What is the forums thought on which bullet is the better softpoint for buffalo? I have purchased a CZ 416 Rigby and am about to venture into reloading. Planning on a buff hunt in May 06. I have used the Noslers in my 375 on plains game including zebra, blue wildebeast, and red hartebeast with much success. Seems I recall reading somewhere that they may not have enough pentration for dagga boy? Thanks.

700,

Have you tried the tsx yet?? (do they make it in 400gr?)

the 416 nosler is a great bullet and will exit some times on broad side buffalo.

another great choise is the norfolk selection of bullets.

personally in my 416 rigby i use 400 grain barns x bullets.

I have used 400gr. Bear Claws in my .416 Rigby to take 2 cape buffalo and performance was exceptional. The bullets that did not exit and were recovered, looked like bullets from a magazine ad. Perfect mushrooms, 92%+ weight retention, 3-4 ft. penetration. Shot a Kamchatka brown bear (900+ lbs.) in 1998, same type of performance. I have two hunting buddies who swear by Barnes X's and they report similar performance. I must admit that I am slowly coming around to the Barnes camp though. Just in the past few months I have been getting some phenominal accuracy out of hunting loads using the Barnes Triple Shocks. Having a premium bullet which also gives great accuracy is just too much for me to pass up.

Geronimo

Bwanahile,

Yest, the Nosler and the Bearclaw are fine bullets. But if you want excellent penetration and virtually unfailable expansion and weight retention, you owe it to yourself to try the Barnes bullets. I have yet to try the TSX but will do so this coming year in preparation for my fourth safari and hopefully, my 5th and 6th cape buffalo.

Bull1

I have used the Nosler 400 gr. 416 bullet on more than a few buffalo and it performed perfectly in every instance..It expands a good deal less than most Noslers and when recovered looks much like a BarnesX but with less cross section and more penetration than most Noslers...

I can't imagine a better soft point bullet for Buffalo than the Nosler 416 bullet and I have used all the good ones IMO...

I don't think one can go wrong with a GS Customs or Northfork flat point solid, or a Soft from Woodleigh or Northfork, but expect less penetration and more expansion over the Nosler with the Woodleigh or Northfork softs.

The Northfork cup point is a fine bullet, and probably my shoot anything that walks, talks breaths or crawls bullet....

Any of the above bullets can be trusted to perform...IMO and based on my results with the Bear claw, it is a tad soft and lacks the penetration I like, but is a good bullet for shooting in herds I suspect, but again I would pick a Woodleigh or Northfork soft over the Bear Claw...

Thats what makes a horse race, differing opinnions and who knows who is right or wrong until the race is over...

Thanks for all of the input. Perhaps I should load all 3 and see which one my gun likes the most.

FWIW the only buffalo I ever wounded and lost was shot with a Nosler partition bullet.... I shot the buff face on at no more than 35 paces. The bull went down from the impact and then got up and took off with hardly a trail of blood......never to be seen again. Needless to say i don't use Noslers on buff any more...

Happy hunting!

.416 or .375?
Thanks,
JCN

I have used the Bear Claws in 2 416 rifles. A 416 Weathgerby and a 416 Rigby Improved.

The 400 grain bullets were loaded to 2500 fps, and they all worked very well.

But, having used copper bullets like teh Barnes X and our own Walterhog bullets - which penetrate a lot more than either the BCs or the Noslers, I would prefer to use them rather than the above mentioned bullets.

My reasoning for this is that in some situation, one might not able to get a good angle at a shot on a buffalo, and the bullets that do penetrate more will at least give you the chance of killing the animal.

I have shot buffalo in the rear end with both the Barnes X and the Waltehogs. In both instances, the buffalos went down instantly.

I would not take a chance with shots like these with bullets that are not made of solid copper.

yes i have tryed the tsx a friend of mine sent my 6 to try out and yes they come in 400 grains.

i was clocking them at 2520 out of my ruger 416 rigby with 96 grains of imr 4831 the tsx reduces pressure a little bit so a extra grain of powder could be used to maybe get another 50 fps.

I would use flat nosed solids, such as the GS Custom www.gscustom.co.za

Or I would use cup nosed solids or regular softs from North Fork Bullets.

Bwanahile,

The Nosler in my tests penetrated as far as the 400 grain Swift. It retained 386 grains weight (96.5%), and expanded to 0.78 caliber.

Cant ask for much more than that in a .416.

The bonded 370 grain North Fork (SD over .300), would be my first choice, and you can get over 2,500 fps.

Andy

it was a .375