What bullet for Dangerous game do you trust your life with and what bullet do you not trust at all ?

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dgr416

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I fully trust the swift A frame bulkets in my 416 rem mag both 400 and 350 grain .They never fail you and I have never heard of any of them failing anyone else .I trusted the 275 grain in my 338-378 weatherby too .Noslser partitions come in second but still not as good as swift A frame bulllets .
I dont trust any hornady bullets for dangerous game .I had so many fail on deer that I 100 percent dont trust them on dangerous game .I also in second dont trust any match bullets up close people are using for long range bullets they blow to pieces .I mainly hunted bears grizzleys but friends hunted American buffalo which in Alaska are super tough to kill .I saw guys shoot them 3 times with 458 win mags too far away 200 yards and no expansion from bullets they used .The buffalo and grizzleys were hard to put down especially running .
 
Hornady DGX bullets suck! Swift, northfork, woodleigh, and TBBC are all good soft bullets! I only use Cutting Edge FTS for solids at the moment.

HH
 
I prefer Swift Aframes and Breakaway solids for African game. Here at home I use Barnes TTSX in 308, 300 win mag my main two rifles.
The only Hornady I will use is the 223 soft point they load for small game.
 
Can't speak to DG hunting but I have whacked a pile of critters with hornady bullets over the years and never had anything get away from them. The GMX and now CX has been my go to bullet in anything fast and the ELD-X has proven accurate in every gun I own. From 243 to 300prc they have proven excellent on everything from coyotes to elk. The Barnes LRX may be the only bullet I have taken as many critters with as a hornady.
 
I've taken multiple buffalo with Hornady DGX, Swift Aframes, many more with Barnes TSX, only buffalo I ever took that caused me issues was the one I shot with solids, that was a total shit show. At present I am waiting on handloaded ammo from Hendershots, they are loading me up some 300 grain North Fork SS for an upcoming buffalo hunt.
 
Softs, Swift A-frame, Woodleigh, Hornady DGX bonded , Barnes X and Northfork..

Solids, Woodleigh and Hornady DGS..Hippo flat tipped brass..

The penetration of those Hippos in .375H&H is fantastic..
 
DLSJR said:
I prefer Trophy Bonded Bearclaws, TSX’s, A Frames and really want to give North Forks a try. Cutting Edge Raptors too, need to try them more.
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Good luck getting NF had a total shit show trying to get there CPS out of them after a year they only sent part of the order with a lack in communication. Seems to be having trouble on the product side if I read correctly between the lines. I gave up and got a refund. But a waste of a year for me when I could have gone another route. Back to the drawing board.
 
Trust (Expanding bullets):
- Trophy Bonded Bear Claw
- Nosler AccuBond
- Swift A Frame
- Nosler Partition
- Remington Core Lokt
- Winchester Power Point
- Sellier & Bellot SPCE
- Wim Degol Starkmantel

Note: I would trust the first three and the last one on Cape buffalo

Trust (Solid bullets)
- Cutting Edge Safari Solid
- Flat nosed Barnes Banded Solid (only available currently in five calibers)
- DZOMBO Mark 6
- Wim Degol Vormantel

Note: The first three should only be used in rifles deemed safe for use with monolithic solids

Distrust (Expanding bullets)
- Sierra Game King
- Winchester Silver Tip
- Hornady ELD-X

Distrust (Solid bullets)
- Prvi Partivan gilding metal jacketed round nosed FMJ (this one nearly got me killed)
- Hornady DGS (in high velocity calibers)


A few words are imperative here. I generally like the Barnes TSX for hunting Cape buffalo and hippopotamus, but do not like it for lion or leopard. I also avoid it in lower velocity calibers. I don’t trust the Hornady DGS in a high velocity caliber (like .416 Rigby), but would trust it in a slower caliber (such as .500 Nitro Express).
 
Hi,
Not too easy to get but have someone used the Rhino South African bullets? To me seems to be the best bonded soft point! I say this because they open in "petals" rather than in a uniform rounded form. Much better, as I see!
 
Clodo Ferreira said:
Hi,
Not too easy to get but have someone used the Rhino South African bullets? To me seems to be the best bonded soft point! I say this because they open in "petals" rather than in a uniform rounded form. Much better, as I see!
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Very, very good. You're talking about their Solid Shank bullet.

Unfortunately, their website appears to be behaving unusually at this moment.
 
I have used Swift Bullets ever since Bill started making them in Quinter, KS. In my Doubles they have
been very easy to regulate and have performed like nothing else. The only issue I have as many have expressed here is availability, but as I understand almost all the real premium bullet producers are having the same issues which are multifactorial. I keep standing orders with Swift for the 10 or so bullets I use. I think NF has potential as do several others that have been mentioned but for me, I'll stick with Swifts. The 30 caliber 200gr A-frame in a 300 mag at 2800fps has been stellar on everything from elk, moose, leopard, all the plains game I've shot with it. That and one or two doubles is all I need in Africa. I can't wait to try them in a new Heym 450NE 3 1/4" that is headed my way and hopefully to Tanzania in September. The 300gr A-frame in a 375 is perfect.
 
Expanding or non-expanding?… depends on use.

I trust- Swift A-Frames. Solid shank bonded bullets like Rhino, North Fork and TBBC. Monolithics like North Fork Flat Point Solids and Cup Point Solids, Barnes TSX.

I don’t trust- any bonded or non-bonded cup and core with thin jacket (InterLock and Core-Lokt are good examples of BS marketing). I don’t trust any cup and core, so called “solid”, that is simply a conventional cup and core design with reversed jacket (used to be called “full patch”). I don’t trust any monolithic solid or reversed cup and core “solid” with round nose profile.
 
Woodleigh I just trust them especially the Hydros their not just a solid but a solid that causes tissue damage.

To be honest though, we stand on the shoulders of giants who hunted the same and often more numerous game with inferior ammo.

When reading the famous Safari books I often wonder how their opinions would change if they had modern ammo.
 
Last edited:
Sideshow said:
Good luck getting NF had a total shit show trying to get there CPS out of them after a year they only sent part of the order with a lack in communication. Seems to be having trouble on the product side if I read correctly between the lines. I gave up and got a refund. But a waste of a year for me when I could have gone another route. Back to the drawing board.
Click to expand...
I actually got a call back from somebody at North Fork this week, in response to a message I left a few days earlier. He advised me that the problem they are having is not with production, but rather with shipping. He said that the costs to ship small quantities of bullets have skyrocketed to unworkable levels and they’re looking into alternative solutions to solve the problem. He did indicate he’d keep me apprised of any progress and be ready to take an order as soon as they figure out a solution.
 
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