Well its night here and im an study mood. What bullets weights and bullet construction do you guys like for hunting Waterbuffalo, wild boar, Cebues and other big game in Argentina and i must say Uruguay also....

I was thinkin of Woodleighs, Swifts, TBBC, Rhino, Barnes and others.

What is your choices and what has worked and what hasnt worked on your gran caza viaje, muchacho Cazadores ?

(Thank lord for Internet dictionarys...)

All mentioned are more than good enough for any critter down here ... about their ideal weight we should consider the caliber of your choice ...

For Water Buffalo & / or Cebues I would reccomend at least a .375 or its european (continental ) historical competitor, the 9,3 (either 9,3x62 or if you have an express the 9,3x74 ) ... for any other possible prey any medium bore should be more than enough, of course if you do your own part...

The main hunting cartridge here is the .308 W ... it has hunted everything, as well as had left many wounded animals (you know, bullet placement is "almost" all what is needed) .... my favourite bullet for this caliber is the Sierra GK 165 grs BTHP

Which are your own possibiities?

oopss ... deleted since it was a duplicated post . Sorry

Out of all the rifles I own (some 15 rifles) my all time favourite hunting rifle is a Remington Custom Shop (mountain rifle) in .375 H&H ... now I am getting quite fond of my Marlin 1895SS in 45/70 gov ... this last one is nowadays my primary choice when hog hunting concerns ... but actually I tend to give a different rifle an extensive use for rather medium periods of time (should say I use mainly one rifle for some two years, trying to get my best out of it )

I do my own reloads, but lately no proper gunpowder nor ideal bullet can be found in Argentina, so we have to deal with what we have - and try to compensate this lack of quality in the components available by improving our own hunting skills (that's shorter shots made and better placed)...

In fact I tend to realize that almost ever something good can be achieved or enjoyed from a bad experiece or situation ... well, that' s not me, just therapy consequences ...

oommmm oommm oooommm... shanti, shanti

I have had good results in my .308 with handloaded Barnes 165 grain TSX. My rifle is a Remington Custom Shop Model 7, with a rather short barrel, thus limiting velocity a bit. But it works and works well.

In recent years I have become quite fond of the 45-70 which, in my opinion, and respecting distance limitations, will kill anything in South America. Favorite load - handloads using Nosler 300 grain partitions. For a big buffalo I would probably go with one of Randy Garrett's 420 grain loads. With bigger animals velocity is not the key. Accuracy and penetration come first. And the above two cartridge choices have taken American bison as well as Muskox.

Having said all that, the .375 H&H is unbeatable.

Im thinking also the 375, is a one riflebattery, but since the 404 is standing here, looking cheerfull, i think that one is my ticket to go on hunting.

Since that has 300 grain and up to 450 grain ammo loaded in various types.

Over here FMJ bullets arnt allowed on hunting, you must use an expanding type bullet of minimum 6.5x55 with an 140 grain bullet in weight.

But also the 458 is an fine rifle for big game, and for an relatively unexperienced hunter like me, bigger bullet with good shot placement gives confidence and certanity for future hunting. When i get more experinced ill use lower ranging cartridges.

I hardly know you, so please don't take this personally, cause almost surely it won't have anything to do with you...

But generally speaking, if you allow me to tell you what I think, my own opinion is that confidence is given by how much we can effectively trust our own abilities when needed...and these abilities mean not only which weapon one might be using at that moment, but also comprehend the sum of all previous experiences out of which we can apply certain given knowledgment given to some analogic situation previously learned, that will make us act properly, or at least in the most effective way given that special situation ... so our abilities are in constant growht ...

And that the logical path to master any big bore usually is to start mastering the smaller ones, and from that stage start increasing the steps to bigger calibers... master the proper shooting technique and you will master any cartridge, perhaps some ones might be more pleasant to shoot than others, but you will master any of them...

Lower ranging calibers does not neccesary means smaller bullets, but I think that I understood what you meant .... in fact I might suggest you that if you want to gain experience in the hunting field perhaps a medium bore might be a more suitable selection, because it will obligue you to emphasize you to develop your hunting skills ...

I think that a good hunter needs not only to be at least an average shooter, but also know perfectly everything related to his prey (vitals, inhabitats, social behaviours, etc) aswell as knowing how to move himself in that mentioned inhabitat ...

Believe me, as hunting concerns, we are always learning something ... enjoy that teaching and I assure you that you will always enjoy hunting, even if (or I should better say specially when) that given hunt finishes without harvesting any prey ... as Ortega y Gasset wrote: we kill in order to hunt, but we don't hunt in order to kill ... enjoy the whole procedure, not only the result !!

I started with 22s 22 years ago in shooting, then 6,5s , 30-06, 308, 8x57, 300 win, 450 ne, 358 NOrma Magnum and now 404 Jeffery , which is the newest type of gun im learning to shoot.

But i agree with you on that , that a beginner starts with medum bore on hunting, but when i started to get to hunt, i didnt get out on hunting, all the hunting teams up here was filled of old men and their relativces or Party comrades (Tryisil is very strong Labour Party county)

So when i got the chance to hunt some years ago i had progressed to bigger bore, and now this season im going to use the 358 and 404 on hunting, becasue they shoot well and dont kick that much.

With the new recoil pad on the 358 it feels like an 30-06 in recoil.


Some people thinks im a loonie in using the big bores on hunting, but thats is just to be certain on an good shot and getting the game down more faster.

And they ask "why dont you like the 6,5x55 mm round" and i say it dont give me anything, its perfect for target shooting, but on hunting, minimum 250 grain bullet for my choice.

Capt Jan Ã…kerman ,. Swede said that an beginnershould use the biggest possible round he could use on hunting to get confidence on the couple of years of for instance moose hunting, he preferred the 10,75x68 after the rookie had gotten enough practice with medium bore rounds.

So for me he was right.

Its with women like calibers, ther`s plenty of them and lots of different uses.

quote:

Originally posted by mr rigby:
(...)
Its with women like calibers, ther`s plenty of them and lots of different uses.

That's right !!! And so we have blondes, brunettes and red haired women to exercise our hunting abilities !!!

quote:

Originally posted by Afrikaander:

quote:

Originally posted by mr rigby:
(...)
Its with women like calibers, ther`s plenty of them and lots of different uses.

That's right !!! And so we have blondes, brunettes and red haired women to exercise our hunting abilities !!!

But with women, recoil and muzzle blast is not a big problem, and if one of them causes you to develop a flinch, it is easy to go on to the next one.

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:

quote:

Originally posted by Afrikaander:

quote:

Originally posted by mr rigby:
(...)
Its with women like calibers, ther`s plenty of them and lots of different uses.

That's right !!! And so we have blondes, brunettes and red haired women to exercise our hunting abilities !!!

But with women, recoil and muzzle blast is not a big problem, and if one of them causes you to develop a flinch, it is easy to go on to the next one.

Back to the topic, gentlemen

A few years ago I provided a buddy of mine who lives in southern Brazil with a medium-bore rifle to be used on boar hunting. It was a CZ, which now is mounted with a Kahles 3-12x56 for night hunting, and with the rifle went a few hundred bullets - Hornady 180gr SP spitzers - which he used and was happy.

Some later, though, he got his hands on a few dozens of Barnes-X - also 180-grainers - and began to use them on hunting. Well, he fell in love with them, and uses to call them for "boar-destroyers". Much better terminal ballistics, better penetration and killing power. Now he's stuck with them and don't want anything else...

Since I also have used them on European big game to my full satisfaction, I share his view.

Shotgunner: I don´t find any need for superpremium bullets in boar hunting or little deer. I used only Hornady 180 grain SP in my 300 Winchester and made always one shot kills. Never recovered a bullet and the exit wounds were enormous, by the way. Besides, the Hornadys are more accurate than the Barnes.
Regards

Is there any hunting in brazil now these days besides when the Carneval is on?

I know there has been much fine hunting there before like the Red Waterbuffalo and wild boar , Jaguar and much more.

Up here many premium bullets are used since we hunt for the meat and compared with the meat price the bullet price is low.

I havent used barnes X that much as they have behaved bad in an 30-06 i had, but as the diamter rises the Barnes gets better and better to use.

So i`m going to get some Barnes TSX in 358 caliber, and 404 to try them.

Mr. Rigby: as far as I know, no hunting is allowed for foreigners in Brazil. Perhaps other members could offer more detailed info.

@nainital: In my buddys rifle, the Barnes-x produced under MOA-groupings, similar to the Hornadys. Besides, boar hunting is seldom done at extreme distances - most of the shots, as you know, are fired at under 100 yards, so the maximal accuracy is not a point.

@mr.rigby: Well, hunting in Brazil is just now sort of a bureaucratic adventure. Officially, thanks to a leftwinged government and the heavy lobbying of animal rights groups, hunting is forbidden in the whole country. Nobody cares, so poaching is a very popular sport. But far in the south the wild boars are getting more and more and causing substantial crop damage, so the government agencys (IBAMA) were more or less forced to allow boar hunting in a very restrict form. Looooooots of paperwork...

But the piggies grow quite big, I know from a few who tipped the scale at over 160kg. Even my friend shot quite a few far over 100kg, and with this sizes, a premium bullet is simply more reliable to penetrate deeply. Of course, a simple bread-and-butter softpoint will do the job most of the time, but there can always be a borderline situation.

For foreigners, though, hunting in Brazil is nowadays as good as impossible, and taking a gun with you on traveling into Brazil is only recommendable for masochists who don't like their guns. They will almost surely be confiscated and you'll never see them again.

Thats typical for an paranoid goverment, decrease civillian weaponry becasue its "dangerous" but the goverment must have so much weapons itself.

Over here it will be an weapon wardrobe next year consisting of 8 weapons, but not all can be eithrer big bore or small bore, the Police department think its to much Big Bore guns and they want to see an ticket confirmation if you are going abroad for an trip on hunting. but that is one Police weapon license office, my office is ok, as its located in an area with much various hunting and shooting.

But in Oslo, if you have an match rifle in 6,5m mand you apply for an hunting rifle in 6,5 , you probably wont get it because you have one rifle that can handle that business already.

Buts its an difference on 12 punds and 7-8 pounds in an rifle.

Also they have the same rule in Oslo about 308 and 30-06 also...

So things are happening over here, and we are fighting it, but not many enough are that.

Rumors of antihunters and corrupted police are out. There must be something special there since some of them behave like they do.

Or ignoprance and being not shooter, and don`t know anything about their job can be an factor also.

I`didnt know that Brazil had had hunting before i read Capstick and NicKudu files on the Marajo "Marauder" Red Waterbuffalo. But unfortunately since the situation is like it is today, no fine hunting trip for Senhor`s abroad can be found for them.

Plus relaxing on the Carneval afterwards would be a fine way to get the swamaps out of your mind.....

Back to topic, what bullet type was preferred on the marajo buffalo, and what bigbore rifle was mostly liked there. I have gotten an mail from an Australian outfitter and he prescribes for the Water buffalo, the heaviest big bore rifle cartridge with the heavier for caliber premium bullet you can shoot good.

quote:

Originally posted by mr rigby:
Back to topic, what bullet type was preferred on the marajo buffalo, and what bigbore rifle was mostly liked there. I have gotten an mail from an Australian outfitter and he prescribes for the Water buffalo, the heaviest big bore rifle cartridge with the heavier for caliber premium bullet you can shoot good.

"..... you can shoot good." Outfitters want to be sure you can make a quick kill. But I have a pal who lives in Australia who does well on these buffs with a 7mm Mag. I would opt for more, and would be more than pleased using my 45-70 loaded with Garrett ammo, or even my handloaded 300 grain Noslers, if the shot was relatively close, or my .375.

We have been experimenting a lot in buffalo shooting ,indeed we killed many many buffalos with everything including revolvers and bow and arrow.In our latest safari SGraves have had excelent results with bronze bullets and nosler partition in 3 big buffalos the bronze points were norfolks .Ishooted all the garrets that Bill Berlat gave to me with incredible results in my marlin guide gun 4570 i stopped several charges with cebues and buffalos ,one of the bullets have the entrance in the chest cavity and the bullet traveled all the body breacking the back vertebra and leaving a great hole inthe back of the animal THATS GARRETS ARE GREAT FOR BUFFALO THANK YOU BILL.Juan

Juan, which Garrett ? Do you mean the Tungsten bullet ?

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Juan, which Garrett ? Do you mean the Tungsten bullet ?

Mete. As I recall they were Garrett's 420 grain hardcast, 1650 fps, and not the +P's. Garrett is tops.