Bullet Performance Database

[458 Exp]

SBC? I know I'll feel dumb when you tell me what it stands for, but for the life of me I can't figure out what SBC is short for.

Safari Bullet Company

 

[StevenQ718]

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Rogue Gaur shot with my (technically my son-in-law's) .375 Holland & Holland Magnum Remington Model 700 and 300Gr Barnes TSX factory load. The bullet did exactly as expected on a lung shot. Tried for a double lung shot but penetration was wanting.

The brute made it some nine kilometers after getting shot at late noon, but luckily the forest guards found him tonight after six hours. Judging from the freshness of the blood, he succumbed not too long ago.

This reinforces my two philosophies for Gaur hunting:

1) Use solids only
2) Use a caliber of at least .500 bore (.577 or .600 Nitro Express is even better !)

They are much tougher framed than an African Cape buffalo. On a Cape buffalo, this 300Gr Barnes TSX would have made it through both lungs easily. He would have folded after going less than 100 yards.

I feel like a complete imbecile for not using a solid bullet on him. I had eight rounds of Hendersots Custom Loaders cartridges with me, loaded with the excellent Cutting Edge Bullets 300Gr monolithic brass Safari Solids.

Maybe 350gr tsx is a viable option?

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Maybe 350gr tsx is a viable option?

Solids only for Gaur !

 

[Kevin375]

.458 Lott and Degol Starkmantel 500 gr at ~ 2265 f/s.

Buffalo shot at more or less 60 meters.

The bullet under the skin.

Weight retention 479.8 gr : 96 %

 

[Hunter-Habib]

.458 Lott and Degol Starkmantel 500 gr at ~ 2265 f/s.

Buffalo shot at more or less 60 meters.
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The bullet under the skin.
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Weight retention 479.8 gr : 96 %

I absolutely love Wim Degol bullets. Good old Belgian craftsmanship.

I did this with his 900Gr Vor Mantel tombac jacketed FMJ solids (Labor Fur Ballistik factory loads for the .600 Nitro Express).

 

[Kevin375]

I absolutely love Wim Degol bullets. Good old Belgian craftsmanship.

I did this with his 900Gr Vor Mantel tombac jacketed FMJ solids (Labor Fur Ballistik factory loads for the .600 Nitro Express).
View attachment 643515

I also love them. They are premium bullets and not really expensive as reloading conponents.
I can even say they are pretty cheap when you buy them directly to mister Degol.
I have used them in .308", .338", .375" and .458" with a full satisfaction.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

PHOTOGRAPH PROVIDED BY A FRIEND IN TANZANIA

300Gr Hornady DGS (Dangerous Game Solid) recovered from Cape buffalo shoulder bone/scapula. Ammunition was .375 Holland & Holland Magnum Hornady Dangerous Game Series factory load.

Based upon the degree of bullet distortion, I would hesitate to use these on elephant. Especially frontal brain shots or shoulder shots.

I know that conventional wisdom dictates that flat nosed solids outpenetrate round nosed solids. But this only applies IF ALL OTHER FACTORS ARE EQUAL.

The round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids that were manufactured by Hornady from 1982-1992 (which were used in Remington & Winchester factory loads of that era) were far more strongly constructed. I recovered several from Cape buffaloes, hippopotamuses & one elephant bull which (barring the rifling grooves) looked as if they could be fired again.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Nice thread

Type of bullet Barnes TSX FB factory ammo
Bullet speed 2575 fps MV
Distance of shot 160y
Original weight 300g
Recovered weight 300g (100%)
Calibre 375HH
Species Blue Wildebeest
Shot placement e.g. Frontal, headshot. etc.

The shot was a frontal quartering slightly to my right. Bullet entered right inside shoulder of the bull, wrecked the right lung, damaged some of the arteries above the heart and just clipped the left lung before lodging in the paunch. Total penetration was estimated at 3.5ft. 1st shot expanded to 0.75" (2.0x).

Bull turned bucked, stumbled and then wheeled round and ran about 60y and dropped. A 2nd shot was place in the neck at 60y off hand to dispatch the beast although the first shot was mortal. 2nd shot was not recovered and was a pass thru. A third shot at 10y was fired into the chest as a mercy shot to finish and was recovered under the opposite skin. This one expanded to 0.82" (2.2x).



The bull was an exceptionally large alpha male that weighed a bit over 600lb with a spread over 28". Missed being a Rowland Ward record bull by about 1/8".

On same trip took five other animals with 308 using 180g bonded Fed Fusion ammo. All were one shot kills ranging from 20y on Nyala which took two steps and died to Gemsbok at 202y which ran 60y. All were total pass thru broadside shots and most were well placed. No bullets recovered from those.

Took a WV Whitetail 8pr buck with same 375HH prior to the Safari in 2023. Used 250g Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet. Deer dropped in tracks and died. Total pass thru but the wound really appeared such that I do not think that controlled expansion bullet expanded much at all. Looked like I had shot it with a FMJ but it still wrecked the heart and both lungs along the way. I would not use this combo on deer again.

 

[dchum]

300 win factory Barnes TTSX. 180gr, approximately 2900fps. 1-10 twist 24 inch barrel.

~200 yard quartering to shot on a LARGE bull Nilgai (465 dressed weight). Call if 560+ lbs live weight.

Found in off side rib, note it wasn’t all the way to skin.

Bull went 20 yards and piled up. Double lung

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I find it interesting how often mono-metal bullets (Barnes X and such) seem to fail to open. Despite the hollow point and all, here we've two cases of this kind of bullet slipping right along, essentially undisturbed. My guess is that it tumbles before expansion is underway, more or less traveling base first after entry. Why? Because military ball ammo does the exact same thing, and is designed to behave as such (and, as you know, the profile of one is not all that different from the profile of the other).

I have suspected the same. I am an engineer and understand to some degree things like spin stabilization of projectiles. To produce a monometal bullet like the Barnes TSX in the same weight as a jacketed lead bullet requires that the copper mono bullet be longer for a given equal weight. Such bullets will be less stable for the particular twist rate of the rifle. If the rifle is barely spinning the lead core bullets enough to stabilize then the copper mono bullets are going to be right on the ragged edge and those heavy for caliber options are especially likely to tumble. Toss in that lots of hunters zero their rifles at 100y and may or may not shoot the new projectile much at extended range, leads to the fact that they may or may not discover that the bullets is going unstable after it slows some at 200/300/400y. I have so little experience with the monometal bullets that I can only offer my theories here at this time. I have had some rifles that shoot them well and others that do not. If one does not like a given option, it might shoot a lighter variant a bit better.

Most often these mono metal bullets were being deployed for large plains game or even dangerous game where controlled expansion and sure penetration is required. So far, from what I have seen they do that pretty well. For me the Barnes TSX worked great. My PH used some of them to take Cape Buffalo and reported that in his estimation, it may be the most effective DG projectile on the market. I am not that sold yet but plan to use them on a buff next year. I think that placement its the most important variable and penetration is #2. Expansion is important but would be down around 3 or 4 along with accuracy which really is part of placement.

In all of my hunting experiences on game I have only had one projectile fail in a remarkable way. That was some early Winchester Silver Tips in 308. Up until then I had use 165g Nosler BT's in hand loads for my 308 on deer and wild hogs and most shots were one shot kills. One year I bought a box of the fancy new Silver tips also in 165g. These were the 1st gen ammo with large exposed metal silver tips. Later variants had a ballistic tip bullet. The Silver Tips required five shots to down a large buck. Some of the shots were well place but not all and only one was a miss as far as I can tell. In every case they penciled right thru with very little damage. I still bagged the deer but it was shot all to Hell and I still had to cut its throat to finish it off. I never used that ammo again.

I have used lots of Nosler and Hornady projectiles along with some Barnes and some other options all with more or less good results. Swift Sciroccos and Federal Fusion bonded bullets have been my go to lately along with Barnes for the heavy stuff.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

To produce a monometal bullet like the Barnes TSX in the same weight as a jacketed lead bullet requires that the copper mono bullet be longer for a given equal weight.

Not to mention the hollow point makes it longer as well. Most conventional bullets have no air space in them.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

No recovered bullets from this trip (except the Barnes TSX) but the ammo and rifle performed flawlessly. FN Browning Hi-Power rifle topped with B&L BalVar 2.5-8x scope. Ammo was Federal Fusion 180g bonded. I chose this only because it was one of the 180g options that shot best in my rifle. It was zeroed at 200y which made it about 1" high at 100-150y and 3" low at 300y. Shots ranged from 20y - 202y. All were one shot kills.

Fusion Shots 180g 308
Nyala - shot in right shoulder at 20y. Jumped once and took two steps and died. Total pass-thru.
Duiker - shot in right shoulder at 70y. Dropped in tracks. Pass-thru. Fist sized exit wound on opposite shoulder.
Bushbuck - shot was high and to the rear impacting the spine at 60y. Dropped in tracks and expired before I could close the distance for a followup.
Gemsbok - shot in left shoulder at 202y. Double lung shot. Total pass-thru. Animal ran off and died after running about 60y.
Impala - shot in right shoulder at 180y (est). Jumped, ran about 45-50y and dropped DRT. Total pass-thru.

Barnes TSX 300g in 375HH mag. FN Browning Hi-Power Safari Grade
Blue Wildebeest - shot at 160y frontal shot quartering slight to my right. Entered right shoulder front, took out right lung, top of heart, and just clipped left lung a bit. Lodged in grass filled paunch after 3.5 ft of penetration. Wheeled, bucked, stumbled and ran 60y. Two follow up shots. From 60y pass-thru shot to neck. From 10y shot to chest lodged on opposite shoulder under skin. 1st shot killed it. 1st shot expanded to 0.72" and last shot to 0.81".

 

[Rafiki]

I have recently returned from a buffalo hunt where I took 1 buff with a 375 and the other a 510 Peregrine Bushmasters; both neck/spine shots. The "insurance" bullet from the 375 was not found (insurance was unneeded anyway).

 

[ChromeHound]

Does anyone have any experience with Norma GTX bullets in game animals. I found 250gr .338 cal bullets that I'm thinking of trying in a .338 Lapua. I found ballistic gell tests for the 6.5mm versions but nothing for the .338. on sale right now, they are $160 for 500 bullets shipping included so it's very tempting.