Came across these on another forum and thought they looked quite interesting so I ordered a few of their PlainsMasters and Match components to try. I find the design quite appealing. I also wanted to try their BushMasters in my 416 but the distributor here in the US was currently out. My girlfriend was still in South Africa and about to return to the States in two days so they did a quick run of what I was looking for and she went by their office in Pretoria and they had them ready for her. The staff their and their contact here have been a pleasure to speak with.

I am going to give them some in the field testing soon when I go back to SA and will let you know how they perform.

Just thought I would share with you guys what I had found and as reloaders always nice to have multiple bullet options for African game.

Here is their website. http://www.peregrinebullets.com

Very similar to the Cutting Edge Bullets

To me they are different than the cutting edge as these are copper similar to Barnes and mushroom vs shear petals like the cutting edge design. But then again I have only shot paper with them so interested to see on game performance.

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper:
To me they are different than the cutting edge as these are copper similar to Barnes and mushroom vs shear petals like the cutting edge design. But then again I have only shot paper with them so interested to see on game performance.

CEB offers brass and all copper bullets.

I am curious to know how they work and what folks think. I expect to be in Durban in July and around Sasolburg for a few weeks in November. Unfortunately for work in both cases although I may be able to squeeze in some hunting if the customer allows me some free time.

I have thought about picking some of these up and giving them try.

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper:
To me they are different than the cutting edge as these are copper similar to Barnes and mushroom vs shear petals like the cutting edge design. But then again I have only shot paper with them so interested to see on game performance.

That is a well researched projectile.....mushroom looks like a Naturalis

I like the FN profile of the Bushmasters & the solid copper bullets,I am going to give these a try in my lever action wildcats.

Peregrine sent 2 boxes of their 570gr VRG-2 monolithic solids to a fellow PH and myself to test in our .500's. I loaded them up yesterday for testing (havnt been to range yet) and will only start hunting with them next month in Caprivi. I'm a huge fan of the Barnes FN solid. Visually, these 2 look very similar, with the 4 grooves being the same width and identically spaced. The Peregrine though seats deeper than the Barnes if placed in the last groove (pressure increase with same powder volume), but it has a bit of a boat tail (less bearing surface, less pressure). Also, being shorter (from the lands), should give less pressure. It also has a slight cup/cone in its base, which could help a bit with speed, maybe/maybe not ?? It will be interesting to see if the same velocity is obtained as that which I get from the Barnes?? Construction material, I don't know. I'm obviously going to test it on a dead animal before I "rely on it" whilst hunting. But they look pretty "solid" (npi).

Yes definitely lets us know what your results are and I will do the same.

quote:

Originally posted by Bung - Zambezi East Big Game:
Peregrine sent 2 boxes of their 570gr VRG-2 monolithic solids to a fellow PH and myself to test in our .500's. I loaded them up yesterday for testing (havnt been to range yet) and will only start hunting with them next month in Caprivi. I'm a huge fan of the Barnes FN solid. Visually, these 2 look very similar, with the 4 grooves being the same width and identically spaced. The Peregrine though seats deeper than the Barnes if placed in the last groove (pressure increase with same powder volume), but it has a bit of a boat tail (less bearing surface, less pressure). Also, being shorter (from the lands), should give less pressure. It also has a slight cup/cone in its base, which could help a bit with speed, maybe/maybe not ?? It will be interesting to see if the same velocity is obtained as that which I get from the Barnes?? Construction material, I don't know. I'm obviously going to test it on a dead animal before I "rely on it" whilst hunting. But they look pretty "solid" (npi).

Also using them in my 500NE. Please let me know if you get a chance to send them through a crony. Would be interesting to compare your speeds to mine.

The late Don Heath spoke very highly of Peregrine and I know he did some range work with them. It's a pity he never wrote it up.

Also using them in my 500NE. Please let me know if you get a chance to send them through a crony. Would be interesting to compare your speeds to mine.[/QUOTE]

Hi Marius
I'll b going to the range this weekend, will put through the crony, let you know. I'm getting just about 2000fps with 99.5gr S 365 with the 570gr Barnes FN solid. If I can get more from the Peregrine, I'm happy. Load data for the .500NE is scarce with SA powders as you know. They said don't go over 100gr with monolitics, but ...
I'm very bappy with my 600gr Woodleighs at 2020fps with 97.5 gr S365, and the 570gr woodleighs at 2140 with 103gr S365.
As mentioned, I don't know about strength or construction of the Peregrine, but I seriously doubt there will be issues, but I don't want to find out at the wrong moment. I'm going to find a good speed, then shoot a couple of dead elephants and see results before I rely on them. I use the barnes FN Solid in my .458Lott, .338, and 9,3x62, love them to bits. I've taken a whole lot of photos of the 2 different types, but I don't know how to load hem up here. Send me a mail at byron@zambezihuntingsafaris.com, and I'll mail them through to you.

The 700gr solids in 577NE @ 2100 exit a hippo on a quartering away shot. This doesn't happen with the anything else I've used. These are my solids of choice.

Exit on a quartering away shot on a hippo

This is basically the reincarnation of the old GOODNEL bullet range albeit with some modification.

Circa 1986 there was a serious attempt in the old RSA to circumvent the UN arms embargo and South African hunters took to making their own "Barnes bullet clones"

The first GOODNEL bullet failed in that they suffered the same problems as did early HP Barnes bullets in that the cavities plugged up or simply bent shut and all you basically had was a solid monometal bullet.

The second problem was pressure ! Without grooves the old Goodnel's in heavy weights had very long and large bearing surfaces and this led to high engraving pressures.

The second Generation Goodnel bullets had large cavities with brass plugs in to act as a expander.

These 4 bullets ( 416, 400 gr ) Goodnel were retrieved from our 1986 buffalo hunt in Zambia. As can be seen they did not open up and the cavities bent shut or became plugged


The Second generation GOODNEL bullet the BUSHMASTER ( bullet No 1 vs the older models bullet no 2 and a Barnes bullet No 3



A page from Magnum magazine at the time

Any news from the field on these bullets?

The US distributor for these is in the Phoenix area and I picked up some 165gr/.308 Plains Master bullets this week. Loaded up 2 bullets at 68, 68.5, 69, 69.5 and 70gr of IMR4350 for my .300WM.

68-69gr printed side by side with very little change in POI. At 69.5gr the 2 shot group opened to an inch and pressure signs appeared. At 70gr, the grouping was gone and pressure signs worse.

Feel pretty confident there is a very accurate load one side or the other of 68.5gr.

I also loaded up for a .300H&H from 65-67gr of IMR4350. The 65gr load acted much the same as the lower loads above. But at 65.5gr, pressure signs coming on, sticky bolt and the group opened up so I stopped there.

I used the 300 grain BushMaster in my 416 on an eland and the 165 grain PlainsMaster in my 300 wsm on an impala. Results were impressive on both and I have went to either the BushMaster or PlainsMaster in all my handloads now. The eland was quartering towards me and the bullet struck the left front chest and penetrated about 30", I don't remember the exact number. We recovered that bullet and I can email a pic of it if anyone wants to see it. Perfect mushroom!

Also Hermann there in Phoenix as well as all the guys in South Africa have been a pleasure to deal with. I am going to try and tour their factory there in Pretoria next year.

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper:
I used the 300 grain BushMaster in my 416 on an eland and the 165 grain PlainsMaster in my 300 wsm on an impala. Results were impressive on both and I have went to either the BushMaster or PlainsMaster in all my handloads now. The eland was quartering towards me and the bullet struck the left front chest and penetrated about 30", I don't remember the exact number. We recovered that bullet and I can email a pic of it if anyone wants to see it. Perfect mushroom!

Also Hermann there in Phoenix as well as all the guys in South Africa have been a pleasure to deal with. I am going to try and tour their factory there in Pretoria next year.

May I ask what powder you used for the .300WSM load?

In my rifle, my loads, so follow at your own risk.

300 WSM, 165gr Peregrine PlainsMaster, 65.5 grains of IMR 4451, WLRM primer

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper:
In my rifle, my loads, so follow at your own risk.

300 WSM, 165gr Peregrine PlainsMaster, 65.5 grains of IMR 4451, WLRM primer

Thanks, just wanted to know what powder not how much, but appreciate it.

These are excellent bullets, great accuracy and penetration on heavy animals.

I have purchased a few boxes of Bushmasters when I was over there, in 585 and 358 but haven't tried them yet.

If you have any issues with them, I suggest that you go straight to Alliwyn. alliwyn@peregrinebullets.com

They look like they will be good.