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I have the opportunity to do a SA cull hunt on springboks. It will be head or neck shots only. I reload, what bullet should I use? Was afraid the varmint bullets will be to lightly constructed. Thinking 53gr TSX or Hornady 52 A-max. Open to all suggestions. Thank you, Wayne Live everyday, like it was your last!! Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. | ||
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Chambering? JPK  Free 500grains | |||
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DUH!!!! 223 Live everyday, like it was your last!! Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. | |||
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On head/neck shots shoot the bullet that is most accurate in your gun...period! Geronimo | |||
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For neck and head shots only, with a .223, you will stay inside of 200 yards now, won't you? The answer is: Whichever of those two your rifle shoots most accurately. I would consider the 60-grain Nosler partition. The 40-grain GSC HV would be the ultimate for the .223 and such shooting as you plan. Even works well with the usual twist.  | |||
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Montana, I hope you have absolutely no wind - for drift on +- 50 gr. bullets - and just a hellofa lot of fun during your cull hunt! IMHO - not from 1000's of culling shots, but enough to form a humble opinion - I've never noticed any real difference between using fragile [Speer Game King 55 gr] or bullets like Barnes X from a moderete loaded .22/250 Rem. I nowadays only use the cheapest bullets available and accurate in my rifle. I do always have a few 55 gr Barnes X loads to use as a follow up possibly body shot in case I make a boo-boo and shoot a off a jaw. If your hunt is planned for windy period - mostly in August - rather consider a rifle in 6mm [.243] and +- 100 grain bullets to reduce wind drift. As culling hunts is something that I do myself, and offer to clients like you, please post a full hunt report, to help awaken the other hunters out there of the possibilities that such hunts hold. In good hunting. Andrew McLaren | |||
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I currently shoot the HSM w/42gr Calhoon double hollow points. They are ungodly accurate in this gun. Shot about 800 rounds last August up in Montana on p-dog hunt. I am afraif they are too light and will only surface splash on the side of the head. I would consider a 200 yard head shot to be extremly long. I have not shot either of these bullets in my gun. I thought of the 60NP also, just looking for input from some that have done this. W Live everyday, like it was your last!! Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. | |||
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I like the 60 gr. NP if your rifle will shoot them. I am trying to get the TSX to shoot in my .22/250 now. The cheapest, best alternative is the 64gr. Winchester Power Point. I have loaded this for a couple of my friends kids to shoot in .223 single shots with good results. This bullet is a much cheaper alternative. gduffey | |||
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I haven't done the african cull hunt thing but I have done the southern deer cull hunt thing. Head/neck shots 223rem. Similar size animals to Springbok. I know some here will strongly disagree but for head and neck shots Nosler BTs are perfectly fine for head/neck shots on smaller animals. Yes they do splatter but they tend to penetrate thin neck bones completely and the fragmentation increases your margin for error. That fragmentation will often stun them long enough for a follow up if you really screw up. Just don't pop one in the shoulder with that cartridge and bullet combo or you'll find out why some folks really hate that bullet. | |||
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I have not hunted Africa,but a lot of feral goat culling here in N.Z I would go with Hornady V-Max or Nosler BT as either of these bullets will open and do huge damage,even if you miss bone. Just my 2 cents. "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." Sir Winston Churchill | |||
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Ever consider an FMJ? I used to use a 55gr PMP FMJ in my .220 Swift for just the type of work you propose. Sure, it can (and does) overpenetrate, but placed correctly, it gets the business done. Botch your shot, and you can finish it off with a running body shot, if needs be. In the final analysis, use what shoots well in your rifle - your targets are small. Any 'gilding of the lily' will be by way of increasing penetration, to cover for the event of a botched first shot. | |||
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Any bullet over 50 gr will work. I like the Hornady V-Max and A-max, and the Nosler Balisstic tip is also excellent. I do not like FMJ, as I want the head to really break, so that even if you miss the brain, the bone fragments gets it. Springbok is pretty small, and if placed just behind, or even on the shoulder, these bullets work 80% of the time on body shots as well. Here is a photo of a recent cull with 2 teams doing the shooting.  Karl Stumpfe Ndumo Hunting Safaris www.huntingsafaris.net karl@huntingsafaris.net P.O. Box 1667, Katima Mulilo, Namibia Cell: +264 81 1285 416 Fax: +264 61 254 328 Sat. phone: +88 163 166 9264 | |||
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100% correct, RIP  And the effect of wind will be minimised if you take that 40-grain GSC HV up to 3850fps which is quite possible with the combination of a .223 and this premium grade bullet. Minimum meat damage on top of it - if you by accident miss the neck or head shots! OWLS My Africa, with which I will never be able to live without! | |||
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On 'roo culling here in Australia, the Nosler BT is far and away the most popular amongst sport hunters rather than Pro shooters. It's reputation for accuracy is much better than the V-Max. If you want an each way bet though, I wouldn't hesitate to use Gerard's 40gr HV. | |||
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Lead-free meat too! | |||
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My favorite .224 caliber hunting bullet (which I use in a 223, 222 and 22-250) is the Speer 70 grain Semi-Spitzer. My barrels are 1:12 twist and accuracy is very good. I've take a couple of deer with this bullet (both one shot kills even with the 222). | |||
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I don't eat the heads... (Skaapkop, ja) Karl Stumpfe Ndumo Hunting Safaris www.huntingsafaris.net karl@huntingsafaris.net P.O. Box 1667, Katima Mulilo, Namibia Cell: +264 81 1285 416 Fax: +264 61 254 328 Sat. phone: +88 163 166 9264 | |||
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It's hardly as conclusive as Karl's experience - but I shot a springbok ram in the neck at 268 yards with a 50 grain V-max from my .223 and he was DRT. On a critter as light as the springbok, I even got complete penetration. I wonder if the V-max should be a big game bullet...  _____________________ A successful man is one who earns more money than his wife can spend. | |||
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But the occasional neck or body shot might get polluted with lead, which would be a waste of good stew meat, burger or biltong. ("Skaapkop, ja": "Sheep's head, yes?" Please tell me you don't eat sheep brains! I quit eating squirrel brains. ) | |||
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I use the Nosler 60gr Partition on Springbok and under game. It will take Impala/Bontebok sized game but only under the right circumstances would I use it for those animals. Penetration is 100% on the Springbok. I use a Rem 700 in Varmit Special. It does an excellent job and minimal tissue damage with proper shot placement. Good hunting, David/grayghost Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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RIP, yes, that means sheep's head. And no, I do not like the brains, too fatty for my taste. My post was first of all, tongue in cheek. Second, the amount of shooting I do per year with my .243, I can buy another few springbok just by using 105 Hornady's instead of GSC bullets, if meat was the issue. They will work very well for this application, but are just too expensive for even a 1000 shots a year. For other applications, more hunting oriantated, I absolutely demand premium bullets, but my first choice would not be GSC, or Nosler PT for that matter, rather Rhino, Swift A-Frame, Barnes X, with very little lead left in any carcass. Karl Stumpfe Ndumo Hunting Safaris www.huntingsafaris.net karl@huntingsafaris.net P.O. Box 1667, Katima Mulilo, Namibia Cell: +264 81 1285 416 Fax: +264 61 254 328 Sat. phone: +88 163 166 9264 | |||
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