quote:

Originally posted by graybird:
Jason,

I was curious what your results were going to be. I just returned yesterday from a 14 day safari myself. I got to see some SST and cup and core bullets in action from other members of my party.

One guy accidentally packed some 55 gr varmint bullets for his 243 and didn't realize his mistake until he got to Cape Town for some site seeing before his hunt started. So, he picked up some 95 gr SST bullets, which were all that we're available. He wounded an impala. During the subsequent follow up the impala was taken down with an SST to the neck at 100 yards. The SST bullet didn't exit the neck and the core had separated from the cup being found on the opposite side against the skin. We also got a chance to cull a few impala which an impala was hit squarely on the shoulder, broadside at 40 yards. An hour of searching later with 3 dogs and 11 guys, not a single drop of blood was found. These results once again confirm my previous thoughts on the SST bullet. Probably fine for punching paper or varmints.

The other guy was shooting a 308 Win with 150 gr Remington Core-Lokts. First day out, shot a blue wildebeest 4 times but still never recovered the animal. Little blood was found and the dogs eventually lost the track. Fast forward a couple days and a kudu bull was shot at 110 yards squarely in the should as the impact was witnessed thru the binos by the PH. Once again a few drops of blood but no recovered kudu. The only animals recovered that we're shot via this combination were two impala and a warthog. This makes me suspect the issues were with animals size and sufficient penetration. The two larger animals were not recovered while the three small animals were.

This reiterates the need to use properly constructed bullets. The cost of a bullet when going on an expensive trip should never be a hindrance in the grand scheme of a safari in my opinion.

I hope you had a great time!!!