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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. Lane Easter, DVM A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991. | |||
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Dead right there, I feel a little guilty. Shouldn't I be shooting a bigger bullet? Is anything less than 220 grains out of a .338 a sin? | |||
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Thanks guys for all of the responses! Just for clarification purposes, I've chosen the 338 win mag because I will also be shooting various plains game with this rifle and have had good results with this caliber in TBBC on previous safaris. I will hopefully shoot roan, zebra, eland, black wildebeest, hartebeest and impala and I'm bringing my 416 rem mag for cape buffalo, hippo and croc. No "Freudian graTification from big rifles" but given the animals that I will be hunting I hardly think a .243 or .270 would be a good caliber choice. Seems many have had good results with TSX bullets but if you google "barnes tsx failure" there are many stories of bullets not expanding as expected; more so than with the NP, SAF, TBBC and others. On thin skinned game like leopard it seems like many would opt for the NP. Hopefully it shoots well out of my blaser R93. Thanks again. | |||
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Bullets, bullets, bullets, and which rifle. Any American bullet like a Corelock or a Hornady will crush a leopard. A friend of mine and a Ph killed his chui with a 22magnum. This was a very big cat. How to kill a leopard is simple: ACCURACY, ACCURACY, ACCURACY PERIOD! Mike | |||
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Something soft and quick opening for leopard (think deer bullet). Assuming you do also want to use the load on other plains game, I would go with the nosler partition. I don't know how 'hard' the swift A-frame is by comparison in a .338, but that may also be a good choice (I like them in .30 and .375 for general plains game, but the ,375 is probably too hard to be ideal for leopard, although a .375 hole is nice). | |||
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Well, I made it to the range today and surprisingly, in my Blaser R93, the federal 225gr accubonds and TBBC's shoot to the same point of impact. The TBBC's definitely group a bit tighter at 100yds. The accubonds have a white polymer tip so they are easily distinguishable from the TBBC's, even easier than distinguishing between solids and soft points..... Guess I have options. Thoughts?... Thanks, Bill | |||
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bgomez, Ive used the 210 nosler at 2975 fps with H-205 (yes it was a few years ago) and was very happy with it on deer, elk and american bison. I have never shot a big cat but as others here have suggested, what works for a deer will probably be sensible for a medium sized cat. The nosler handles a wide range of animal weights. Explosive on front end but good penetration on exit. The medium bore noslers have a nice thick jacket on ogive so even if you blow off the front lead core, youve still got a bit of frontal area left with the jacket/ Hunt with what youve shot with alot. You can certinly afford to do that w a nosler partition. Andy | |||
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Remember, forgivness is easier to get than permission. | |||
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Agree with Mike. Whatever your rifle shoots best. Any expandable bullet from the .338 is more than enough. | |||
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I’ve shot 2 leopards, one with a 300 win Mag and 180 grain Nosler Partition and the other with my 338 win Mag and 225 grain Trophy Bonded Bearclaws. The one with 180 partition was dead before he fell off the limb. The other was poorly hit with 225 bear claw and required a follow-up shot. Fortunately, it was a Kalahari cat in middle of the day. I’ll be leopard hunting again this October and shooting my 338. Only question will be whether I shoot a 225 TTSX, which is what I usually shoot in my 338, or go with a 225 partition or accubond. If I do my part, any of those 3 Bullets will be fine. | |||
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I used a 225 TSX on my last hunt, but when it came to shooting a leopard, I used a plain old 225 Hornday SP. | |||
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I love these posts....what would you shoot an impala with?!?!? I'm shooting a 416 Remington...which bullet should I USE.... CATS are soft animals...they do not require more than a .243 if you hit them in the vitals. You don't need palladium tipped tungsten steal/brass combos to kill stuff....aim for the head, you could use a .22 | |||
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I hunted Zambia with Andrew and shot a leopard with a .300 Win. mag using a 200 gr. TSX. The cat was facing me and I shot it in the chest. The bullet penetrated the cat length wise and I found it under the cat's tail after breaking the pelvis/back leg. It was a perfect TSX mushroom. He was on the ground and just fell over. We were all shocked that the bullet didn't exit. I would just say to use enough gun and bullet to penetrate to the vitals from any angle. | |||
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I've shot 2 leopards. One with a 375 H&H with a 300gr TSX The second with a 300 H&H and 180gr TTSX Need for a "soft" bullet? Nah. Both were dead under the tree. Then again, this thread was started 10 years ago. I suspect the leopard in question concerning the OP has long expired, from his hunt or by natural causes.  | |||
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These bullets. ROYAL KAFUE LTD Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144 Instagram - kafueroyal | |||
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I have no idea how many leopards I have shot. They were shot with various 270 wildcats, 7mm, 338 and 375 calibers. And I have not seen any that killed any better. | |||
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I like the 225 Accubond for PG, deer, elk and Leopard, but there are plenty of options.. be careful some options will rip a Leopard to peices and you will have a unhappy taxidermist..I prefer my 7x57 for Leopard or any good deer rifle, shots are close and they are normally easy targets until they get in the long grass!!!  Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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I think you'd be better off using the .338 on your croc, by the way. Few people can honestly shoot as precisely with a .416 as with a .338, and the .338 is already way more gun than you need for croc, anyway. If it weren't for the eland on your list, I'd suggest you just take the .416 for buffalo and a .30-06 for everything else, and I'd personally feel just fine using the .30-06 on eland with Partitions or similar. And yes, I've been in on some eland kills back in my appy PH days. Honestly, for the typical headshots, I'd feel fine with the .30-06 on the hippo (something I've done, btw), but I can get that the .416 is better, especially if you're hunting on land and not just playing whack-a-mole in the river. I know everyone here loves TSXs, but I will say that stuff seemed to run a bit more after being shot with them, as compared to high quality jacketed bullets. On buffalo, for example, Swift A-frames seemed to kill more quickly. But the TSXs sure look pretty after they expand, and I don't know that I've ever heard of them failing on something heavy. They aren't my first choice on thin-skinned game, though. Way too much chance of a zip-through in my experience. A Partition or Accubond is better there. | |||
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