Woodleigh Protected Points?

[John458Lott]

Does anyone have experience with woodleigh protected points? I looked through the bullet performance database and found only 2 posters referencing them. There were many more references to the round nose bullets. They look like a reasonably well constructed bullet. I normally wouldn’t ask because I like 250 grain Barnes for plains game and 300 grain Swift A Frames for heavier game in my 375 H&H, but my gunsmith won’t part with primers at this time to reload for me and finding factory loaded ammunition is difficult (at reasonable prices or quality bullets). I need 300 grain bullets for my hunt in Zimbabwe this September and would like to start practicing. I found these at a reasonable price on gunbroker and bought a couple boxes. I’m going to continue watching for reasonable priced Swift A Frames or Trophy Bonded Bear claws, but in the meantime this is what I will have. I do still have 15 factory loaded Swift A Frames, I’m hoping they will be same point of impact so I could practice with the woodleighs and use them to supplement the swift’s on my hunt (in event I can’t get more over the next 6 months).
View attachment 389106

You will have no worries with the 300gr 375 cal Woodleigh PP. They expand nicely and are emphatic killers. I took that bullet in a 375 H&H and made 1 shot kills on Sable, Cape Buffalo, Gemsbok, Blue Wilderbeest and Eland in South Africa in 2019. Their recommended velocity window is somewhat higher than the round nose so they must expand somewhat slower. There have been comments that the RN were too soft which is why they came up with the round nose heavy duty distinguished by a black coating. I met Geoff McDonald at a gun show and he suggested I try those but in my gun the round nose does not feed as well as the PP although its actually groups better. What a dilema - well not really as the PP still shot sub moa. In any case, most happy with my choice of the Woodleigh PP and would not hesitate to recommend them. Sure the recovered bullets are not as pretty as a Swift A-Frame but the price of Swifts are horrendous here in Australia.

 

[Frederik]

As long as you stick to recommend velocity you should be fine but as mentioned by John458Lott I bought the HD bullet heavy duty recgonised by the black coating basically its the same bond as the PP but has the 416 Jacket which is a bit thicker.

Shot buffalo cow and 2 wildebeest with it all one shot kills great performance. Speed 2470fps
But you have the PP already so if you will be shooting close quarters might I recommend speed of max 2400fps just too make sure they don't expand too quickly but penetrate first on buffalo.
Unfortunately buffalo doens't always allow nice broadside shots.

 

[375Fox]

Thanks for the responses. I should be good now. I had been watching gunbroker off and on trying to find good ammo and didn’t see what I wanted for a while. I got the woodleighs with “buy now” option at I think a very fair price and I got some trophy bonded bear claws by winning an auction, so I have enough to practice and for the hunt now. My plan is to use the trophy bonded bear claws specifically for buffalo and supplement them with the woodleighs for other game. I think they will hit very close to the same at 100 yards. It will be interesting to see, I haven’t tried anything new in my own rifles in quite a while, maybe one positive of the covid situation. Outfitter said shots will only be 25-100 yards with some reaching out to 150 yards.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Read any of Kevin Robertson's books on hunting and you will find that they have a rather high standing in the charts. I've used them for years in 264 375-416 and 458 with the expected spectacular results. I could write more but it's already been written. Several mention the high BC of the heavy for caliber bullets but fail to mention the ultra-high SD which pushes those bullets through the intended game. I could say more but I'd really prefer that those bullets be available for sale in the foreseeable future. Walmart stuff is great really great!!

 

[375Fox]

Read any of Kevin Robertson's books on hunting and you will find that they have a rather high standing in the charts. I've used them for years in 264 375-416 and 458 with the expected spectacular results. I could write more but it's already been written. Several mention the high BC of the heavy for caliber bullets but fail to mention the ultra-high SD which pushes those bullets through the intended game. I could say more but I'd really prefer that those bullets be available for sale in the foreseeable future. Walmart stuff is great really great!!

I know the round nose woodleigh bullets have a solid reputation in heavy calibers, but this was first I saw the protected points for 375. It appears I made a good purchase. I’m slowly working my way through one of his books now “Africa’s Most Dangerous.”

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

You will have no worries with the 300gr 375 cal Woodleigh PP. They expand nicely and are emphatic killers. I took that bullet in a 375 H&H and made 1 shot kills on Sable, Cape Buffalo, Gemsbok, Blue Wilderbeest and Eland in South Africa in 2019. Their recommended velocity window is somewhat higher than the round nose so they must expand somewhat slower. There have been comments that the RN were too soft which is why they came up with the round nose heavy duty distinguished by a black coating. I met Geoff McDonald at a gun show and he suggested I try those but in my gun the round nose does not feed as well as the PP although its actually groups better. What a dilema - well not really as the PP still shot sub moa. In any case, most happy with my choice of the Woodleigh PP and would not hesitate to recommend them. Sure the recovered bullets are not as pretty as a Swift A-Frame but the price of Swifts are horrendous here in Australia.

You are not wrong about the price of A-Frames in Australia! Now Nioa are the distributors I have ordered some for my 458 and my 500 but I only ordered 1 box of each and I will only ever use them for buffalo at that price.

 

[C.W. Richter]

I know the round nose woodleigh bullets have a solid reputation in heavy calibers, but this was first I saw the protected points for 375. It appears I made a good purchase. I’m slowly working my way through one of his books now “Africa’s Most Dangerous.”

Yes. You make a good point. The Woodleigh weldcore SPs excel for DG, and they are shorter than most bullets (great for heavy handloading,) but the PSPs are heavy-for-caliber (high SD) and high BC. They will expand a bit more rapidly for plains game and big cats. I would stick with the aforementioned for big DG (as they have a heavier jacket and greater frontal area that makes for a great wound channel). We used the PSPs extensively on PG hunts in Namibia years back, to great effect, excepting a dik-dik that pretty much lost "the other side" upon exit. The tougher weldcores or FMJs would've been better suited for that shot! The PSPs are more flatter shooting and would work well on thinner-skinned, big American game as well (elk, moose, bear.)

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

Yes. You make a good point. The Woodleigh weldcore SPs excel for DG, and they are shorter than most bullets (great for heavy handloading,) but the PSPs are heavy-for-caliber (high SD) and high BC. They will expand a bit more rapidly for plains game and big cats. I would stick with the aforementioned for big DG (as they have a heavier jacket and greater frontal area that makes for a great wound channel). We used the PSPs extensively on PG hunts in Namibia years back, to great effect, excepting a dik-dik that pretty much lost "the other side" upon exit. The tougher weldcores or FMJs would've been better suited for that shot! The PSPs are more flatter shooting and would work well on thinner-skinned, big American game as well (elk, moose, bear.)

@C.W. Richter I'm not being critical but there seems to be quite a bit of misinformation here.

Woodleigh RNSN bullets do not have a heavier jacket than the Woodleigh PPSN also the PPSN do not expand more rapidly than the RNSN in all calibres, PPSN has internal grooves at the nose of the jacket to strategically weaken the front jacket area for controlled expansion but this is only on bullets from 6.5mm-8mm. In many of the bigger calibres the PPSN are actually designed to be a slightly tougher tougher bullet and have a higher recommended impact velocity than the RNSN for example the mentioned 375 300 grain RNSN recommended impact velocity is 1900-2400fps where as the375 300 grain PPSN has a recommended impact velocity of 1900-2600fps.

Also the PPSN bullets are not necessarily heavy for calibre, in .375 calibre both 300 grain and 350 grain PP's are available. However as you mentioned above the heavy for calibre versions for example 350 grain PPSN for the 375 does have a greater SD than the 300 grain version.

 

[krish]

I can spare 10 boxes of 20 rounds 350gr woodleigh weld core protected point factory ammo by the same manufacture bought by OP FOR 70 A BOX + SHIPPING. Box states 2300 f/s.
KRISH

 

[C.W. Richter]

That's quite a cache! Yes, my only experience with the PPSN are in 6.5-7-30s and they mushroomed and performed rather well (a bit too well on the terminal performance-damage at times, but it is the desired end result!)

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Does anyone have experience with woodleigh protected points? I looked through the bullet performance database and found only 2 posters referencing them. There were many more references to the round nose bullets. They look like a reasonably well constructed bullet. I normally wouldn’t ask because I like 250 grain Barnes for plains game and 300 grain Swift A Frames for heavier game in my 375 H&H, but my gunsmith won’t part with primers at this time to reload for me and finding factory loaded ammunition is difficult (at reasonable prices or quality bullets). I need 300 grain bullets for my hunt in Zimbabwe this September and would like to start practicing. I found these at a reasonable price on gunbroker and bought a couple boxes. I’m going to continue watching for reasonable priced Swift A Frames or Trophy Bonded Bear claws, but in the meantime this is what I will have. I do still have 15 factory loaded Swift A Frames, I’m hoping they will be same point of impact so I could practice with the woodleighs and use them to supplement the swift’s on my hunt (in event I can’t get more over the next 6 months).
View attachment 389106

@375Fox
Woodleigh bullets are renowned world wide as excellent projectiles.
I used the 35 ca 225grain PPSP in Namibia on a large zebra to good effect. One shot and done.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I use Woodleigh PP's in my 30-06, 458 Lott and 500 Jeffery. I have used them in the field and on test media on the range, I know from the testing I have done in the bigger calibres they don't like too much velocity. Out of my 500 Jeffery a 535 grain Woodleigh RNSN at 2350fps provided significantly more penetration than a 535 grain Woodleigh PP at 2470fps. In my Jeffery 2400fps is the max I will run the 535 grain Woodleighs at. Having said this Woodleighs recommended impact velocity for the 375 300 grain PP is 1900-2600fps so even with a hot 375H&H the bullet will be fine. The recommended impact velocity for the .510 projectiles I'm using in my Jeffery is only 1800-2200fps, I am running them past that and they are still performing very well.

In my Lott I run 500 grain Woodleigh RNSN projectiles almost exclusively at 2230fps, also run the 500 grain PP's at 2280fps with great performance. In my 30-06 I'm pushing 165 grain Woodleigh PP's at 2995fps and overall (penetration, expansion, accuracy) they perform better than any other bullet I have tested so far.

I haven't run any through my 375H&H yet only because I have a heap of Hornady DGX Bonded still but once I get through those I will definitely be testing some 300 grain PP's on the range and in the field. In all the testing I have done on game in the field and on the range I can tell you that the RNSN and the PP's performance is almost identical and weight retention across the calibres mentioned above is always 85-95%.

I absolutely love Woodleigh projectiles and have no issues using them for buffalo BUT I have said this before and I will say it again, if I'm going hunting SPECIFICALLY for buffalo and I have access to Swift A-Frames I will use the Swift A-Frames over the Woodleighs, the A-Frames are just a bit tougher than the Woodleighs.

@Aussie hunter
If you want a stronger bullet in 375 woodleigh does do a heavy duty projectiles with a thicker jacket if needed
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You are not wrong about the price of A-Frames in Australia! Now Nioa are the distributors I have ordered some for my 458 and my 500 but I only ordered 1 box of each and I will only ever use them for buffalo at that price.

@Aussie hunter
Your not wrong about the price. I priced some for my 25 and thought holy shit that's dear until I priced them for my 444 marlin. Glad I was sitting down at the record time. Thought I may have to take out a second mortgage on the house to get them.
The woodleigh were 60 bucks for 50 a third of the price and reams a Sambar stag out well.
Bob

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

@Aussie hunter
Your not wrong about the price. I priced some for my 25 and thought holy shit that's dear until I priced them for my 444 marlin. Glad I was sitting down at the record time. Thought I may have to take out a second mortgage on the house to get them.
The woodleigh were 60 bucks for 50 a third of the price and reams a Sambar stag out well.
Bob

You don't want to know how much they are for my Jeffery anyway I ordered one box of 50. They will last me a long time if I only use them for buffalo.

 

[krish]

You don't want to know how much they are for my Jeffery anyway I ordered one box of 50. They will last me a long time if I only use them for buffalo.

2 years ago you can get it for $90 ,for 50 570gr jeff bullets. Now thry sre listed for $125.Retail

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

2 years ago you can get it for $90 ,for 50 570gr jeff bullets. Now thry sre listed for $125.Retail

$125 for 50 570grn A-Frames in Australia? Or the USA? If you can get them for $125 for 50 in Australia let me know where because I am paying a lot more than that!

 

[krish]

$125 for 50 570grn A-Frames in Australia? Or the USA? If you can get them for $125 for 50 in Australia let me know where because I am paying a lot more than that!

Us price

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

M

Us price

More than double that here in Australia

 

[krish]

We are all in wrong business.