My apologies to anyone who has seen these photos before.

500 NE bullets recovered after head shots on elephants:

Left: GS Custom 570 grain .510"

Right: Bridger 550 grain .510"



________________________

Left: New Woodleigh 570 grain .510"

Next 3: same bullet, recovered from elephant



__________________________________________

Bullets recovered from elephant body shots:



Woodleigh 570 grain .510" softs.

LEFT: new bullet.

MIDDLE: bullet fired into elephant chest at point blank range. (ele was already deceased). Penetrated from the bottom of the chest upwards almost to the spine.

RIGHT: bullet fired into the snout of a live cape buffalo cow at 13 yards or so. Bullet went into her snout back a bit from the wet part, through the skull beneath the brain, out the back of the skull and stuck in the third vertebrae.

Conclusion: Woodleigh softs are good for body shots but not preferred for head shots.

500 Grains. What are your thoughts on the Hornady solids and interbonds versus the Barnes solids and softs? Particularly in the .458 caliber.

Bwanna
I will give you my recommendations on .458 calibre bullets.
This is baised on shooting a wildebeast, eland, 2 cape buff, and 4 elephants with my 450 No2.

For a solid I would use the North Fork 450 Flat Nose, if my rifle would feed with it.

If not I would use a Woodleigh Solid, either 480 or 500 grains.

My 3rd choice would be a Barnes Solid [but never in a double rifle].

Softs:
I have had excellent results with Woodleigh 480 gr Softs and 500 gr Swift A Frames.
I have recovered both types from buffalo and eland. Both gave excellent expansion and penetration.

In a 458 Win Mag I would take a look at the 450 gr Swift A Frame, especially if I was using the 450 gr. NFFP.

If my .458 ctg has higher velocity than 2250 fps I would not use the Woodleigh Soft.
I would use the Swift, North Fork Soft, Trophy Bonded Bearclaw, or maybe a Barnes X. No X bullets in a double

When hunting a Premium Bullet is worth every penny.

The Woodleigh solids have worked well for me in 458 at about 2025fps or so on two elephants and three buff. Those which were recovered show no deformation.

In comparing the 480 grain vs the 500 grain Woodleighs you will find that the cannelure on the 480 grain leaves about 1/8" less room for powder since it is further forward from the base than the cannelure on the 500 grain solid.

I am going to try loading and shooting the 450 grain North Fork on Monday.

JPK

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanna:
500 Grains. What are your thoughts on the Hornady solids and interbonds versus the Barnes solids and softs? Particularly in the .458 caliber.

I have used the new style brass solored Hdy solids only on paper so far. Two field reports from DG hunts have not been not positive, however, with the bullets being deformed and not travelling straight.

I have used the old style Barnes bullets and found them to be not so accurate, and penetration not so deep. In fact they penetrated shallowest of any non-expanding bullet I tried. That should improve with the new flat nose design but I have not tried it. I know people who have seen Barnes solids bend and/or expand in DG. Nose deformation is not so much of a problem as long as it is not severe. But bending is a big problem as the bullet will veer off course. These effects may be due to inconsistencies in the hardness of brass that Barnes uses from batch to batch of bullets. One other thing I noticed with Barnes bullets was inconsistency of where the cannelure was located. Perhaps a worker was not paying close attention that day.

So overall I would say the new Barnes solids are a step ahead of the old ones, but still nowhere near the top of the heap as far as what is available. As for the Hornadys the jury is still out, but early indications are not filling me with confidence.

If your bolt gun will feed a flat nose solid, that IMO is the best route to go. If not, then perhaps a gunsmith can adjust the feeding for you. But there is nothing at all wrong with using Woodleighs too. In Europe you can get Norbert's SuperPenetrator (flat nose) bullet, but it is not available in the U.S.

In a double rifle, I would only consider solid bullets from North Fork, GS Custom, Bridger and Woodleigh at this time. Even the Woodleighs are hard on doubles, however, due to the steel liner inside the bullet. Practice loads should be with soft nose bullets.

Thanks. I knew you were the one with the opinions and information on this topic. I will likely take both the soft and solid Hornady and solid Barnes with Barnes X solids for elephant and buffalo to Zim next month. That's what I've got prepared to go. .458 Lott and .375 are the guns. I plan on the Federal factory TBBC and Sledgehammer for the .375, but don't plan on using it for either of the big boys. I'll let you know what happens with the bullets.

I misspoke, I meant the Barnes X softs for the .458 Lott