416 Rigby Bear Claw for Hippo

[Marinho]

Hi guys good morning!
I would like to know your opinion on using the 400 grain Bear Claw for hippo shoulder shooting, 410 grain Woodlheig solid follow-up shots

 

[Fatback]

Everything I have read on the subject of on-land hippo recommends solids. Hunter-Habib has shared some successful results with Barnes TSX on hippo, can not remember the caliber he reported using.

I am leaving in 3 weeks for the same type of hunt and my PH says nothing but solids for on-land hippo. I’ll be shooting 400 grain flat nose Barnes solids out of my 404Jeffery. Looking forward to hearing some responses from the more experienced members on this topic. Good luck on your hippo hunt.

 

[PeteG]

I have shot hippo with both softs and solids.
I personally prefer solids though.
Peregrines softs, tsx’s and peregrine solids
All worked perfectly.

 

[steve white]

You need PENETRATION for hippo. Saw one account where two solids at point blank range failed to exit, so...

 

[YancyW]

My PH's both recommended softs, 400gr A-frames in a .416.

 

[IvW]

Hi guys good morning!
I would like to know your opinion on using the 400 grain Bear Claw for hippo shoulder shooting, 410 grain Woodlheig solid follow-up shots

Bear claw is a great bullet.....Woodleigh solids if not hydros are round nose design....no good...look fook for meplat brass solids...
Swift A frame are also great expanders.....

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I have shot 9 hippopotamus with 3 calibers up until now (over the years):

.375 Holland & Holland Magnum

.404 Jeffery

.600 Nitro Express

.375 Holland & Holland Magnum is what I have mostly been using (with the exception of 1 hunt where I used a .404 Jeffery & 1 hunt where I used a .600 Nitro Express).

Bullets which I have used for hunting hippopotamus (till now), were:
-RWS 300Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid factory loads
- Remington 300Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ factory loads (which employed Hornady bullets)
-Norma 300Gr monolithic solid factory loads
-Cutting Edge Bullets 300Gr monolithic Safari Solid (hand load)
-Barnes 300Gr TSX factory loads
- RWS 400Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid factory loads
- Labor Fur Ballistik 900Gr flat nosed tombac jacketed FMJ factory loads

I will answer the “Solids vs Expanding Bullets For Hippopotamus“ question for you:
For hippopotamus shot in the water, an expanding bullet is better. You only get the brain shot. The skin over the top of the head is relatively thin & so is the skull. An expanding bullet works best because not a lot of penetration is required and shock is far more important.
For hippopotamus shot on land, you’re essentially looking at both a brain shot or a body shot. The hippopotamus body skin is very thick (more than 2“) and a good deal of penetration is required in order to reach the internal vital organs. So solid bullets here really come on their own.

Back when I first started going on hunting safaris in Africa in 1974, the universal rule was to always use nothing but the most strongly constructed solids for hunting hippopotamus. And indeed, I have successfully shot most of my hippopotamuses over the years with solid bullets. The only cartridges which ever gave me a difficult time, were the RWS 400Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids for the .404 Jeffery. They used extremely thin jackets, which were also quite brittle. Penetration, thus was severely impacted.

Last year, I shot an extremely large bull hippopotamus on land with a 300Gr Barnes TSX all copper monolithic hollow point. The results were most startlingly satisfactory and It was the first time in my life that I had ever used an expanding bullet on this type of game. I think that for future hunts, a magazine full of Barnes TSX cartridges is the right answer. For hunting hippopotamus on land, they are the only expanding bullets which I can safely recommend.

Even though I have never shot a hippopotamus with a Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet, I have used this bullet successfully against several Cape buffalo since 1993. It is (as a matter of fact) my favorite Cape buffalo bullet. I would readily endorse their use for hunting hippopotamus in the water. Same goes for the Swift A Frame bullet. But for hunting hippopotamus on land, I would strongly recommend solids or at the very least... the Barnes TSX.

 

[IvW]

TSX is not reliable on expansion Bearclaw or Swift will always expand.....
If a frontal headshot is presented on land either will reach the brain no problem....hippo scull is thin no need for solids.....just place it in the right spot and it will drop faster than a sack of patotoes on a frontal shot.....

 

[chashardy]

Put the 400 gr. Bear Claw as first shot, use the Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer solids for follow up.

 

[spike.t]

bearclaw in a 416 rigby should work fine on shoulder shot....and on head shots as @IvW Says...First bullet ever used along with the sledgehammer in 416 rigby back in 1989....worked very well

 

[Marinho]

Good morning guys! I live in Brazil and here it is very difficult to find 416 ammunition, I have Bear Claw and Solid Woodleigh 410 grains

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Good morning guys! I live in Brazil and here it is very difficult to find 416 ammunition, I have Bear Claw and Solid Woodleigh 410 grains

More than adequate for hippopotamus

 

[Marinho]

Good morning everyone, thank you all for the information.