I am taking a 416 Rigby with handloaded 400 Grain Barnes TSX bullets and a 375 H&H with handloaded 300 grain Barnes TSX bullets to Zambia.

Has anyone used either on lion?

Bullet choice is a very personal thing but I'd advise a faster opening bullet for Lion such as Wlldleigh SP or Win silvertip. The TSX will probably zip straight through.

I have no personal experience with hunting lion, but used 450 grain TSX in my Lott for plainsgame while hunting in RSA a couple of weeks ago. I shot game as small as Impala, Blesbuck, Baboon and a small wartog. They all, except the Blesbuck, dropped in their tracks By the looks of the exit, they sure seemed to have opened very nice!! I load them for 2150 fps, so my guess is that they will open very nicely in a 375!

I agree with Steve. Of course the Barnes TSX will work fine but the "faster opening bullets" are the first option.

If you decide to bring 2 kinds of ammo of the same caliber, make sure you know where they hit at the "sighted in" distance. Or just take the TSX along, shoot straight and not have to worry about the different impact points

I used a 400 grain Barnes X (old blue coated version) from my 416 Rigby (MV~2450fps) to take my lion. The shot was at 25 yards in the chest - the lion was facing me. The bullet performed perfectly and Mr. Lion dropped in his tracks.

I only recovered two X-bullets on this hunt one from the lion and one from a north bound zebra, all the others exited.

I have another lion hunt booked for 2007 and will use the 400 grain Barnes TSX as the blue coated version was discontinued.

SBT: From what I've seen and read, the TXS' will work just fine. I suggest you give Randy Brooks a call at Barnes and put your question to him. Granted, it's his product, but I'm sure he'll give you the right recommendation. jorge

I've killed losts of game with the TSX, and would not hesitate to use it on a Lion.

Will the Barnes X expand on a lion - yes!

I also shot a duiker with a 400 grain X-bullet from my 416 Rigby (at about 40 yards). These things weigh less than 20lbs soaking wet. The shot was a from the 6 o'clock position (rear end facing me). The 400 grain X-bullet fully expanded in the first ~7 inches and punched a X-shaped hole in the chest where it exited. The animals don't come much smaller or softer than this and the X-bullet performed perfectly!

SBT,

I have shot 5 lions with Barnes X bullets. They worked like a charm, as they usually do on everything.

The new banded X bullets will also be going at a higher velocity hence they will open faster upon impact...

Mike

X-bullets worked fine on one of my lions.

My lion was killed with a 300 grain trophy bonded bear claw from my .375 H&H. No problem with it whatsoever.

I shot a lion with the regular X bullet at 70 yards and he went about 30 yards before piling up. The round was a .375UM 300gr X at 2850. I would think that the 400gr .416 would be super.

(IMO) Any bullet will work on a Lion if it's put in the right place, but my point is that if things go even slightly awry then you REALLY need to stop that pussycat ASAP..... if you can make it stop with one type of bullet even 1 yard before than you can stop it with another then it's a good idea.... and from my experience a faster opening bullet is more effective than a slower opening one.

I suppose I'm looking at it from the perspective of a PH and not that of a client .... but I'll always give my vote to something like a Woodleigh SP, Win Silvertip or a Stewart HP than I would a bullet that I consider more suitable for use on a Buffalo.

SBT- As you know, I have had great results with the 180 grain TSX both in Africa and here. According to Barnes, they are designed to open upon impact . If that's true, what bullet is designed to open any faster?

The suggestion of calling Barnes is one that may rest your mind. Their phone no. is: 800-574-9200.

John