Or will I just make a mess? I'm doing a plains-game hunt, and planning on only taking one gun-- a .375 H&H, loaded with 300 gr. Northfork softs. I would probably want to do a full-body mount-- will there be enough left to work with? I've never shot anything smaller than a whitetail with the .375.

I realize this isn't "big game", but it is African game.

Pertinax

for your own consideration, this is my serval shot with a 9,3x74r, the bullet were a 286 grains, so it would be appels and appels comparisen.
the hole you see is the entry and it made a tear on the other side of about 1,5" it is being mounted as we speak and should be done in a week or two.



best regards

peter

An African Wildcat shot with Hornady 300 gr. FMJ round nosed bullets out of a Blaser R 93 in 375 H&H Magnum.

I know, crappy gun and cheap crappy bullets, but the combo works well for me.

The 375-- rats to rhinos, small cats included.
Load er up.

.375 is fine for anything but I would recommend using solids for your small stuff. If you hit big bone such as a leg with a soft it can do some serious damage.

just take a few solids, they'll just make a nice neat hole , good luck those are rare things to get a crack at

I'll see about throwing in some solids. But it's good to know it will be OK anyway.

Great pictures, btw. No Blaser jokes from me; whatever works.

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen. Maybe I'll get lucky and bag one of the little cats.

Pertinax

I have shot serval and civet with a 375 soft and they were okay for mounting. A genet cat and jackal were not. This last year I used solids on a genet and jackal and they worked fine. So pack some solids.

BigB

what about a bonded bullet like Accubonds??
do you think that they will be to soft and fragment/mushroom on a small animal or just go through like a solid?

I have shot numerous small cats and animals with the .375 using trophy bonded sledgehammers. Small hole going in and small hole going out. In fact, I prefer to shoot the smaller trophies with the .375 and solids.

Yes, 375 solids. They work and don't do too much damage to small critters.

JPK

I have had my best luck shooting small stuff with either bonded core Softs or Solids.

I have used both in my 9,3x74R. The Solids do make a smaller hole.

However Woodleigh Softs or in 308 and 300 Win Mag, Trophy Bonded Bearclaws have not "blown up" any small game so far.

quote:

Originally posted by Shangaan:
.375 is fine for anything but I would recommend using solids for your small stuff. If you hit big bone such as a leg with a soft it can do some serious damage.

Agree with Shangaan, Take a couple of solids