Leopard cartridge choice; Poll

Choose one. Please explain why and your choice of bullet

  • Total voters
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Betterinthebush

Betterinthebush

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The scenario: traditional bait and blind, sitting on a prebaited site with a cat that hit bait last night on a new moon.

Country: Mozambique
Area: Niassa
Estimated size of leopard: 120-150 pounds
 
Last edited:
A magnum anything is not needed. Any caliber suitable for whitetail deer is actually preferable to even a 375 H&H. I chose the 7mm-08 in the poll because it essentially duplicates the 7x57. Truth be told, a 243 is a solid choice with 100 grain bullets.
 
Why would you leave out the two perfect choices? 308 and 30/06. Without those on the list, I guess I’d go with a 270 or 280. Probably would use a Swift Scirroco or Nosler Partition for quick expansion with enough bullet integrity to penetrate both shoulders.
 
I would think a good ole 30-06 would the ticket. Since it was not listed I had to go with the 300 WM.
 
I voted for 338 win mag as I do not see 9.3X62 in the list of choices.

Probably a line to articulate the rationale would be nice...
 
I voted 7x57 (7mm08).

I reckon 156gr Norma oryx would do a good job.
 
JPbowhunter said:
I voted 7x57 (7mm08).

I reckon 156gr Norma oryx would do a good job.
Click to expand...
Oryx bullets always do a good job. Superb expansion and weight retention.
 
I have killed leopards with 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag, 375 H & H, and 416 Rigby. They all worked fine. Would recommend the 300 as less likely to flinch. An 06 would do the trick
 
They will all kill a leopard with a bullet in right place, but I’d be using 300 win. The shock from faster velocity will hopefully aid finding it at bottom of tree rather than a follow up into brush.
 
I killed mine with a .338 WM with a 200 gr bullet. More than needed and far too tough a bullet, but it drilled a neat .338 hole going in and a .339 going out to my taxidermist's delight. A magnum is not necessary, though the .300 gets used a lot because it is along for PG.
 
Suppressed .300 WM. Something fast and not terribly solid in the 150gr range for a bullet. No reason to flinch. A bit of horsepower if something marginal happens, and enough velocity to do nasty things to the nervous system and every other evil thing inside the cat.

The real answer though is the rifle I'm the very most familiar with, that I trust implicitly, and the one that has the best glass on it. Right now, for me, that's probably a .308 Win.
 
Planning to use .300 win mag with 180gr A-frame, running 3100fps over a handload of H4350 next summer for leopard. The PH is keen on A-frames for his cats, and was glad to hear any sort of .30 cal north of a 308 driving it.
 
I've used 300WM and custom 300WBY both with the 200gr A-frame. Slow the load to approx 2850!
I think a 180 or 200 Partition would be very good and likely only place I would use Partitions in Africa.
 
Shot mine w suppresed 375 h&h 270 gr soft federal blue box
681f9099-833e-4c50-8d50-1e205559ea2e.jpeg
 
Never shot a big cat and I have not shot anything with the 35w
But I have with the 338 wm the 200gr silver tip makes big holes in deer and hogs
And has on more than one Acasion completely (hamburger meat) the heart on deer and hogs.

I would think the 35 might do better from what I have seen with the 358w but I don’t know.
 
I shot my leopard with a 338 WM with a 225 gr Norma Oryx bullet.

I normally shoot everything with a Swift A-Frame but wanted a little softer bullet for the leopard. The Oryx worked well. I would even use factory Remington Core-Lokt on a leopard.
 
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