Hello. I'm working up some 180 grain reloads for hunting plains game in Africa. Does anyone have any loads that have performed well and what powder and bullets did you use. I'm leaning toward Barnes bonded or XXX. Any information would be welcome and appreciated.

Welcome,

You will get better answers if you add what cartridge you plan on using.

As to the Barnes it will work but in my opinion is not needed for the majority of plains game. A simple accubond worked well for me.

Welcome to the forum.

Give us a but more information about the rifle you plan on using.

I've used Barnes TSX and the old Nosler Partition Golds in 180 grains. As well as the 140 grain Nosler Partitions, but kinda hard to answer your questions without knowing which cartridge you plan on using.

Thanks,

I guess the cartridge would be helpful. I am going to be using the 300 Winchester Mag. Thanks

For the 300mag I use RL22 and 7828 and the 180 Accubond. Same loads with a minor tweek work for the Part as well. Pretty much what Nosler calls max load. I do load about a gr or 2 over the nosler book max with my lott of RL22

With a 300 win mag in Africa, I'd go with a 200 grain bullet. You cross that magical .300 SD line, I believe .301 with a 200 gr 30 cal bullet.

Here's what I have used for plainsgame in RSA:

165 gr Aframes in a 308 Win (my son), 300 gr Aframes in 375 H&H
200 Gr Accubonds in a 8x57, 260 Gr Accubonds in a 375 H&H
180 Gr Sciroccos in a 300 RUM

The Aframes and Sciroccos held together significantly better than the Accubonds. All animals were dead, though.

I'm in the process of selecting bullets for a 300 Weatherby. I'm going to test 200 gr Aframes, Northforks, and Woodleighs.

And if they made 200 gr Sciroccos, I'd probably load them.

I just don't think Accubonds are that tough. Accurate, yes. Shoot 1/2" or better in my 8x57 with a 20" barrel with a 1916 receiver that doesn't even had lapped lugs or any other tuning besides a properly installed barrel.

R.S.

I used 180gr Nosler Partitions with a near max load of H4831SC out of my .300WM. Had very good results, remember shot placement is king!

Best of luck
Carl

My current load for my 300 WM is using a 180 gr Barnes TSX in front of IMR7828. To date this load has taken the following: 2 kudu, black wildebeest, blesbok, common duiker, mountain reedbuck, scimitar horned oryx, blackbuck and 2 bull elk. Of these, only the scimitar and blesbuck required a secondary shot. This load has performed very well for me. I'll be using it again in Africa next year!

Thanks for all the suggestions as they help validate the loads I have been considering.
For cjw3, can you tell me what bullet design you use? spitzer, boat tail etc.
Thanks

R.S.

The Partitions come in a Spitzer or a Protected Point, have a look at their web site, download the catalog. I believe the two are the same shape with the Protected Point's exposed lead tip having a small flat area and not pointed like the Spitzer.

I used the Protected Point, this allowed me to seat the bullet out just a bit more and still get it to fit in the magazine of my rifle.

Best of luck, have fun, be safe.

Carl

It goes a little further than calibre and bullet weight, I'm afraid. Where exactly are you going to be hunting, and what game are you after? These factors will make a BIG difference to the best bullet weight / design to use, especially in a calibre as versatile as the 300 Win Mag.