I found a few of my .375 bullets last year in Africa. Some did indeed pass through the animals, while others lodged in the skin on the other side. Here are pics of bullets taken from a buffalo and an eland:

Well, it seems to me that some things have to be remembered, mainly at least these two: First, not all the old famous hunters agreed with Taylor on everything. There were "debates" in sporting journals of the time over the issues.

Two, bullets have changed. It would seem that to evaluate the statement, one would have to have access to the bullets/rifles Taylor was comparing.

Cape Buffalo
Dec 2003
Federal Sledgehammer
running shot at around 95 paces, broke base of neck. Bullet lodged in hide of opposite shoulder.






This was only the 2nd solid I have ever recovered and "failed" (So to speak as it did its job and brought the buff down in a flash). The 1st solid I recovered was perfect and could have been reloaded.

Happy hunting!

Those pictures scare me off from the Sledgehammer solids.

The only two .375 solids I ever recovered were on my elephant. The first one entered the armpit and broke the off shoulder as he made it 50 yards before falling down. The bullet was recovered intact stuck in the off shoulder. The second bullet hit very far back behind the ribs as he turned away and penetrated to the heart and was recovered from the heart with a total of about six or seven feet of penetration although no bones were encountered.

I have seen two Sledghammer solids that failed..Ron Van Heerden PH had them..One snapped in half and the other was bent much that same as pictured above..both recovered from buffalo spine shots..

The following bullets all have the same sectional density:

.375 300 grain
.416 369 grain
.458 447 grain
.308 202 grain
.284 172 grain
.264 148 grain

"All things being equal" (whatever that means and however you prove it) including bullet construction and impact velocity, the .416 in 400 grains or .458 in 500 grains will penetrate deeper than the .375.

If Taylor got better penetration with a .375, it is perhaps because his particular bullets were better constructed or because the velocity is usually higher than the 416s and 458s.

On the other hand, Mrs. Jack O'Connor may not have been overly handicapped, penetrationwise, when shooting buffalo with a 30-06, assuming she used 220 grain bullets, and perhaps this explains why W.D.M. Bell could penetrate elephants with his 6.5mm and 7mm rifles with 160 grain and 170 grain bullets respectively. If memory serves, Bell claimed his 7mm Mauser outpenetrated other rifles when shooting through elephant skulls.

I will admit that I have zero experience with solids (unless you consider a sabot round from a M1A1 tank 120mm main gun), not much need on deer and elk. But I have a hard time understanding how you can consider it "failing" just because it got bent up a little. If the buff is dead it appears to have succeeded just fine. I would appreciate it if you could explain to me how this is considered a failure. I have a lot to learn about what to do and not to do regarding Africa so please dont consider this a criticism. I am trying to learn all I can.

A solid is supposed to keep its shape in order to travel in a straight line or course. When it bends or rivets, as shown in the above pics, it travels off-course and does not go through game. In fact solids are supposed to go through side to side or end to end depending on caliber. The only experience I had with them was years ago when my partners dad took me for a bear hunt in Co. He lent me a 375 with softs and solids just in case. The first shot with a soft just slowed him down and he picked up the pace when got back on his feet. My second shot was with a solid and it went through from his hipbone to his shoulder. This was my only Grizz I've ever gotten and it was only 6' and change.

It is easy to preach what solids are suppose to do or not do when sitting in the bleachers, and not a manufacturer.



Of the Speer AGS, Sledgehammers, Barnes, and Woodleigh solids I have used, the only ones not to deform have been the Barnes and Speer, but that is not to say they never will. But I do not use Barnes anymore as they do not penetrate well in my experience.



And in my experience the Penetration Index is a very good indicator of nominal penetration, regardless of caliber or other such indicators.

Will,

I have much less experience than you with respect to actually shooting game with solids. However, my only experience has been with the Barnes Monolithic solids in 300 grain .375 H&H. I shot 3 solids at the same buffalo.

1st was 40+/- yards broadside thru the lungs, complete pass-thru

2nd was 40+/- yards broadside thru both shoulders, complete pass-thru.

3rd was also 40+/- yards broadside thru both shoulder, and again a complete pass-thru.

The muzzle velocity was a measured 2,525 fps. All three entry holes and all three exit holes looked to be .375" in diameter. Seemed to work pretty well in my opinion.

What bad "lack of penetration" experience did you have with them?

Tim

Shumba,

I have shot buffalo with Barnes .375 solids that did not penetrate well, compared to others, some not passing through on broadside shots. Broadside shots I have found not to offer much resistance for other calibers with solids (like the 470 NE). Maybe it is just me, but others have noticed the same thing with Barnes solids. In fact, there was an article in Magnum recently stating the rather limited penetration of Barnes solids.

The other thing is that on elephant, penetration is king and I'm not taking any chances!

But if they work for you, I wouldn't worry about it (other than you should never use solids on buff, especially the first shot ; of course I've done it too ).

Shumba,



That should be enough! My son got talked into shooting his buffalo in 2002 with solids from his .416 by the PH (the kids wouldn't listen the old man). I think it took 3 or 4 well-placed solids before the buff went down.



His hunt should show up in African Hunter sometime soon.



Good luck on your hunt.

Will,

Actually, the first shot on my buff was with a 300 grain Swift A-Frame. Through both lungs but did not exit. Sure made the buff sick pretty fast, but I thought it prudent to follow-up with the 3 Barnes solids.

This year, I will be using a .416 Rigby. Right now I'm between the 400 Nosler Partitions and the 400 grain Barnes X as my soft points. I'm also deciding on whether to use the .416 Bridger 400 grain solids or the old style Hornady 400 grain solids (I have 3 boxes of them). Should have all my loads worked up well before my August 2004 hunt.

Tim

If all other factors were equell, wouldnt the .375 penatrate more due to less frontal resistance then the bigger bores?

Thanks for the explanation on solids expected performance. Now that I understand the reasoning I can definately see why having a solid bend and alter its course is reason for failure. On dangerous game this could be very bad indeed. Am I safe in assuming that most solids have a very large meplat to avoid deflection and bullet deformation and enhance energy transfer?

I think solids are best left for follow up shots but thats just my opinion. When using a solid you must know the animals anatomy to be effective. I have always used solids on buffalo at the ph request. I do think however that a premium softpoint for the first shot cant be beat.