Dangerous Game Solid Bullet Recommendations

[mikecatt13]

Prepping for a buff hunt (and hopefully elephant in the future, sometime) and will be using aframes for softs and am trying to figure out what solids to select. Always heard good things about woodleigh hydros and found some loaded but with the factory fire news Im wondering if its best to use something else so I dont have to work up a new load because I can only find 80 rounds (plus about 10 bullets I have in possession)

Nosler, barnes banded, and swift breakaway are fairly available (with the swifts being the most expensive, which is ok if its worth it). Any recommendations of one over the other and why?

For a Blaser S2 double in .470NE and will likely choose the same brand for the .375HH barrels if needed and R8 in .416rem

 

[Neil Molendyk]

Swift Solid Breakaways, I used then in my 416 Rigby on buffalo, outstanding performance. With a bit of powder adjustment the Swift solids were within an inch of the Swift breakaways at 100 yards. Bill, the owner of Swift recommended that I reload the Solids at 3 grains less powder than the Aframes and he was bang on with his suggestion. I have not used the other brands.

 

[BeeMaa]

I have Woodleigh Hydros and they shoot well in my 375H&H so I'm sticking with these. Picking out a solid bullet is not the time to be pinching pennies IMO. Relatively cheap insurance to have a few in your cartridge belt.

I've heard good things about the Swift Break Away Solids (very pricey), Cutting Edge Bullets Solids and Nosler Solids. However I have no personal experience with any of them. All of these have a flat meplat to minimize bullet deflection for maximum straight line penetration.

 

[CBH Australia]

I have read a lot of good stuff on the Woodleigh range.
I'm hanging onto the projectiles I have because I want to hunt Buff and I want to use these Aussie projectiles.
It seems they have become scarce as Rocking Horse shot overnight.
Saturday I was looking at my components etc thinking of ordering some more Hydros. Before I heard of the fire.
Now I don't see any listed in stock online.

I hope Geoff and Shirley are doing ok , and I also hope they can rebuild or salvage something to see it come back to life under a new owner.

Anyone want to form a company in Australia? Would it be a viable proposition for a partnership of like minded people?


I know there is at least one engineer here and an accomplished accountant.

 

[Tanks]

Cutting Edge solids have worked for me. Ones below were recovered from a couple of elephants. One of them traversed through right shoulder and was found on the left hip.

 

[Tanks]

...

Anyone want to form a company in Australia? Would it be a viable proposition for a partnership of like minded people?
...

With the government you have there I would not start any businesses in Australia.

 

[Tanks]

Ultimately moves like this just consolidate communication into fewer and fewer large platforms who will clamp down harder and harder on free exchange of information. Smaller platforms would have a harder time bearing the burden of confirming people’s identity, and would bear the risk of owning all content posted. Larger companies will naturally become more risk-adverse and delete people’s posts and accounts if they say unpopular things about people.

 

[R eight]

With the government you have there I would not start any businesses in Australia.

Hang on….. who’s the President of the US ? Biden . I reckon that’s a classic “kettle pot “ .

 

[Nhoro]

Cutting Edge solids/GS custom/ Peregrine solids(copper and brass) are among the best performing for straight line penetration. I am using Peregrines myself and am happy with them.

I am probably going to be flamed by everyone for this but Hornady DGS work well for my brother in his 416 rigby. He has 12 or 13 elephant to his name. They are flat meplat solids and so have good straight line penetration as well. With a double, you dont need to worry about feeding problems and if Blaser allow you, flat nose monometals are the way to go. If they dont warranty or you cant get them to group then conventional solids will have to do- many will tell you that the hornady bullets are junk but my brother is a believer and he is pretty experienced.

 

[AZDAVE]

I have used CEB, northfork, and swift solids in various different rifles. CEB's would be a good choice to start with and make sure they feed and shoot to the same POI as your aframes

 

[crs]

IIRC, North Fork makes the Flat point Solid - FPS (shot through head and into body on frontal brain shots),
The Cup Point Solid ( Worked great on my water buff)
And the SS- Semi Spitzer for game not requiring solids.

These are now made in Sweden and imported to USA.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

In the big picture the price of a bullet is miniscule. Use what works best. If you're scrimping on a bullet yet planning on an African safari and trying to save money by finding the cheapest bullet, in my opinion you're trimming your budget a little too close to the edge.

 

[IvW]

Prepping for a buff hunt (and hopefully elephant in the future, sometime) and will be using aframes for softs and am trying to figure out what solids to select. Always heard good things about woodleigh hydros and found some loaded but with the factory fire news Im wondering if its best to use something else so I dont have to work up a new load because I can only find 80 rounds (plus about 10 bullets I have in possession)

Nosler, barnes banded, and swift breakaway are fairly available (with the swifts being the most expensive, which is ok if its worth it). Any recommendations of one over the other and why?

For a Blaser S2 double in .470NE and will likely choose the same brand for the .375HH barrels if needed and R8 in .416rem

No need for solids on Buffalo, the swift A frames you have is all you need for the first shot and any other shot after that coming or going.......

 

[Philip Glass]

I doubt there is much performance difference in solids. It may come down to what you can get and what shoots accurately in your rifle.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Swift Solid Breakaways, I used then in my 416 Rigby on buffalo, outstanding performance. With a bit of powder adjustment the Swift solids were within an inch of the Swift breakaways at 100 yards. Bill, the owner of Swift recommended that I reload the Solids at 3 grains less powder than the Aframes and he was bang on with his suggestion. I have not used the other brands.

I have done the same thing with Swift while loading the 375 H&H, 470 N.E., and 505 Gibbs. Bill and his team are very knowledgeable about the loading data for these bullets. They have performed flawlessly for me on my hunts.

 

[mikecatt13]

In the big picture the price of a bullet is miniscule. Use what works best. If you're scrimping on a bullet yet planning on an African safari and trying to save money by finding the cheapest bullet, in my opinion you're trimming your budget a little too close to the edge.

Not even the slightest idea how you got that as the main focus of the post.

Thanks everyone who shared their experiences, sounds like there are far less failures and thus strong opinions on solids as there are softs so thats good. Going to call Blaser today to check on any recommendations or restrictions on construction and go from there, leaning towards barnes banded or swift depending on that info.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

For the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum and .470 Nitro Express, you can't go wrong with Federal's Trophy Bonded Bear Claw soft points against Cape Buffalo. For elephant, the Federal Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer Solids in the same calibers are great ( if lead core is what you prefer ).

Otherwise, the Barnes TSX and Barnes Banded Solids are what you want ( if you prefer monolithics ).

For my personal Cape Buffalo and elephant hunting applications, I always employ a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum loaded with either 300 Gr Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw soft points or 300 Gr Nosler Safari monolithic solids respectively. Never had any reasons to be disappointed.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

80 solids is a lifetime supply for most people. You don’t have to practice with them. Just however many you need to check/ establish zero and the rest can be used on game.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

Not even the slightest idea how you got that as the main focus of the post.

Thanks everyone who shared their experiences, sounds like there are far less failures and thus strong opinions on solids as there are softs so thats good. Going to call Blaser today to check on any recommendations or restrictions on construction and go from there, leaning towards barnes banded or swift depending on that info.

Apologizes if anyone was offended by that remark about pricing but everyone has their own budget and priorities. Sometimes the best money saved is what is spent.

 

[Rule 303]

I used the Hydro's in my 416 Rigby to take a cape Buff and two Elephant. The Hydro does more internal damage than most solids but not quite as much as a soft point but penetrates way deep then Softs. Also it has a good reputation for straight line penetration even after hitting trees, bones. I have not seen one or heard of one deviating off course, not saying it is not possible just that I am not aware of it.

They shot to the same point of impact as my softs in the 416 Rigby and use the same powder load, just come out 100fps faster. Go figure. Same in my 375H&H and my 358/338RUM. What's not to like.