I have heard of "Impala Bullets" http://www.impalabullets.co.za/home.htm before but have never tried them. I came across their web site and wondered what the guys on AR's opinion on them would be.

The Impala bullet was manufactured mainly, as I understand it, for use on plains game using bigger bores.

This is from the web site

"The first thing that crossed my mind thinking of a development was to go for a monolithic bullet (solid) that will ensure lower mass, higher velocities and flat trajectories. It was essential that the bullet should not work hard on entering the buck and thus decided upon the sharp point.

Since there was no chance of using mushrooming for retardation and subsequent increased rate of energy transfer, I had to decide upon the other wound ballistic concept namely transverse shockwaves that result into controlled high velocity tissue displacement. I therefore introduced the 90 degrees cutting edge in the front. To keep the nose pointing forward as far as possible during penetration through the buck, I designed the shape of the grooves on the baring surface to give increased drag to the rear of the bullet. The shape of these grooves resulted in a bonus that I did not consider. It has a ventury suction effect on exit and often sucks large chunks of lung tissue through a small exit-hole and decompress the torso that probably result in the collapsing of the lungs."


Here is a picture of the bullet

looks worthless to me

Doesn't sound like it was written by M.L. Fackler does it.

Ray Atkinson gave me some .416 samples but I have never used them on game. You might PM him and ask if he did.

We have used them on some game and this is what we have experienced you must hit a vital area otherwise the bullet zips trough like a solid and you will struggle to find the animal. If you do hit soft vital tissue inside the animal the bullet does it's part of the deal and you are rewarded with a dead animal.

On a longish shot on an old impala ewe 230 meters we saw trough video how the bullet deflected very badly exiting the impala. If the impala was in a herd the chances of hitting another would have been great. The shot was high and hit the vertebra above the shoulders and the bullet must have deflected at least 30 degree in an angle. We were on high ground and could thus see the bullet and dust clearly behind the impala.

So for DG I would say a big no no ! There is a picture as well of someone who shot a buff with his 458 with impala bullets and they show off the bent nose the photo is in Kobus's shop you can just ask him.

As for accuracy they are super shooting a 2 1/2" group at 200 meters with my 375 H&H with a 4 x power scope. At 100 meters they gave me MOA time and time again if I did my part.

So for the average hunter who will be taking animals for biltong they are super as long as you watch out shooting in herds. They also make your rifle work even at longer range than normal because of the light bullet and that is a big plus. They also waste little meat at those high velocities as well. And they are very accurate but for DG I will stick to RN heavy bullets.

I used Impala bullets in .375 caliber (200 grain if my memory is correct) on a Waterbuck and an Eland. The shot was good on the Eland, at about 120 yards, and he went about 30 meters before dropping dead. The Waterbuck was head-on and shot for the chest but was slightly off center, missing the vitals. Long follow-up ensued. Found the animal sick after a couple of hours. Animal got up and started to run so second shot was quartering away and he still went pretty far before we found him.

I don't think I would use Impala bullets again, unless meat hunting, for which they are great because little meat damage. Not worth losing an animal on a trophy hunt however.

Loaded some 180grn in 9,3. Tried them with 60grns 335 and then 54grns 335.

Perfect for impala - or practice. The hyper- velocity load achieved considerable meat damage on a shoulder shot at 20m.

Definately NOT for Dangerous game!

Loaded some in a 500 A square for Gavin Rourke. Tried one on a buff and blew the rest away in practice.

I would only look at using them for PG animals I don't think they were ever intended for DG.

Those who have used Impala bullets what is the difference in felt recoil using the lighter bullet even though the velocity is a lot higher. I am looking for a light bullet which would reduce felt recoil for my wife to use on Kudu and Blue Wildebeest in my .416 Rigby.

Yes a .416 Rigby is overkill for plains game but it’s a heck of a lot of fun

The recoil is much lower and you will easily tame the bigger calibers.

But remember they only work if you hit vitals.

Aren't they very expensive? Even higher priced than a GS Custom HV bullet?

GS Custom are about R8.44 per bullet delivered and the Impala are R5.92 per bullet.

Regardless of the cost the main issue is to reduce recoil

Venturi effect has to do with the passage of gas or fluid under pressure through a nozzle that has an hourglass shape resulting in rapid acceleration of the ejecta and a large pressure gradient along the axis of the nozzle. It's really hard to see how this applies to a bullet passing through a solid, and equally hard to see how the grooves create a venturi effect. So given the speculative nature of this part of the sales pitch, I would discount the rest of it as well. That's not to say it won't shoot as well as any other solid, and the higher velocity probably does create more hydrostatic pressure in the body cavity..same principle as using a 17 rem on a coyote. But I would guess that the bullet is still moving at 60% of its entry velocity upon exit so not too much kinetic energy transferred.

quote:

Originally posted by ghundwan:
I would only look at using them for PG animals I don't think they were ever intended for DG.

Those who have used Impala bullets what is the difference in felt recoil using the lighter bullet even though the velocity is a lot higher. I am looking for a light bullet which would reduce felt recoil for my wife to use on Kudu and Blue Wildebeest in my .416 Rigby.

Yes a .416 Rigby is overkill for plains game but it’s a heck of a lot of fun

I really did not feel the difference between a 300 grain and a 200 grain at a much higher speed, maybe my shoulder is used to it.

With a 416 Rigby it does not matter what you will use , HY gaan jou bliksem, that is a fact

quote:

ghundwan

If you are around Pretoria/Centurion why dont you stop at Kobu's shooting range and aks him to have a go with his 458 win loaded with impalas.

You will feel the difference.

What is also a big pluspoint of the light bullet and no meat damage is that you can afford to whack normal to small plainsgame with the impalas without blowing it away