Due to happy coincidences and a wonderful wife, I'm heading to Zim in two months to pursue a leopard with Wayne Van Den Bergh. I'm mulling over the rifle. I have plenty of rifles but only a few set up appropriately for a short-notice leopard hunt.

I'm inclined to bring my Kimber Caprivi .375 H&H, which wears a Leupold VX-6 2-12 scope with their FireDot reticle. The rifle is reliable, the recoil seems mild compared to its .458 Lott brother, and I have some excellent handloads with the 300gr Barnes TSX bullet. I also have some handloads with a Speer 270gr softpoint bullet that might be a better choice for leopard. (Although my son shot his impala with the 300gr TSX and it entered the front chest, stopped in the pelvis nicely mushroomed, and piled up the impala immediately).

I also have my Browning Stainless Stalker in 7mm Rem Mag, which wears an older Leupold VX-3 2.5-8x scope.

Although Patrick at TWG can get me to Africa on Emirates, I'm stuck with SAA getting to Bulawayo, so I'd rather just bring one rifle. I've yet to have a rifle fail on a hunt, but if it seems utterly reckless I could bring both. I need to get a new 4457 anyhow, as the "current" one shows an expiration of August 2019.

I do have a Sako carbine in .375 H&H with a Leupold 1.75-6x scope that could come as a backup and would at least eat the same ammo. I lean towards bringing the .375 as it would easily collect a zebra for bait, and if we ended up pursuing an eland I would much prefer the larger rifle. Any thoughts?

No problem with the 375, but use a softer bullet. Just a regular ole Hornady or Speer bullet is plenty on a leopard. A scope with a red dot reticle is more important than the caliber.

While either will work.
I tend to take a 375 (9.3) or larger if only taking one rifle.
Almost any SP/HP big game bullet works on leopard.

I agree with reddy on his listed projectiles

I shot my first leopard in 2008 using a 300gr TSX in 375 H&H.

Cat was dead under the tree.

Nothing wrong with that set up at all.

Shot my second leopard with a 180gr TTSX in 300 H&H.

375 and TSX ... good to go!

I have used the 375 H&H with 270 and 300 grain A-Frames, 270 TSXs and 270 grain Hornadys on leopards.

While they all worked, I would pick the 270 A-Frames if I had to choose one to use again.

I shot baboon, bushbuck and klipspringer with a 270gr TSX, and there was no significant pelt damage from the exit wound. The bushbuck and baboon were both 200 yard shots. Agree 100% that a good scope with a lighted reticle or dot is more important than caliber choice for leopard.

England,

Just use your 375 with your current 300 TSX load. It will work nicely for anything else you'll run into also. The scope you described is about perfect.

Mark

My last 3 safaris in Namibia for about 25 species, allI used was my 375 H&H with 260 gr Nosler AccuBonds. It worked flawlessly on my leopard also.

You are smart going with the FireDot. An illuminated recticle in what will probably be a low light event is probably more important than bullet selection on leopard.

TSX is fine. Something a little softer might be better, but not enough to worry about.

All the best on your hunt!

My .375 H&H worked just fine in '17 on my Leopard. Probably overgunned but it will definitely kill.

I used a .338 WM with 250 A Frames for my hunt last year but elected to shoot the leopard with a Hornady 225 SP - plain old cup and core bullet because on impala the 250 AFs were not opening up much. The Hornady penetrated the leopard completely. I used a TSX in Tanzania on leopard and the cat was dead where it fell.

Wayne has a .338 Win Mag if you have any trouble with your rifle; he should have plenty of AF ammo that I left with him as well.

Say hello to Sam and Cowboy for me!

quote:

Kimber Caprivi .375 H&H, which wears a Leupold VX-6 2-12 scope with their FireDot reticle

Perfect rifle...I would personally shoot the 270 Speers for Mr. Spots.

Use any rifle you wish.

It will not make any difference.

Too much bullshit is written about not using tough bullets - like the Barnes X on leopards.

I have shot them with all sorts of calibers, never made any difference.

All my cats were shot with a .375 H&H using the 300 grain TSX.

None of the four took a step after the shot.

I wouldn't worry about "hard" bullets there. Shoot it in the right spot, and it is dead.

While I would not have a concern about the rifle, taking 2 is about the same difficulty as 1. If transiting SA, DON'T take 2 in the same caliber- they get annoyed by that. An agent might be able to sort it out in advance, but its not worth that hassle.

Your PH will undoubtedly have a backup rifle if yours goes belly up.

Go, enjoy, and don't overthink the thing...

England

I am hunting with Wayne on August 14th for leopard. I will be using my 375 h&h with 250 grn ttsx . If time permits I am hoping to hunt buffalo I will have my 416 rigby and a 375 back up.

Thanks Joseph

.375 is good, may be overgunned, but better safe than sorry.

In Zim, the leopard is a Class C animal, so you can use any calibre of 7mm or above, as long as it generates at least 3kJ of muzzle energy (2,213 foot pounds), so there's a wide spectrum to choose from.

Agree with what has been said - scope is more important than the rifle. I shot my leopard in Zim with my 300 wm, 180 gr ttsx, with a Leupold VX6 2-12 firedot. Setup was perfect.

Thanks, guys. I'll plan on just bringing the .375 then. Going into Boise today to get a new 4457.

Joseph, say "hello" to Wayne for me. I'm looking forward to meeting him in late September.

Shot many leopards, with 270, 7mm, 338 and most with a 375.

Never seen any difference.

I think your Kimber is perfect. I shot my leopard with a very similar set up. One shot, dead under the tree. But, the big advantage was the comfort it gave me when the roaring lions were getting closer and the elephants passed very near the blind.

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
I think your Kimber is perfect. I shot my leopard with a very similar set up. One shot, dead under the tree. But, the big advantage was the comfort it gave me when the roaring lions were getting closer and the elephants passed very near the blind.

Exactly why a .375 is the lightest rifle I ever carry in Africa.

MOst any rifle that will kill a deer will kill a Leopard, Ive used the 7x57 on one, worked great. Ive seen the 375 used on a number of Leopards with all manor of bullets and they all worked, Id suggest you take the one you like best. I suggest you put your scope on low power and check it often, I personally like a 3X fixed Leupold for Leopard and night shooting, in fact on any DG..Seen too many screw up with scope set on high, when TOLD to put them on 2.5X or whatever AND LEAVE THEM THERE!...

I agree, someone capable of good shooting and a big bore rifle needs to be close in any DG situation IMO..That should be the PH, but not all PHs are good shots as some have come to believe..

quote:

Use any rifle you wish.

Thank you Saeed!

A friend of mine has shot leopards with .458 Win Mag, 12 ga shotgun, and settled on 45-70 lever action Marlin.
Last we talked, he had just taken Leopard #13 and loved the fast handling Marlin; claimed it was the best stopper for those cats.

This was from a man that likes to get close to the action and enjoy it; he did not plink at cats from 150 yards or so and never used a scope. He also called in cougars on his Texas ranch for amusement.
Who remembers the Burnam Brothers game callers in Africa? They too called in cats.

The one leopard I killed was killed with a .375 H&H Mag. And the many other leopards I have hunted and not killed would have been killed with the same caliber, had they not outsmarted us.