I'm taking a .375 Ruger to Zim for kudu, waterbuck, hyena. I really want a baboon, civet, & honey badgers as well. My PH suggested bringing.375 solids for these smaller critters, but I'm thinkig exit wounds would be huge. (a Texas friend wanted an armadillo to mount and I tried FMJ .308's but the exit wounds were still huge.) Would taking a .243 solely for these smaller critters be a viable addition?

A .243 would certianly do the job on anything up to impala. Heck thers been tons of elk killed with them.
A .375 solid should leave .375 hole in those smaller light boned animals. Lots of the tiny antelopes are shot with solids when ther taken in a dangerous game area.

Just wondering- - why would those .308 "solids" (FMJ) blow such big chunks from yhe offside of an armadillo? was I too close? +/_ 60-100 feet...

quote:

Originally posted by joester:
Just wondering- - why would those .308 "solids" (FMJ) blow such big chunks from yhe offside of an armadillo? was I too close? +/_ 60-100 feet...

Hydrostatic shock. Something has to get out of the way for tha bullet path. The bullet did not make the large exit hole-it was fluid, bone and whatever was in the bullets path. Slower bullets will not show the effects of hydrostatic nearly as much. Steenbucks, duikers and other small aninmals have fallen for me with almost no damage. A klipspringer shot with a 300Wby with a way back gut shot was not usable.

Tom

I've shot a fair amount of foxes and coyotes with the .243. Any bullet that exits is going to really tear things up due to the high velocity. The .375 with solids pencils right through and really doesn't do a whole lot of damage. Between the two, I'd pick the .375 if I wanted life-sized mounts.

On my last trip, I brought a .22 hornet specifically to shoot the smaller stuff. I tried using 40 grain V-Max's, and even those did a lot of damage (I had a porcupine explode from a Texas heart shot and wrecked a civet). I brought a few 45 grain Sierra soft points, and those did a much better job and didn't wreck anything.

use the 375 & solids. the 243 will blow much bigger holes The solids will just zip through and leave a 375 hole in and out

quote:

Originally posted by joester:
I'm taking a .375 Ruger to Zim for kudu, waterbuck, hyena. I really want a baboon, civet, & honey badgers as well. My PH suggested bringing.375 solids for these smaller critters, but I'm thinkig exit wounds would be huge. (a Texas friend wanted an armadillo to mount and I tried FMJ .308's but the exit wounds were still huge.) Would taking a .243 solely for these smaller critters be a viable addition?

quote:

Originally posted by joester:
Just wondering- - why would those .308 "solids" (FMJ) blow such big chunks from yhe offside of an armadillo? was I too close? +/_ 60-100 feet...

The reason the 308 full jacket did so much damage to the armadillo is because the armadillo has a shell, and the plates are only attached by very thin skin, and it far easier to tear the skin than to punch a hole through the shell plate. Even a .22 LR will do damage on the exit on any animal with a shell, like a turtle or armadillo. That same .308 bullet would do very little damage to something like a fox or raccoon.

I have a lot of experience with the 243 Win chambered rifles and I can tell the 243 will do far more damage to a small fured animal than a 375 Solid. I’ve shot large coyotes with the 243 and it blew a hole on the off side 6 inches in diameter with a 100 gr Hornady soft point at 2900 fps, and at a range of 120 yds. You don’t want to use a 243 on any animal you want a full body mount of! I’m not aware of anyone who makes a .243 solid!
The 375 solid will leave a .375 hole on both sides of a small furred animal!

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joester,

a 375 solid will make a dime size hole on even a very small animal as long as you do not hit bone.

Mark

Two years ago I took a 375 and 243..Shot a common springbuck with the 375 and a white with a 243..The 375 did less damage to the pelt than the 243..

My advice is stick to the .375 and use solids on the small game, but what I have found with hunting you don't know when its going to happen and you might not have time to change from soft to solid. For example while hunting the Zambezi valley with a client that was using a 458 for buff I had advised he use softs first as we were in a herd situation. When a big grysbuck jumped up( this was very high on his list) I did not hesitate ,told him to shoot in the middle of the body, we got our trophy- not too badly damaged, no big bones were hit but a lot depends on the angle the animal stands, we have to take whatever the bush gives us.
I have lost animals from solids that were not placed perfectly
i feel softs give you a better margin of error for hyena and baboon- i would use the 375 softs.
I always was a believer in getting the buck down and if there is a tear get a good taxidermist they are amazing these days.

Will 308 Military FMJs tumble after hitting an animal and hence cause more damage? I remember reading that military bullets are designed to tumble after hitting a target.

I've had Superior Ammunition load solids for my .300wm for many years, for use on small antelope, and they work great. Last year I took a .223Rem with V-Max bullets for small antelope and it worked fine. This year my plan is to use the BBW #13 non-cons in 325gr and 350gr solids from my .458B&M for PG after my Ele is down. I expect them to work fine as well.

Take and shoot whatever you want. It's your safari, so have a good time.

quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:
I’m not aware of anyone who makes a .243 solid!

Barnes lists a 75 grain banded spitzer BT on their website in 6mm. I'm not sure if they have any in stock, but it wouldn't take but a phone call to find out.

GS Custom make a .257 FN solid. They also now have a US based factory so you can get them direct without the headaches.
This gives you a perfectly good reason to buy a 25-06 as it is vital to your safari success.

If driven at moderate velocity it should make very little damage.
If you are willing to spend the time then load the rifle down to 900 fps and only take shots up to 100m. This technique is often used for night time predator control as the rifle is then also almost silent.
It then also wont disturb all the game in the area when you shoot.

HQ

For those who have not heard yet.
GS Custom USA is online
Contact them:
http://www.gscustomusa.com

or email gina@gscustomusa.com

.243 for the little guys is a wee bit on the fast side and a large hole will be more than likely.

As others have suggested: stick to .375 solids and aim for an exit as far back as possible - worst comes to worst you will still have a full shoulder mount.

The .22 calibers lean towards the best choice but some African countries have a restriction on a minimum caliber for plains game and .22 is out of the equation. So if you're intent on following the 'legal path' the 22s may end up getting you a citation from the Lacey Brothers.