put you 1.6 inches high at 100yds, .35 inch low at 200, and 8.6 low at 300, which is an easy trajectory to compensate for.
 
Hi Dave,

I homeload, but Norma do offer the Oryx in 200gr or the Aframe in 180.

In regards to zeroing, you will not always be given a nice bench etc to shoot from in Africa, it may just be a piece of cardboard nailed to a tree trunk, and it can be a bit nerve racking trying to shoot your best groups at 100yds in these conditions. I find the 35yd "trick" works well and once you are on at 35, you can confirm with a couple of shots at 100yds if you wish.

PHs HATE muzzle brakes, in most African hunting situations the PH will be right next to you when the shot goes off, he will probably be watching through binos too, and there is no way he will use earplugs etc, so you are basically going to be contributing to his early hearing loss. IMO a 300win does not require a muzzle break, its once you get up to the big Ultra Mags and Weatherbys that you need a muzzle break. PHs are very wary of guys with these super magnum cartridges, as very few people can shoot them as well as a 30-06 or similar, and with the cost of ammo they won't have put much practice in either, and it means a balls up is more likely to happen.
 
I highly recommend the barnes bullets
tsx or the new and improved ttsx used them this season with excellant results
superb accuracy and whats really good about these bullets is there superior deep penatration due to there high weight retention.
and you dont get any lead frAgments in your meat
 
Are the various types of ammunition available off the shelf or are they by special order? Can anyone out there recommend a good supplier?

atb

Dave
 
Not sure where Danpd heard that many PHs dont like Barnes x bullets? Not my experience. I would recomend them and suggest they are your first choice, however you wont be popular using a muzzle brake! The 300 winmag doesnt kick enough to need one, I think you should consider not using it or get used to not using it before you go.
 
Not sure where Danpd heard that many PHs dont like Barnes x bullets? Not my experience. I would recomend them and suggest they are your first choice, however you wont be popular using a muzzle brake! The 300 winmag doesnt kick enough to need one, I think you should consider not using it or get used to not using it before you go.

Maybe from the PHs themselves?, i've been hunting in Africa 4-5 times a year for the last 8 years and without fail the bullets which get the most praise are Woodleighs for any double rifles, Swift A Frames, and GS Custom Solids (when you can get the bloody things!) Biggest complaints about Barnes are that they wont shoot very well in some rifles, they tend to overpenetrate without inflicting trauma, and that just as you get them to shoot in your rifle, they discontinue that particular bullet ad you have to start again with the latest and greatest new 5 minute wonder bullet.
 
Hi Dave,

.300 Win is a great plains game caliber, i have shot a lot of stuff with one. Personally i'm not a fan of partitions, or triple shocks, and neither are many PHs.

O.k. I agree that the TSX's may not be everyone’s cup-of-tea as they are pretty hard ~ but not a fan of Nosler Partitions and neither are many PH's?! I would not agree with that one and I’ve got a loft full of heads to back up that claim too! I have been using a .416rem mag, (when I didn’t know better) a .300 win mag and lately I have been taking a 6.5x55 which I have taken Kudu out to nearly 300 yards (all with partitions) - Don’t get caught up with all the rubbish about shooting Africa regarding large calibers - if you can hit the vitals correctly they are going down - let’s face it if it can be done with bows it shouldn’t be too hard with a rifle!

Nosler Partitions ~ possibly one of the best bullets ever made and only recently topped for me by Berger's (for some applications).

 
O.k. I agree that the TSX's may not be everyone’s cup-of-tea as they are pretty hard ~ but not a fan of Nosler Partitions and neither are many PH's?! I would not agree with that one and I’ve got a loft full of heads to back up that claim too! I have been using a .416rem mag, (when I didn’t know better) a .300 win mag and lately I have been taking a 6.5x55 which I have taken Kudu out to nearly 300 yards (all with partitions) - Don’t get caught up with all the rubbish about shooting Africa regarding large calibers - if you can hit the vitals correctly they are going down - let’s face it if it can be done with bows it shouldn’t be too hard with a rifle!

Nosler Partitions ~ possibly one of the best bullets ever made and only recently topped for me by Berger's (for some applications).


I have used Noslers, and they are proven, they do work. The thing i don't like about them and what the PHs agree with is the manner in which they work. The front portion of a partition almost always smears off and disintegrates causing considerable damage and a fairly swift death, which is fine when it works, but unfortunately i have seen too many failures of the design, with lack of penetration leading to wounded game and lengthy follow ups. The A-frame has been proven time and time again to provide the almost ideal balance of penetration and expansion, and i have never had one fail, nor have i spoken to anyone who has. If i am laying out the money for a hunt, the last thing i want to worry about is bullet performance.

here is an interesting article on the subject also. African Outfitter - Independent bi-monthly magazine

we can agree to disagree but i will not use partitions in any situation where bullet performance may cost me a large amount of money on a trophy animal.
 
had too many failures with partitions on bigger game
not good penatration and bad weight retention
that broken lead fragments is in your meat your eating.the np,s are a old bullet thats been superceded
The new barnes ttsx has excellant controlled expansion, near 100% weight retention, meaning better deeper penatration
There all i use now in my big game rifles
except on predators
 
That looks like a great write up / link you have posted although I hav'nt had time to read it all yet if I'm honest.

I understand what your saying about getting the right bullets if your spending out on trophies and the write up has some damming photo's for the Partitions bullets but its not something I have encounted in the 20 plus African plains game trophies I have taken.

One bullet is pictured hardly penetrated the hind quarters of a large antelope ~ trying for such an angle is not a good idea in the first place even if the bullet failed.

:doh:
 
I agree, what sort of retard would shoot a Wildebeest in the arse, most any soft point is going to have trouble with that, especially when it hits the grass packed stomach.
 
I dont know what part of the continent your PH's have come from but I have worked as a professional hunter in zimbabwe and Tanzania for 15 years and most of the people I work with think Barnes X bullets are great bullets. The early ones had some problems with accuracy in some rifles and bore fouling but the current designs all seem good. I dont like them for cats as they are too hard. That said I have little experience of calibres below .30 cal. Perhaps others in southern africa on plains game hunts have found that they are no good in smaller cals as they dont expand enough? I also havent come accross any problems with nosler partitions. I have seen softer bullets fails and my experience of woodleigh bullets in the big cals is that the softs are too soft.
 
................................my experience of woodleigh bullets in the big cals is that the softs are too soft.

IMAG0036-1.jpg

Barnes TSX (
expanding - I think not???!!!) ~ Woodliegh Solids (solid) ~ Woodliegh soft points (well and truely soft!)

These results are from shooting with a 470NE at a target on a normal plywood board in front of bank of sand at 50 yards (full powered home loads not factory). All bullets penetrated at least 12" some more like 18" ~ ended up taking TSX & Barnes soilds as they were the most accurate ~ The Woodliegh softs would better suit the boar hunting in my opinion.

For the big cals Hornady DGS - DGX has been making good noises (from word of mouth not from the muzzle report that is!)
 
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