Best Caliber for Tiny 10?

[Professor Mawla]

I would use either :
a ) A steel jacketed meplat nosed 500 grain solid from my .458 WM ( Winchester Magnum )
b ) A .222 Remington
c ) A 12 bore loaded with Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch AAA shells

 

[GeoffB]

What I am using is the Barnes 70gr going 2850 and no problems. I attribute it to the Barnes bullet being a harder bullet and just does not do the damage on the smaller ones. I know it sounds strange but I've done it over and over with excellent success.

@Philip Glass - I agree that the .223/Barnes 70gr is probably one of the best combinations for a dedicated Tiny 10 and small game rifle. I have been running the barnes bullets at moderate velocities in my little Sako .222 for years on game up to the size of pigs and fallow deer. Based on your experience and the results you have achieved in Africa I have put this information under my belt and just ordered a .223 barrel with a 1:7 twist (J Sip & Sons) for my Blaser R8. All so I can run the 70gr Barnes for future tiny 10 hunts once the borders open again and we can get back to Africa.

I have been following this thread with interest as I have a fascination with hunting the tiny 10 since my first trip. I was going to hunt a few more this year until the virus put a hold on travel.
So far I have only taken three species of the ten. Steenbuck, Common Duiker and 2 X Klipspringer. I have also thought about what is the perfect calibre/bullet combination. I have used a .243 loaded with 65gr brass solids on all my tiny ten so far. These solid bullets leave a small entry/exit hole but can take a little while for them to stop running.
Well except one shot - my first Klipspringer was at 143 yards. I was shooting downhill along a cliff face to an area thick in vegetation in the Eastern Cape. There was a cool breeze blowing up the cliff face into my face. Enough to make me shiver after glassing him for a while. The Klipspringer was laying down sunning himself next to a large rock in a valley below. I changed to a soft point in the .243 thinking this would anchor the Klipspringer for fear of loosing him in the thick bushes in the valley to the right after the shot. All a good idea until my shot landed 2" to the right destroying the side of his head, shoulder and the fragmentation of the bullet ruining the cape. So as flexible is a .243 for the longer shots on small to medium African game I will pull back to a .223 with a 70gr Barnes at moderate velocity for the job.
Here is a photo of the position I took my first Klipspringer from. Its not always flat and grassy in Africa.

 

[Philip Glass]

@Philip Glass - I agree that the .223/Barnes 70gr is probably one of the best combinations for a dedicated Tiny 10 and small game rifle. I have been running the barnes bullets at moderate velocities in my little Sako .222 for years on game up to the size of pigs and fallow deer. Based on your experience and the results you have achieved in Africa I have put this information under my belt and just ordered a .223 barrel with a 1:7 twist (J Sip & Sons) for my Blaser R8. All so I can run the 70gr Barnes for future tiny 10 hunts once the borders open again and we can get back to Africa.

I have been following this thread with interest as I have a fascination with hunting the tiny 10 since my first trip. I was going to hunt a few more this year until the virus put a hold on travel.
So far I have only taken three species of the ten. Steenbuck, Common Duiker and 2 X Klipspringer. I have also thought about what is the perfect calibre/bullet combination. I have used a .243 loaded with 65gr brass solids on all my tiny ten so far. These solid bullets leave a small entry/exit hole but can take a little while for them to stop running.
Well except one shot - my first Klipspringer was at 143 yards. I was shooting downhill along a cliff face to an area thick in vegetation in the Eastern Cape. There was a cool breeze blowing up the cliff face into my face. Enough to make me shiver after glassing him for a while. The Klipspringer was laying down sunning himself next to a large rock in a valley below. I changed to a soft point in the .243 thinking this would anchor the Klipspringer for fear of loosing him in the thick bushes in the valley to the right after the shot. All a good idea until my shot landed 2" to the right destroying the side of his head, shoulder and the fragmentation of the bullet ruining the cape. So as flexible is a .243 for the longer shots on small to medium African game I will pull back to a .223 with a 70gr Barnes at moderate velocity for the job.
Here is a photo of the position I took my first Klipspringer from. Its not always flat and grassy in Africa.

View attachment 365538

Great story on the Klipspringer. They are tricky. I shot mine with .375 solid and it was not good but that was what I had at the time. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t a mess it’s just that the 70gr 5.56 would have been better. Any big gun and you are going to blow out some hair on the Klippie.
I’m glad you’ve found the 70gr Barnes to be so versatile as I have. It has amazed me. I routinely use it for deer here at the ranch. Keep in mind the Barnes ammo I am using is 5.56. You might convey that to Justin for your new barrel. I’m not sure how much difference it makes but you do want ammo and rifle to match when traveling.
Philip

 

[Von S.]

No way I'm a "tiny 10" slayer as it just ain't my thing and they look like pets to me, but when it was offered here by a long term member to whack the hell out of one with a big solid out of a 375 hh I had to try as I never shot one with a 300 buster before.

Having no tiny 10 running about I substituted fat groundhogs instead.

Having no ⁰hot two at less than 100 yards and it did go well as in that they both went strumming a harp into the afterlife, but one went there almost in two, but the other one just had 2 holes.

I got out my 9mm parabellum tiny rifle a d did well.

 

[RayAtkinson]

Quit looking at caliber, most will work, pick a proper bullets such as a 243, 250 savge, 270 or 30-06 whatever, I chose a mid weight bullet. Ive shot a lot of those smaller AFricana animals with 338 and 375 with bullets designed for buffalo, Lion and hippo and shoot them in the rib cage not on bone (shoulder)….The will run a ways generally but not far, but if you use a shoulder shoot break them down in the shoulder or they will sometimes go a mile or more..Im not fond of solids until buffalo, hippo and elephant or something going south..Just my two bits..

 

[eremicus]

.243 Winchester

 

[IvW]

175gr Nosler Partition turned the Steenbok hide into confetti. Broadside shot, 20 yards. The duiker did not have the same situation occur. What I've learned over the years is that Nosler Partitions are a really mixed bag. Sometimes jacket separation, sometimes a good mushroom, sometimes fragmentation, sometimes little expansion, etc, etc. Swift A-Frames are much more predictable for the big stuff, Barnes appear to be predictable for the smaller stuff as I dabble with them more and more. I would think Woodleigh Hydrostatic solids or any solid from a magnum rifle would be suitable for tiny-10 animals because the gas wave is killing the animal and the hole is quite small. I've not yet tried it, but I'd be quite comfortable with an opportunistic shot on a klippy with a 375 solid.

I've never set out to specifically and solely hunt small plains game so I've never outfitted myself with a rifle purpose built to that task.

Partition would a premium expander would not.....

My ultimate tiny 10 rifle would be a 7x57R/12ga combination gun.

140gr for the long range ones such as Klip springer, Mtn Reedbuck and Vaalie.

170/175gr premium expander or a solid and the 12ga for the small ones in thick forest.....

The ultimate rifle for the ultimate hunt of the tiny ten and Mtn reed buck and Vaalie.....

7x65R great caliber but velocity is too high for the tiny ten

 

[IvW]

.243 Winchester

Gonna blow up all the small ones at close range.....

 

[koodoo62]

Hello what caliber would be best for the Tiny 10 and not be overkill? If it is a nostalgic African caliber big plus! I'm thinking .243, what is your opinion?

I have taken 8 of the 10 so far. I hope to get a Damara dik-dik in September in Namibia, inshallah. As most have said you often do not know when you will encounter some of these little guys. Common duiker, steenbuck, klipspringer are often encountered while hunting other game. Most of the others are usually hunted on specific hunts for them. Consider using a predator call. I have had surprisingly good success with that. Many of these little guys are very territorial. The 375 with solids is usually a good choice but may not be what you have at the moment. I have also had good luck with my 30-06 with Barnes 180 TSX. If you avoid the shoulder the bullet seems to pass through with little if any expansion. If you shoot them in the shoulder it is a completely different story and that applies to to the 375 with solids as well. My steenbuck, cape grysbok, oribi, and klipspringer were taken with the 30-06 with TSX with minimal damage to the skins (the klippie at over 400 yards in a howling wind). My best common duiker and my red duiker were called in and taken with a 375 with solids. My blue duiker was taken at a tiny waterhole with a 22 wrm that I borrowed from my outfitter. The suni we called in and I shot him with a shotgun with large shot. They are incredibly fun to hunt but can be difficult. Enjoy the hunt!

 

[IvW]

Make sure you have enough gun when calling.....I have had leopard, bushpig, spotted hyena, lion, baboon and caracal come in while calling red duiker, blue duiker and Suni....exciting stuff to say the least

 

[noyb72]

Small game hunting has always been a passion of mine. Something that blows me away about African hunting is we seem to think everything is different over there. I have studied the anatomy of the Tiny Ten and concluded that they are small mammals, just like other small mammals. One rifle I have had great success with on small US cats, dogs and a feral goat (and bigger game) is a 94 Marlin in 44 Mag. 44 Special with a good, 200ish grain, hard cast WFN kills cleanly and leaves you something to hang on the wall if that is your thing. That gun with heavy, hard cast, WFN will ruin an Elk's day, and I would bet most of the close in PG. As far as protection, one or 2 44 Magnum rounds are not going to make any cat alive happy. I really think it could be the ticket if you were not interested in anything big.

 

[Joker12]

Hello what caliber would be best for the Tiny 10 and not be overkill? If it is a nostalgic African caliber big plus! I'm thinking .243, what is your opinion?

I think a 243 would be a great choice.

 

[Red Leg]

My experience is that almost any heavy for caliber bullet at moderate velocity will work. Moreover, a premium, slow expanding option would be far preferable to quick expanding partition or traditional cup and core. That means fast calibers are a bad choice. The .243 would be problematic as would the fast light for caliber SP's from a .223 or .222 (or .300, 7mm mag, etc). Fast, regardless of bullet, becomes even more problematic at the ranges many duiker, dik dik, and suni are taken. I finally connected on a blue duiker in August. The range was perhaps 25 or 30 yards, and a 170 gr bullet from my .275 worked perfectly. As I noted in a previous post, 300 gr solids from a .375 work equally well.

As for those like @noyb72 who have "studied the anatomy" of these animals, it really isn't that important. If using a general purpose caliber, the goal is to center them so there is no chance of taking out a shoulder and doing destructive damage to the off side. They don't go far and they expire quickly.

 

[koodoo62]

Make sure you have enough gun when calling.....I have had leopard, bushpig, spotted hyena, lion, baboon and caracal come in while calling red duiker, blue duiker and Suni....exciting stuff to say the least

I usually have a 375 and a shotgun when calling. That should cover the bill!

 

[mark-hunter]

I had 375 in hand, when I had a chance for steinbok. But I decided not to shoot.
Because I was sitting in a car. Preferred, not to shoot from a car. I let it pass. I, then, enjoyed watching him.
But tiny ten, become more and more atractive to me. I doubt I will ever collect all 10, but on a first stalking chance I will be ready.

 

[koodoo62]

My experience is that almost any heavy for caliber bullet at moderate velocity will work. Moreover, a premium, slow expanding option would be far preferable to quick expanding partition or traditional cup and core. That means fast calibers are a bad choice. The .243 would be problematic as would the fast light for caliber SP's from a .223 or .222 (or .300, 7mm mag, etc). Fast, regardless of bullet, becomes even more problematic at the ranges many duiker, dik dik, and suni are taken. I finally connected on a blue duiker in August. The range was perhaps 25 or 30 yards, and a 170 gr bullet from my .275 worked perfectly. As I noted in a previous post, 300 gr solids from a .375 work equally well.

As for those like @noyb72 who have "studied the anatomy" of these animals, it really isn't that important. If using a general purpose caliber, the goal is to center them so there is no chance of taking out a shoulder and doing destructive damage to the off side. They don't go far and they expire quickly.

What type of bullet did you use in your 275?

 

[Red Leg]

What type of bullet did you use in your 275?

170 gr Oryx.

It worked equally well on Lechwe, sable, and waterbuck.

 

[noyb72]

My experience is that almost any heavy for caliber bullet at moderate velocity will work. Moreover, a premium, slow expanding option would be far preferable to quick expanding partition or traditional cup and core. That means fast calibers are a bad choice. The .243 would be problematic as would the fast light for caliber SP's from a .223 or .222 (or .300, 7mm mag, etc). Fast, regardless of bullet, becomes even more problematic at the ranges many duiker, dik dik, and suni are taken. I finally connected on a blue duiker in August. The range was perhaps 25 or 30 yards, and a 170 gr bullet from my .275 worked perfectly. As I noted in a previous post, 300 gr solids from a .375 work equally well.

As for those like @noyb72 who have "studied the anatomy" of these animals, it really isn't that important. If using a general purpose caliber, the goal is to center them so there is no chance of taking out a shoulder and doing destructive damage to the off side. They don't go far and they expire quickly.

I apologize for not making myself clear, your point and mine are the same. My position is that the anatomy of African small game and small mammals everywhere else is the same, something very small like a hard cast 44 special would be ideal, assuming you were there to hunt small game exclusively. I understand that doesn't happen often.

 

[mark-hunter]

I had 375 in hand, when I had a chance for steinbok. But I decided not to shoot.
Because I was sitting in a car. Preferred, not to shoot from a car. I let it pass. I, then, enjoyed watching him.
But tiny ten, become more and more atractive to me. I doubt I will ever collect all 10, but on a first stalking chance I will be ready.

 

[IvW]

Small game hunting has always been a passion of mine. Something that blows me away about African hunting is we seem to think everything is different over there. I have studied the anatomy of the Tiny Ten and concluded that they are small mammals, just like other small mammals. One rifle I have had great success with on small US cats, dogs and a feral goat (and bigger game) is a 94 Marlin in 44 Mag. 44 Special with a good, 200ish grain, hard cast WFN kills cleanly and leaves you something to hang on the wall if that is your thing. That gun with heavy, hard cast, WFN will ruin an Elk's day, and I would bet most of the close in PG. As far as protection, one or 2 44 Magnum rounds are not going to make any cat alive happy. I really think it could be the ticket if you were not interested in anything big.

Wont work for Vaalie, mtn reedbuck or klipsprinher in most cases..