tim416
AH enthusiast
I have just returned from two months of hunting with clients in Zimbabwe. Just prior to my leaving I purchased a .375 Ruger Hawkeye. I have not shot factory ammo in any rifle for over twenty years but did not have time to get dies, bullets etc. so purhcased some DGX .300 gr. solids from Hornady. I let a client use this rifle on buffalo, kudu, and giraffe with flawless results. Penetration on the buff and giraffe was great. Now the problem. One of my clients showed up to hunt buffalo, sable plains game etc. with a new .375 Ruger Hawkeye. He had reloads with .300 grain Hornady DGX Softs and solids. I do not know his reload recipe other than he used Winchester powder. His first trophy was a 40 inch buffalo. His first two shots were broadside at forty to fifty yards. Both shots were softs and hit squarely on the shoulder. The buffalo headed away and his third shot was with a solid up the arse. This last shot planted the buffalo. Upon skinning it we found both softs had failed to penetrated the shoulder, completely disintegrating upon hitting the bone. The bullets did shatter the bone but never penetrated into the chest at all. The third shot being a solid travelled through the buffalo nicking the spine before exiting and putting the buff down. Without this last shot I doubt we would have found this buff. I cannot explain total bullet failure twice in a row but is raises concerns to say the least. The solids used worked perfectly and the one recovered was completely intact and undamaged. Simply wanted to throw this out there for discussion.