Which of these two rifles would you recommend for leopard?

[codofish]

The black Savage KLYM straight pull weights 6.5 pounds naked and has a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44 illuminated. It is a 300 Win Mag. I have a 180 grain Barnes TTSX hand load that shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards off the bench. I have taken a dozen African animals with it.

The ugly green camo plastic stock Savage is a 338 Win Mag with a Swarovski Z5 2-10X42 illuminated. It weights about a pound more than the 300 Win Mag. It shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards as well with a 250 grain Nosler Partition. Actually a little less than a one inch MOA. I have taken 10 African animals with it along with elk, aouldad, large black bears, and a bison.

I am willing to change bullets and buy a different scope if needed. Heck, I could even use your feedback as an excuse to buy a new rifle.

Please let me know your opinion. I have a separate thread about potentially downloading a 458 win mag for leopard so I could take one rifle for it and buffalo. I have almost decided against taking the 458 for both.

 

[Red Leg]

Doesn't matter. Either will work equally well.

 

[thriller]

Either one will work, but remember leopards are soft cats harder bullets won’t really expand much.

 

[Mountaineer]

338 with nosler

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Either, use a Nosler Partition if you choose the .300WM following @thriller's thoughts.

 

[Rafiki]

The black Savage KLYM straight pull weights 6.5 pounds naked and has a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44 illuminated. It is a 300 Win Mag. I have a 180 grain Barnes TTSX hand load that shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards off the bench. I have taken a dozen African animals with it.

The ugly green camo plastic stock Savage is a 338 Win Mag with a Swarovski Z5 2-10X42 illuminated. It weights about a pound more than the 300 Win Mag. It shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards as well with a 250 grain Nosler Partition. Actually a little less than a one inch MOA. I have taken 10 African animals with it along with elk, aouldad, large black bears, and a bison.

I am willing to change bullets and buy a different scope if needed. Heck, I could even use your feedback as an excuse to buy a new rifle.

Please let me know your opinion. I have a separate thread about potentially downloading a 458 win mag for leopard so I could take one rifle for it and buffalo. I have almost decided against taking the 458 for both.

Not going to win any beauty contests there but either would put a puddy cat down handily as I'm sure you know.

 

[Berettaco]

Either - but to be on the safe side you should buy another just in case

 

[Nhoro]

300 win mag is ideal. The ttsx will do the job but a lead core bullet is softer and expands better. A scirocco is a great bullet for leopard. They are also susceptible to shock from velocity so you could even go down in weight to 165 gr and up your velocity if you really want to overthink it.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I am currently hunting leopard. I brought my 338 with 225 gr Norma Oryx. I reload Swift A Frames, but wanted a softer bullet.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

The black Savage KLYM straight pull weights 6.5 pounds naked and has a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44 illuminated. It is a 300 Win Mag. I have a 180 grain Barnes TTSX hand load that shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards off the bench. I have taken a dozen African animals with it.

The ugly green camo plastic stock Savage is a 338 Win Mag with a Swarovski Z5 2-10X42 illuminated. It weights about a pound more than the 300 Win Mag. It shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards as well with a 250 grain Nosler Partition. Actually a little less than a one inch MOA. I have taken 10 African animals with it along with elk, aouldad, large black bears, and a bison.

I am willing to change bullets and buy a different scope if needed. Heck, I could even use your feedback as an excuse to buy a new rifle.

Please let me know your opinion. I have a separate thread about potentially downloading a 458 win mag for leopard so I could take one rifle for it and buffalo. I have almost decided against taking the 458 for both.

Both will work, but I personally prefer the .338 Winchester Magnum.

The Barnes TSX ranks pretty low amongst my choices of bullet for leopard hunting (especially one that is shot over bait). Expansion rate is a little too slow for broadside heart-lung shots on such a soft framed animal (unless if your point of aim happens to be the shoulder bone/scapula itself). You will be far better served, employing a lead cored bullet (such as the Nosler Partition).

 

[bigborelover]

The 338 in case you need to stop a charge or get a bad shot.

 

[MS 9x56]

I am currently hunting leopard. I brought my 338 with 225 gr Norma Oryx. I reload Swift A Frames, but wanted a softer bullet.

I concur on the Norma oryx. It is a great bullet. I use in my 9.3, I have not recovered one to measure expansion but then I have never needed a second shot either.

 

[Philip Glass]

The black Savage KLYM straight pull weights 6.5 pounds naked and has a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44 illuminated. It is a 300 Win Mag. I have a 180 grain Barnes TTSX hand load that shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards off the bench. I have taken a dozen African animals with it.

The ugly green camo plastic stock Savage is a 338 Win Mag with a Swarovski Z5 2-10X42 illuminated. It weights about a pound more than the 300 Win Mag. It shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards as well with a 250 grain Nosler Partition. Actually a little less than a one inch MOA. I have taken 10 African animals with it along with elk, aouldad, large black bears, and a bison.

I am willing to change bullets and buy a different scope if needed. Heck, I could even use your feedback as an excuse to buy a new rifle.

Please let me know your opinion. I have a separate thread about potentially downloading a 458 win mag for leopard so I could take one rifle for it and buffalo. I have almost decided against taking the 458 for both.

The .300 wearing the illuminated Swaro glass is what you will want to take. I'd advise using the 180g Swift Scirocco. Here are the results from that formula:

 

[Luvthunt]

338 and a 210 or 225 gr Nosler for me. My own usage was a 340 and 225 Nosler at just over 3000 fps.

 

[Beck]

The black Savage KLYM straight pull weights 6.5 pounds naked and has a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44 illuminated. It is a 300 Win Mag. I have a 180 grain Barnes TTSX hand load that shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards off the bench. I have taken a dozen African animals with it.

The ugly green camo plastic stock Savage is a 338 Win Mag with a Swarovski Z5 2-10X42 illuminated. It weights about a pound more than the 300 Win Mag. It shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards as well with a 250 grain Nosler Partition. Actually a little less than a one inch MOA. I have taken 10 African animals with it along with elk, aouldad, large black bears, and a bison.

I am willing to change bullets and buy a different scope if needed. Heck, I could even use your feedback as an excuse to buy a new rifle.

Please let me know your opinion. I have a separate thread about potentially downloading a 458 win mag for leopard so I could take one rifle for it and buffalo. I have almost decided against taking the 458 for both.

I think either of those rifles would be great for Leopard. I'd probably lean toward the 2-10x42 Swaro in case you needed to do some kind of follow up.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

The black Savage KLYM straight pull weights 6.5 pounds naked and has a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44 illuminated. It is a 300 Win Mag. I have a 180 grain Barnes TTSX hand load that shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards off the bench. I have taken a dozen African animals with it.

The ugly green camo plastic stock Savage is a 338 Win Mag with a Swarovski Z5 2-10X42 illuminated. It weights about a pound more than the 300 Win Mag. It shoots a one inch MOA at 100 yards as well with a 250 grain Nosler Partition. Actually a little less than a one inch MOA. I have taken 10 African animals with it along with elk, aouldad, large black bears, and a bison.

I am willing to change bullets and buy a different scope if needed. Heck, I could even use your feedback as an excuse to buy a new rifle.

Please let me know your opinion. I have a separate thread about potentially downloading a 458 win mag for leopard so I could take one rifle for it and buffalo. I have almost decided against taking the 458 for both.300 Win Mag. Almost the perfect cat gun!

300 Win Mag is a perfect caliber for Cats!

HH

 

[codofish]

300 win mag is ideal. The ttsx will do the job but a lead core bullet is softer and expands better. A scirocco is a great bullet for leopard. They are also susceptible to shock from velocity so you could even go down in weight to 165 gr and up your velocity if you really want to overthink it.

I absolutely want to overthink it. Overthinking is the only thing I am really good at!

What do you think about the partition in 165 grain?

 

[codofish]

I think either of those rifles would be great for Leopard. I'd probably lean toward the 2-10x42 Swaro in case you needed to do some kind of follow up.

I agree, I think the scope should be the 2-10x42

 

[codofish]

The .300 wearing the illuminated Swaro glass is what you will want to take. I'd advise using the 180g Swift Scirocco. Here are the results from that formula:

I shot a a box of the 180 grain Swift Scirocco yesterday in the .300 and they did not group well at all. If I can't get a bullet to group a 1 inch MOA I won't use it. I see Swift has bullets available on their website right now so I might try some hand loads.

 

[codofish]

338 with nosler

I have had great success with the 250 grain Nosler Partition but it seems odd to use that bullet on a animal the size of a leopard after seeing what it did to that bison. Maybe I should drop down in weight?