I'm headed over for a plains game and buff cow hunt next November. My buffalo rifle is chambered in 416 Remington. I've just started playing with different loads and am trying to determine what bullet to use. My PH has recommended premium soft points, saying he doesn't use solids at all for buffalo with the quality of today's bullets. Bullets I have tried so far include 400 grain Trophy Bonded Bearclaws and Sledgehammer solids and 450 grain Woodleigh soft points. The Woodleigh's in Norma factory guise far outshot the TBBC in Federal factory loads, cutting group size in half. Both were more than adequate for hunting use. I haven't done much with handloads at this point to see how I can improve on group size, but that is up next. I'm really leaning towards the Woodleigh 450s as they shot very well and I've always been a heavy for caliber bullet guy. Thoughts? Are these too soft?
Before all of the Barnes guys jump in, I had one bad experience with Barnes on a bear and lost confidence. I understand they are good bullets and any manufacture can have failures under the right conditions, but I have a mental block and can't bring myself to use them. The failure was two shots to the heart/lung area at max 30-06 velocities inside 50 yards. Both shots blew right threw with no expansion leading to a long tracking job. In hindsight, I should have put the 2nd shot on the shoulder to break the animal down. Buffalo are a different animal and I'm sure they would excel, but I just can't do it!
Before all of the Barnes guys jump in, I had one bad experience with Barnes on a bear and lost confidence. I understand they are good bullets and any manufacture can have failures under the right conditions, but I have a mental block and can't bring myself to use them. The failure was two shots to the heart/lung area at max 30-06 velocities inside 50 yards. Both shots blew right threw with no expansion leading to a long tracking job. In hindsight, I should have put the 2nd shot on the shoulder to break the animal down. Buffalo are a different animal and I'm sure they would excel, but I just can't do it!