.416 cup and core performance

[frog stealer]

All,

Originally, I was planning on using a premium bullet (a-frame or tsx) for my upcoming plains game hunt for eland next year. However, I am getting very good accuracy using speer's 350 grain psp cup and core bullet, 0.5 to 1" groups at 100 yds on a consistent basis.

I'd like to here from any of you that have used this bullet on the larger plains game species. There's a lot of documentation online that recommends the premium bullets, but if these will work satisfactory for my intended game, I'd like to stick with them. Any thought on this would be great!

 

[enysse]

No experience with that particular bullet, sounds like a soft bullet, with is not bad. Probably similar to Remington's Core lokt bullets with is plenty good for eland. I would take that great accuracy and go hunting, aim for the lung and you will have one very dead eland.

 

[frog stealer]

Thanks for the reply enysse...I agree, they are probably similar to a core lokt. Being that large a caliber, you would think they would beef up the jacket a bit, but not sure.

 

[Norwegianwoods]

I don't have experience with .416 bullets, but I have one experience with a soft cup and core bullet in a 375 H&H, used on Moose in Norway and that ended in a lengthy tracking job for me and my tracking dog till we finally caught up with the hunters bull and gave it a finishing bullet.
The hunter had great results with the bullet earlier when put behind the shoulder, but on this bull the distance was short and he put the shot on the shoulder and the bullet blew into pieces.
The hunter started to use Swift A-frame after that.

That said, I have nothing against using standard cup and core bullets for hunting. But they should be used at lower and moderate speeds in my opinion. Often a standard cup and core bullet is the best choice at these speeds.
Speed is the large enemy of standard cup and core bullets, no matter what size of the bullet.

I use a cup and core bullet (Lapua Mega) in my 6.5x55 with great results, but it is totally crap in my 6.5-06.
I also use a 300 grain cup and core bullet in my 375 Ruger, but it is moderately loaded.
When loading for speed I use Barnes TTSX in both my 6.5-06 and my 375Ruger.

 

[frog stealer]

This is exactly what I don't want to happen, especially for such an expensive animal. Maybe it's better to spend just about double the money on bullets, which I would gladly do if it meant no bullet failures. Now hopefully the a-frame and speer shoot to the same point of aim.

 

[Norwegianwoods]

When you consider the price for the hunt and the trophy fees, the cost of bullets is very very small, no matter what bullet you choose to use

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

I don't have experience with .416 bullets, but I have one experience with a soft cup and core bullet in a 375 H&H, used on Moose in Norway and that ended in a lengthy tracking job for me and my tracking dog till we finally caught up with the hunters bull and gave it a finishing bullet.
The hunter had great results with the bullet earlier when put behind the shoulder, but on this bull the distance was short and he put the shot on the shoulder and the bullet blew into pieces.
The hunter started to use Swift A-frame after that.

That said, I have nothing against using standard cup and core bullets for hunting. But they should be used at lower and moderate speeds in my opinion. Often a standard cup and core bullet is the best choice at these speeds.
Speed is the large enemy of standard cup and core bullets, no matter what size of the bullet.

I use a cup and core bullet (Lapua Mega) in my 6.5x55 with great results, but it is totally crap in my 6.5-06.
I also use a 300 grain cup and core bullet in my 375 Ruger, but it is moderately loaded.
When loading for speed I use Barnes TTSX in both my 6.5-06 and my 375Ruger.

Siding with Norweiganwoods on this one as well, standard cup and core bullets tend to perform way better under moderate velocities once you start reloading though, accuracy could either imporve or deteriorate slightly with a drop or rise in poweder levels (grains of powder) finding a good moderate with good accuracy would be a solid path to follow, and most definitely adequate for the species you will be persuing.

My best always.

 

[frog stealer]

Thanks guys for your input. I'm thinking that's its better to spend the extra money for the tougher bullets...if I were to use the speer psp bullets, and an eland presents himself with a shot at 150 yards, I think I'll be OK, but if he decides to show himself at 40 yards, that might be too much for that bullet to handle. I guess you always have to plan for the worse case scenario. I wish bullet companies would post maximum velocities for all thier bullets on the web like nosler does. That would take some of the guess work out of things...but even then, I guess it really depends on what the bullet comes in contact with.

By the way, the most accurate load I've found for the speer 350's has been right around 2500 fps...a mid-range velocity for that bullet weight for sure! I've been handloading for the better part of a decade now, and it seems that 90% of the calibers I reload for find maximum accuracy with a low to mid range velocity load.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Very true on the last paragraph....

My best always