Best bullets for plains game

[Mountaineer]

Tipped Trophy Bonded

 

[Tra3]

Nosler ABLR.
Barnes anything
Berger HPBT VLD bullets

the first two are a given. The Berger seems to get a mixed reaction from people, but they have worked well for me.

As side note: if I could pay a little extra and get a mixed assortment of those little plastic bullet tips in different colors… that would be awesome! I’d go with a fluorescent color to keep my stuff I order. Why do sports cars get to be bright colors and not bullets tips!

 

[Don458]

youre begging to start the Ford/Chevy/Dodge argument, arent you...


I keep things simple.. its Barnes TTSX and TSX for everything from .243 to .416... doesn't matter if Im hunting Dik Dik or Cape Buffalo... its going to be on the receiving end of a barnes bullet..

Why? 19 different species of African game taken with them so far (including DG).. with zero failures..

All that said.. if specifically going after PG, I wouldn't hesitate to use a rifle loaded with partitions, A-frames, trophy bonded bear claws, or any other known quality bullet.. any of them will get the job done with no issues... Barnes is just what I happened to start with.. has worked well for me.. so I see no reason to try to fix what isn't broken..

Thankfully I was very well stocked on projectiles prior to the COVID and follow on Summer of Mostly Peaceful Protests run on ammo and reloading supplies... so.. I haven't had to worry about what bullet to load/shoot... but.. I do have to admit I find it concerning that barnes projectiles have been in very short supply at the retailers that I frequent.. Where I used to be able to walk into my local cabelas or scheels.. or go online to midway on any given day and buy whatever barnes bullet I wanted in whatever caliber I wanted.. its gotten much harder to find them lately.. If they don't come back onto the shelves in decent supply in the next 12-24 months.. at that point I might have to resort to whatever else I can find a decent supply of...

Ford pre 1990

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I use Barnes TSX and TTSX .22-250 up to .375

I have hunted Elk successfully with Berger VLD Hunting Bullets and will continue to use them in my .300 RUM.

I also have Barnes LRX I’m eager to load and try out in my RUM.

I used Partition bullets for years then switched to Barnes TTSX and TSX. I love Barnes Bullets. They kill animals dead…

 

[Dewald]

After my rifle scope was dinged during a fall, my PH had me shoot a cull impala with his Howa 1500 .243 with an 87gr. V-Max bullet. Dropped her where she stood with a chest shot at about 100yds. I was IMPRESSED having never shot anything bigger than a prairie dog with a varmint bullet. He told me he uses that bullet for head shots when culling.

Even behind the shoulder on small warthog, bushpig over bait (40 yards) impala etc. Slips in, damages the organgs and never exits to cause havoc on the other side.

But for headshots the 75 and 87gr V-maxes work very well. Not a pretty sight though

 

[Dewald]

Dewald, is Dzombo still in business ?

Indeed. The owner, Bjinse Visser makes a few batches a year and takes orders, as well as producing bullets for Kruger National Park.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I'm not saying what you think the best cartridge is for plains game. I am saying the best bullets, like Nosler partition, swift a frame, TBBC, Barnes TSX, etc.

what are your favorite bullets and why?

Over the.last 10 years or so I've been using Nosler AccuBonds. Mule deer, blscktail, black bear, bull moose, nyala, waterbuck, bushbuck, impala have all died quickly. Never have recovered a single bullet. In Africa I even told the skinners that I would pay $5 for a recovered bullet. All bullets seemed to upset quickly then continued to pass through even at fairly sharp angles. I will keep using them. They've also been easier to buy than some of the others mentioned.

 

[Namibia Hunter]

7x57: 173gr PPU Soft Points or 158gr PPU Grom. I have an original 1929 Oberndorf Mauser which chucks the 158's at about 2300 ft/s so any conventional cup and core will do the job.
8x68S: 200gr RWS Evolution (bonded) at 2900 ft/s

With both rifle/bullet combinations I have yet to find anything other than dead plains game within 100 m if shot in the engine room.

 

[Hogpatrol]

All the bullets mentioned in this and other threads will kill if they go in the right spot. The trick is to find which ones work best in your particular rifle and if they are available. Nothing worse than to buy a box of 100, find out they're the best and then can't find them anywhere for months on end or ever. In the last few years, some bullet manufacturers have discontinued some lines or gone out of business.

 

[YancyW]

I use Barnes TSX and TTSX .22-250 up to .375

I have hunted Elk successfully with Berger VLD Hunting Bullets and will continue to use them in my .300 RUM.

I also have Barnes LRX I’m eager to load and try out in my RUM.

I used Partition bullets for years then switched to Barnes TTSX and TSX. I love Barnes Bullets. They kill animals dead…

I've been using the 245 EOL in my 300 RUM, that combo hits like a death ray.

 

[gajie270]

I've never been a fan of Berger bullets(really just match hunting bullets as a whole), heard way too many stories of them exploding on shoulders and wounding game for me to trust them. I'll take my Nosler partition.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I've been using the 245 EOL in my 300 RUM, that combo hits like a death ray.

I need to try them. I think I have enough twist to spin them accurately…

 

[YancyW]

I need to try them. I think I have enough twist to spin them accurately…

A 10" will work, most likely. If you have some altitude, it should be fine for sure.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Read Kevin Robertson's books (The Perfect Shot, or Africa's Most Dangerous for DG.) 'Prefer Swift A-Frames and Barnes Banded Solids on big, thick-skinned DG, and the same Swifts or Nos Partitions on PG. I only like Barnes TTSXs using >3,000 fps rigs (as they sometimes don't expand on lower V cartridges-same for any bonded bullets.) Don't get caught up in the "next best thing" they need to sell (you) each year! Ex: Once shot a Gemsbok w/ a .338-06 (Barnes TSX 225 gr at 2650ish fps)-poked a perfect hole through it, put its horns down and proceeded to charge (trying to gut Me,) so I put another shot through it at PBR (and it complied a bit better.) Using a .338 A-Sq (and same bullet, >3,200 fps) it was lights-out, straight down at the same 80ish yd distance. Which reminds us of another book: Use More Gun! There's nothing wrong w/ traditional bullets for PG (and for that, read Art Alphin's A-Sq manual: Any Shot You Want.) Enjoy. There will be a quiz at the end and your life may depend on it!

 

[MAdcox]

I have been a big Barnes X bullet fan since they came out. I shoot the TSX now in everything from 223 to my 300WSM with great success.
In heavier bullets (180-200gr) my 300 prefers the A-Frame. Also an excellent bullet.
I picked up my first 375 H&H last year in the middle of this I-can't-get-any-components junk going on. The only "quality" bullet I could find immediately available to load was the Norma Oryx. I had great success with the 100gr Oryx in my 243 so I used the 300gr Oryx in my 375 H&H. They performed wonderfully in Namibia.

 

[Doug3006]

Ford pre 1990

Hi Don.

My post isn’t related to this string, but I don’t feel like working at the moment and have decided to share my opinions on AH instead. ( I received my flight itinerary for SA from Shawn at Gracy Travel this morning and I’ve simply lost interest in my work.)

I love Fords, but your pre-1990 remark made me think about the absolute junk that came out of Detroit and Dearborn in the mid-1970s. The gas crisis and resulting need for fuel efficiency caught the Big 3 flat footed. That said, all of them responded by designing and building the worst American-made products ever.….nothing excluded. Don’t believe me? Try finding a ‘72 Ford Pinto on the classic car market. They were all scrapped and turned into beer cans by 1985.

My vote for the worst car ever made in the free world is….the new-for-1977 Ford Thunderbird! Aesthetics aside….wait, I can’t set them aside….it was hideous…ugly in the dark…ugly to the touch. It was also a mechanical disaster. Ford decided to downsize the Thunderbird from the LTD/ Continental behemoths it shared platforms with to the Cougar. Not a bad move, since the 1955 Thunderbird was really a pony car. What Ford begat was exactly the car no one needed and was built to crush the hearts of Thunderbird lovers….and impoverish those foolish enough to buy one.

 

[Divernhunter]

The 120gr 257cal A-frames work fantastic as do the 225gr 338cal A-frames on both trips. First trip was with my daughter for 10 days of hunting and 2nd trip was just myself for 25 days of hunting. Shot many animals with them(also in the USA) in a 257R and 257W as well as a 338win mag. Most all animals just dropped and the ones that did run did not go far---except for a couple I did a super bad bullet placement---all were recovered. I have also used them in other cartridges but not in Africa. They are my 1st choice in hunting bullets where I am not restricted to non-lead bullets.

how well do the a-frames in 257 Weatherby perform on game in your experience? I have two Weatherbys and have been curious for a while.

 

[gajie270]

The 120gr 257cal A-frames work fantastic as do the 225gr 338cal A-frames on both trips. First trip was with my daughter for 10 days of hunting and 2nd trip was just myself for 25 days of hunting. Shot many animals with them(also in the USA) in a 257R and 257W as well as a 338win mag. Most all animals just dropped and the ones that did run did not go far---except for a couple I did a super bad bullet placement---all were recovered. I have also used them in other cartridges but not in Africa. They are my 1st choice in hunting bullets where I am not restricted to non-lead bullets.

thanks i might get some for my 25s

 

[Graham Hunter]

I use a lot of Partitions but this May I used 150 gr TTSX and the new Hornady CX in my 7x64. Everything from Steenbok to Sable and Gemsbok with over 20 animals. I like the CX. Little more accurate and less fouling. I can get the same velocity from the CX with a grain less of powder in my 7X64.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

As a life long shooter of cast bullets and having used them on a lot of different game they do work rather well. If they were a poor choice, then where did all the American Bison go?

@Rick HOlbert
All the buffalo died of old age mate, cast bullets had nothing to do with it. It's a vicious rumour started by the flat earth crowd.
Seriously cast bullets are a good alternative I would love to be able to get hold of some of the 35 cal ones from Montana bullet works . The mid and heavyweights with that nice big flat meplat would work a treat and make for some nice cheap shooting.
Bob