Has anybody used this factory AMO on Eland/Buffalo sized game?

Thanks

Never tried the 270 grain SP-RP but it was designed as a longer range bullet so I suspect it expands quite readily, not always the best option for up close, especially on heavy boned dangerous game like buffalo. The 250 grain GMX on the other hand is a super tough bullet designed to retain weight and penetrate well. From my experience it kills both buffalo and eland out of the H&H very dead. I can't imagine any other result from the Ruger.

Back in 2009, I used one on an Alaskan bull moose at 23 paces. He was quartering toward me. I shot him in chest, and the bullet went through his lungs and ended up in his liver. He ran 20 yards and collapsed. I don't believe the bullet encountered any heavy bone. It retained maybe 70% of its weight. I would use that load on eland and wouldn't feel undergunned, but I'd probably rather use an A-frame or Partition (or a TSX, though I'm not in love with them as some on here are, as I think they cause less tissue damage on the way through).

When I worked as an apprentice PH in Zambia, I spend a good bit of my second season in the Nkala GMA, which had Livingstone's eland for part of the season. We had one hunter shoot an eland badly (through the brisket) with a .375 Ackley Improved with 260 grain Accubonds (about the same as a .375 Ruger, but I'd argue the Accubond is a little tougher than the Hornady bullet), and we had to chase the thing for five miles, with the client shooting it four more times before it expired. I'm sure a good shot with a .30-06 at the beginning would have dropped the thing quickly, but one bad shot (with any caliber, frankly) brings adrenaline into the mix and can lead to a long day. The Accubonds performed okay, though none of them exited, and one that was shot from behind never made it past the guts. I don't recall that any of the bullets that we located had come apart, which lines up with my experience with Accubonds in my .280 AI on stuff from whitetails to big hogs to zebra and kudu. All of that said, for eland, I would rather have a bullet that might penetrate deeper if a Texas heart shot had to be taken on a fleeing animal shot poorly the first time.

In the end, though, I'm far more concerned with shot placement than bullet construction or the power of the round shot. If you have any recoil issues with the .375 Ruger, just take something lighter (even a .30-06) with tough bullets. Nearly all of the problems with wounded animals that I saw as an appy were due to poor shooting and not the cartridge or bullet shot. In fact, a number of wounded animals were clearly due to the client shooting more gun than he or she could handle. One client in particular was deathly afraid of the .458 Lott she was carrying, and another guy could hardly hold on to his .416 Rigby. In both cases, I would rather have seen them shooting a .30-06--even on buffalo.

You can get 270 grain barnes tsx loaded from double tap. I would not hunt african stuff with Hornady ammo.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
You can get 270 grain barnes tsx loaded from double tap. I would not hunt african stuff with Hornady ammo.

Mike

Why not? we've used it a half dozen times in Africa on close to 50 animals I'd guess from buffalo, lion, giraffe and eland to steenbuck and duiker.

quote:

Originally posted by sheephunterab:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
You can get 270 grain barnes tsx loaded from double tap. I would not hunt african stuff with Hornady ammo.

Mike

Why not? we've used it a half dozen times in Africa on close to 50 animals I'd guess from buffalo, lion, giraffe and eland to steenbuck and duiker.

Enough other AR members I know have had serious issues with Hornady ammo. See the threads on AR. I have used Hornady ammo form a moose in Alaska. Going to Africa I would use my stock of barnes tsx double tap.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by sheephunterab:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
You can get 270 grain barnes tsx loaded from double tap. I would not hunt african stuff with Hornady ammo.

Mike

Why not? we've used it a half dozen times in Africa on close to 50 animals I'd guess from buffalo, lion, giraffe and eland to steenbuck and duiker.

Enough other AR members I know have had serious issues with Hornady ammo. See the threads on AR. I have used Hornady ammo form a moose in Alaska. Going to Africa I would use my stock of barnes tsx double tap.

Mike

I've read some issues with DGX but haven't seen much else. The GMX and TSX offer nearly identical performance. The GMX just has six petals instead of four and 5% zinc vs pure copper. Not really sure I understand your Alaska/Africa comparison. Moose in Alaska are pretty big critters too.

quote:

Originally posted by sheephunterab:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by sheephunterab:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
You can get 270 grain barnes tsx loaded from double tap. I would not hunt african stuff with Hornady ammo.

Mike

Why not? we've used it a half dozen times in Africa on close to 50 animals I'd guess from buffalo, lion, giraffe and eland to steenbuck and duiker.

Enough other AR members I know have had serious issues with Hornady ammo. See the threads on AR. I have used Hornady ammo form a moose in Alaska. Going to Africa I would use my stock of barnes tsx double tap.

Mike

I've read some issues with DGS but haven't seen much else. The GMX and TSX offer nearly identical performance. Not really sure I understand your Alaska/Africa comparison. Moose in Alaska are pretty big critters too.

Yup and if I had planned it correctly I would have taken barnes tsx. $20k hunt pay $100 bucks a box and take some tsx loaded by double tap - just my opninion.

Mike

I lent a Ruger 375 to a friend who just returned from Zim hunting with Buzz's outfit and he shot a very nice Cape Buffalo (his first) using Hornady 300 grain DGX with excellent results. He and the PH were very impressed with its performance.

I think the alleged DGX problems are history.

Bengo and others thanks for chiming in and it's nice to hear of stories from using the Hornady factory AMO.

The difference is a one inch sight in at 100yards and both will drop 8" at 300yrds so the trajectory difference seems minimal and I suspect most shots will be less than 300yrds so I think I'll just stick with the 300gr as they have worked well on everything thus far.

For drop to be the same at 300 yards you are starting with a much further zero with the 300 grain. I know with my 250 grain GMX zeroed at 100 yards in the H&H, I have about 13 inches drop at 300 yards. With a 300-grain DGX that drop is over 21 inches. The other thing to consider is that you can reduce recoil by up to 25% with the 250 grain. No doubt the 300s do the job though.

I just re-read this and realized the question was about buffalo as well as eland. No, I wouldn't use that 270 gr RP-SP on buffalo if I didn't have to. If it was all I had, I'm sure I'd use it and do just fine, but it's not a bullet that you'd choose to handle any kind of less-than-ideal shot on a buffalo--not for the first shot and definitely not for a follow-up or charge-stopper. I do think the DGX bullets are better than people say, and the DGS is a great bullet, even if the monolithic stuff out there is supposed to be even better.

I have a 375 Dakota (ballistic twin to the Ruger). I've shot a few buffalo with the 270 TSX and was pleased--good penetration and destruction.

I had a hard time forcing myself to go down to 270 grains (it's sacrilegious not to use 300 grains!), but it works well.

I used 300 gr. solids ( strongly reccomended by my PH) on buffalo without problems.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnDL:
I have a 375 Dakota (ballistic twin to the Ruger). I've shot a few buffalo with the 270 TSX and was pleased--good penetration and destruction.

I had a hard time forcing myself to go down to 270 grains (it's sacrilegious not to use 300 grains!), but it works well.

Haha...I had the same dilemma going to 250 grain. PH said it was the fastest he'd ever seen a buffalo die!

I've used the DGX bullet on four buffalo with no issues. They might not all come out looking ready for a magazine ad after being recovered but the buff died quickly... two were one shot kills, and there was plenty of penetration. Are there better bullets? Maybe. Probably. But I found they will do the job if you do yours.

Just my $.02...

(Oh, just remembered the Cameroon buff I shot with the Ph's rifle so make that five buffalo. That was a one shot kill also.)