Which bullet in a .375 H&H do you recomend for buffalo hunted in Zimbabwe and what weight?

Are there any opinion about using bullets that weighs more than 300 grains such as a 350 grain Woodleigh for buffalo?

Has anyone used the 350 grain or 380 grain Rhino line of bullets in a .375 H&H for buffalo?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Ive hunted buffalo twice using woodleigh 300 grain solids both times. They work great for penetration and breaking bones. They dont however kill as quickly as a softpoint when you use the lung or heart shot. Ive even shot a bull elephant through the ribs and broke the offside shoulder which is pretty good penetration. Dont use solids unless you are shure whats behind your bull because you might get more than you bargined for.

Ron,

My own experince is with only the 300 grain Barnes X.

They work very well, so I have not tried anything besides them.

I think any one of the permiums - Nosler, Bear Claws, Barnes X, Gs Custom will work fine. I will stick with the 300 grain.

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

Ron,
I used 300gr. Swift A-Frames on bulls in Zim and Tanzania with excellent results.
The shot on the bull in Zim went through a sapling 10 yards from me, and kept going in a straight line, broke the front leg of the buff, penetrated thee heart and stopped on the far side. Weight retention was over 90%
with a perfect mushroom.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

Since I've stil got a fair supply of them, I would most likely use the old 300 grain Steel Jacketed Solid Hornadys. They've always worked before.

Rich Elliott

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Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris

A good soft will work most of the time in the 375 H&H...If I were going to use one it would be the 350 gr. Woodleigh...

I have seen some premium softs slide off on frontal shots and go under the shoulder and along the ribs, so I only use solids, either woodliegh or Hornadys, but today I only use one bullet for Buffalo and that is the GS flat nosed solid...

The smaller the caliber, the more important the solid IMHO.

I won't argue the solid normally kills Buffalo a little slower, but I also know it will kill Buffalo surer..Most every Buffalo I have trailed up or assisted in trailing up was shot with a soft that failed or a BarnesX that pinched shut and turned.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

ronl,

The above recommendations are good ones.

I have used the 300 grain Swift A-Frame in a 375 H&H to break the neck of a water buffalo, killing it instantly. It also worked well on the blacktail Sitka deer of Kodiak Island (loaded for bear there) in a 375 Weatherby.

The old steel jacketed Hornady FMJ's are superbly acurate (1/2 MOA) and punched holes in 3/4" steel plate for me, in 375 H&H. I have a stock pile of them too, as Rich mentioned he has.

The 300 grain Barnes-X will not go wrong if it shoots well in your rifle. That is what I took to Botswana for plains game and as backup on cape buffalo should my 416 Rigby get trashed. It didn't. My load was 72.0 grains of RL-15 with the 300 X in a 24" 375 H&H, giving 2528 fps and 3/4 MOA.

The GSC bullets of HV persuasion are 240, 250, and 265 grains. The FN is 270 grains. From reports, the 265 HV or the 270 FN are more than adequate for buffalo.

I am superstitious about using only 300 grain bullets in the 375's on buffalo. That is why I am holding out for a matched pair of bullets from GSC in 300 grain HV and FN.

I think maybe Saeed would start shooting the GSC's in his 375/404 if the 300 grain weight becomes available.

I stop at 300 grains in the 375. You will not get better performance in going beyond this to the 350 grain bullet, IMHO.

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RAB

I only shot one buffalo. When the staff cut it up, they found a .375 soft in his abdomen, expanded very nicely, and the wound all healed up from months or years before.

Probably somebody took a quartering away shot with a .375 soft and the bullet never got past the paunch. When I found the buffalo, he was fit as a fiddle, until he was shot with a real bullet.

500 grains,
Your story is not an indictment of the 375. I watched them skin my buffalo. The rumen held 200 lbs of compacted bile soaked "hay" I would say. Amazing amount of buffer for a bullet that might get in there. A solid from a 375 would probably have made it through, surely a GSC FN would have. A RNSP Hornady was bound to fail. A 458 Lott with a 500 grain Hornady RNSP probabbly would not have made it out of the gut either.

Anyone who shoots a buffalo in the gut just ahead of the butt quartering away should expect a failure like this, especially if using a soft.

Another point in favor of solids on buffalo. Chalk another one up for Ray. Make mine GSC FN's, 270 grainers only if I can't get the 300 grainer.

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RAB

Hey I got some old 350gr. barnes original but no load data for 350's. Anybody help?? Powder -grains -FPS--Thanks MD

I got some too. Not worth using.

This is because they will not penetrate as well as a faster moving 300 grain bullet in the 375 H&H.

And, at the slower velocity of the 350 grainers in the 375 H&H (at safe pressures!) the 0.049" jacket on the Barnes Originals is unreliable in opening up, and if it does, it is prone too shed the core. A no win situation.

Ever wonder why they stopped making them? A bonded core bullet is called for instead, and maybe a bigger cartridge to move the bullet faster if real increase in performance is needed, over the 300 grainer.

I do believe the 350 grain Woodleighs would open up and hold together better, but they really offer little to be gained from the 375 rifle other than extra recoil.

300 grains is king of the 375 bullets, IMHO, and FWIW...2 cents?

Now if I can ever find some 300 grain GSC FN and HV bullets, I can forsake the 300 grain Swift, Nosler, Hornady, Sierra, and Barnes bullets.

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DaggaRon
RAB

If you can get them, I'd suggest using some 300gr Bitterroot Bonded Core bullets. I think Bill is making them now, as well as some 275gr. He doesn't make many nor does he have to advertise on the various forums. They are tough and they expand properly w/o coming apart.

The 350 gr. Woodleigh 375's and 450 gr. 416's seem to penitrate magazines as well as most...but I think they are designed to shoot Buffalo in herds, and stop on the off side skin, I know the round nose is, I helped or rather suggested it for quite some time and so will take a smidgion of credit for its happening.....The 350 protected point is Geoffs baby and I suspect it is a very tough bullet...He sent me a couple of hundred of each to try out and I will be doing that next June...Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com