Best bullet for Africa

[19_A_CPT]

Planning phase for a venture to RSA for mostly plains game, however, I may throw in a Buffalo if the checkbook can process it.

Which bullet (if any of these) would be best for
1) All around plains
2) Buffalo

A)300 grain Silvertip
B)300 grain solids
C)300 grain Nosler Partition

 

[318AE]

I don’t recommend saving money on the terminal projectile. Two of those boxes may be best to display in a “man cave”. The partition would work well for most plains game, but there are far better choices for buffalo. Perhaps the solids could work well for the tiny ten - that’s a whole other thread as well. If you really think you may pursue buffalo, pursue getting some swift a-frames first.

 

[19_A_CPT]

I don’t recommend saving money on the terminal projectile. Two of those boxes may be best to display in a “man cave”. The partition would work well for most plains game, but there are far better choices for buffalo. Perhaps the solids could work well for the tiny ten - that’s a whole other thread as well. If you really think you may pursue buffalo, pursue getting some swift a-frames first.

Well i didn't know if they had werewolf in Africa, so I wanted to be prepared.

 

[Just a dude in BC]

Of those choices I would go:
1) The solid is first. In days of yore everyone recommended the solid. It will get the job done.
a. Caveat: this will work to well in the penetration department, and could over penetrate you into wounding a second animal.
2) Partition is second. They work great, BUT on bovine sized animals you need to avoid hitting the leg bones. This means you may need to pass up some shots, but on a slight quartering away shot, it will get the back 2/3rds of the bullet into the boiler room.
a. As an all around bullet, these are great, and would crush plains game.
3) I honestly would not take a silver tip.

Edit: That being said I think there are better choices out there, like north fork, swift a frame and so on.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

The Noslers are ok for plains the others are garbage. For Cape depending on how you and the PH are thinking can be the following.

Softs:
Swift A-Frames
Federal TBBC
Barnes TSX

Solids:
Cutting Edge
North Fork
Swift Break-away
Woodleigh

This should give you a good start and honestly all of the softs I mentioned are better than the Noslers as well.

 

[318AE]

Well i didn't know if they had werewolf in Africa, so I wanted to be prepared.

It’s a perfect choice for werewolf, chupacabra and perhaps aardwolf.

 

[375Fox]

If I had to pick one of those 3, I’d use the Nosler partitions, but it still wouldn’t be my first choice on a buffalo, but good for PG. I wouldn’t use the other two for anything other than practice off sticks. Swift A Frames, Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, Barnes TSX are the standard for buffalo hunting and equally good on plains game. Swift and TBBC are difficult to find now. Barnes 300 gr TSX factory ammo is widely available and relatively inexpensive. Barnes Solids in factory ammo are easily available as well if your PH would prefer you to load solids on buffalo after your first shot or for the tiny 10. Hornady DGX/DGS combination would be better than your current choices as well and are widely available in factory ammo.

 

[375Fox]

Take a listen to this podcast while you are driving. It’s extremely informative.

 

[revturbo9967]

This is one of the podcasts that kicked it into overdrive for me. It’s bad news…….

Partitions were good back in the day, but there are better choices. Factory hornady bonded softs a a pretty good factory loaded bullet and I would take them if I couldn’t find factory Barnes.

I reload but shot factory loads when I hunted Africa and reloaded for the range to save money.

 

[grand veneur]

Planning phase for a venture to RSA for mostly plains game, however, I may throw in a Buffalo if the checkbook can process it.

Which bullet (if any of these) would be best for
1) All around plains
2) Buffalo

A)300 grain Silvertip
B)300 grain solids
C)300 grain Nosler Partition

The range of cartridges you presented reminds me very much of the eighties and nineties, where all three bullets were declared suitable for buffalo hunting. For this reason I will answer as an Africa hunter from that time. I would have no concerns about shooting buffaloes with the Nosler bullets and the Solids. You should only be careful with the Silvertip bullet, because apparently something was changed in the alloy of the bullet jacket in the early 1970s which made this bullet much softer and only usable to a limited extent for buffalo hunting. What works for the buffalo also works for plain game and for this game also the Silvertip bullets.

There are certainly better bullets nowadays, although I don't always know how some much younger hunters who have never shot big and dangerous game with such older bullets are able to judge something like that.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Definitely won't go with the Partitions on the Cape Buffalo.
Softs:
Swift A-frame, Rhino(Solid Shank) ,TBBC, North Folk

 

[grand veneur]

Which bullet (if any of these) would be best for
1) All around plains
2) Buffalo

A)300 grain Silvertip
B)300 grain solids
C)300 grain Nosler Partition

That was the initial question.

We all know that bullets like the Swift A-frame, Rhino(Solid Shank) ,TBBC, North Folk and so forth are better, but if nothing else is available than the three ammo boxes shown on the picture above, I would choose the Nosler Partitions and/or the Solids for shooting a buffalo.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

Def not solids

 

[grand veneur]

Def not solids

Why not ?

In the past, this was often the first choice for buffalo hunting and it worked.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

No sir
They whistle through a buff, they dont even no they have been hit
And you may hit another in the background
Solids are for ellies….and PH back up shots
Maybe long ago when softs were too soft but with the bullets we have today def no need for a solid on buff

Based on my experience

 

[BeeMaa]

Very similar to @Hunting Hitman …

Barnes TSX, Swift A-Frame, Norma Oryx and Federal TBBC are the premier choices for softs and can be used on nearly everything from 100 to 2000 lbs.

Solids will only be used for the T10, elephant or the rare occasion that your PH asks you to load them. Maybe bring 10. Woodleigh Hydro and CEB Safari Solids are my choices.

The Nosler Partition has been used to great effect in Africa but there are much better options available.

 

[mark-hunter]

Planning phase for a venture to RSA for mostly plains game, however, I may throw in a Buffalo if the checkbook can process it.

Which bullet (if any of these) would be best for
1) All around plains
2) Buffalo

A)300 grain Silvertip
B)300 grain solids
C)300 grain Nosler Partition

First to say, this is going to be long thread...
Having said that:
Of the three choices, I vote for nosler partition, 300 grain.

Me?
I use swift a frame 300 grain.

Choice no 2:
300 grain solids, for tiny ten, elephant and rhino, only - would be my use for them.

 

[Luvthunt]

Nosler part. Backed up by solids.
But would prefer Aframes.

 

[Ridgewalker]

As you can read above good info. Ask your PH. Get Dr. Robertson’s book “The Perfect Shot”. It’s not up to date on the latest and greatest of the monometsls, but excellent reference info on caliber, bullets, and where to shoot them. Definitely worth the money IMO&E!
Have a great trip and don’t forget to practice off of sticks!

 

[grand veneur]

First to say, this is going to be long thread...
Having said that:
Of the three choices, I vote for nosler partition, 300 grain.

Me?
I use swift a frame 300 grain.

Choice no 2:
300 grain solids, for tiny ten, elephant and rhino, only - would be my use for them.

Long thread, not sure because SP vs Solid for buffalo hunting is another topic.

The point here is that in theory there are only three boxes of ammunition available and now it has to be decided which ones are more or less suitable for buffalo hunting. In this case the Solids are part of it, whether some people like it or not. None of this concern PG hunting because these game species can be shot with the same rifle and cartridges that you use at home for deer and wild boar hunting and therefore possible with all three sorts of cartridges shown.

All also based on my experience with marginal cartridges and bullets for big game hunting, especially buffaloes.