I snagged the offer from Mr. Brownlee for Leopard/Buff/Sable. Since time is a little shorter than normal, I need to get some goodies ordered now.

Critique my thoughts on rifles, and bullets: This is for the leopard and buffalo.
My rifle: .416 Remington Mag Custom, 1.5-6X28 lighted reticle scope
Bullet: 350gr Barnes, Swift, other??, Don't know the load yet, but likely something around 2600fps.

Wife's Rifle for the Sable: 7X57 Mauser Custom 3-9X42 scope
Bullet: 160gr Nosler Partition at 2650fps

My wife's setup did great on her zebra in Namibia, so I am thinking it will do fine on sable. Could go to a different bullet or weight.

Thinking 60 rounds of ammo for each rifle.

I did a bit of searching and it seems the 350gr weight in a .416 will be fine for buffalo, and give me some more velocity for the plains game and leopard. I know the trajectory difference between a 400gr at 2400 and a 350gr at 2600 is negligible. I'm more worried about getting the bullet to open up on the leopard.

Couple of short months and we'll be in Zambia.

Jeremy

You don’t need a big gun for leopard. I used a 30:06 with 180 gn A-frames. More importantly you must be able to shoot accurately and see the target. A good light gathering scope with a lighted reticle is important. I used a Trijicon 2.5-10 with amber post. Worked perfectly.

Use a 400 grain premium bullet that shoots well in your rifle.

That is it.

Too m8ch bullshit is written on leopard hunting.

Shoot it in the right place - with any bullet, and that is the end of it.

I have shot many with Barnes X and our own large turned Walterhog bullets.

They all die with a few steps.

350 TSX for the buff. Or 400 grain Swift.

Borrow her 7mm (and more importantly her scope!) with Partitions for the cat.

Forty rounds each will be plenty and make weight easily.

quote:

Originally posted by Ongwe:
350 TSX for the buff. Or 400 grain Swift.

Borrow her 7mm (and more importantly her scope!) with Partitions for the cat.

Forty rounds each will be plenty and make weight easily.

Her rifle has an 11" length of pull since I made the stock to fit her. I have to put a slip on recoil pad on it to shoot it well. A good option, though. I hadn't really thought of using her rifle for the leopard because of the stock.

This isn't my first leopard hunt, though I was not successful on the previous. This is my first buffalo hunt, though, and Zambia says .375 min for those. My preference is just to take one rifle, that I am shooting well, for all of it.

As Saeed is more or less pointing out, I'm overthinking this.

Thanks guys.

Jeremy

Your wife’s rifle would be an excellent caliber and bullet for that leopard. Plus, it’s easier to shoot accurately. Personally, having already shot a couple leopards, I’d choose that 7x57 over the 416, as long as it shoots to proper point of impact for you.

Oh... and if your wife will let you use it!

DLS,

There is that little issue as well. She's really after the sable and also wants to swat a warthog. The warthogs in Namibia became her nemesis. No shortage of them, but finding a good one without broken tusks was tough where we were.

Beyond that, I have free use of the rifle. I can move my 2.5-10 Trijicon to her rifle and set it up for us both. Probably the best option.

I shoot either rifle well at paper and deer. At leopard, I'm curious to find out.

Jeremy

A 6 power scope is plenty good enough for leopard.

There was some nut case years ago who specified that a client has to sight his rifle at the exact distance the bait is at.

Utterly stupid and unnecessary.

My rifle is sight about 1-2 inch high at 100 yards.

And I never had any problems shooting them.

Put it this way, if your bullet hits within 1-2 inches, you won’t have anything to worry about.

farbedo,

I think your original bullet choices are fine. In the Kafue there is a lot of open country so a little flatter trajectory offered by the 350 TSX may come in handy. As DLS suggested the 7x57 maybe preferable for the leopard but the 416 will work fine also. The leopard will be a daylight affair so an illuminated reticle for early and late in the day would be preferable.

BTW there are some huge warthogs in the Kafue. My client shot one qualifying for the Zambia record close by where you are hunting.

Good luck!

Mark

I agree with Saeed.

400 grain bullet for the .416.

Given it’s a Rem Mag, I’d be a little cautious trying to push velocity with a mono metal bullet- it’s already a high pressure cartridge and monos are long for weight, so less powder space.

If you shoot the rifle well, I wouldn’t worry about velocity and the leopard. I haven’t used high velocity on any cat (both lion and leopard) and using a harder bullet (TSX) and all were drop to the shot. If you put the bullet in the right spot, the cat would be dead in short order.

Buffalo sometimes require a bit more convincing to get them to fall over. I’m a fan of bigger bullets with a .3 SD for them.

If you have a buffalo load already for the rifle, stick with it. It will work fine.

A 416 is a whole lotta gun for leopard. Can you shoot it off a bench without flinching? That’s essentially what shooting from a blind will be like.
That being said, I used a 375 H&H on mine on a one gun safari. The North Fork PP (percussion point) is a great cat bullet. Opens fast, also a nice option for most plains game. Shot all my bait with them as well.

A .416 Rem. works fine on leopard. I wouldn't look farther than a 400 grain Swift A Frame.

The discussion is about a .416 caliber rifle shooting a 350 grain bullet at a Leopard & Buffalo being adequate.

The answer would be yes for both provided they don't get gut-shot in which caliber and bullet weight would be superfluous.

A Leopard is usually shot at distances between 40 to 70 yards, the closer the better so trajectory is hardly going to make a difference especially for the .416 which is a relatively flat-shooting caliber and as a number of posters have already stated, 1-2 inches off the POI will still give you the same results.

Any A-Frame or TSX bullet weight of 350gr is also more than enough medicine for Leopard; for Buffalo where there are heavy bones and on average slightly longer shooting distances to contend with, shot placement becomes the determining factor so a 400gr bullet might produce more convincing results.
This would therefore suggest an all-round 400gr bullet to be the one of choice.

At the end of the day, if the lowly .375 shooting 270 and 300gr bullets gets the job done on both the mentioned species there shouldn't be too much to worry about over the performance values of the .416

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

I have a good load for my .416, but with 400gr Hornady bullets. Should be a good starting point, though.

I do shoot this rifle well, either off sticks or off the bench. I wouldn't use it if I couldn't.

The question is really about getting tough bullets in a .416 to open up enough on a thin skinned, lightly boned leopard for a quick kill. In that vein, and considering plains game, I was thinking 350gr bullets may be better.

I do know that when we see something and bail out of the truck, I'll grab for my rifle out of instinct. I won't think about my wife's rifle in the rack right next to it.

Jeremy

I would consider seeing if 400 gr Nosler Partitions would shoot to the same place as a Barnes TSX and solid and if so take a box of all 3.

The Partition would be a good leopard bullet and acceptable on buffalo if you followed up with solids.

A box of NPs and a box of Nosler solids would be a decent option if they will shoot to same place.

quote:

The question is really about getting tough bullets in a .416 to open up enough on a thin skinned, lightly boned leopard for a quick kill. In that vein, and considering plains game, I was thinking 350gr bullets may be better.

The "quick kill"on any animal is direct contact with its CNS otherwise most will go anything up to 100 paces and drop; those that don't are bad hits and may cause undesirable follow-ups.

You don't need to blow your Leopard apart and as long as the shot is good, you won't find him far from the tree.

The only times I might use solids is for a coup de grace for the want of not spoiling the meat.

Remember the KISS!

Nothing beats keeping things as simple as possible, especially in hunting.

I have learnt this a long time ago.

One rifle.
One bullet.
One load.

Everything else just falls into place.

Trying multiple rifles, with multiple bullets, is not going to make it any easier.

I think it was Alpin who made what he called LION LOAD expanding bullets for soft skinned game animals.

I would touch these with a barge pole!

Many armchair writers used to say tough bullets are no good for lion or leopard!

I have been using nothing but these bullets, for everything.

Never failed.

Difference is we actually hunt with them.

Not sit at home and write about them!

Another good choice would be CEB bullets.

370gr Raptors and 400gr solids.

While I have not tried those Raptors on leopard...Michael McCourry (inventor of the bullet) says they will shear on leopard.

I would never go hunting DG without a box of solids.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
I would never go hunting DG without a box of solids.

I hunt dangerous game every year, I don’t even bother with solids any more, for several years.

For one...I usually hunt elephant. But I like having them available for buff and other potential situations. Never hurts to have them along...just my personal preference.

farbedo: Might want to reconsider the Hornady .416 400 grain round nose bullet for Buffalo. Considering the $3000 trophy fee and the chance of a stomping or goring if things get western in a hurry, a few more dollars for a premium bullet is cheap insurance. I used Swift A-Frames on 4 buffalo and they worked perfectly. The 400 grain A-Frame also expanded well on a Zebra shot from a 416 Ruger. I did use the Hornady for practice rounds before I left for Zim. Search this forum for a discussion on the Hornady bullet. The comments by PH's where especially enlightening.

I agree with the others. 400 Grain Swift A frame will take care of any animal in Africa.

I carry the airline max at 11 lbs better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it . while 40 rounds should be plenty and I have never used that much on any hunt He will be shooting bait and while unlikely, scope problems can burn up a lot of amo . His PH will appreciate any left over amo he would like to donate

Y

quote:

Originally posted by Ongwe:
350 TSX for the buff. Or 400 grain Swift.

Borrow her 7mm (and more importantly her scope!) with Partitions for the cat.

Forty rounds each will be plenty and make weight easily.

My vote is for the 400gr Swift A-frame as well. Will work for everything. Simple is good.

The Hornady's I have are just for practice because they are cheap (relatively speaking). I also have a pile of gas checked lead bullets for the same purpose.

When I go to Zambia, I will have something other than the Hornady's.

A friend offered his stash of 400gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullets (5 boxes). If those shoot well in my rifle, I have my bullet.

Lane, I was planning on taking 10 solids, just in case of a bad follow up. And you never know when a grysbok or duiker might come along. I screwed up and blew my Damara dik dik into shreds and it couldn't be full body mounted. That was with my 9.3X64 Brenneke and 250gr Nosler AB's. That is what I took to Namibia for leopard and plains game. If Zambia allowed 9.3, I'd be very tempted to take that rifle with 300gr Swift A-frames.

Jeremy

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Another good choice would be CEB bullets.

370gr Raptors and 400gr solids.

While I have not tried those Raptors on leopard...Michael McCourry (inventor of the bullet) says they will shear on leopard.

+1 I used the 270gr raptor in .375 on lion and buffalo with excellent results.

My 416 Rigby shot 350 TSX and 340 gr Woodleigh to same POA. That was 1.5" higher than 400 gr Woodleigh and Barnes Solids.

Never hunted DG.

I shot my last two leopards with 416. Factory loaded 400gr Swift A-Frames worked just fine for spots and for buffalo.

Thanks for all of the comments. Loads will be worked up shortly when the bullets show up at my door.

Pretty excited about this hunt.

Jeremy

quote:

Originally posted by samir:

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Another good choice would be CEB bullets.

370gr Raptors and 400gr solids.

While I have not tried those Raptors on leopard...Michael McCourry (inventor of the bullet) says they will shear on leopard.

+1 I used the 270gr raptor in .375 on lion and buffalo with excellent results.

Shot my last lion with the CEB Raptor in my 9.3X74R double. Worked like a charm.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
A .416 Rem. works fine on leopard. I wouldn't look farther than a 400 grain Swift A Frame.

+1

BH63

Far: When working up loads the recommended powder is normally Reloader 15. When I had trouble finding R-15 the Hornady manual showed 50 fps more maximum velocity with 2000-MR. I worked up loads and found that 2000-MR was indeed a little faster. Unfortunately Hornady does not include pressure data with their loading data.

Interesting question. I wouldn’t choose a .416 for either a buffalo or a leopard.

Ideally, I’d choose something heavier for buffalo, and something lighter for leopard.

But if I was going to use a .416 for both, which isn’t a bad compromise, I’d probably choose the 350 grain A-Frame or 370 grain North Fork.

Just my two cents.

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
I shot my last two leopards with 416. Factory loaded 400gr Swift A-Frames worked just fine for spots and for buffalo.

Yup, it is perfect. I have killed lots of leopards the exact same way. I have killed a small mountain of buffalo with the same load in the same rifle. I have shot everything from grysbok to elephant with it. Unless I am hunting elephant, it is all I take.

I am 100% confident that I could kill a leopard with a 22 magnum. I am in the you can't kill them too dead school of thought . I like the wound channels with a bigger circumference.

I can't say enough good about that Swift A-Frame out of that 416 and in other calibers as well. I cannot remember it ever letting me down. I can't say the same for some other well known bullets that many on AR praise constantly.

I have shot a hell of a lot of DG with the 416 and the A Frames. I have probably shot more buff than most PHs. Based on what I have observed, there is not a chance in hell that I would change my go to gun which is the 416 Remington loaded with the factory A Frames.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
I shot my last two leopards with 416. Factory loaded 400gr Swift A-Frames worked just fine for spots and for buffalo.

Yup, it is perfect. I have killed lots of leopards the exact same way. I have killed a small mountain of buffalo with the same load in the same rifle. I have shot everything from grysbok to elephant with it. Unless I am hunting elephant, it is all I take.

I am 100% confident that I could kill a leopard with a 22 magnum. I am in the you can't kill them too dead school of thought . I like the wound channels with a bigger circumference.

I can't say enough good about that Swift A-Frame out of that 416 and in other calibers as well. I cannot remember it ever letting me down. I can't say the same for some other well known bullets that many on AR praise constantly.

I have shot a hell of a lot of DG with the 416 and the A Frames. I have probably shot more buff than most PHs. Based on what I have observed, there is not a chance in hell that I would change my go to gun which is the 416 Remington loaded with the factory A Frames.

Nothing beats experience!

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

I have shot everything from grysbok to elephant with it.

Larry, I was thinking the same thing - grysbok to elephant - and remembered that I actually shot a genet with my 416 once upon a time. So, perfect for everything from genet to elephant.

From elephants to guinea fowl!

From buffalo to Egyptian geese!

Everything killed by a 375

If they allowed a smaller caliber, I am sure the results would have been exactly the same too.

Bullet construction and bullet placement, that is all one has to worry about.

My hunting buddy loaded up 350 gr. TSX 416 rounds for his one gun buffalo and plains game safari. He loaded them hot to flatten the trajectory but that was a big mistake. The bullets failed on his buffalo with perfectly placed shots. Took him 9 shots to finally kill the animal. He would have been better off shooting good old 400 gr. Swift A-frames at 2300 fps. 100% dependable. I used the now obsolete frangible 300 gr. A-Square Lion Load in a 375 for my one and only leopard Dead under the tree.

I’ve shot everything from elephant to garter snakes with my .416.

Mostly I’ve used the 400 TSX, but have used TBBC’s and A Frames for everything except rhino and elephant.

I don’t see a need for solids with those 3 bullets except for pachyderms, and honestly wouldn’t have a problem with shooting cow elephant with those 3 in a .416.

Try the bear claws and if they are accurate for your rifle, you are done. I’ve tried the solid/soft thing with small antelope and it just didn’t work out. Shoot a little further back and no issues with the softs from a DG rifle.