I am leaning towards the Remmington 150gr Swift Scirocco's for my shot from a blind. What about you?

I would rather prefer the 160 grain swift Aframe.

Sure, that will work. After all, they only weigh around 150 pounds or so. Shot placement is key.

Personally, I would prefer a 160gr or 175 gr. bullet for a possible slight raking shot.

I would choose a 160 gr. TBBC or a 175gr. Nosler Partition (more S.D., but front part will expand and shed rapidly). Both are excellent choices if they shoot well in your rifle.

Where, with who and when are you going?

Good luck!

I have killed 2 with a 7/08 rem & 175 nosler partition both were pass through. Would use them again in a heart beat My partner killed his with the same combo.

I will be hunting with Wayne Grant around the Plum Tree/Matopo Hills area of Zimbabwe...can't wait!! August '06.

I have used the 160gr Partition with excellent results. The 7mm is plenty of gun for leopards.

Wolfgar,

My question would be what other animals do you intend to take with 7Mag? If you are going to use it for some of the bigger antelope you might want to try the 160 or 175 gr NP as the front will frangment on the leopard killing quickly but the remaining shank will give you the penetration you would need for bigger animals.

Good luck! Leopards are probably my favorite animal to hunt in Africa. You are in for some real fun and a unique hunt.

Mark

For a leopard I believe bullets are not as important as being able to shoot accurately..
Making the shot is important...


Mike

I would use a heavy Nosler partition. You get the explosive front end yet penetration of the rear part of the bullet. I'm not normally a partition guy but I use them for cats.

Remember with Leopard that you want to kill it but not tear up the pelt. I'd choose a bullet that will penetrate and expand some, but not too much. One of the advantages of the heavier bullets, as mentioned above, is their utility on antelope and tey won't tear up the pelt so much because they are slower. The cat itself isn't hard to kill with a well placed shot. Kudude

The biggest game I will hunt besides the cat is Zebra, so I think that the 7mm 150 Scirocco will be perfect. I want to blow a big hole on exit, and cause as much dammage as I can.

Wolfgar:

I was interested to read that you will also hunt zebra. For that reason alone, I can't object to your using a 7mm Mag even on leopard - if you intend to take only one rifle. Let me hasten to say that I never shot at leopard -but he is a thin skinned animal - and a quite large one is unlikely to top 150 lbs. Kudude's comment about not tearing up the pelt is well taken! This is a beautiful trophy and you don't want to have to rely on the skill of the taxidermist to cover up damage! A zebra is a tough customer -and I speak from personal experience. At about 70 yards I touched off my 375 H&H (300 gr. SP) at one -just as he stepped down a slight slope and the bullet hit high without breaking bones - and he was only tracked down and shot nearly 8 hours later by the PH. (I dropped out after about 3 hours) I can argue that it was a poorly placed shot and that my favorite rifle cartridge, the 7mm Mauser (7x57) with a 164 gr. bullet would have dropped that zebra very nicely if hit right - and I am confident that it would plant the biggest leopard that ever walked as well. On balance, if the 7mm Mag is a favorite rifle with you then I guess it's OK. ( I sure would find out if there are some lighter loads and different bullets to use on leopard) Best of luck to you.

I'm with LJS on this one. I'll be using a 210NP out of a 338. Sure, it's overkill for leopard, but just right for zebra and other large to medium plains game that I'll also be taking. I like the combination of rapied expnasion and solid base the NPs give you, especially on cats. Coupled with what I beleive is their succectibility to high velocity, that Nosler will iron him our for sure. ANd I think your Scirocco out of a 7 Mag will do as well. Good luck, jorge

Thanks fellas. I also love my 7mm, and this past summer I took a bunch of plains game with it in Namibia, including a big Eland. I used 160gr Barnes TSX, but I won't use them again except on a huge animal like the Eland.
They exited on every animal except for the Eland, with very small exit holes...this includes 2 big Kudu and 2 Gemsbok. Great bullets, but too hard for most animals IMO.
I don't want to give the taxidermist too much sewing to do, but better the leopards skin than mine!!

Wolfgar:

When you say better the leopard's hide than yours - of course I agree - but in the circumstances of shooting at leopard in Africa by a sport hunter - he ain't likely to get to you at all. A wounded leopard is extremely dangerous, of course, but I strongly doubt that your PH will let you crawl through the brush around an acacia after you knocked him off a limb. (I suppose, if you're a millionaire, you might have decided to hunt leopard by chase -and I have always understood that a ground chase of a leopard could occupy months) What I want to urge to you is to consult the pros on reloading. You have been shooting at animals far beyond the weight of a leopard. Let me see if I can illustrate my point - I used to do a lot of black bear hunting in Canada. A local man (who was one of the best woodsmen I have ever seen)told me that it was his impression that the 300 Win. Mag. "zipped through" black bear if it didn't hit bone. ( His phrase) Black bear, regardless of size, are regularly shot in our own state of NY with 30-30s and 35 Rem. I honestly think that you have to get a load and bullet that will punch that leopard off the branch with overwhelming shock - without ruining that pelt. Personally, I would enjoy it if I was in your place, solving that "problem"! As I said, Good Luck!

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
For a leopard I believe bullets are not as important as being able to shoot accurately..
Making the shot is important...


Mike

Never shot a leopard prob never will but i love my old seven mill mag and it kills any sambar stag (500 to 700 pounds) with 150 gr winchester factory loads,i dont bother with after market home loads etc or premium bullets as i dont need to and i believe the way they work on sambar deer from all sizes up that they would be a great bullet for a soft skinned (though tuff) animal as your leopard..side on,up the arse, any way at all,they mushroom efectively and shatter anything in front of them. 2 cents worth

Good points by all of you...So 7mmRemMag, which would you use?

Thinking to myself now...what can be wrong with using the 150gr Scirocco on a leopard?
Light enough to expand, yet it's bonded design wont let it blow up too much. What do you all think?

Given the fact that you will be shoting the the animal under "controlled" circumstances.

I would agree with Mark and recommend using any bullet that will not over penetrate and cause unnecessary damage to the hide of your trophy.

Slower velocities with rapidly expanding projectiles would be the common sense recommendation.

Leopards are by no means hard to kill - especially by today's hunting methods.

Shot placement and paitence behind the trigger will ultimately determine your success.

Me, I'd use a .308 with 180 winchester "Fail-Safe" bullets @ around 2400 fps.

Full expansion with devastating results.

Don't over-power this animal.

For the record, I wouldn't even consider killing one of these noble beasts without a fair chase - baiting is out for me! Dogs, on foot, acceptable!

JW

Jeff, how is it that you consider a hound hunt fair chase? I would not shoot such a dignified animal while it is focusing on a pack of howling dogs.
At least on a blind hunt, the cat is approaching the bait on his terms with due caution, using all of his sences to detect danger. Then if you do wound him, you go after him without dogs with your ass on the line and the cat focusing on you, not being distracted by dogs so you can get another crack at him....something to think about.

What do ya think?