Friday I took delivery of my pre64 M70 in 300 H&H. I couldn't wait until the brown truck brought me dies, brass and bullets, so while at a gun show this weekend, I picked up a couple of boxes of 180gr failsafes for $20/bx. Has anyone used these on game and if so, how did they perform? I have a tough decision to make now as whether to take the 7x64 or the H&H for a light rifle. Will be at the range first thing in the morning Thanks, Bob

I've use 30 caliber, 180 grain fail safes in my 300 Win. Mag. with excellent results. If memory serves me correctly, I've taken Nyala, Impala, Bushbuck, Reedbuck, and Blesbok with them. All one shot kills, except for the Blesbok which I hit poorly, and all shots were complete pass throughs-none recovered. Shots ranged from 50 yards to over 300.

I used 230 gr. Fail Safes in my .338 Win. Mag. on five plains game; sable, eland, zebra, kudu and blue wildebeest.

Four were one shot kills however they were all non performing (no expansion) pass throughs. They're not supposed to be solids.

The bullet IMO is too tough and should be avoided, there are better alternatives.

A year ago in Namibia my hunting partner made 10 one-shot-kills with the 230 gr. Failsafes out of a .330 Dakota. That included 3 gemsbuck that dropped in their tracks.
Although they passed completely through at all angles, they killed very quickly.
If I had a rifle that would group with them I'd use them. Honestly, I probably haven't tried hard enough, but the few rifles I tried them in threw them all over the paper.

Good luck,
Kyler

The 300 H&H is in a class by itself IMO...If you ever use the 200 gr. Noslers in a 300 H&H, you will never use anything else...I also have not had very good luck with Failsafes or Barnes X in the 300, but I know a lot of folks that swear by them, maybe I am just snakebit with monolithics...

Have used several Fail-Safes on plains game in 375 and an FN 338 and found them superior to comparable Nosler PT. In 30 caliber my particular rifle liked Nosler PT better so I went with them. Also tested Barnes X but just couldn't get them to shoot as well (group accuracy).

I'd suggest that you go with whatever of these premium bullets shoots best with your particular rifle.

Thanks guys. I'll use them at the range today and when I order supplies this afternoon, I will include some 200gr Noslers. I am also taking a 9.3x64 shooting 286gr Noslers so I figured I could use 180's for the smaller stuff. It's still 50/50 on whether to take the 7x64 with 160gr Noslers or the 300. I'm off the the range. Bob

I've had really great luck with 180 gr. Fail-Safes out of a .300 Winchester on all manner of plainsgame from dik dik thru eland, and also on cape buffalo, lion, and leopard. Out of over fifty animals I've taken with these 180 gr. Fail-Safes, I've only recovered four bullets.

In terms of terminal performance, I'm not sure that a better all-around premium bullet exisits, but the down side is that not every rifle shoots them well. In my old .300 Winchester, I used a specific lot number of Winchester 180 gr. FS ammo for over two years, and it was superbly accurate. As I ran low on that specific lot, I purchased another lot, and this stuff didn't shoot nearly as well.

Fail-Safes don't shoot well in my current .300 Winchester, either, so I running with 180 gr. Nosler Partitions currently. They're by no means substandard performers, either!

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The failsafe may give the impression that they did not mushroom since entrance and exit wounds sometimes appear identical, this is by design on large game, what occours is after penetration the bullet ' nose peels back (mushrooms) releases energy by larger frontal area and in some instances and by design these pedals break off resulting in the base of the bullet to continue to penetrate like a solid thus causing more damage and a second (exit)wound, very similar to other preminm bullets like the partition except FS are constructed more solidily.
I have used them in a 375 on moose and caribou and my partner used them on an American Bison and whitetail deer(30-06, 180) and all where complete pass throughs. These are excellent bullets for game where you want max penetration.

VFR,
If you can get them to shoot well in your rifle, they are an excellent bullet. I've used the 300 grain and 270 grain Failsafes in my .375H&H and have had great luck with them. I've shot everything from buffalo to Grant's gazelle and impala with them and have no complaints! They shoot around an inch to an inch and a quarter in my gun which is plenty accurate for me with a premium bullet.