Has anyone heard anything definite about the availability of Trophy Bonded bullets from Federal( particularly large bore) for handloaders? The last I heard was that the representatives from Federal said they would be available in 2002. The safari season is almost upon us so we need them soon!

Graf & Sons has a listing for "Trophy Bonded Bullets by Speer" showing Bear Claws.

Check them out at http://www.grafs.com/shopVendorCategories.cfm?vendorID=118

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

George - Great link but look at the availability - Nothing In Stock! According to Graf & Sons, Federal/Speer is going to make available Trophy Bonded bullets. I spoke with Speer this morning - they are still non-committal on offering bulk Trophy Bonded bullets to the general public. They say that they intend on offering the bulk bullets, but have no idea on when. They suggested that we call back after March. I guess we continue to wait or find suitable alternatives.

Jhaney - I would suggest Woodleigh softs and solids as an alternative to TB. Both perform extremely well in the field and their bullets are IN STOCK TODAY at http://www.huntingtons.com/Bullet-Woodleigh.html . If you had time, you may wish to consider GS Custom bullets at http://gscustom.co.za/ . - however shipping from RSA seems to take a minimum of 10 weeks. Many report excellent results with GS in the field. Ray has some experience with them...

[This message has been edited by Zero Drift (edited 01-14-2002).]

Thanks, ZD. I hadn't checked availability as I am a committed fan of Swift A-Frames .

When hunting-pictures comes back online, I will post a photo of what happened to a 500gr. Woodleigh soft when it met my Tanzania buff. The results aren't very pretty!!

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

GeorgeS - I am not a big fan of softs and buff. Too easy to bury one in the shoulder. Likewise, I have never had a solid fail me.

Please post your picture when you can. Thanks

ZD,
I just fired three, 300gr. Swifts into (and through) a buff in Tanzania from my .375 (at a distance of 50-60yds).

My first buff, in Zimbabwe, took a 300gr. Swift from the same rifle through the front leg bone, center-punched the heart, and broke the off-shoulder.
This was at a distance of 20 yards, after the bullet had traveled through a 3" sapling halfway between the buff and myself (it was behind the vertical cross-hair and I never saw it!).
I have the recovered bullet at home somewhere, and as I recall, it still weighed about 90% of its original weight.
These Swifts are the only "soft" I'd use on buffalo after the Woodleigh experiment. I have some 500gr. Barnes XLCs I'm going to try in my .470 Capstick; if I can't get them to shoot worth a damn, I might try them on someting like a hippo or a bait buffalo.

I like solids too: I use the Hornady 300gr. FMJRN in my .375s, and the Woodleigh 500gr. FMJRN in my .470 Capstick. I've never had one fail, either, but they don't wreck the lungs like the Swift does.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

George, please give us a description of how these (woodleigh) bullets performed/failed...you have me intrigued by your

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God Bless and Shoot Straight

Federal/Speer are losing customers because of the delay. Now that I have developed loads for GS Custom FN solid bullets there is no reason why I would switch back to Trophy Bonded even if they do become available.

I would submit the sheer practicality of having the TBs built in the USA by a major factory operation compared to mail order from GS in RSA will be a very strong argument.

So far I have had one of my RSA outfitters be the mule once a year for GS bullets coming this way. In the past I was taking him TBs when they were available in bulk.

It is enough of a pain getting magazines from Southern Africa...jim dodd

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"if you are to busy to
hunt, you are too busy."

444,

The Woodleigh solids performed beautifully on the buff, punching great big .475 holes in both sides and everything in the middle

The WeldCore penetrated the near side, hit the spine, flattened out, and stopped. We recovered it, and it weighed 182.0grs. of the original 500grs. for a weight retention of 36.4%.

Again, when hunting-pictures comes back on line, I'll post pics. If you like, I can e-mail them to you when I get home.

George
P.S. Bullet velocity was 2380fps at the muzzle, and the buff was about 50 yds. away.

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

Do the Bear Claws have any advantages over the North Forks?

I know the Bear Claws have an outstanding reputation that has been built over decades, I've always wanted to try them but never got around to it.

But since they aren't available and the North Fork bullets are, it seems like a no brainer.

Has anybody used both?

Ray Atkinson probably has.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

For what it's worth I had a 400gr Swift AF in .416 come apart on a buff in Tan. this year. Search the African Hunting section under my user name and look for the post "Swift A-Frame on Buff?". Broke the near sholder cut a large hole in the heart and flattened on the far side ribs. Extruded the rear core out the back of the bullet and totally flattened. I really wish Win. made the "Fail Safe" bullet in .416 cal. I really like that rear cup and closed rear end. Next time I will try some sort of soft on top and solids in the mag...

I am about to give up on getting GSC bullets!

As HunterJim said above, I concur.

If you can make do with the available calibers in Trophy Bonded, North Fork, Swift, Woodleigh, or if the Barnes X-Bullet/XLC/Solid will shoot in your gun ... I will be using these if I can get a reliable supply line, and if they shoot well in the particular gun.

Good bullets all IMHO. If one cannot reliably get the GSC ...

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Happiness is a warm double and a bloody spear.
RAB