Bullets Choices for 375 H&H Multi-Species Hunt

[Double D]

Sorry I don't buy into that. Your buddy at Barnes should consider having a disclaimer put on the box. "Only for use on Buffalo and elephant". I can go back to my experience on Buffalo with the first Barnes bullets but it probably isn't relevant any more. There are lots of good premium bullets on the market now. It seems to me that for some reason it is popular to be fan of Barnes bullets and they may be OK for some applications. But for sure there are lots of better bullets out there than Barnes that expand, penetrate, and hold on to their weight.:headscratch: In the end all any of us want is a bullet that kills quick clean.

 

[Wildcat]

I went to the T shocks because they do so well in my 7mm STW. Thing is that they are 150 gr. doing 3283 fps. I have shot more than a dozen bull elk with this load from 30 yards out to 450. Never Had bad perfofmance from them. Last year a whitetail buck running straight at me, I shot in the chest and the bullet ended up in his ham just under the skin ,the 150 still weighed in at 141 gr.
After some talking to several people on the phone today they all think less gr bullet and more speed are in order. The 375 was chosen for the girrafe that the wife wants to shoot. My experience with african game is just what Ive heard form others so I cant compare it to elk. In the 80s I guided elk here in Idaho for several years and have seen some bulls take a god awful amount of punishment. Main thing was bullet malfunction that caused most of the issuses. Im just trying to keep the same thing from happening to me in Africa. Hunters would come west with their deer load and their bullets would do great on deer but would break into hundreds of chuncks on elk. We deal with hundreds of african skins every week and most have a pattern---- more than one shot
is in the hide and the skin is impregnated with pieces and parts of bullets, some even resemble a shot gun exit hole.
So maybe I was going for some over kill and its un-needed !
Thanks for all the imput !

 

[gei]

375

I shot the North Fork 300 grain soft point, shot buff straight on, it traveled to the back o f stomach and was recovered there, it weighed 287 gr. they also make a great flat nose solid. Highly recommend them.
Woould only use one soft, you might get the wrong bullet mixed up when you shoot your buff, that wold not be good.

 

[RayAtkinson]

For what its worth I also have had some bad experiences with Barnes bullets..I also know some very reputable foliks that swear by them..I don't shoot them anymore...I go with my gut, not what folks tell me..

A really good bullet that I didn't mention in my first post is the 350 gr. Woodleighs soft and solids, they seem to up the .375 to 416 caliber or close anyway.

 

[AndresRam]

Hello my friends,

Another good choice I think, that nobody has mentioned so far, is using Nosler Partitions for everything except Elephant, and may be posterior shoots for Buffalo, and Solids for Elephant and post-shoots on the Buff, both 300 grain.

There are some advantages to this I think, first they can be bought over the counter which saves you the re-loading, and they (at least in my 375 H & H) shoot almost exactly at the same point of impact.

The Nosler Partition expands enough for almost all game, even leopard, and certainly is tough enough for Buffalo, I have heard many many hunters have had one shoot kills on buffalo with a Nosler Partition up the spout, including a friend of mine that just came back form Tanzania may be 15 days ago, the Buff got spined but even then it' good bullet performance.
And if the big buff doesn't have the grace of falling to the first shoot (I understand, most don't!) then you can fill the buff with the solids you have underneath the partition to slow him down.

That's my opinion I hope it's good and somewhat useful!

 

[browningbbr]

At the risk of being a bit contrary, my wife and I both used Barnes TSX bullets on plains game and had excellent results...BUT, we shot bullets that were "light for caliber".

The 140gn TSX loaded to max for her 7mm Rem Mag and the 165gn TSX loaded to max for my .300 were moving at very high velocities. Expansion (even at 300 yds) was excellent based on wound channels and exit holes. The only bullet we recovered was from an eland and it showed perfect expansion.

I am not surprised that "heavy for caliber" TSX bullets sometimes do not expand as desired. A 300 yard shot out of a .375 would result in an impact velocity of about 1800 fps. Based on the information and given the construction of the TSX, I would now guess that well over 2000 fps is required for good expansion

Based on what I have learned from information in this set of posts and my own experience, I'll probably only continue to use TSX bullets in light, high speed loads

- browningbbr

 

[AndresRam]

Ohhh sorry I just realized I forgot to mention that the Solids also be Nosler Solids, I meant shoot both Nosler Partitions and Nosler Solids of 300 grains.

Cheers and good hunting!

 

[TERMINATOR]

I attached the picture of the TBBC bullet. I think?

I have used the TBBC on non-DG and it is a good bullet. I find it a little too tough on deer/antelope as it left small exit holes but it is perfect on elk in a .300 Mag because you get a good mushroom and it stays together. I also love the Nosler Partition but find on heavy animals like elk the front portion is almost always gone at less than 100 yards.

One thing about your experience is that you dumped every foot-lb of energy inside that Buff instead of wasting some of it on the air behind him. I have never hunted Cape Buffalo (yet) but I would think they are not hard to track and I would probably prefer a bullet that mushrooms and stops on the far side than a through and through ON MY FIRST SHOT with solids behind it.

If I need a blood trail to track...well that is a different story but if not, a bullet that goes through and stops on the far side with a good mushroom has left every bit of energy in that animal and does massive shock wave damage inside.

 

[michaelhh375]

What to chose ?

Dear fellow hunters. Today it's very easy to have this question answered. Just get the bullets from IMPALA BULLETS Austria. I use 270 grains RN bullets i'n my HH 375. Use same bullet for Duiker, Lion, Hippo and Crocodile, Buffalo, Moose and Roedeer... Absolutely fantastic. Also
Consider the benefit of never have to think about distances from 25 meters to 250 meters. Just aim and shoot.
Stay safe and have fun i'n the African bush.

I am headed to Africa for a three (maybe 4) species Hunt. We are targeting Elephant, Leopard and Cape Buffalo in the Malapati region of southern Zim.

I will be shooting the venerable .375 H&H mag. and I am very comfortable with the rifle. I can handle bigger bore guns but the .375 H&H is by far my favorite, I have owned it for a long time and the bigger bore guns are just not in the equation.

My "dilema" is bullet selection. For elephant I need a solid - no question. But which one do guys like the best.

For Leopard I need an fast expansion soft point. THe Nosler Partition is my chioce there.

Finally, for Bufs I really need 2 bullets. A solid and an expansion bullet. I will use the same solid for Bufs as Elephant. The Nosler Partition is not the right chioce for the Buf. I have heard good things about Tropghy Bonded Bear Claws, but I am not sure you can buy the bullet - does anypne know if its just a Federal bullet that comes in factroy rounds only?

I will load everything in 300 gr with a muzzle velocity of between 2400-2450f/s - that seems to be the gold standard for penatration and expansion.

So in summary, I am looking for recommendations on .375 caliber bullets as follows:

1) DG Solids

2) DG Expansion rounds for Bufs

3) Confirmation on the NP as a good choice for Leopard

Thanks folks

The 4th species will be an incedental Nyala or Sable and the NP is the obvisous choice from the .375 H&H - for me anyway.

 

[Nyati]

I have used TBBC in .375HH for a one shot kill on buffalo last year.

I have also used Swift A Frame in 338WM for plains game with excellent performance.

 

[M. Egan]

I'm a little surprised that no one mentioned the 380 grain Rhino bullet. I assume that this is because it is hard to come by in N America.
I took a buf with one shot, a Livingston eland with one shot, and my wife took a beautiful zebra. Bullet performance was near perfect on both the buf and the eland. We did not recover the bullet on the zebra.
I do not have a lot of experience with the .375 but my limited time with this caliber has made it a possible favorite.
Cheers, Mike
PS I used the rhinos at my PH's suggestion

 

[nsok]

Sorry, my doubt is not about 375H&H but about 9,3x62 I have in my menu for this August Eland, Zebra, Oryx and Bushbuck. I am going to use Barnes TSX in 250 grns and I am not sure how it will
work on the Bushbuck. I would like to use only one bullet.

 

[sestoppelman]

nsok, I am using the same bullet (at 2500 fps) and caliber as you in about 9 days for a similar range of game in Zim. Bushbuck to eland and whatever in between. I have not used this bullet in the field yet either but have confidence it will do well. Will post info on return.

 

[nsok]

Could be too tough for the bushbuck.
Looking forward to your post. Good luck and enjoy

 

[Bart]

I just read the discussion cause i want to load a 375 for my next africa trip. I just want to add something in defence of the Barnes TTSX Bullets. I shot over 70 african animals with them in .300 win mag caliber. I used the 180 grain bullet first, and now i use the 168 grain bullet (last 50 shots). They perform very good, maybe due to the fact that i choose a relatively light bullet weight and i try to make it fly as fast as possible. The only times it did not perform well, was when it hit something (grass or so).

Here's a picture of my 150 grain Barnes TTSX loaded in my 30-06 which i use in holland after killing a big wild boar in one shot.

 

[enysse]

What are you looking for a soft or solid?

 

[Bart]

What are you looking for a soft or solid?

After some intensive internet searching, i think i'll load a nosler partition 300 grain and a nosler solid 300 grain for the second shot. Barnes solids are hard to get in europe. They consider it armour piercing ammunition and i could not order the barnes solid bullets here.

I'll adjust the amount of powder so both bullets will have the same point of impact.

The gun will be needed for my next africa trip so i have almost a year to load perfect ammo.

 

[enysse]

After some intensive internet searching, i think i'll load a nosler partition 300 grain and a nosler solid 300 grain for the second shot. Barnes solids are hard to get in europe. They consider it armour piercing ammunition and i could not order the barnes solid bullets here.

I'll adjust the amount of powder so both bullets will have the same point of impact.

The gun will be needed for my next africa trip so i have almost a year to load perfect ammo.

That is not a bad plan! The Swift A Frame are nice too!

 

[srtdvm]

2006 Zimbabwe I used my .375 Sako Hunter topped off with a Swarovski 1.25x3 scope to pound a buff at thirty yards facing head on....300 grain Swift A-Frames...hit him 6 of 8 shots with my reloads. One in the chest facing him above his heart to major vessels, three as he ran to his right at forty to sixty yards, one Texas heart shot at ninety yards and one insurance shot when he was on the ground. He covered 100 yards with four bullets in his chest, and one linear through his abdomen. I am a retired veterinarian, was there for the necropsy and recovered four of the six hits. Nice mushrooming and they sit on display beneath the pedestal mount. Bullet placement is paramount. Made the mistake of thinking the PH would have the solids to back me up but it all happened so fast he was holding binos and I was thanking God the buff ran to his right....and not at me/us. I had no solids loaded. Stupid. Best of luck on your hunt.

 

[B9.3]

Great performance. I've had the same results with 140gr 7mm Weatherby @ 3400 fps, & 180gr 300 Weatherby @ 3200 fps
& 250gr TSX in my 9.3x62 @ 2700fps.
I used the old X 210gr XLC in my 340 Weatherby @ 3200 fps. They sure do the job.
These days I use nothing but Accubond & Woodleigh PPSN for target practice & general hunting & North Fork SS for Trophy Hunting.