RIP:

I'm considering using it on buff as well - even though a heavier bullet might give a slight advantage. Maybe the 450 gr. Woodleigh? So far I have only good to say about the X-bullets. They certainly worked for me...

Where did you take that waterbuffalo? I always wanted one...

Regards,

Tommy

Tommy,
Thanks for posting the bullet photos and the camp photos. That truly enriched an already great thread. Zambia is on my itenerary too. Thanks again!

OK I did not know that they lost that much waight.
Nickudu posted these .505 Gibbs 570 grn and they expanded perfect on buff 30 meters.
I am thinking about using them in my .500

Cheers,

Andr�

It is not a solid, it is a hollowpoint soft!!! It performed perfectly for the good shot!!!

That is a great loss for a "solid" maybe to much velocity I am no expert Nickudu is maybe he knows what hapened.

Cheers,

Andr�

Andre,

Nope, it expanded plenty, lost most of the petal material. All that is left is a slightly mushroomed shank, and that was at impact velocity of 170 meters. Tommy placed the bullet perfectly, and must have a very accurate, high velocity load. The 350 grain Barnes X Bullet is a fine plains game bullet. It has worked wonders for me too in a 416 Rigby at 2700 fps. On one of my "shoots" it was used on water buffalo at 50 yards and fallow deer at 342 yards.



The 400 grainer would have been better for the buffalo, but it still took only 2 of the 350 grainers to finish the waterbuffalo, which weighed almost a ton. The fallow deer doe (about 100 lbs on the hoof) at 342 yards was one shot at a laser ranged 342 yards. Impressive bullet, 350 grain Barnes X.



I just turned the last 2 pounds of that water buffalo into a pot of chili con carne. It is time for me to go kill more meat. I am a predator, not a scavenger.

JeffeyDenmark:

Yes, the 416 certainly is a great killer - strikes like the hammer of Thor!

I'm not sure too low velocity is the reason for the missing "magic petals" on that X-bullet. The weight of the recovered bullet is only 248 gr. All the petals have simply been torn off.




Regards,
Tommy

Sorry to be out of topic but why don't you change your name form "JEFFEYDENMARK" TO "JEFFERYDENMARK".

Yes and I did e-mail Saeed to do it but no luck so fare.
It was a typo when I signed in Sorry

Cheers,

Andr�
JefferyDenmark wannabee

Tommy
It looks like the Barnes X needs a little more velocity to expand to the famous X. But dead is dead and everything in-between is just talk. The 416 is a great killer. and it looks like it served you well on your safari.

Cheers,

Andr�

JeffeyDenmark:

I did only recover one bullet. It was from my blue wildebeest, shot at approximately 170 meters. The bullet went through the chest cavity, grazed the heart and broke the off-side front leg where it settled right under the skin. The bullet was a 350 gr. Barnes X.






We booked the hunt through Buhls.

Regards,
Tommy

Terry:

The camp was really nice. It was an old farm building in classy african colonial style. We had electricity and hot water in the rooms. The camp cook did a really great job. We had a large english brunch, and for dinner we had plenty of game meat. We usually had soup, a main course and dessert. We had guinea fowls, impala and porcupine and almost all other kinds of game. Everything was really tasteful. The weather was fine. Not too hot and not too cold, except of course early in the mornings. Most of the time the temperature averaged 30-34 degrees centigrade.

The camp:


Around the fire place:









Morning coffee before the hunt:



Relaxing at the terrace before eating brunch:




Driving out of camp:



The rooms (this is Erik's room!):





At the lawn in camp before leaving:


Regards,
Tommy

Tommy
Great pic's
From whom did you book the trip ? It seemed like a very well planed safari.
Did you recover any bullets from your .416 ?

Cheers,

Andr�

zambian:

We are already planning to be back again next year. Hopefully we'll have a chance to meet up with you then!

Regards,
Tommy

I was surprised to see you wearing camo. I thought most African countries discouraged that, due to rebel and/or poacher activity.

Great animals!!

Am I mistaken or does that wildebeast have only one ear?

Tommy: Sounds like a great hunt. I hunted with Ian Bruce-Miller in 2000. He's a great guy. I used a 416 Rem on that trip with 350 X bullets for Buffalo; I was very happy with their performance. http://www.accuratereloading.com/jdsafari.html

Tommy,
I shot the water buffalo on a 3000 acre "game farm" in Tennessee, USA. Then, a few hours later I took the fallow doe for a long shot test.

The water buffalo was shot first through the lungs at 150 yards. It was actually trying to evade me as I advanced upon it on foot and solo in the high fenced area. It was either shoot now or chase on foot, so I shot.

The 350 grain .416 X bullet stopped under the hide on the off side of the buffalo's chest. It did not hit major bone, just skin, muscle, ribs, and lungs. Nevertheless, it did make the buffalo sick. It began to stagger around in circles and allowed me to walk up to within 50 yards and shoot it in the neck to drop it. The second shot broke the neck (heavy vertebral bone of spine) and also stayed under the hide on the off side, killing the buffalo instantly. He weighed at least 1800 pounds. Bigger than my cape buffalo.

I was able to recover both of these bullets, and will post them on this thread whenever I can find them and photograph them, as reference to "buffalo" for you.

The 342 yard shot just zipped through the fallow doe chest and kept going. I actually saw the bullet hit the ground skipping across the plain beyond the fallow doe, ricocheting about every 100 yards until it went into the woods, kicking up two separate puffs of dust beyond the fallen deer.

I recovered a 375 caliber 300 grain X-Bullet from a kudu shot in Botswana. I will post that for comparison too.

Cape buffalo have heavier, overlapping ribs, and meaner attitudes, though smaller than water buffalo.

I would not hesitate to use the 350 grain X-bullet on a cape buffalo if that is what was in my gun. It is probably better than a 300 grain .375 caliber bullet of equal quality (which is good enough), but there are better cape buffalo bullets.

Is that dog a Boxer? I have one myself, never thought I'd see one in Africa.



Sevens