IMPALA BULLETS:

http://www.impalabullets.co.za/

quote:

The Impala bullet is a lightweight monolithic bullet developed for hunting purposes.

The bullet was designed by Kobus Du Plessis a Forensic Ballistic Expert since 1980. He was attached to the Ballistic Unit of the Forensic Science Laboratory of the South African Police Service until 1992 and is in private practice since 1994.

The idea originated during a hunt when a friend shot an Impala through the torso with his 45-70 using a 350 grain soft point bullet. The bullet performed good but it was observed that excessive trauma was induced on entrance causing a lot of damage to the ribcage.

Weights of Impala Bullets:

.458 = 300 grains
.416 = 240 grains
.375 = 200 grains

So what about those Impala bullets?

1. They are so light that on heavy game (buff, ele), I would worry about deflection on bone. Is this a legitimate concern?

2. Conventional wisdom is that pointed bullets tumble and therefore do not maintain a straight path and also have relatively shallow penetration. Yet Impala bullets are pointed. Is CW wrong?

3. Impala bullets' website says, "Multiple shockwave inducing grooves to enhance wounding capability". Marketing hype? During penetration, the grooves should be within the vapor bubble that forms around the bullet and should not be in contact with flesh except on entry and as the bullet comes to rest within the animal.

I looked at them and wondered about the use of a solid on plains game. I believe they are made this way to lessen meat damage but I am more concerned with dropping and finding the beast than taking "home" an extra kg of venison from an African safari.

A well-known hunter up here (Well-known to us at any rate) claims these bullets just whistle through the ribcage. He shot one impala broadside with a 243, the guide says "You missed". The impala swops ends, he fires again. "You missed him again". Hunter decides that ok the rifle must be off or something, no point in shooting anymore, gets up to go. Impala trots off, goes 200m, gets the wobbles and falls over. Luckily this was in open veld and they saw it. Otherwise it would have been a lost animal.

They picked it up, two neat holes an inch apart behind the shoulder in the ribcage, one's an entrance, the other an exit. No difference between the holes. Ditto on the t'other side. He did not comment about internal damage.

I've got 15 of these suckers on a try-out in 375 cal. I'm not sure I want to use them now.

Well CChunter shot a couple of animals last year in May with them on a hunt in the Free State. They were shot with 375 H&H and a 25-06 the bullet makers gun shooting a 70grain bullet at over 4000fps. Anyway with the 375 the bullets worked just great the animals bled more than normal compared to using soft nose bullets.

The only drawback I could see is shot placement ! Take for example a soft nose bullet hitting a rib some lead will be dispersed and even if the shot was close to the stomach some of it may end up in the lung. With the impala there is no chance of this and you will have a badly hit wounded animal. Otherwise any vital hits proved fatal meat and skin damage was almost null.

What I like about Impala is the 200gr for my 375 loaded to do around 3000 fps for springbuck and smaller animals at long range and there is no meat damage. the Imapala's proved very accurate as well with a 2" 3 shot group at 200 meters with the 375 and a 1.5 - 4.5 x5 scope on top of it.

On the smaller calibres I don't have experience except for the springbuck shot with the 25-06 I must say it ran quite a way (350 m) before it fell with a lung shot but it basically bled to death.

Nowadays everybody is copying everybody and it’s difficult to say who first came up with a certain concept!

Take a look at this site:
GPA Bullets

This bullet has all the advantages Impala design claims to have, and none of its drawbacks!

I have been using this “controlled fragmentation†bullet, and also its “solid†version, for many years. It was available on the European market long before the Impalas, GScustoms, North Fork, and other similar ones had appeared on the market.
At a given moment Gerard even claimed that GPA has copied him, before he realised that GPA was on the market long before him!

B.Martins

B Martins,
The GPA is a grooved bullet. We discarded experiments with grooved bullets in the mid 90s and were the first producers of a true dual diameter drive band bullet. I could not have claimed that GPA copied us as we never had a grooved bullet in production and I am certainly aware of the difference between the two types.

I tested the Impala bullets in the calibre .500 Jeffery.
370 grn in phone books.
They penetrated 50 cm.
They shoot very well in my rifle and the 370 grn bullet will go 800 m/sec with 119 grn of N 140.

Like CChunter I use the impala bullet in my .375 H&H and are very happy with the high speed and flatter trajectory.

Next to the Impala bullet is my 600 grn home made cup point







Cheers,

André

Andre

But have you shot anything with one yet?

I think though a .500 solid may not need a lot of expansion if shot into a small antelope BTW.

They certainly look different.

I'm hunting with Impala bullets since their introduction. I know Kobus personally. Up to now the bullets performed above my expectations. I have loaded them in my 375, 308 and 22-250. Usually the the lungs are pulp and the important thing for me is very little meat damage. My son shot a Blue Wildebeest last year that quatered away, the shot went through the liver and the animal expired 25 yrds futher. Shot placemet is very important when using Impalas, they work very good when hitting the lungs. As far as I know 2 Buffalo where hunted with Impalas last year one with a 458 and the other with a 375 or a 416. Both only needed 1 shot if I remember correctly.

I only had exelent results from Impala bullets and all my clients that used it was very impressed with them. I have never lost an animal with Impala bullets and I have never tracked the animal for more than 50 meters

Just my honest opinion.

Nitrox

I have not hunted with them yet.
I like the expanding Woodleigh 535 grn but might try them on some wild boars in Sweeden this summer.
The expanding 535 grn soft nosed Woodleigh seems to compensate for the lack of frontal area of the .500 Jeffery

Cheers,

André