Which of these two rifles would you recommend for leopard?

Mtn_Infantry said:

I’d suggest the Corelost Tipped. It’s a bit better bullet than the standard Corelokt PSP. I’ve shot a fair number of them myself with great accuracy results. I used the later in my 375 on a Leopard earlier this season.

Leopards are thin skinned, and very soft. They’re not a thick animal either so it doesn’t take much to exit. With that said, I wanted a soft, rapidly expanding (almost explosive) bullet to ensure the maximum amount of energy was dumped inside the animal which is why I took old school Corelokt PSP.

You might also find the following factory loads in that grain weight Federal loaded 165gr Fusion, 165gr Trophy Bonded Tipped, 165gr Trophy Copper, 168gr Berger Hybrid, 165gr TSX or Hornady loaded 165gr CX, 165gr SST, or 165gr Tipped SST. Barnes should have TSX’s and TTSX’s in that grain weight. I’d imagine most any of those would shoot well and provide great performance on the Leopard plus any Plains Game you might need to shoot for bait.If I remember correctly

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Mtn_Infantry said:

I’d suggest the Corelost Tipped. It’s a bit better bullet than the standard Corelokt PSP. I’ve shot a fair number of them myself with great accuracy results. I used the later in my 375 on a Leopard earlier this season.

Leopards are thin skinned, and very soft. They’re not a thick animal either so it doesn’t take much to exit. With that said, I wanted a soft, rapidly expanding (almost explosive) bullet to ensure the maximum amount of energy was dumped inside the animal which is why I took old school Corelokt PSP.

You might also find the following factory loads in that grain weight Federal loaded 165gr Fusion, 165gr Trophy Bonded Tipped, 165gr Trophy Copper, 168gr Berger Hybrid, 165gr TSX or Hornady loaded 165gr CX, 165gr SST, or 165gr Tipped SST. Barnes should have TSX’s and TTSX’s in that grain weight. I’d imagine most any of those would shoot well and provide great performance on the Leopard plus any Plains Game you might need to shoot for bait.

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did you take a Leopard with your 9.3x62 using the Speer 270 bullet? How did that work out

Based on comments here about a fast expanding bullet. I would think a Nosler ballistic tip would be a good choice. Say a 180 grain in a 30 caliber.

Boredrill said:

The 7 mag will work fine. I would use a 150-160 grain bullet and I prefer the Partition for leopard.

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The 30-06 is the rifle I will be taking. I already have the TSA paperwork completed and I fly out this Wed.

Russ16 said:

Based on comments here about a fast expanding bullet. I would think a Nosler ballistic tip would be a good choice. Say a 180 grain in a 30 caliber.

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I can't get the Nosler to group under 2 inches at 100 yards. The only bullets that group well are the 165 grain Core-lokt tipped, 165 grain Sierria Game King, and the 172 grain Speer Impact. I'm just trying to get feedback on these three because they are the only ones that group well.

codofish said:

The 30-06 is the rifle I will be taking. I already have the TSA paperwork completed and I fly out this Wed.

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TSA paperwork? Or do you mean SAPS rifle permit

Hyde Hunter said:

TSA paperwork? Or do you mean SAPS rifle permit

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Form 4457. I guess that was a US Customs agent that signed it

Hyde Hunter said:

did you take a Leopard with your 9.3x62 using the Speer 270 bullet? How did that work out

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Negative. I used some very old 270gr Corelokts out of a 375 H&H. I think the box still had a $42.99 sticker on them it if that tells you how old it was.

Very hard quartering to shot, I watched him get knocked backwards off the branch and turn all four feet up in the air through my scope and what sounded like a thud hitting the ground. PH slapped my back saying “great shot, he’s stone dead”. Within seconds of that slap on the back we heard trashing and a blood curdling growl, that echoed off the koppies surrounding the bait tree.

This was very early April, super thick, green and wet. You couldn’t see the base of the tree, or anything below the branch he was on (had to cut limbs off to make a shooting lane), grass was as tall as the cruiser. Oh shit set in, we radioed the truck, PH asked if I accounted for him going from broadside to hard quartering to at the last second which I said yes, and waited in complete silence with me stewing and replaying the shot and reaction over in my head. No birds, baboons, or other animals made a sound, the sun went down in the 30-45 min we waited. Emptied the blind, packed the truck and climbed into the back of the truck getting as high as possible to see over/into the grass, fired up the spotlights, held a torch under my barrel, and slowly drove forward scanning. Got to the edge of the tree, killed the engine, dropped his two hunting dogs who went hopping/bounding in and it was silence for a min or two. Called the dogs and then came right back. Sent them in again and silence. Got off the truck, walked under the branches to find the cat stone dead within a yard or the branch facing away from us and the dogs right there with it.

Because the shot knocked the cat backwards off the branch it must’ve upended him and turned his head facing away from us into the koppies and I didn’t catch that in the scope due to the recoil. The growl/trashing was essentially a death growl. Upon opening the cat my shot hit the top of the heart, almost detaching it and completely liquified the lungs. Due to the hard quartering to angle, my round exited a good ways back on the body, well behind the last rib but in front of the rear hip/leg.

You can see the entrance on the Leopard in this photo. For reference to the Tom’s size, I’m 6’2” and 265-270lbs in the photo

Berettaco said:

Either - but to be on the safe side you should buy another just in case

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Yup I totally agree....

fantastic cat!

I will be using 168 gr Berger for leopard, leaving in 2 weeks
Got some great input on those for soft skin animals…

Hyde Hunter said:

fantastic cat!

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I leave for Zimbabwe next week. If I get my leopard I am changing my name from codofish to Fantastic Cat.

I think I will start a different thread for my bullet question

Betterinthebush said:

I’d take the “ugly green camo plastic stock Savage”. It’s a nice setup. I’m loading my .338WM for my leopard hunt with Remington Cor-Lock. Not a sexy hand-load, and I’m a big lover of Barnes TSX, but, my PH told me if my rig works good with Cor-Locks to “please bring them” if they shoot well for this hunt.

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You’ll be well served with .338 Core-lokt’s for your leopard. Very good choice.

DLSJR said:

You’ll be well served with .338 Core-lokt’s for your leopard. Very good choice.

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Thanks man. Truth is, I ended up using TBBC’s on my leopard. Due in no small measure because of your posts.

I filed a hunt report on it.