Leopard Gun?

[Beck]

So this is my Leopard set up. .300 Weatherby - Sako AV - Meotpa R2 2-12x50 - 180 Nosler Accubonds going 3200 fps - I think it is a perfect setup, but open to recommendations

 

[mark-hunter]

Dont change nothing!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Shoot straight

 

[One Day...]

The only thing I would suggest, Beck, would be make sure that a .30 caliber is legal for leopard where you plant to hunt.

For example, Zambia and Zimbabwe specifically allow a .300 for Leopard, and a .300 meets Namibia energy requirements, but Botswana and Tanzania require a minimum of .375 for "dangerous game". I know that there is a bit of a gray area when it comes to leopard, due to its low weight and comparatively fragile built (e.g. a .270 would do just fine), but dangerous he is, and few things are more worrying on Safari these days than a government scout determined to show who is the boss...

Our legal hawk, BRICKBURN, may know the answer to this question, but if he does not, your PH sure will (assuming you have a hunt already booked).

Also, Leopard may be THE game where the old Nosler Partition may still be king. Explosive disintegration of its front core in the chest area is bound to wreak havoc on that thin skinned cat. Deep penetration with a bonded bullet is not really the concern at hand.

One more thought, will you be shooting at night? Several countries allow it on private land. In which case, does the Meopta R2 have an illuminated reticle?

Just my $0.02, for what they are worth

 

[HankBuck]

So this is my Leopard set up. .300 Weatherby - Sako AV - Meotpa R2 2-12x50 - 180 Nosler Accubonds going 3200 fps - I think it is a perfect setup, but open to recommendations

View attachment 657656

@Beck - can you hit a pack-of-cigarettes with it at 50 yards….”every time”? If so = perfect (or close enough).
Are you hunting at Night? Using a light? If so, I would practice shooting it in the dark - same way you are likely to be shooting a Leopard, same type of rest, likely distance, using light etc.. Does scope have an illuminated reticle ?
Anyway, I never hunted Leopard (wish I could) so I have zero experience…this is just a few things I would focus on.
Good luck and hope you get a chance at a good one

 

[Rare Breed]

So this is my Leopard set up. .300 Weatherby - Sako AV - Meotpa R2 2-12x50 - 180 Nosler Accubonds going 3200 fps - I think it is a perfect setup, but open to recommendations

View attachment 657656

Very nice! The only thing I recommend is an illuminated fire dot given your leopard will probably be taken in some type of twilight. As I’m sure you know the type bullets you use are critical to success

 

[Rare Breed]

I am using a Ruger 30-06 with a Leupold VX3 3.5-10-50 with Fire Dot. I will be shooting fast expanding 220 grain Core Lokts

 

[Luvthunt]

It will work but I would follow up on the recommendation to use Nosler partition.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

So this is my Leopard set up. .300 Weatherby - Sako AV - Meotpa R2 2-12x50 - 180 Nosler Accubonds going 3200 fps - I think it is a perfect setup, but open to recommendations

View attachment 657656

Dead cat

 

[rafter3]

I second the illuminated dot in reticle, at twilight especially with them being in a tree in shadows my Swaro Z8 with illuminated dot made it possible to get the shot, otherwise I might not have taken it. I used a 300 win mag and it did the trick!!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I would personally change nothing. The old Nosler Partition bullet has aided me in accounting for multiple leopards over the years (I used the 175Gr bullet out of a 7x57mm Mauser, the 200Gr bullet out of a .30-06 Springfield and the 300Gr bullet out of a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum).

Unfortunately, Nosler has been constantly listing their Partition bullets & ammunition as “Out Of Stock” ever since the Chinese Virus outbreak in 2020. Nosler AccuBonds are also an excellent leopard bullet in their own right. My white hunter friend Jeff Rann personally considers the Nosler AccuBond to be an ideal leopard & lion bullet.

 

[Beck]

The only thing I would suggest, Beck, would be make sure that a .30 caliber is legal for leopard where you plant to hunt.

For example, Zambia and Zimbabwe specifically allow a .300 for Leopard, and a .300 meets Namibia energy requirements, but Botswana and Tanzania require a minimum of .375 for "dangerous game". I know that there is a bit of a gray area when it comes to leopard, due to its low weight and comparatively fragile built (e.g. a .270 would do just fine), but dangerous he is, and few things are more worrying on Safari these days than a government scout determined to show who is the boss...

Our legal hawk, BRICKBURN, may know the answer to this question, but if he does not, your PH sure will (assuming you have a hunt already booked).

Also, Leopard may be THE game where the old Nosler Partition may still be king. Explosive disintegration of its front core in the chest area is bound to wreak havoc on that thin skinned cat. Deep penetration with a bonded bullet is not really the concern at hand.

One more thought, will you be shooting at night? Several countries allow it on private land. In which case, does the Meopta R2 have an illuminated reticle?

Just my $0.02, for what they are worth

I am planing to hunt in Mozambique, I believe a .300 is legal there. Granted this hunt is at least a few years away, and Mozambique has an "interesting" political environment - so that could change. The Meopta does have an illuminated reticle - I am also looking at Nosler Partitions and Swift A-frames - I did have a lot of luck with the Accubonds on a lion and planes game hunt a few years ago - granted that was with a .375

 

[Beck]

@Beck - can you hit a pack-of-cigarettes with it at 50 yards….”every time”? If so = perfect (or close enough).
Are you hunting at Night? Using a light? If so, I would practice shooting it in the dark - same way you are likely to be shooting a Leopard, same type of rest, likely distance, using light etc.. Does scope have an illuminated reticle ?
Anyway, I never hunted Leopard (wish I could) so I have zero experience…this is just a few things I would focus on.
Good luck and hope you get a chance at a good one

I should be able to hit a pack of cigarettes at 150 yards! Will probably shoot a croc on the same hunt, and that shot frankly worries me more than the Leopard

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I am planing to hunt in Mozambique, I believe a .300 is legal there. Granted this hunt is at least a few years away, and Mozambique has an "interesting" political environment - so that could change. The Meopta does have an illuminated reticle - I am also looking at Nosler Partitions and Swift A-frames - I did have a lot of luck with the Accubonds on a lion and planes game hunt a few years ago - granted that was with a .375

I’ve been told by two white hunters that in recent years, Mozambique has made the .375 bore the minimum legally permissible caliber for hunting dangerous game there.

 

[VINOYASADO]

Hi there!

Are you shooting from a blind at close range? Could be over penetration? Shooting a long distance desing bullet flying a 3200 fps over a light animal?

 

[Rare Breed]

I should be able to hit a pack of cigarettes at 150 yards! Will probably shoot a croc on the same hunt, and that shot frankly worries me more than the Leopard

Hey everybody here is what Lou Hallamore who wrote Chui taught me to get ready for my leopard hunt
1. Buy a $50 pig light
2. Buy a $20 pressure treated post, cement it into the ground and hang the light
3. Buy the 5 pack of the big 5 targets to get the leopard one…it is made do that at 48 yards the cat has the same look in your scope at 100 yards
4. I put the target on a $5 piece of particle board and placed it in a tree under the pig light
My pig light has a hand held device so I can manually turn it on and off
You would not believe my shock the first time I waited for dark set up 50 yards away with a sturdy rest sitting to imitate my real world situation …when I turned on the red light…my first reaction was I was seeing a blob!!!! I had to settle down so that only then could I barely given my fire dot could pick out a rouset to aim then shoot
Lou said the #1 reason hunters miss their leopard shot is their shock seeing the leopard in the red light for the first time then not picking a spot instead shooting at the “blob”
This all for $100 is the best practice I can think of

 

[Red Leg]

I am using a Ruger 30-06 with a Leupold VX3 3.5-10-50 with Fire Dot. I will be shooting fast expanding 220 grain Core Lokts

Unless you hit bone, that will be pretty close to a solid on a cat. It will work, but something a bit faster opening would more likely see him dead at the foot of the tree rather than fifty scary yards away (he says from experience). If it were my '06 it would be loaded with a 150 or 180 gr version of that Core Lokt.

 

[IvW]

Truck led tail light brake light combination with a small 12v 12ah battery is what I use for leopard, bushpig and other night critters. From the first night you bait you fit the light and leave it on. Position the light so it is shining on the bait but it needs to be on the blind side facing the bait. When you decide to sit you just add the brake light wire and the light is brighter.

I do it this way so they are use to the light from the get go as apposed to switching it on only when you sit or the intended target arrives.

 

[Beck]

I’ve been told by two white hunters that in recent years, Mozambique has made the .375 bore the minimum legally permissible caliber for hunting dangerous game there.

Crap - If that is the case I'll have to rethink things

 

[Beck]

Hi there!

Are you shooting from a blind at close range? Could be over penetration? Shooting a long distance desing bullet flying a 3200 fps over a light animal?

I would assume so