Barnes X vs Solids

[Yaryan]

I'm new to the magnum gun club, but I've recently acquired a .416 Rigby that I'll be using for cape buffalo this year. I've been a huge Barnes X fan since forever and will be loading them up for the .416 as well. From what I've read X bullets tend to exit in large animals and in my own experience I have found very few bullets in animals. Knowing they tend to exit, do I need to use solids too? I'm sure this is a silly question, just figured there are a lot of PH's and experienced dangerous game hunters in here. Thanks in advance!

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I've recovered them (.375H&H - 300 & 350 Grain) from Giraffe, Hippo, Buff, Croc, and Sable... If that helps?

 

[One Day...]

The modern conventional wisdom on Buffalo, Yaryan, is that modern solids will almost certainly pass through and you run the risk of wounding/killing a second animal standing behind your intended target. Most PH prohibit solids for Buffalo these days.

As to the TSX, I personally consider it as an "expanding solid", which is supported by its construction and behavior: it is a monolithic solid piece of metal that penetrates endlessly, and its front expands in 4 petals to almost double caliber, combining the best of both worlds. Even with the TSX, one needs to be careful of pass-though in Buffalo when a broadside double lung / heart shot is taken.

I do not use solids anymore on Buffalo, and I am actually also quite confident that the TSX is a better option than the solid for elephant or hippo broadside double lung / heart shot. In addition, and this does create controversy but it is what it is, there is reliable feedback from professional culling of elephant using frontal brain shots done entirely satisfactorily with TSX. This does not surprise me, although - again - some see it as a heresy...

 

[Flipper Dude]

I load TSX only when hunting buffalo.

 

[375Fox]

It’s really a question for the specific PH you’ll be hunting with, but most say premium softs (Barnes, TBBC, swift) are all you need. Some still prefer solids in magazine though based on their experience.

 

[Firebird]

Are you referring to the original Barnes X bullet or the modern/updated version, the TSX?
Either way the above comments seem spot on and I agree that you should have this conversation with your specific ph. Good luck, hope to see pictures sometime soon

 

[roklok]

Agree, talk to your specific PH. Mine still prefers a magazine full of solids with a soft in the pipe for buffalo, even with a TSX. However, he does not mandate it, and agrees that modern expanding bullets such as the A Frame and TSX make solids less crucial. In my buffalo hunt last month I put an A Frame right where it needed to go with first shot, but then couldn't deliver any more hits because the CEB Safari Solids I had in magazine would have definitely passed through and there were a lot of buffalo behind the bull. So it is a trade off. Had I made a marginal or bad shot I could have more safely delivered follow-up shots with more A Frames. Thankfully follow up shots were not needed.

 

[revturbo9967]

It’s really a question for the specific PH you’ll be hunting with, but most say premium softs (Barnes, TBBC, swift) are all you need. Some still prefer solids in magazine though based on their experience.

I honestly think the premium expanding bullets can do enough damage on follow up shots on buff. I’m no expert but I think the penetration on these bullets are pretty good .

 

[Riflecrank]

A TSX that breaks a heavy shoulder bone (humerus) and then plows through the heart will not likely exit a cape buffalo,
even if it is a .510-caliber/570-gr TSX at 2400-2500 fps MV impacting at 25 to 50 yards, hopefully no closer.
The closer you are, the greater the impact speed and the wider the expanded TSX will be and the greater will be the resistance of the impact medium (cape buffalo) and the lesser the penetration.
The brass FN solid of same weight and MV will pass through from tail to nose on a fleeing cape buffalo and exit.
I like the idea of two TSX bullets followed by two FN solids at the bottom of the magazine,
and make sure they all feed well in any order of arrangement in your rifle chamber and magazine.
One shot, meat!
Two shot, maybe!
Three shot, heap big dung !
Need solids for dung cleanup in the shooting lane,
and hopefully garments of you and PH will stay unsoiled.

 

[Rare Breed]

I'm new to the magnum gun club, but I've recently acquired a .416 Rigby that I'll be using for cape buffalo this year. I've been a huge Barnes X fan since forever and will be loading them up for the .416 as well. From what I've read X bullets tend to exit in large animals and in my own experience I have found very few bullets in animals. Knowing they tend to exit, do I need to use solids too? I'm sure this is a silly question, just figured there are a lot of PH's and experienced dangerous game hunters in here. Thanks in advance!

Solids for elephants and rhino period in my opinion.

 

[375Fox]

Solids for elephants and rhino period in my opinion.

Very good point. I automatically assumed Buffalo when I read the question. I assumed use of solids was universal on elephant.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I'm new to the magnum gun club, but I've recently acquired a .416 Rigby that I'll be using for cape buffalo this year. I've been a huge Barnes X fan since forever and will be loading them up for the .416 as well. From what I've read X bullets tend to exit in large animals and in my own experience I have found very few bullets in animals. Knowing they tend to exit, do I need to use solids too? I'm sure this is a silly question, just figured there are a lot of PH's and experienced dangerous game hunters in here. Thanks in advance!

Is he hunting Ele? I just assumed Buff. Not that I disagree with the use of solids on elephant. I have them loaded in 500 grain for my 450…

 

[revturbo9967]

Is he hunting Ele? I just assumed Buff. Not that I disagree with the use of solids on elephant. I have them loaded in 500 grain for my 450…

He said buffalo, I think that’s what he’s referring to.

 

[grand veneur]

I'm new to the magnum gun club, but I've recently acquired a .416 Rigby that I'll be using for cape buffalo this year. I've been a huge Barnes X fan since forever and will be loading them up for the .416 as well. From what I've read X bullets tend to exit in large animals and in my own experience I have found very few bullets in animals. Knowing they tend to exit, do I need to use solids too? I'm sure this is a silly question, just figured there are a lot of PH's and experienced dangerous game hunters in here. Thanks in advance!

Buffaloes are not shot with Solids nowadays, unless you use very marginal cartridges or very big bores, but that is not the topic because the cartridge 416 Rigby is concerned. Nevertheless, I would still load some Solids for this cartridge. When hunting big game and also on every hunt in Africa where you may encounter dangerous game, cartridges with Solids should also be carried for such situations. This is part of a big game hunter equipment and could very quickly become useful not only if something goes wrong by hunting buffaloes, but also in the event of a problem, with an elephant for example where the Solids are still the first choice for shooting it.

 

[Philip Glass]

I'm new to the magnum gun club, but I've recently acquired a .416 Rigby that I'll be using for cape buffalo this year. I've been a huge Barnes X fan since forever and will be loading them up for the .416 as well. From what I've read X bullets tend to exit in large animals and in my own experience I have found very few bullets in animals. Knowing they tend to exit, do I need to use solids too? I'm sure this is a silly question, just figured there are a lot of PH's and experienced dangerous game hunters in here. Thanks in advance!

Solids are not needed for buffalo when choosing TSX. The TSX will travel through the whole Buffalo from back to front (I've done it) and will do far more damage than a solid. The whole solid/soft recommendation is from a time gone by. Use TSX for everything but elephant brain shots and the tinies.

 

[Yaryan]

Thanks guys, I'll be loading up solids also, per my PH. Just a question I've had for a while and good to know the X bullets will do their job if I do mine!

 

[Riflecrank]

The TSX first shot plus a good FN solid (Barnes Banded Solid or CEB Safari Solid) as needed can prevent a "close call."

 

[Hunter-Habib]

For Cape buffalo hunting ?

You will want to load the entire magazine with 400Gr Barnes TSX. Not only do they drop Cape buffalo noticeably faster with body shots (whilst providing ample penetration from ANY angle) but they are also safer to use on Cape buffalo than solids.

The vast majority of Cape buffalo are hunted in herds. With a solid, you run the risk of sometimes wounding an animal other than the one that you specifically targeted (via pass through). It happened to me in Kenya in 1974 (my life's first Safari) when using the 300Gr RWS round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid (fired from a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum BRNO ZKK602). We didn't realize it at the time, that I had accidentally also hit a cow when my bullet passed through the target bull. She was found dead on the following day after my bullet had ruptured her gut. Ethical considerations aside... today, I would get into far more legal trouble if an accident like this occurred. If a 300Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid can accomplish a complete pass through on a Cape buffalo bull... then, it goes without saying that a 400Gr monometal solid (like the Barnes Banded Solid) will also accomplish a complete pass through on your Cape buffalo bull.

I fortunately belong to the "Transitional" generation of hunters (1970s-Present Day) who began their Cape buffalo hunting adventures using solids exclusively, to then shift to using expanding bullets for the initial shot & solid bullets for the follow up shots, to eventually shifting to using premium grade expanding bullets exclusively (initially the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw but after that ceased to become available, I shifted to the Barnes TSX). Once Swift came out with the A Frame in 1984, Barnes came out with the X in 1989 and Federal came out with the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw in 1993... most of us slowly (but surely) began to shift away from solids for Cape buffalo hunting.

 

[Cheesehead]

Is the TSX likely to pass through on a broadside shot?

 

[BryceM]

If you avoid all bones entirely, and it's a broadside shot, and you go only through the soft part of the lungs, a TSX could maybe exit. Even if it does, it might not retain enough energy to do severe damage to the animal on the other side.

In my vast experience (one buffalo at 40 yards with a .416 Rigby using a 400gr TSX bullet), it entered one shoulder, broke bone, shed two petals, penetrated both lungs and the heart, and was recovered on the far side of the animal. He went maybe 50 yards and a followup shot was not required.