300gr Sierra Game King for Buffalo

[Webster]

Hi all
Is there anyone on the forum who has shot Buffalo with a 375 using Sierra 300gr GameKing bullets?

[Messor]

What are you up to :)

[458Exp]

I wouldn't

[Tetelestai]

Why? Why would you contemplate this?

[Messor]

I believe the american writer Craig Boddington shot a couple of buff with that combo no problem.

If one have to be honest the concept ain't all that weird, the little 375 put in the lungs will kill buff just as dead as anything else.
To be more blunt, the 375 with any bullet is not a charge stopper, that is why the PH is backing up with the big gauge.

Lately I have been reading a lot of articles about big animals and the 375, with whatever bullets.
It seems when the first shot is not an immediate kill, and the adrenaline kicks in, people just keep shooting bullets into animals.

I also remember an article Gregor Woods posted a while ago, in which he claims the 375 is just not enough gun, despite who likes it or not.
Despite whether people would prefer you hunting with something you can control or not.
If a 375 was enough gun all PH's would carry it as backup.

Which all and all makes THIS specific scenario not all that funny or unusual.
If you are going to hunt with the small gauge then concentrate on the first shot, despite what bullets you use.
And don't shoot the damn thing on the shoulder, shoot it top of the heart.

[TStone]

Hi all
Is there anyone on the forum who has shot Buffalo with a 375 using Sierra 300gr GameKing bullets?

An acquaintance killed a buffalo with a .300 Weatherby Magnum using a 180 gr Nosler Partition, another did the same using a .30-'06 using a Woodleigh 220 gr FMJ, both were one shot kills. My guide during a 2005 buffalo hunt in Mozambique used to shoot buffalo for rations for Renamo using a G3 7,62x51 and 143 gr FMJ ammunition, he killed more buffalo with this caliber than any of us will ever get to hunt. None of these caliber/bullet combinations are really suitable for hunting buffalo, neither are your suggested combination.
Will it work? If everything is perfect, yes.
Spend a little more money.
Buy a bullet that will work under most conditions, not just the perfect ones.

[A-R]

I have hunted a couple of warthog with a 300gn Sierra Game King bullet, loaded to 2400fps. That is a mild load. All the shots did produce exit wounds and all the hogs died from a single shot. So the load works. What bothered me is that when dressing out the hogs, I found a few of the nicely expanded jackets (no core) in the carcasses. So I would say that these bullets will most likely suffer from jacket-core separation in a buffalo. I would not consider them for this purpose.

Seeing that the 375 is generally regarded as a minimal calibre for buff, only premium bullets with proven terminal performance should be used. Monolithic and bonded bullets should be your first choices. With monolithics I would recommend not going to the heavier weights, but limiting bullet weight to around 270gn. This will ensure adequite stabilisation in the typical 1:12" barrel twist to produce deep and straight-line penetration.

[carlp]

If game kings is all I have, then yes.



But there is much better bullets out there for the job. BarnesX, Rhinos, Swift A-frames etc




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[pre 64]

A 300gr game king,ja it will work but your PH will not be too thrilled with your choice.
You would in all likelyhood be advised by your PH to load an expanding bullet for the first shot and solids thereafter if any follow up shot is required.
So,the choice of a Sierra would only be a small part of it....there are better bullets available.

Messor....As with most calibers there has been a tremendous improvement in bullet design and construction.A 380gr 'soft' .375 bullet has proved itself to be a reliable buffalo bullet.

Most of the older generation had reservations about the .375 on buffalo and most of the problems stemmed from the relatively high speed generated with the 300gr bullets available in the day.The major offerings with expanding bullets proved to be fragile and tended to break up while the solids were guilty of over penetration and resulted in the danger of wounding a second,unseen animal.

Would i have staked my life on a .375 50 years ago...no way..........would i today...sure.

Lions and leopards are soft,as in easier to kill than buffalo due to their size [leopard] and highly developed central nervous system [lions]..375 is perfect.
Hippo...lot of times they are taken in water where a well placed shot to the brain ends matters..375 is perfect.Same can be said for crocks.
Elephant..penetration is the name of the game..375 is perfect.Same can be said of rhino.
Buffalo..discussed in previous paragraph.
Plains game...375 is perfect.

Is there a place for the .375 in the DG world...yes.

Ph's back up rifle? I think that most PH's would be happy to carry one for the cats. I think that in the case of an elephant,buffalo or hippo charge most PH's would carry a 20mm cannon if they could.......obviously joking about that.

At the moment a .375 is the minimum caliber allowed in a lot of countries for DG.If a law had to come out stating that .375 is the maximum sized caliber allowed,i do not think that many PH's would lose any sleep about being forced to only use it.

Anyway enough of my mostly armchair opinions.

[pre 64]

Tstone..when battling for ammo over a good many years,thousands of buffalo were culled by the Rhodesian game department using 3006's and 220 gr solids.Same can be said for FN's with 143gr fmj's. Was interesting times.