Bullet Selection for 378 WM on Croc Hunt

[jstanfor8]

Hi all,

I'd appreciate any thoughts or recommendations on selecting a bullet to work up a load for a croc hunt on Cahora Bassa along with various plains game. I'm initially looking at the following Barnes bullets:

Tipped TSX 250 grain
LRX 270 grain
TSX 270 grain
TSX 300 grain

Thanks!

 

[375er]

Yikes! In that cartridge I would use the 300 grain for sure. You want something that will hold together and not explode.

 

[Flbt]

Hi all,

I'd appreciate any thoughts or recommendations on selecting a bullet to work up a load for a croc hunt on Cahora Bassa along with various plains game. I'm initially looking at the following Barnes bullets:

Tipped TSX 250 grain
LRX 270 grain
TSX 270 grain
TSX 300 grain

Thanks!

Is there a big difference in the skull of a croc
And alligator?
I know there is in temperament.

 

[RR 314]

Hope you don’t plan on a skull mount. I kid. I would assume the crocodile skull is a little bit thicker than an American alligator, but that is not of any real significance. I’ve never killed a crocodile. 300 grain TSX is the best all around bullet on that list for the entire continent.

 

[jstanfor8]

Hope you don’t plan on a skull mount. I kid. I would assume the crocodile skull is a little bit thicker than an American alligator, but that is not of any real significance. I’ve never killed a crocodile. 300 grain TSX is the best all around bullet on that list for the entire continent.

Roger that. I was wanting to bring one rifle that I could use in case we “accidentally” run into a buff since you can never have too many buff, but the primary focus is a large croc and a handful of plains game. My alternative is to bring a 7mm mag or 340 Weatherby. But seems like a 250 grain TSX in my 340 could cause just as much damage as a 250 grain TSX in a 378 loaded to the same velocity?

 

[jstanfor8]

Yikes! In that cartridge I would use the 300 grain for sure. You want something that will hold together and not explode.

I’ve never had any issue with Barnes in my 340 or 460 as Barnes TSX operate better at higher velocities, and was hoping to go for a neck shot, but it sounds like neck is not ideal and the last thing I want is for this thing to flop into the river and be an expensive loss. So brain shot it is….

 

[jstanfor8]

Is there a big difference in the skull of a croc
And alligator?
I know there is

 

[jstanfor8]

Is there a big difference in the skull of a croc
And alligator?
I know there is in temperament.

Crocs are larger and I’d expect their skulls to be a thicker

 

[Flbt]

Crocs are larger and I’d expect their skulls to be a thicker

I was just wondering because bang sticks were plenty for our gator skull
But was not thinking about the other stuff around. Witch is a very good reason to have a bigger gun.

 

[RR 314]

Roger that. I was wanting to bring one rifle that I could use in case we “accidentally” run into a buff since you can never have too many buff, but the primary focus is a large croc and a handful of plains game. My alternative is to bring a 7mm mag or 340 Weatherby. But seems like a 250 grain TSX in my 340 could cause just as much damage as a 250 grain TSX in a 378 loaded to the same velocity?

It's your call obviously, but again, I would stick with a 300 grain for all tasks. No advantage to a screaming 250 grain when you already have a screaming 300 grain.

 

[analog_peninsula]

It’s probably an 80 yard shot or less. Pick the most accurate, and the one that won’t give you a Weatherby eyebrow when fired prone. Mine was shot with a reduced .416 Weatherby load that pushed a 350 grain bullet to 2475 fps. The rifle has a brake so the recoil is modest; the impact was decisive.

 

[jstanfor8]

It’s probably an 80 yard shot or less. Pick the most accurate, and the one that won’t give you a Weatherby eyebrow when fired prone. Mine was shot with a reduced .416 Weatherby load that pushed a 350 grain bullet to 2475 fps. The rifle has a brake so the recoil is modest; the impact was decisive.

Perfect, will do. Was yours a brain shot?

 

[mdwest]

My wife took her croc with a [emoji638][emoji638][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]] gr accubond in her [emoji639][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]] whelen…brain shot at a little more than [emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]] yards…it was absolutely decisive…

 

[analog_peninsula]

Perfect, will do. Was yours a brain shot?

I put the bullet two or three inches behind the smile, which seems to be the prevailing wisdom. As I mentioned earlier, it was decisive.