I will be shooting a .458 LOTT and most folks have been telling me to shoot a soft in the tube followed by a solid. Does the solid mean a full metal jacket. As far as soft how about Federal 500gr to start. help please.

Solid does not mean full-metal-jacket in the military ammo sense of the term.

In the most elementary application it means a non-expanding bullet. The idea is that it penetrates deeper than a soft (expanding bullet) and often times the second shot (after the first soft) presents less than desirealb angles that require more penetration to reach the vitals.

This is Federal's trophy bonded bear claw - designed to expand and stay together.

This is Federal's trophy bonded sledgehammer solid - designed not to expand and penetrate deeply.

This combination from Federal in 500grs for your 458lott would be an excellent choice for buffalo.

PS - although most do, not ALL PHs agree with the solids after softs rule of thumb. Be sure to ask your PH in advance what his reccomendation is.

Most PH's I know have strong opinions about Solid's on Buffalo. I think a good compromise would be the X-bullet or the Cup points from north fork. Talk to your PH and I recomend using what ever he recomends.

I have had very good luck with the Federal trophy bonded bearclaws on buffalo. I too followed the first shot with sledgehammer solids. The soft was found perfectly expanded under the hide on the far side of the buffalo. Any solids shot have been pass thru except one I shot in the chest as it was facing me head on. That solid was found at the extreme rear of the buff. I have to confess I am starting to wonder if shooting North Fork cup point bullets exclusively might be the ticket. The big risk with buffalo and tough expanding bullets is the possibility of wounding another animal on the pass thru. I have a friend who has used Swift bullets with good luck on buffalo. I believe they expand slightly less than the Trophy Bonded and will thus give better penetration on quartering first shots. Use a premium bullet and you can't go wrong with a Lott. It has to be one of the best buffalo calibers.

You have been given good advice by the other posters and as Roscoe noted check with your PH.

My personal experience having used a 458 Lott on 3 Buffalo is the North Fork Cup Points or the Barnes TSX will work just about perfectly. I reload my Lott, with 500 grain TSX, to 2250 fps..will give you all the penetration you will ever need...The expanding mono-metals North Forks, Barnes, or other brands are about all thats needed for Buffalo...and no real need to have Solids or mess around with two different loadings...

Rakman 1:

With a 458 Lott, it's almost an academic argument about whether to use a solid or SP. This one time buff hunter used a 375 H&H, 300 gr. solid for a first shot that shattered the buff's shoulder at about 35 yards. (as he was turning towards me) and the argument was over from that time on. My PH told me that he wanted me to "break bones". The vets on this thread are right, of course. Listen to what the PH wants you to use. ( Mine wanted a SP for the second shot) I will say one thing and I don't care how many vets contradict me. I know what I saw with my own eyes in the butchery that night. That 300 gr. solid absolutely shattered a shoulder and sprayed bone into the lungs like shrapnel. It was a testimonial to the enormous endurance of the buff that while he staggered under my first shot he still had the strength to stagger down a slope and across a small shallow water hole before he collapsed. I fired an "insurance" shot at about 30 feet. We found afterwards that the second shot hit him in the heart almost dead center. Nonetheless as we walked up, the buff actually tried to get up and I saw daylight between his belly and the dirt. I only have that experience alone but a solid sure looks to me like what I would want when a DG wants to pound me into the ground! Just my thoughts.

Rakman,

Speaking from expierence I shot my buf with a Lott and a Barnex X and he went all of 11yds. and was on the ground..Took him with a high heart shot..Took out major plumbing above heart and it stopped just under the skin on the far shoulder like a big pimple....
It was in a perfect X with the pedals cutting an tearing...

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Rakman1:
I will be shooting a .458 LOTT and most folks have been telling me to shoot a soft in the tube followed by a solid. Does the solid mean a full metal jacket. As far as soft how about Federal 500gr to start. help please.

The Federals will be fine. Hornady ammo will also work fine too.

If you take a box of softs (expanding bullets) and a box of solids (non-expanding bullets) then you will be covered for all occasions.

I guided several buffalo hunts last year and in the past. You will be doing fine with Federals loaded with Swift A frames or Barnes X. In my opinion some of the best bullets available on the market.

The North Fork softs followed by the flat nosed solids worked to perfection through my .416 Rem on the Buffalo. Good shooting.

Rackman,

Most folks here will tell you that a premium soft point followed by solids is the standard load out for buffalo.

My PH, Myles McCallum, permitted me to shoot three North Fork soft points followed by my right hand Africase ammo wallet loaded with solids. He trusted premium soft points but said if "three SP's dont do the job, 30 more wont help." He carried a culling belt full of 410 grain Woodleigh FMJ's for his 416 Rigby.

You might want to shoot the new Federal Trophy Bonded Speer into three 5 gallon nylon water buckets prior to using them. They are made out of gildinig metal now rather than pure copper. They did not hold up well at 2400 fps in my Dakota but might be alot better in the Lott.



Andy

quote:

Originally posted by Zingeli_Safaris:
I guided several buffalo hunts last year and in the past. You will be doing fine with Federals loaded with Swift A frames or Barnes X. In my opinion some of the best bullets available on the market.

I have to agree with Louis.

I have had excellent results on buff with 350 gr Swift A Frames in my 416 Rem Mag. I hade equal results with 500 gr Woodliegh solids and softs in my 470 NE.

Everybody has a different view on this, but if I'm shooting buffalo with a .375, then I would load one soft and then solids.

If I'm using a .416 or bigger, I would go with two softs and then solids.

With the larger calibers, you are still going to get plenty of penetration with the second soft. Since there may still be a few other buffalo around when you shoot your second shot, it probably doesn't hurt to have the second shot as a soft so as to avoid the chance of a pass-through shot injuring another buffalo.

With the .375, you may still get a pass-through shot with the solid. But I would still prefer the extra penetration that a .375 solid gives over a soft in case I have a Texas heart shot.


Regards,

Terry

My personal opinion; let the PH carry the solids. Here is a photo of a buff shot at 42 yards with a 375 on the shoulder. The bullet penetrated both shoulders and located underneath the skin on the opposite side.

The buffalo went 46 yards before collapsing. Weight retention was 279 gn = 99%.

I have one more recovered from a buff and one from a giraffe with similar performance.

That is why I like hunting buff with a double rifle. I carry a soft in the right bbl and a solid in the left. Then I can shoot which ever one is best suited for the job. Also if you want to change to 2 softs or 2 solids you can do it SILENTLY.

FWIW,

The PH I hunted with preffered all solids. He and his boss, Roger Whittall, both had seen several softs slide along the rib cage instead of penetrating after a frontal or quartering shot.

I used 458 cal Woodleigh solids and they worked well. No side on shots in a herd though.

JPK