I will be going on a 21 day hunt in Tanzania beginning in early September. I will be taking my CZ 375 and my CZ 458 Lott. The Lott was a recent gift from JudgeG, and this will be my first hunt with it. I have taken two buffalo with my 375 using 300gr Swift A-Frames and the bullets performed perfectly. Since I will be able to take an elephant on this trip, I was wondering if solids in the 458 Lott do a good job on a buffalo?? If so, then I only have to carry one type of round for it etc etc etc. Anyone "been there done that" that can give me some advice??

My preference is to carry only solids in a big bore. They work fine on plains game too. I think you will find both the solids and softs from www.northforkbullets.com to be very accurate, to hold together well, and to do a great job on game.

The flat nosed copper solids are
great and they punch nice hole for bleeding...


Mike

a copper flat nosed solid out of a Lott o makes a very good "general Purpose round". however... ask your PH!!! If groups of Dagga boys are the norm rather than the exception he may well prefer you to open the batting with a soft.

In Zim where I hunt, the risk of a shoot through on a genuine hard bossed bull is about 0, some of the other places it is a real concern.

I am a firm believer in the Woodleigh 550 grain solids and softs out of a Lott. Solids for elephants and a soft for first shot on buff. Amazing penetration from both.

465H&H

quote:

a copper flat nosed solid out of a Lott o makes a very good "general Purpose round". however... ask your PH!!! If groups of Dagga boys are the norm rather than the exception he may well prefer you to open the batting with a soft.

Very sound advise from Ganyana

What Ganyana said. My camp in Moz. had several PHs & sit around talking you'll find they all have diff. ideas. One liked softs up top w/ solids following, one like all softs.

There is no reason to use solids on buffalo. Solids might very well wind up wounding other buffalo. Happens all time.

PH's that recommend solids like to shoot your wounded buff.

"I use solids because I have always used solids."

That's why God made A-Frames, though some still persist in going to hell.

Half the fun of the whole operation is having a soft and a solid load for each rifle of .375 caliber or larger. Don't leave home without them.

As others have said, in shooting bulls out of herds, there's too much chance of shoot throughs with solids in .458 Lott. I have seen .458 caliber 500 grain solids whistle all the way through buff enough times to know it is a real risk.

And in Tanzania, herd shooting is common, so I wouldn't rely only on solids.

Just Curious but would the Softs penetrate as well as the solids on a Buff if you accidentally hit shoulder?

I've never hunted them but most people I have talked to have used Solids, as others have stated.

Buglemintoday,

A soft won't penetrate like a solid, all other things the same.

All,

Like 500 Grains, I like all solids, though I would carry a couple a soft in each pocket in case I had time to switch. The .458" solids will kill very quickly with a good shot. You will need to be careful of pass throughs, even end to end, if you use North Fork flat nose solids. Might want to try North Fork cup points for the buff.

JPK

Iguide water buffalo and i killed some of them i recommend a soft first because you can have some problems if you injure another buffalo for overpenetration ,the ph must use only solids,congratulations for the czs i have several of them and they never failed ,my cz 308 have thousands of shots after being rented year after year and it shoots like new.Juan

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
Just Curious but would the Softs penetrate as well as the solids on a Buff if you accidentally hit shoulder?

I can answer that question: NO.

I hit a buff right on the point of the shoulder with a NF soft. The bullet absolutely trashed the shoulder but never penetrated the chest cavity. It was a quartering shot so the trajectory was towards the heart but a bit high. Shattered bone everywhere in the shoulder - even pumping out of the wound as he ran. We searched long and hard and never found the bullet in the carcase. We finally gave up, assuming that the bullet had been pumped out of the entry hole also.

I think I finally figured out where that bullet went (and believe me - it has kept me awake nights.) It MUST have been funneled down the center of the major leg bone (humerus) (the one that was entirely missing the knob at the top.)

The NF soft has a monolithic rear half, so you know it did not blow up. This is the only time I have heard of a NF soft failing to get through to the opposite hide on a buff.

Strangely enough Saeed had exactly the same thing happen to one of his WalterHog monolithics on exactly the same shot just before I got there. He could not find his bullet, either.

At that quartering angle the bullet would only have to be deflected downwards 40 degrees or so to get trapped inside the marrow section of the humerus.

how about a soft in the right barrel and a solid in the left - AHHHHHHHHH the love of a good double

butchloc,

I just love your reply!

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren