I will be using a 450 Dakota on my Safari later this year. I plan to hunt Buffalo and Leopard with this gun. My question is about a load for leopard. Should I load a lighter bullet at low velocity for the cat? My buffalo loads are the factory loaded 500g Swift. What would be a good load for the Cat? My thoughts are to slow down and use a softer bullet provided I can get it to shoot close to the same POI at close range.
Posts: 2122 | Location: Arkansas | Registered: 03 June 2000
Roscoe, The Swift A-Frame will open up quickly enough, even on leopard, but why not use your 'light' rifle?
I don't believe in carrying two different bullet weights for the same gun on a safari. It's too likely that you'll have the wrong bullet in your gun when you meet up with the big stuff.
George
------------------ Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!
Posts: 14623 | Location: San Antonio, TX | Registered: 22 May 2001
Roscoe, Go ahead and use your 450 for leopard, or just about anything else. I used mine, with the 500 gr Swift, on a large leopard this last September. No complaints from the leopard. By the way, 3 buffalo and a hippo had no complaints either. Nice thing about the 450 is that it is versatile to take anything comfortably out to about 250 yards. I've done two 21 day safaris with my 450 and preferred it to a "lighter" rifle. Good weight, excellent balance.
Hunting both buffalo and leopard/plains game sort of suggests two rifles. Since most leopard hunting in done in a blind in somewhat marginal light, my choice would be something in a 300 mag to 375 H & H for a second rifle (expanding softs TB or Swift AF) with a light gathering scope. Since one never knows if a rifle goes down on safari, my approach is to have the next step down calber capable of taking the largest animal hunted, always comes back to the venerable 375 H & H or equiv. I know what your thinking, but that 450 is such a sweet gun to shoot.
I agree that a two gun Safari is better but that was not the question...I like the 270 or 30-06 class of round for Leopard.
Use one load in your 450 unless you have a combo that will shoot on top of each other and be sure not to get them mixed. Don't slow the Leopard bullet down, use a lighter, faster expanding bullet at higher velocity.
Better advise is just use the 500 Swift load that you have for Buffalo and keep things simple...
Thanks for the great feedback. Just for your info the 450 will be my "Light" rifle on this safari. I plan to shoot the buffalo with my 470 double. I want to bring along a rifle with a scope just in case the need is there. I just was not sure what to expect on a cat. Thanks again
Posts: 2122 | Location: Arkansas | Registered: 03 June 2000
