gary reeder
pretty much ready for our Africa hunt next week.
Sunday, September 19, 2021, 13:48

I am waffling on the load for my 429 GNR. I have the gun scoped with an 8" barrel including muzzle brake. I have a batch of my favorite load ready to go but I am thinking of changing that. My current load is the load I have used for 35 years, Winchester 296 and the 210 grain silhouette bullet. I have taken dozens of large animals with that load and in most cases one shot each. The silhouette bullet acts like a solid and my gut is telling me that might zip thru the big cat without doing a lot of internal damage.
I am thinking a jacketed soft point bullet that expands would be better on a thin skinned animal like a lion. I think I will load up half and half and see which one the PH recommends for the big cat. 15 trips to Africa and I have never waffled so much on which loads would be best. Even for Cape Buffalo in 2018 I went with the 500 grain Dangerous Game Expanding bullet from Hornady and it did fine. On my most recent Cape Buffalo back in April due to all my guns being stolen I used a 454 I borrowed from Michael Mendes that had a 300 grain soft point loaded up and it worked perfect for the big buffalo.
Anyway, waffle waffle waffle. I think any of them will do if I put the bullet in the right spot.