Rifle/bullet combo for Namibia

[Mekaniks]

We shot a few Jackal with 180gr soft point bullets (outfitters gun / Hornady ammo) in a 300 Win Mag, and as long as we stayed behind the shoulder they weren't all that bad - as soon as you shot onto the shoulder they started to look a bit more like GA hunters pic

If you are interested in mounting your Jackal - talk with your outfitter, chances are he will have a small bore rifle (maybe .22 cal) that you can have in the truck, and it might work out to shoot with it

Yes that is the best advice! Don't shoot it in the shoulder! And use a 22 if one is available

 

[JGRaider]

A small sample of bullets that were caught on one of my Namibian plains game cull hunts, with a big kudu thrown in. All shots were from 100-150yds and purposefully put through shoulders
The 7mm, 160gr Accubond is a great performer.

 

[Northwest9]

i tried to order some 8mm 200gn accubonds, but apparently there are none in the country, and 7 packs have been on order for 2 years....

ive ordered some 200gn Barnes TSX's.

any experience with these?

 

[Northwest9]

edit....

I posted on a local aussie forum and someone pointed me in the direction of a shop that had some on the shelf.

cancelled the barnes order and will load up some accubonds as soon as they come in

 

[Northwest9]

I too will be taking my M70 .325 WSM to Africa next year, though I will be going to South Africa instead of Namibia. My chosen bullet in this rifle is the 160 grn TTSX but I agree with the suggestions here to go with the 200 grn Accubond instead of the BT.

Just returned from Namibia on a management hunt..Zebra, Oryx, Wildebeast and Hartebeast. 1 jackal turned inside out with a 168 gr TTSX from a 30 06 at 150 yds. My son used a 30 06 with 168 TTSX and I used a 30 06 with 180 gr accubonds, he recovered 4 bullets, I recovered 2..Most shots were in the the 250 to 350 yd range. Pass thru on the 180 accubonds on Oryx, and Hartebeast up to 350 yds, Zebra pass thru under 250 yds. Would not want to shoot anything but tough premium bullets on African game. Pass thru blood trails are easy to follow if you need to, we saw no need since most dropped within 10 yds. Have used the accubond and TTSX in a 30 06 on most Plains game up to Wildebeast down to Duiker....no issues at all....but the Jackal.....no saving what was left of pelt.

sorry guys, i didnt see these for some reason.... oops

I think i will also get some of the TSX's and see how they shoot as well, then make a decision based on that

 

[Hogpatrol]

From time to time, we get in to these bullet discussions where everyone expounds on how the bullet they shoot is either the best or it does a fabulous job. For my firearms, the choice is the most accurate one. After 55+ years of hunting I've found that 99% of them will kill the intended target if put in the right place.

 

[Travis2282]

How do you like that Swarovski z5. Was thinking of picking one of those up?

 

[Pheroze]

A small sample of bullets that were caught on one of my Namibian plains game cull hunts, with a big kudu thrown in. All shots were from 100-150yds and purposefully put through shoulders
The 7mm, 160gr Accubond is a great performer.

Cool info. Would you mind posting it here: https://www.africahunting.com/threads/bullet-performance-database.37971/page-3

I didn't see it, I apologize if I missed it.

 

[Northwest9]

How do you like that Swarovski z5. Was thinking of picking one of those up?

love it, lighter than the z6, and has 1/4moa clicks, whereas the z6 has 1/3moa clicks and is $1000 more that the z5

the ballistics turret is brilliant. i have mine zeroed at 200, then the dots at 300, 400 and 500. a simple chart stuck to the stock tells me the clicks for each 25m between each dot. fast and accurate

 

[Travis2282]

It hasn't lost track any on turret?

 

[Northwest9]

It hasn't lost track any on turret?

to date it hasnt, I have one on my 7mm08 and one on the 325wsm. each time ive wound it back to zero its on target

 

[Travis2282]

Sounds great! You made up my mind!

 

[Philip Glass]

the accubonds do shoot roughly as well as the BT's

Ill do a bit more load dev with them. I wonder if a jackal will be mountable or completely destroyed tho?

Jackals are pretty small animals and can get really torn up.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I shot a Jackal with a .17 Fireball, 25 grain bullet, very little hide damage. On the other hand the springhares didn't fare as well. With the same rifle, I've killed springboks, porcupine, wild cat, caracal, guinea fowl, monkeys, crows, steenbok, aardwolfs and a warthog. The warthog took the first shot in an eyeball but did put another one in him for good measure.

 

[Travis2282]

Northwest9 got me the z5 3-18 44 with w4 reticle today! Love it!

 

[Fred Gunner]

This is what a 30 cal, 200 GR Accubound does to a jackal when it's fired from a 300 RUM at just over 3100 FPS.
View attachment 198080

I'll bet your Taxidermy man loves you?!?

 

[Firebird]

I have that same scope on my .300 win mag-absolutely love it-I ordered a custom turret from Swarovski on their website and it is awesome! It replaces the three silver rings with the colored dots. For the record my go to load in that rifle is 180 accubond but ballistic tips shoot very similar, you won't have to tweak much to make that switch, same powder, primer, brass etc. My rifle did not shoot ttsx very well. . . Btw, I also own and love a 7mm08 and it also shoots accubonds quite well

 

[Northwest9]

I have that same scope on my .300 win mag-absolutely love it-I ordered a custom turret from Swarovski on their website and it is awesome! It replaces the three silver rings with the colored dots. For the record my go to load in that rifle is 180 accubond but ballistic tips shoot very similar, you won't have to tweak much to make that switch, same powder, primer, brass etc. My rifle did not shoot ttsx very well. . . Btw, I also own and love a 7mm08 and it also shoots accubonds quite well

i have in the past found that the 200gn accubond with the same 67gn of 2209 shoots the same sized group as the 180gn BT's, obviously to a different POI.

ill load some up tonight when the projectiles arrive. I just have to get to the range to chrony them, rezero and then just set the coloured dots and ill be set

problem is finding the time to get to the range, i still have to do load dev on the 6mm284, rezero the 204 after it was in for feeding issues, and the load for the 325... good problem to have tho i guess

 

[Northwest9]

Just tried the 200gn accubonds again... 1.5" to 3" groups....

Time to try something else

 

[Northwest9]

I just came back from the range after trying again with the accubonds. They were terrible again. It seems the aren't stabilizing.

160 or 180gn Barnes?

Or what else?