This started in my last post, but...I am looking for good recommendations. I am not a reloader, but I do have pretty well complete access to anything factory made by Winchester and Remington ammo companies. I have really good friends in both places. SO...what do you recommend? I was thinking a Swift A Frame for the .416 and really was trying to figure out what to use in the .375. Keep in mind, I will likely shoot everything from hippo to bushbuck with the .375.

If I take both barrels, which bullet would you recommend for each, and if I just take the .375, what would you suggest? I was going the 2 barrel/gun route upon Graham's suggestion. Thanks again>>>

I don't know if they are still available but the one and only Winchester Fail-Safe will save the day!That will be my buffalo bullet if I get a 375RUM.I will shoot a 300gr fail-safe on buff and knock them dead.

Tim, I cannot knock the SAframes..But I truly believe the TSX Barnes will do everything for you... Since you do not reload the premium ammo in 300gr TSX and a 400gr TSX will dump every animal you want...
North Fork bullets are super also..but you do not reload...

Mike

I wondered about Fail Safe's>>> I shot an elk with one at 80 yards, and it just poked right through with no expansion. I thought that might be a good choice for buff>>>PENETRATION!

i don't think you really need anything but the a frames, except maybe a few solids to shoot smaller game with. otherwise barnes or nosler partitions have always worked well for me

Tim,it makes sense when you see that most people recover really stressed bullets when they shoot buff.My second choice would be the Barnes TSX.I think a 300gr bullet going at 3000fps will really be stressed.If there is a perfect application for the fail-safe then this is it.

I'm with Retreever. I don't really care for the Failsafes, but I have only ever shot plains game with them. I do love the Barnes TSX for plains game and DG. I shoot them in each of my .375, .416 and .458 Lott. I shot a Buff with a Hornady, and it came apart like you wouldn't believe. However, I can't say it failed, since the bull was down in 80 yards. I've also used the Barnes solids and think they are great for followup on buff or for elephant.

I prefer bullets that are made of mono metal - like the Barnes X, GS Custom and others.

Followed by those with a solid shank - like the Trophy Bonded Bear Claws.

Partition bullets would be next if none of the above is available.

My main concern, as always with buffalo, is penetration. bullets like the Swift A-Frame and Noslers do not penetrate as well as the Barnes and others like them.

In fact, once I have used the Barnes X, I have not used anything else except our own Walterhog bullets - which are made by us here on a CNC lathe, and not offered for sale.

These perform just as well as the Barnes X I have used in the past.

You might hear that these bullets are not good for light skinned animals - especially lion and leopard. In my own experience, that has not been the case, as they have performed very well for me on these animals.

Saeed,have you ever used the fail-safes on buff?

So are there factory loads out there with Barnes bullets in them? I know it is ignorant, but I am mainly a muzzleloader in N Am and when I shoot a rifle at N Am Game I use AccuBonds.

yes,federal sells loaded ammo with Barnes bullets.

I have never used the Failsafe on any hunt, as I have not been able to get them to shoot that well in my rifles - only tried 270 and 338 calibers.

Also, I was not too impressed with the weight variations I found. In fact, I think they had the widest weight variations of any bullets I have tried.

Not sure if that is true now, as mine were from the first lot made.

Superior Ammo will load anything you want....and those North Forks are SWEET. That being said, the Swifts are also an outstanding bullet that you can get off the shelf....that's what I'd use if I didn't roll my own.
Good luck.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer

I don't know if Winchester still makes them,but nosler offers them in their Combined Technologies line,moly-coated.They might be better than the ones made by Winchester.

Winchester makes a Failsafe in .375 and Federal makes a Barnes TSX in the .416 Rigby.

It's good to know that fail-safes may not shoot that well,and that Winchester still makes them.

In 2005 I used Barnes 300 gr TSX's for my buffalo and several plains game, including zebra. Complete pass through's on the plains game, and the one in the buff was in the off shoulder and was the perfect Barnes mushroom. I thought the TSX bullets worked great, and will use them again. These were handloads pushed to 2800+ fps in my .375 RUM.

Shootaway - I have shot failsafes out of 2 of my .300 Win Mags and they both shoot them better than anything else. One is a 1958 Model Browning Safari Grade and the other is an Encore. I just have no use for that bullet in a .300.

Tim

I shoot a 416 Rigby and would recomend the Woodleigh solid and soft. I have taken a few buff and just recently elephant and they preform great.

I put 3 Hornady 500 grain, .458 calibre soft points, at 2150 fps, into a Cape buffalo, on broadside shots, at ranges between 30 and 60 yards. All three were recovered by the skinner, right under the skin on the off side. All three were picturebook mushrooms with minimum 80% weight retention. If Nosler makes a partition for a given rifle, that's what I shoot, but, based on this one experience with buffalo, I have nothing but good things to say for the old Hornady # 4504 bullets.

Swift A Frame. My personal experience with them in 375 H&H ranges from Hippo to Leopard, Springbok. No problem!

I've always had good luck with Federal Trophy Bonded Bear claws.

I took a .375 with Federal Premium Shells factory loaded with 250 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claws. I shot Waterbuck(no pass thru), Zebra(no pass thru), Wildebeast(no pass thru), kudu(no pass thru), Eland(no pass thru), nyala(pass thru), warthog(pass thru), bushpig(no pass thru). All of the game was shot at 100 yards or less and I recovered 6 of the 10 rounds fired at the 8 animals.

The TBBC was perfectly mushroomed, but if I had to do it over I think I would have gone up to a 270 grain Barnes or 300 grain Barnes/TBBC.

Hugh

It would be very hard to get better bullet performance then you get with North Fork. Softs for first shot and cup points when a passthrough will not hit another buff behind the one you are shooting at.

Zimbabwe big game hunt = SWIFT A FRAME softs and WOODLEIGH Solids.
OZHUNTER