I have been wanting to hunt nilgai in my home state of TX for several years. I have a 35 Whelen that is up to the task, but recently came upon some original 300-grain .358" Barnes bullets, from back when the company was still called Colorado Bullets. These things are supposedly a pure lead core with a .049" jacket.

I know all about the X bullet and its variations, but I refuse to believe a nilgai is all that hard to get a bullet into far enough to do real damage. My question is this: would you use them on nilgai or not, and if not, why not?

I would be happy to use that bullet on anything under a thousand pounds.

Absolutely. I rolled one at full gallop with my Whelen and the 250 Speer. Just saw rear legs flying in the air as it tumbled at the shot.

My question is this. What is the twist rate of your rifle's barrel? If you're shooting a stock Remington M700 or Ruger M77, the twist rate will be 1 in 16" which is way too slow to stabilize those bullets. If your gun is a custon, it may have a 1 in 14" or 1 in 12" twist or maybe even a 1 in 10" twist. Then again it might be a 1 in 16" twist as well. My thoughts are if a 1 in 14" twistm aybe but marginal and preferably a 12" or 10" would be the way to go. I hear Kimber and Nosler are making a few rifles in the Whelen but I don't know what twist rate. Not even sure where one could find load data. All I have for heavier bullets is for the 275 gr. Hornady RN which they discontinued back in, IIRC 1965 or so.
My choice for Nilgai would be the 225 gr. Barnes TSC over (work up to it very carefully) 60.4 gr. of RL15. That load shoots three bullets into .50 to .75" depending on how well I'm shooting on any particular day and velocity is right at 2710 FPS. I hvaen't shot a Nilgai but I know for sure that load really hammers elk.
Paul B.

Pure custom, with a 1 in 12" twist. I wasn't worried about stabilizing the bullet, I was worried about penetration, as all I have ever read and heard regarding nilgai is that their hide is particularly thick...

I have some of the Barnes 225-grain TSX bullets, and they shoot well. I just thought it might be kind of cool to shoot a big game animal with what might be somewhat of an "old school" projectile.

quote:

. I just thought it might be kind of cool to shoot a big game animal with what might be somewhat of an "old school" projectile.

Through the sixties I used Fred's "old school" projectiles with nary a failure on game to the size of elk. If memory serves correctly the lightest bullet was a 6.5 156gr psp.
The bullet you're talking about in the 35 Wehlen should be a near perfect match for that big nilgai. roger

I wouldn't be surprised if Barnes would be able to give you a headstart on data if you need it. They have always been incredibly helpful whenever i email with questions.

I have the first Barnes reloading manual. I am working in Nebraska now and all my stuff is in Texas, but if memory serves the manual has load data for the Whelen, and it includes data for the "Barnes Originals"...

Doubless:

The Hodgdon manual #26 (1992) has 35 Whelen data for 300 gr. bullets with a bakers dozen powders. Velocities run from about 2100 to 2260 fps with a 24" barrel. BL-C(2) and RL 15 were the velocity champs, with W748 a close runner up.

Cheers, Al

Al, I have an eight-lb jug of BLC-2 sitting back in Texas, and I think I have that Hodgdon manual as well. Thanks for the tip!