.30 cal solids for tiny ten types?

[Elkeater]

I was at the reloading bench a couple nights ago loading some .300 Winchester magnum with 180gr Barnes ttsx for an upcoming hunt and my 12 year old daughter wandered into the garage and sat down and started in on her questions about going back to Africa. We started discussing what animals she wants to try for next time which will likely be in 2028. Then she jumped to wanting to take her 6.5 creedmoor which is cool. She mostly wants to hunt for the Impala color variants so nothing large there. I on the other hand would like to be able to take my .300 win mag as I plan on eland for sure and hopefully bushbuck which eluded me on our last safari. Is would also like to take any opportunity on steenbok, grey duiker, or maybe a civet. Not wanting to fly or import more than two rifles (wife will be going too so she could import a rifle as well I just don’t want to deal with more than one double rifle case and paperwork) I realized that neither her 6.5 (she would share with her brother) or my .300 win mag are ideal for the smaller animals. But i know many on here have taken the tiny ten with big bore solids so my question is would a .30 cal solid do the job without blowing a big hole in something like a steenbok or even a porcupine? Northfork makes a 200gr and 220gr solid flat nose bullet for .30 cal. If I could get them to shoot to the same point of impact as a Barnes or other expanding bullet that I would use on eland and such would they work for the tiny ten?

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I was at the reloading bench a couple nights ago loading some .300 Winchester magnum with 180gr Barnes ttsx for an upcoming hunt and my 12 year old daughter wandered into the garage and sat down and started in on her questions about going back to Africa. We started discussing what animals she wants to try for next time which will likely be in 2028. Then she jumped to wanting to take her 6.5 creedmoor which is cool. She mostly wants to hunt for the Impala color variants so nothing large there. I on the other hand would like to be able to take my .300 win mag as I plan on eland for sure and hopefully bushbuck which eluded me on our last safari. Is would also like to take any opportunity on steenbok, grey duiker, or maybe a civet. Not wanting to fly or import more than two rifles (wife will be going too so she could import a rifle as well I just don’t want to deal with more than one double rifle case and paperwork) I realized that neither her 6.5 (she would share with her brother) or my .300 win mag are ideal for the smaller animals. But i know many on here have taken the tiny ten with big bore solids so my question is would a .30 cal solid do the job without blowing a big hole in something like a steenbok or even a porcupine? Northfork makes a 200gr and 220gr solid flat nose bullet for .30 cal. If I could get them to shoot to the same point of impact as a Barnes or other expanding bullet that I would use on eland and such would they work for the tiny ten?

Provided bullet placement is good, without question. I know of a red duiker shot with a .375HH NF solid. The little ram went down but after a few moments got up and trotted away seemingly unscathed.

The littles I shot with the same bullet....bang/flop. But I'm sure a .308 bullet would do the same regardless of the .30 caliber it was fired from.

 

[RR 314]

Yuuuup. .22 to .458 and beyond solids will work great.

 

[skydiver386]

There are 30 cal non-expanding bullets available if you handload.

.308 168gr MTAC (Match/Tactical) - 50ct

.308 168gr monolithic, solid copper match-grade projectile. This MTAC (Match/Tactical) bullet is a non-expanding, monolithic long-range bullet with a high BC, perfect for match and target use.

cuttingedgebullets.com

Fairly sharp nose and an all copper solid, should zip right through without much pelt damage.

 

[analog_peninsula]

What about reversing a tsx? Seems easy if there aren’t feeding issues.

 

[Elkeater]

There are 30 cal non-expanding bullets available if you handload.

.308 168gr MTAC (Match/Tactical) - 50ct

.308 168gr monolithic, solid copper match-grade projectile. This MTAC (Match/Tactical) bullet is a non-expanding, monolithic long-range bullet with a high BC, perfect for match and target use.

cuttingedgebullets.com

Fairly sharp nose and an all copper solid, should zip right through without much pelt damage.

Hammer bullets also make some solid copper match bullets and I think there are several others as well. Since I do handload I have options. I was thinking the flat point from north fork might be better? Just thinking it might cause a little more damage but not too much. Maybe I’ll buy some in the next year or so and do some experimenting and testing on jack rabbits to see what they do.

 

[375er]

Hammer bullets also make some solid copper match bullets and I think there are several others as well. Since I do handload I have options. I was thinking the flat point from north fork might be better? Just thinking it might cause a little more damage but not too much. Maybe I’ll buy some in the next year or so and do some experimenting and testing on jack rabbits to see what they do.

Cutting Edge makes a 180 gr Safari Solid with the 13 degree bevel, flat point. Accurate in my experimentation so far.

 

[AimSmall]

The CEB solids have been pretty good about matching POI with hunting loads in several calibers for me. They poke a clean hole with deadly results.

 

[Green Chile]

I was just looking at a few boxes of CEB 180 solids tonight. I haven’t used them yet but that’s the intended purpose.

 

[Green Chile]

Those having good results on paper with CEB solids…are your loads similar to your softs?

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

In both 458 Lott and 375 H&H I didn't have to adjust charge weight at all with RL15 between the 470/500gr (458) or 275/300gr (375) bullets for the same POI.

 

[michael458]

 

[Hsk]

Awesome family safari plans getting the kids involved early is gold.

Real talk from guys who've taken tiny ten steenbok, duiker, civet, porcupine with .30 cal rifles like yours .300 Win Mag

Yes, .30 Cal solids work great they punch clean in out holes with minimal hide meat damage way better than expanders that blow big exits on 20-50 lb animals. North Fork 200gr/220gr flat nose solids are a favorite deep straight pen, no veering, and plenty of PHs/hunters use them or similar Peregrine, Barnes banded on tiny ten without wrecking capes.

Many load heavies slowish 2400-2600 fps for even less shock, but your normal velocities are fine just aim lungs heart, not shoulder bone.

Getting them to POI match your Barnes TTSX (for eland/bushbuck) is doable tweak seating depth powder charge most guys get within 1-2" at 100 yds for opportunistic shots.

Carry a mix expander for big stuff, solids for small swap as needed. One rifle covers everything ethical.

Your .300 is perfect for eland opportunistic tiny stuff daughter's 6.5 shares fine for impala variants.

 

[Elkeater]

Awesome family safari plans getting the kids involved early is gold.

Real talk from guys who've taken tiny ten steenbok, duiker, civet, porcupine with .30 cal rifles like yours .300 Win Mag

Yes, .30 Cal solids work great they punch clean in out holes with minimal hide meat damage way better than expanders that blow big exits on 20-50 lb animals. North Fork 200gr/220gr flat nose solids are a favorite deep straight pen, no veering, and plenty of PHs/hunters use them or similar Peregrine, Barnes banded on tiny ten without wrecking capes.

Many load heavies slowish 2400-2600 fps for even less shock, but your normal velocities are fine just aim lungs heart, not shoulder bone.

Getting them to POI match your Barnes TTSX (for eland/bushbuck) is doable tweak seating depth powder charge most guys get within 1-2" at 100 yds for opportunistic shots.

Carry a mix expander for big stuff, solids for small swap as needed. One rifle covers everything ethical.

Your .300 is perfect for eland opportunistic tiny stuff daughter's 6.5 shares fine for impala variants.

We got them pretty involved up front on our first safari in 2024. They were 9 and 10 on that trip. They’ll be 13 and 14 if we go in 2028. So plenty old enough to help make decisions. They had a ton of fun the first time over and took more animals than me! My daughter took Impala, springbok, steenbok, blesbok, and zebra. My son took a blue wildebeest and an excellent warthog. They will likely use the 6.5 loaded with some 124gr hammer hunter bullets for most things. They may be able to handle a suppressed .300 win mag by then so we will see if getting suppressors in and out of the country gets easier in the next couple of years.

I think I’m gonna give this a try with the 180gr cutting edge safari solid first. Probably test them on jack rabbits and coyotes first to see what they really do in the small stuff.

 

[ftrovato]

Woodleigh makes 150 & 180 30 Cal Hydros too.

 

[Green Chile]

As mentioned it can be done with normal loads and not tearing them up. This was a few weeks ago, 300 WSM and fast 180 softs on Cape Grysbok at 60 yards. He was quartering to me but you can see the impact was well back from the shoulders. He dropped at the shot…well he dropped all of 6 inches. Hah.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

There are 30 cal solids out there that you could load for your 300WM. You could also use softs and place your shot a bit further back, more on the midline and leg the kinetic energy and shock do the work.

Personally, I use a 375. I try to use solids when possible but there are times I’ve used a TBBC or A-Frame because that’s what was chambered upon the chance encounter. In fact the most damage to any of my T10 (I’m at 8, plus several duplicates) was with a 375 solid on a hard quartering shot on my Dik-Dik.

 

[Green Chile]

I would be careful with the solids that are flat nosed as they convey a lot of shock and hydraulic displacement. I was in conversations yesterday with CEB bullets and they suggested a product I had not seen before. The 182 gr .308 MTAC is a match grade solid that is designed to print the same POI as their expanding hunting bullet line. I'm getting a couple boxes to test in my 300 PRC or 300 win mag.

 

[Elkeater]

As mentioned it can be done with normal loads and not tearing them up. This was a few weeks ago, 300 WSM and fast 180 softs on Cape Grysbok at 60 yards. He was quartering to me but you can see the impact was well back from the shoulders. He dropped at the shot…well he dropped all of 6 inches. Hah.

View attachment 734017

I wonder if the tiny’s are too small for the bullet to really open? I’ve watched a number of ballistic gel tests over the years and in many cases it takes a bullet 4-6” before it really opens up. Well on something like your cape grysbok after 6” that bullet is already out and gone.

 

[Elkeater]

Another option for a solid copper.