What Kind of bullet do you Professional Hunters use/prefer?

[Thumper Mcgee]

What is your preferred bullet when having to back up clients

 

[Professor Mawla]

Does being a Problem Animal Control officer count ? Probably not , but here is what I prefer .

For hunting dangerous game , I use my .458 Winchester Magnum . For hunting marauding Royal Bengal tigers , Asiatic leopards and Asiatic leopards ; I prefer the 500 grain Nosler Partition soft nosed factory loads . For hunting rogue Asiatic jungle elephants , Gaurs and salt water crocodiles ; I prefer Ken Stewart 500 grain flat nosed copper jacketed hand loaded solids .

Whenever I need to spoor wounded Asiatic leopards , I use my 12 bore which I load with Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG shells .

 

[BeeMaa]

My PH was thrilled when I showed up with Swift A-Frames.
He recommended premium expanding bullets.
Norma Oryx, Barnes TSX, Fed TBBC along with the SAF's.

He said it was fine to bring some solids if I wanted, but just a few.
Said not to load them in the magazine, just keep them handy.
Very useful for a shot using a DG caliber on one of the T10.

The other exception with solids is Elephant.
Which I'd love to hunt, but it's gonna have to wait.
I'm not sure of the shot he would recommend with solids.
Maybe the head/brain shot?
Have to ask those who have hunted Ele.

Edit - Apologies, just re-read the OP.
My PH used 458WM Hornady DGX 500 grain.
Not a whole lot of choices unless you reload.

 

[Professor Mawla]

My PH was thrilled when I showed up with Swift A-Frames.
He recommended premium expanding bullets.
Norma Oryx, Barnes TSX, Fed TBBC along with the SAF's.

He said it was fine to bring some solids if I wanted, but just a few.
Said not to load them in the magazine, just keep them handy.
Very useful for a shot using a DG caliber on one of the T10.

The other exception with solids is Elephant.
Which I'd love to hunt, but it's gonna have to wait.
I'm not sure of the shot he would recommend with solids.
Maybe the head/brain shot?
Have to ask those who have hunted Ele.

Edit - Apologies, just re-read the OP.
My PH used 458WM Hornady DGX 500 grain.
Not a whole lot of choices unless you reload.

@BeeMaa
Solid non expanding bullets ( either of the steel jacketed variety or the homogeneous brass / naval bronze variety ) should ALWAYS ( and without exception ) be used for hunting elephants ; regardless of what shot is taken ( be it side brain shot , frontal brain shot , heart shot or double lung shot ) . Soft nosed bullets HAVE seen limited success against cow elephants under very limited circumstances ( such as side brain shots or double lung shots where no rib bones came into contact with the bullet ) , but it leaves too much to chance . It must also be borne in mind , that the bone density of an elephant bull is roughly twice as much as that of an elephant cow .

Your professional hunter has exquisite taste . The Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet remains a personal favorite of mine . I used to employ them ( Federal Safari factory loads ) in my .458 Winchester Magnum , prior to trying out the 500 grain Nosler Partition .

 

[IvW]

Elephant and Rhino. Rhino solid brass with big meplat 570gr in 500Jeff caliber.
Lion, buffalo, hippo. Rhino controlled expansion bullet 570gr in 500Jeff caliber.

For leopard 12ga/12ga shortened barrels Brenneke slugs or 9.3x74R/12ga 286gr Rhino expander and Brenneke slugs.

Same bullets in solid or expander 300gr, 340gr, 350gr and 380gr in 375 H&H.

 

[mark-hunter]

What is general concenzus of proffesionals on norma oryx bullet, on african hunting grounds, in 375HH?

This bullet here is rarely mentioned, on the other hand its available in my local shops, thus the question.

 

[IvW]

Too soft for the animals the 375 H&H is capable of.....

 

[Thumper Mcgee]

Too soft for the animals the 375 H&H is capable of.....

do you have any experience with the rhino solid shank

 

[IvW]

Yes that is all I use

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

For Bolt action rifles Trophy Bonded and Bear Claws.
For double rifles Woodleigh Softs and Solid.
The latest Bonded Hornady seem o.k. and some doubles are being regulated for same.

 

[Foxi]

Does being a Problem Animal Control officer count ? Probably not , but here is what I prefer .

For hunting dangerous game , I use my .458 Winchester Magnum . For hunting marauding Royal Bengal tigers , Asiatic leopards and Asiatic leopards ; I prefer the 500 grain Nosler Partition soft nosed factory loads . For hunting rogue Asiatic jungle elephants , Gaurs and salt water crocodiles ; I prefer Ken Stewart 500 grain flat nosed copper jacketed hand loaded solids .

Whenever I need to spoor wounded Asiatic leopards , I use my 12 bore which I load with Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG shells .

Professor,that you are still alive ..with your .458 which is just enough for a sheepdog ?

In Zimbabwe I am "woven" into a circle of black Professional Hunters.All were previously employed in Hangwe NP and shot quantities of elephants of which people here hardly have a current idea. Their armament then as now
375 H+H as well as
.458 Win MAg with PMP bullets FMJand soft for the other game.
1 (!) cartridge of a .375 costs round USD 20.- there
What I did not know at that time, that it is usual to go legally in NP on the (meat) hunt. The own employees must be supplied somehow. There are no supermarkets there.

The PHs in ZambiaI met led very gladly Federal.

A German/Namibian PH I met in the Khaudum area in Namibia hunts leads Woodleigh and Swift A Frame in his .500 Jeffrey.When remember right.
Some of our Boer PHs(they were culler also) in Namibia have shot stuff that is consistently considered crap here, but they are happy.

 

[IvW]

Yes @Foxi in Africa it is very often that we have to make do with what we have and not what is availible all over the world

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Softs - 570 gr Swift A Frame
Solids - 570 gr Peregrine VRG-1

 

[Professor Mawla]

Professor,that you are still alive ..with your .458 which is just enough for a sheepdog ?

In Zimbabwe I am "woven" into a circle of black Professional Hunters.All were previously employed in Hangwe NP and shot quantities of elephants of which people here hardly have a current idea. Their armament then as now
375 H+H as well as
.458 Win MAg with PMP bullets FMJand soft for the other game.
1 (!) cartridge of a .375 costs round USD 20.- there
What I did not know at that time, that it is usual to go legally in NP on the (meat) hunt. The own employees must be supplied somehow. There are no supermarkets there.

The PHs in ZambiaI met led very gladly Federal.

A German/Namibian PH I met in the Khaudum area in Namibia hunts leads Woodleigh and Swift A Frame in his .500 Jeffrey.When remember right.
Some of our Boer PHs(they were culler also) in Namibia have shot stuff that is consistently considered crap here, but they are happy.

@Foxi
There is an old American saying , “ If it ain’t broke , don’t fix it “ . Most recently , I dropped a problem Asian sloth bear with a single 500 grain Nosler Partition soft nosed factory load , fired from my .458 Winchester Magnum . It was a behind-the-shoulder heart shot . The animal succumbed to his wounds , after going only 22 yards ( measured ) .

Is it not funny ? The .458 Winchester Magnum apparently cannot even cleanly drop a housefly ; and yet this is the preferred calibre of some of the greatest living elephant hunters in Africa ? Just ask Richard Harland ( who actually prefers his .458 Winchester Magnum over his .505 Gibbs ) , Terry Irwin , Ron Thompson , Ken Worseley and Mike LaGrange . All of them have secured African elephants , in the four figure sums . Then , there is also John Coleman ( a close personal friend of mine ) who has shot a three figure sum of African elephant with his .458 Winchester Magnum . I have personally been using a .458 Winchester Magnum for Problem Animal Control work , ever since 1976 .

On a related subject , I am fairly certain that PMP ( Denel ) only used to manufacture .458 Winchester Magnum ammunition which was loaded with 475 grain monolithic solids ( unbanded and made from naval bronze ) . Not full metal jacket bullets .

 

[PeteG]

of all the ammunition I’ve tried so far,

Solids - Peregrine VRG1 brass
Expanding - Peregrine VRG3 copper
Have been head and shoulders the best.

I have been happy with the swift a frame in various calibers, but the peregrines were very easy to get both to the same point of impact. No need for change there.

 

[Foxi]

Yes @Foxi in Africa it is very often that we have to make do with what we have and not what is availible all over the world

we Europeans like to forget this in our affluence

 

[Adrian]

What is general concenzus of proffesionals on norma oryx bullet, on african hunting grounds, in 375HH?

This bullet here is rarely mentioned, on the other hand its available in my local shops, thus the question.

Not a professional by any means but I've used the Norma Oryx in my 30-06 and .375H&H for plains game and I think it's a superb bullet. It mushrooms nicely, holds together and retains weight.

 

[mark-hunter]

I used it in 308 win. In that role, perforemd excellent.
It is available in my LGS, in 375 H&H, but I wanted to know about performance on buffalo in that caliber.

 

[IvW]

Not a professional by any means but I've used the Norma Oryx in my 30-06 and .375H&H for plains game and I think it's a superb bullet. It mushrooms nicely, holds together and retains weight.

Too soft in any caliber to use as a back up bullet by a PH.....

 

[IvW]

I used it in 308 win. In that role, perforemd excellent.
It is available in my LGS, in 375 H&H, but I wanted to know about performance on buffalo in that caliber.

Are you asking about Norma Oryx in 375 H&H for Cape buffalo?