Favorite Bullets for Tough & Dangerous Game Poll

What are your preferred bullets for DG & tough heavy animals. You can choose three.

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odonata

odonata

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A couple of weeks ago, I posted a bullet manufacturer poll for non-DG plains game that received over 470 votes & a lot of informative responses. Once a significant number of votes were recorded, Barnes & Nosler contended for the top two spots with Swift in third place. This poll is a follow-up that focuses on the preferred bullets for tougher, bigger & more dangerous animals. It's also the type of bullets that I'm the least knowledgeable about based on the hunting I'm currently doing. From reading a lot of hunting reports on this site, I have some good guesses as to what the top contenders are going to be but it's always nice to have some quantifiable numbers to verify that.

The list in this poll was generated by looking online at bullets in the 375, 416 & 458 size ranges to see what was readily available. Some examples of the bullet models are given in parenthesis but the majority of the list is a solid & a non-solid choice from the manufacturers who offer both.
 
Listing the Partition and the Accubond, two totally different bullets, together is interesting. Not a fan of the Partition.
 
I was using the Swift A-Frame, but switched to the Barnes TSX for my expanding bullet because the rifle was more accurate with them.

Woodleigh Hydros for solids have been my choice for years.

@Scott CWO - I’m with you on the NP. The only place I’d consider using them on DG is leopard because they open very quickly.

Disclaimer - I don’t reload so I’m limited to factory options.
 
I am a Swift user for all my Africa hunts. Aframes and Breakaway solids in 458 Lott, 375HH and 300 win Aframes. Barnes would be my 3rd choice.
 
I really like the CEB safari solid.
But living in a country where it's not easy to find premium bullets as a components, because we are very few to reload our own ammunitions, the brand I use the most remains Degol. They are easily avalaible and not expensive.
I received 100 Starkmantel 300 gr in .375" last week.
 
Scott CWO said:
Listing the Partition and the Accubond, two totally different bullets, together is interesting. Not a fan of the Partition.
Click to expand...
Listing two bullets together is simply a limitation of the number of slots available in the poll. It’s not an indication that I think they’re equivalent or comparable. Every poll is either going to be missing something or have something not quite right. As I mentioned in the original post, I basically broke it down into solid & non-solid (monolithic, bonded, partition, etc) for the companies that made large caliber bullets. So the results will definitely be informal. But hopefully the comments (like yours) will clarify the distinctions.
 
Swift A-frames and Woodleigh Hydros
 
I have a very pragmatic approach to this. I use the best amongst what's available.

But generally, I'm fond of:

(AMONGST SOLIDS)
CEB Safari Solid
Flat Nosed Barnes Banded Solid
Wim Degol Vor Mantel
Northfork Flat Point Solid
Rhino Monolithic Solid
DZOMBO Mark 6

(AMONGST EXPANDING BULLETS)
Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw
Nosler AccuBond
Wim Degol Stark Mantel
Northfork Semi Spitzer
Rhino Solid Shank

Swift A Frames and Break Away Solids are always excellent but virtually never available. Barnes TSX are not perfect but always available.
 
I use the Barnes TSX. They work and they are available. The price is reasonable.
I am not impressed at all with new Hornady DGX.
 
I voted for the Barnes TSX due to its availability for reloaders and factory ammo for those who don't reload. I've had outstanding results with the 300 grs out of a 375 H&H, on one cow Buffalo, one bull, a Lioness and on 9 PG animals.

I've had meh accuracy results with Nosler partitions, and outstanding accuracy with the Accubonds. I took a 300 Weatherby rifle with 180 grs Accubonds reloads on my first safari, and all the animals were one shot kills, with the exception of the Wildebeest, which took two shots, and the first one was my fault.
 
I found Spoor Bullets from South Africa in August 2025. Easily the most consistently performing DG bullet I've used.
 
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