Hey guys I need your opinion again.

I heading back to RSA to pick up some animals I didn't get the last trip. To ease things, I would like to take just my 7X57. The largetst animal I plan on hunting is zebra and blue wildebeest. I was thinking of taking just 175 Noslers but a buddy of mine said to give Barnes Triple X 140 grain bullets a try. Thoughts, ideas?

Either bullet will work. Shot placement is the name of the game. Last year my son took all kinds of plains game, including 2 Burchell's zebra, with a 6.5X55 and 140 gr. A-Frames. Everything fell down and died on the spot or within 20-30 yards.

Geronimo

The 7x57 was my plains game rifle on my last trip to Zim. I use 175gr Nosler Partitions and see no reason to try anything else. It is most effective out to 250+ yds which is the longest shot I had. Took several Kudu and Impala and would use it with no hesitation.

I used my 7x57 on a 2001 hunt in Zim with excellent results. The load was 160 Nosler Partition @ 2650 fps. Kudu at 150 yds--one shot broke both shoulders--PH was amazed. Bushbuck at 210 yds--one shot prone from a hill down to the bank of a stream; Heart shot, bushbuck did not move from tracks. Impala at 125 yds--hit spine, lights out (kind of a bad shot--I was aiming lower). I love this rifle!

Exelent choice still one off the calibres with the best penetration.shot placement is crucial
where in the RSA are you going hunting?

quote:

I would like to take just my 7X57. The largetst animal I plan on hunting is zebra and blue wildebeest. I was thinking of taking just 175 Noslers but a buddy of mine said to give Barnes Triple X 140 grain bullets a try. Thoughts, ideas?

Hacksawtom,

Both bullets will kill. The heavier Nosler Partition work fine in the 7 mm Mauser. I have used them myself, but they will cause more meat damage as they are designed to lose their front section (approx 40%) as the the lead is not bonded. It is a combo bullet - the front part act as a frangible conventional lead-core bullet, whereas the rear part ensures deeper penetration. That is why the heavier bullet with its higher SD works well despite the weight loss.

The Barnes-X bullet or the newer TSX would not shatter and mess up the meat and would out-penetrate the Nosler. I would opt for a 160 grainer over the 140 grainer for even deeper penetration on bigger game. With no weight loss you have the bullet's full terminal momentum at work, and as such, elevates the performance to a higher level. The other plus factor of the Barnes bullet is the fact that you get better mushroom formation rather than the thin jacket-walls of the Nosler that are folded close to the shank.

Good luck.
Warrior

175 gr. Nosler.

That's why God made them.

The 7x57 is my goto rifle. It works well.

If it means anything, my PH, Claude Klynhans in Limpopo uses the 7 X 57 for all his own non-DG hunting.

Thanks for the advice. I'll go pick up a box of Triple X 160's. I've loaded up ammo in each of the weights and brands to see which one is the most accurate.

I'll be hunting with Sandriver Safaris (http://www.sandriver.co.za/), just south of the Limpopo. In '04 I got three of the eight animals I shot made it into Rowland Ward and wasn't even trying for record book animals. I'm going after a Limpopo bush buck, a couple of impalas, plus the zebra and wildebeest. Again thanks for the feedback.

I have had wonderful luck with the 175 gr. Noslers and Woodleighs, always worked for me.

This picture displays a wetpack test @ 25 meters with some 7mm bullets.



Left to right:
175 gr Barnes-X bullet - 100% weight retention
160 gr Nosler Partition - lost its front core
175 gr Claw bond-core bullet - bonded core peels with copper jacket to form more sturdy petals
175 gr Sierra Game King bullet - lost all its lead, only the jacket remained.

Warrior

Those TBBC bullets aren't bad hey. A friend just came back from Zim and showed me a recovered 375 Bear Claw which looked the same.
Slightly more petals exposed than the Swift A frames.

My favorite bullet in my 7x57R is the 175 gr. Nosler. You really can't go wrong with it.

If I were to go lighter, I would not go lighter than 156 or 160 grs. for African PG or big deer.

FOR THAT VELD I WILL USE HEAVY SLOW BULLETS

quote:

Those TBBC bullets aren't bad hey.

Ozhunter,

The 3 rd bullet from the left is a South African made bullet by the name of "Claw". It is a bonded bullet made from copper tubing and the lead is bonded, unlike the American TBBC bullet that has a solid shank. Another local bullet here in SA, called the Rhino bullet, is more like the TBBC bullet.

The Claw bullet does in fact perform very well on game due to the modest velocity of the 7x57. In faster calibers like the 7 mm Rem Mag and up, experience has shown that they are too soft and over expand significantly. These claw bullets have a 1 mm wall thickness, but the manufacturer brought out another version now with 2 mm thickness on request. Pieter Olivier & myself tested them and they performed much better as the expansion was more controlled and the bullet maintained a much higher percentage of its weight.

In the 9,3 we had excellent results with 270 grain bullets that the manufacturer made specifically for us. It was the first 2 mm prototypes that were made and it just so happened that they came out at 270 grains. All the bullets performed like they were twin sisters.

Warrior

I have to agree with 375 Fanatic. A premium bullet, heavy for calibre would be my choice. You're talking dense bush.

the tsx is the ticket whatever weight you like but I usualy drop about 10% in weight from my standard loads for bullet leingth issues and tsx seem to work better a little faster.

If you use jacketed lead bullets in bush/short distances, use slow and heavy. If you are going to use copper monos, go light and as fast as is possible. At short range, the constraints that force the use of slow heavy jackteted bullets, do not apply to copper monos.