A bit more anecdotal follow-up for y’all. A week ago monday I shot a 180 lb boar hog at ~10 yards with 12 gauge cylinder bore 000 tungsten buckshot, I shot him, purposely, with a side shot to the head. Wound channels were thru-and- thru and the entire skull was grossly crepitant. It was a floppy, bloody bag of bones.
Well I know nothing of killing big cats, although I have been close enough to drop my hat on mt. lion before, while deer hunting here in AZ. Wish I had a mt. lion tag at the time. It was about 120lb tomcat. Thought I might have to shoot it with my 30-06 in self-defense, but he let me off the hook, he ran off. This has been an interesting discussion. I shoot TSS shot in 3.5" magnum, 10ga, turkey loads. Nearly doubles the range vs lead shot, but birds aren't hard to kill, even big ones. For birds using TSS, I do reduce the shot size and double the shot count, but I would never do that on dangerous game.
I would use the biggest TSS shot size I could get, probably 000 buck.
The above quote from
@mikesheree and other postings by the good doctor have settled any reasonable question about TSS penetration issues as far I am concerned. 30 caliber jacketed rifle rounds have glanced off hog skulls without penetrating if they hit at an oblique angle.
Several thru and thru penetrations of a hog skull with TSS shot is proof positive that proper size and weight TSS shot will not suffer the same penetration issues discussed by Hunter-Habib using lead shot. Even though Hunter-Habib's excellent reports of first hand experience document penetration failures of lead shot,
they also seem to document that even those inferior lead shotshell loads actually turned the leopard even when it did not kill the leopard immediately, due to excellent cool-headed shooting of Hunter-Habib, he did not report being mauled or injured by the leopards. So shotshells for following up big cats has some merit. Just think what the results would have been with bigger projectiles, moving faster, that were 5 times harder than tool steel.
Fun Facts about Lead vs TSS
000 buck pellet caliber .360 (00 buck .330 caliber)
000 buck lead pellet weighs 70gr. (think soft lead 32 H&R magnum, only fatter)
000 buck TSS pellet weighs 126gr (think SOLID STEEL 357 mag only a little fatter and a little faster)
TSS shot is 80% heavier than same size lead shot 250% heavier than steel ball bearing same size
Lead shot 5 BHN (Brinell Hardness) tool steel 285 BHN TSS shot 1425 BHN
TSS shot 500% harder than tool steel - 28,500% (that is not a typo) harder than soft lead
My 3.5" magnum 10ga can fire 9 TSS - 000 buck pellets between 1200 - 1400 fps. You have to reduce the pellet count because the pellets are so heavy. 9 pellets is still about a 2 1/2 ounce shotshell payload.
In short, shooting a leopard (or anything else) with 9 - 000 buck TSS pellets is hitting it SIMULTANEOUSLY with 9 - 125gr, .360 caliber projectiles 5 times harder than tool steel, 200fps faster than .357 Magnum FULL HOUSE rounds of equivalent weight. LET THAT SOAK IN FOR A MINUTE. A 357 magnum handgun is widely considered sufficient for mt. lion protection in US. Felines are not armor plated.
I am pretty sure that will get you thru-and-thru penetration on ANY feline skull anywhere in the world (just like the good doctor demonstrated on hard hog skulls), and at least 12-18" of penetration, or more, anywhere else on the body, even through bone, on any feline anywhere in the world.
1. It seems that lead buckshot has had mixed results. Works for some and not for others. I would say distance, loads, velocities, and hardness of shot used, all play a big part in shotshell effectiveness on big animals. Definitely a under 30 yard proposition, and given the good doctor's comments on shot dispersal after impact, and Habib's comments on 1 or 2 pellets in the right place killing leopards sure make me give TSS shotshells some serious consideration. It seems as though even though Habib reports that some of the leopards he shot were not stopped immediately but eventually died, it seemed to turn all the leopards as he does not report being attacked or harmed.
2. At the ranges shot shells would be effective, a rifle would be more effective IF A VITAL STRUCTURE (i.e heart, lungs, arteries, CNS) was hit. On a fast moving cat at short distances, even though the shot will not disperse that much in the air before impact, it seems from all reports shot dispersement inside the target animal is virtually guaranteed and could definitely go a long way to make up for a less than perfect shot placement, which is virtually guaranteed by the less than perfect shooting circumstances of having to shoot a fast moving animal on short notice at short distance.
3. As many have noted, it is the PH's job to sort out a wounded leopard, and I am happy to let them do there job. The hunter's responsibility is a really good first shot to save a lot of time, effort, and possibly injury for all concerned. Unfortunately, *stuff* happens and anyone, (PH, hunter or tracker) could face a threat anytime following up a wounded cat, or like me, from an unwounded cat. So I would want to carry a weapon suitable for the job unless I was going to stay in the truck during the follow-up, which is not likely. I think for me personally, if I ever got the chance to leopard hunt, my primary weapon would be a rifle of course with hi speed soft point ammo (probably my 375 H&H) , and if I had the luxury of a second gun, which I might if hunting over bait, I would carry my O/U 10ga with a slug in one barrel and the largest diameter TSS shot I could have (probably 000 buck TSS) in the other. A slug because at short distances out to 100 yards, slugs are reasonably accurate and with a well-placed shot can be devastating on thin skinned game if you get a shot on a standing animal. I have read instances where a careful PH or hunter got a standing shot on big cats at close distances while following them up. A shotshell because, while I can usually shoot at a standing target with precision accuracy, moving targets have never been my forte. Shotshells would greatly increase likelihood of hitting something vital on moving targets for me. 10ga because I would want as many pellets as possible. I would want the largest TSS shot because I would want the most weight, and therefore most momentum, and therefore most penetration for each pellet. TSS because these animals are big and tough and you need the hardest pellet possible and because per pellet size, it will be the heaviest pellet readily available (80% heavier than a lead pellet the same size, and 5x harder than tool steel.)
YMMV "Pays your money, and takes your chances." Like everything else in life.
This will not be absolutely settled until more people take heavy TSS buckshot loads to Africa and shoot leopards and report results. TSS shot loads are expensive, even the components are expensive to reload, and who knows how available they are in Africa, they are hard enough to source in the US. For those reasons, TSS shot may be slow to catch on with PH's on a budget. Reports will eventually start to come in as more people will give it a try. Especially as people leave TSS loads with their PH's, where legal. I doubt if my PH will happen to have a 10ga lying around, but you never know.
