I am having trouble loading a good group using Swift A Frames or Trophy Bonded Bear Claws (2 1/2 inch groups). The rifle will shoot 3/4 inch groups with a non premium bullet such as Hornady but I will be hunting Eland, Sable, Waterbuck, Zebra etc. as well as Leopard so I wanted to use a premium bulet to be ready for that eland walking back from the Leopard blind. Any suggestions for a proven tough bullet that will group well?

CFA

You might try the Northfork.

I also had accuracy (and pressure) issues with Trophy Bondeds and A-Frames in the past in .308 and .350RM rifles (2-3" groups at 100 yards), so I went back to the tried and true Nosler Partitions and never looked back.

My latest outing was with a 9.3x62 and 286-grain NPs at 2335 fps. They were the Hammer of Thor on the sable, waterbuck, and impala I shot. All dropped in their tracks, with the exception of one waterbuck, and it only made 20 yards. Distances were 60 to 200+ yards. Off the bench I was getting 0.5" groups at 100 yards.

Another guy on this hunt was using a .30-06 with 220-grain Nosler Partitions at 2300 fps, if I recall correctly. It also killed with great efficiency. He cleanly took steenbok, impala, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, kudu, and zebra (and maybe more) with one-shot kills, but not leopard, eland, sable, or waterbuck. I have no doubt, however, that with proper shot placement a 220 NP will do the job on those as well.

Midway has Woodleigh 180gr .308 on sale for less than $12/box. I tried them im my 300 H&H and was pleased with the accuracy but the acid test will be on Namibian plains game this September. You may want to give them a try. Bob

I had the same problem with 180 grain Swift A Frames in my M70. I checked the freebore and found I had almost 3/8". I lengthend the magazine to allow seating the bullets at 3.475" AOL. I also had to file the extractor an equal amount to assure extraction.

I tried R22, and increased the load until I got to 3160 FPS. As the velocity increased, the groups reduced in size. At 3160 the groups are 3/4".

I tried this loading solution after checking the Reloading Pages on this site.

I have had uncommonly good luck in terms of accuracy and terminal performance out of the 180 gr. Nosler Partition, particularly the Protected-Point, in the .300 Win. Mag. I load them to just under 3100 fps. and I zero for 250 yds.



A couple of years ago, I used my .300 Win. loaded with Protected-Point Partitions on everything from Damaraland dik dik to Cape eland in Namibia, and I'm likely to use the same rifle and load in RSA this season. It just-plain works.........



Another wonderful .300 Win. Mag. bullet you might try that has also served me very well in Africa is Winchester's 180 gr. Fail-Safe. If your rifle shoots it well (my current rifle won't), you've got what may well be the ultimate .300 Winchester bullet for all-around African plainsgame hunting.



AD

The Swifts and trophy bonded don't have a very good reputation for accuracy, and that has been attributed to the soft copper jackets they have...

I have found Noslers to be my favorite plainsgame bullet and I like the heavier Noslers for the caliber I am shooting...They have always been very accurate in all my guns. Northforks are a great bullet as are the Woodleighs..These three have been my choices when the chips are down...

The Swifts are a good bullet on big heavy stuff like Buffalo but I found them lacking on plainsgame, they expand into a nice smooth round ball as opposed to a ragged set of wings like a Woodleigh, and do not do the internal damage I like in a bullet and on more than one ocassion they have failed to leave a good blood trail..The Sirocco may negate that problem????

My .300 Win mag likes North Forks and Nosler Partitions and will punish me with large groups if I shoot anything else. RL-22 powder and Fed 210M primers give me approx 3100 fps and lethal Deer and Elk loads indeed. Good shooting.

CFA,

H-1000, Fed215M, Fed cases and the SAF's have worked very well for me. That load gives sub MOA in my 300 Win. Mag. at 3150 real FPS. I've shot everything from whitetails to lions with it.

In some rifles the SAF comes to pressure quicker than other bullets because of the somewhat "sticky" nature of the jacket material.

As for the recommendation of the NP's I personally can't say enough good about them. They have always worked exceedingly well for me in every caliber I used them in. If you have a load with the NP you need not look further. Particularly since you mentioned leopards and eland the NP would be ideal. You have the explosive initial expansion for a quick kill on the leopard and the very deep penetration for eland.

For me an accurate load with either the NP or the SAF would cover about all the bases.

Regards,

Mark

I tend to lump calibers into 30 and under and 338and over for reloading purposes. I use Nosler Partitions almost exclusively in the 30 and under category. The A-Frames, Failsafes, Trophy Bondeds, etc. seem to come into their own in the larger calibers. You might take a peak at the newer Barnes Ring-Tailed (Triple Shock X) bullets. They are more accurate for me than the older X bullets. I haven't used them on game yet so I can't say how good their terminal ballistics are.

Try the barnes. i have the triple shock and blue meanies i will be useing in my .300 winmag model 70.The swift scirrico is another good bullet. For factory loads, the speer nitrex shot great.

Thanks to everyone for your replies, they have been very helpful. Good to find information on actual bullet peformance on the specific game you are going after. I had wanted to consider Nosler Partition but my PH had a client have one blow up on the leopards shoulder and did not penetrate, but from what has been said that must have been a freak. If I cannot find a way to make the TBBC work I will try the Nosler.

CFA

For the 180 grain NP try H-4831, IMR 7828, or Ramshot Magnum.
For the 200 grain NP try H-1000, IMR 7828, or Ramshot Magnum.
RL 22 is an accurate powder with the 200 grain NP, but its pressure and velocity vary a lot as the temperature changes. A nice load worked up at 70 degrees can stick at 107 degrees. IMR 7828 varies also, but not as much.
Winchester Magnum Primers or Federal 215M's will see you right in the ignition department.

Everybody is recommending the NPs and such and I can attest that they are great bullets. However, my 1st choice for every animal on your list is the old tried and true Hornady I-Lock 180 gr flat bottom. One shot kills on everything, including a Kudu at 25 feet, out of my 300 Win in front of 76gr H4831. Flat and accurate in my rifle. Give it a whirl. You gonna like it.

I loaded 180 gr. Barnes XFB with 73 gr. of R22. They worked great on zebra, kudu, wildebeast and others. I was able to get them to group at 5/8" - 3/4". I wouldn't hesitate to use them again for eland and leopard.

You might try the new Nosler AccuBond. I found the 200 gr. Accubond to be the most accurate bullet I've ever used in my .300 Weatherby. In my case, using RL22 powder, I found that accuracy increased as the powder charge/pressure/velocity increased.

I have not used this bullet on game so I can't speak from personal experience on that question, but from what others have written about it here, it seems to be excellent.

I've used on African plainsgame, with utmost success in my Ruger KM77RSP in .300WM the BArnes XLC at 3200 fps. Everything went down with one shot... boring performance.

But, after returning home, I switched to the Fail Safe's, the net result is similar one-shot kills with excellent accuracy, something the Barnes bullets denied me for a long time.

Hope it helps!

PS: charge is 80.0 gr RL22, OAL, 3.370", WLMR, Win cases