Tipped or Not?

mstewart44

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Hello All,

This may actually be a post for the reloading section but here goes...

I will be working up a load for my newly purchased Winchester M70 in 375 H&H. While shopping for bullets (I am a die hard Barnes fan) I found a sale on the 250 grain Tipped TSX at Cabellas but was considering the 275 or 300 grain regular TSX (non-tipped) before finding the lighter Tipped bullet on sale. Target animal is lion and (perhaps) buffalo for 2013. Would also be hunting for plains game. I would perfer to purchase only 1 bullet vs purchase both and see which one shoots the best.

I guess the question is.... would the 250 grain Tipped TSX be enough for buffalo?
 
All things being equal, and your shot is un-obstucted and your placement is spot on, then the TSX is good enough for buff. However, in the bush and after a buff, all things are not always equal and I would strongly suggest that you discuss this with your PH that you will be hunting with. Some chaps, including myself, get edgy about lighter bullets on buffalo.
 
I guess the question is.... would the 250 grain Tipped TSX be enough for buffalo?

FWIW, I personally prefer clients to use heavier bullets than that on buffalo & I'd be especially charry about you taking a frontal chest shot with that particular calibre/bullet combo but more than that, you might have grouping problems with that bullet weight because the lighter bullet might be a tad shorter...... I think the TSX 250 g should be OK but my guess is you wouldn't have much margin on it.

I'd suggest you might buy some & try them at the range to see how they group & assuming they do then make your decision then.

Can I also suggest you don't baulk at buying several types/weights of bullets. Sure, it's an added expense but it's absolutely nothing when compared to the cost of a wounded & lost buffalo...... To say nothing of the other factors that come into that particular scenario.
 
..........

I'd suggest you might buy some & try them at the range to see how they group & assuming they do then make your decision then.

Can I also suggest you don't baulk at buying several types/weights of bullets. Sure, it's an added expense but it's absolutely nothing when compared to the cost of a wounded & lost buffalo...... To say nothing of the other factors that come into that particular scenario.

I could not get the TSX to group worth a darn. However, the TTSX were great. Just a different bullet shape that my rifle liked.
Same weight.
I'd agree that you should load them and give them a test flight in your rifle to see what they do.

"Lost" anything, is more costly than a little reloading and practice.
 
FWIW, I personally prefer clients to use heavier bullets than that on buffalo & I'd be especially charry about you taking a frontal chest shot with that particular calibre/bullet combo.

Can I also suggest you don't baulk at buying several types/weights of bullets. Sure, it's an added expense but it's absolutely nothing when compared to the cost of a wounded & lost buffalo...... To say nothing of the other factors that come into that particular scenario.

I must agree with Shakari on this. This past July shot a buffalo at 30 yards using my PH's .375 loaded with 250 grains TSX. The first shot was a frontal at 30 yards. My shot was not perfect, off about 1-2 inches, knocked the bull down but he got right back up. That bull ended up with seven rounds in him before he died. Dang are they tough after their adrenalin kicks in.

The PH believes in these 250 grain bullets telling me that he has had a number of one shot kills on buffalo with them. I used the same setup for one shot kills on Eland, Nyala & Bushbuck.

Randy
 
Hi mstewart44,
Congratulations on the purchase of your 375 H&H, if you haven't already you
will come to love that rifle. Now that you own a larger bore it's time to shoot
larger bullets. I would recommend shooting 300 gn bullets...Barnes makes good ones...
300 gn TSX and the 300 gn Banded Soilds. You want them around 2500 fps out of the muzzle
and they will group close enough. Use the TSX on the lion and plains game, your
first shot on the buffalo can also be a TSX followed by however many soilds you
need to finish the job. Please make sure your first shot is a good one...it will save
you and your PH much grief. Those soilds will whistle though your buffalo like a
hot knife through butter......and this is key.....from any angle. That could be very
important if everything doesn't go quite right. If you are going to hunt buffalo and
lion you are going to spend $28,000+ and an extra $20 or so doesn't seem like anything
to worry about when buying bullets. Just my two cents...Good luck and I hope you
have a great hunt!
 
Hello All,

This may actually be a post for the reloading section but here goes...

I will be working up a load for my newly purchased Winchester M70 in 375 H&H. While shopping for bullets (I am a die hard Barnes fan) I found a sale on the 250 grain Tipped TSX at Cabellas but was considering the 275 or 300 grain regular TSX (non-tipped) before finding the lighter Tipped bullet on sale. Target animal is lion and (perhaps) buffalo for 2013. Would also be hunting for plains game. I would perfer to purchase only 1 bullet vs purchase both and see which one shoots the best.

I guess the question is.... would the 250 grain Tipped TSX be enough for buffalo?

My model 70 in .375H&H loves 78gr of IMR4350 behind a 300gr A-Frame. Bullets are seated to allow crimping at the cannelure. Please note this is an above max load, so start down at maybe 74 to 75gr and work your way up if you decide to give this a go.

300gr TSX work very well too for me in this rifle. The max 71.5gr load of RL15 that comes right out of the manual was the most accurate for me.

If buffalo is on the menu, I don't think it gets much better. The A-Frame load proved to be slightly more accurate than the TSX load, but not enough to worry about in a buffalo gun.

If you do develop a load for the 250gr TTSX, I'd sure like to hear about it. I'm giving thought to giving that a chance for an upcoming PG hunt.
 
The .375 H&H is a great calibre & I admire it immensely but you need to remember it's a bit light for a frontal shot on buffalo. Buff have a big dewlap of loose skin & fat there and it has a big mattressing effect & it's not at all uncommon for the bullet to lack the power to penetrate into the chest cavity and instead tends to run round the outside of the ribs just under the skin..... and a buff wounded like that is a bugger to follow up because they'll run forever...... and that's why a good quality, well constructed, heavy bullet is to be recommended.
 
I should update this post... it is the 275 and 300 grain bullets on sale at Cabela's. I think I saw the 250 grain on the Barnes website or perhaps somewhere else??

I am going to order the 300 grain and let it rip. Thanks to those who replied.
 

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