Hornady 9.3 Cal DGS 300 gr on Buffalo?

[Sarg]

Has any body used this bullet on buffalo in the 9.3X62 or 9.3X64, I think I remember them or some thing like them failing on Buffalo in .375 H&H when my clients were using them on more than one occasion ?

I have the prospect of self guiding on a West African hunt & possible getting a permit for Dwarf Buff, main animals will be smaller & I didn't want to take my .458Win to use on them all, I have in the pass used it to good effect on all manner of game & might yet again.

Just checking some options, as not much available on the component front right now here in NZ .

 

[sgt_zim]

They had jacket separation issues in the past, but I understand they've fixed the problem.

That said, my preference would be SAF 286 or Oryx 285

Swift has them in stock: https://www.swiftbullets.com/pages/bullets

scroll down to the Heavy Rifle Bullets section.

Midway has Oryx for sale: https://www.midwayusa.com/bullets/br?cid=19785&Diameter=0.365+Inches

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I personally wouldn’t use any form of non expanding bullet ( in a caliber as small as 9.3mm ) on Cape buffalo.

The reason I don't recommend using solids ( in a 9.3mm caliber rifle ) against Cape Buffalo , is because it takes too long for the Cape Buffalo to die . Well , longer than a 9.3mm 286-293Gr ( or heavier ) premium soft point in the same caliber .

When you're taking body shots on any animal ( including Cape Buffalo ) , you're causing it's death by making holes in it's vital organs ( heart / lung region ) . The animal keeps losing blood until it hemorrhages and dies .

A 9.3mm caliber non expanding bullet leaves a wound cavity ( in the animal's vitals ) that's too small to quickly cause a Cape Buffalo to hemorrhage . You will eventually get it . But before it does , it either :
* Gives you one hell of a tracking job .
Or
* Gives you one hell of a time dodging charges

The first Cape Buffalo that I ever killed with a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum , was shot with one 300 Gr RWS TUG and five 300 Gr Remington round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids . I bungled up a perfectly good broadside double lung shot and managed to get only one lung with the 300 Gr RWS TUG . I then put five solids into the departing Buffalo's heart / lung region . He eventually went down after about 15 minutes ( give or take ) . Even though he had three Remington FMJ solids in his heart .

On a later safari … When I shot a Cape Buffalo with a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum , I loaded the entire magazine with Federal 300 Gr TBBC soft points . Used a heart shot behind the shoulder . That Cape Buffalo died very quickly .

In my experience, if you want to down Cape buffalo (employing body shots) with any caliber smaller than .450 bore … Then, premium grade expanding bullets are the only way to achieve wound cavities large enough to cause the animal to hemorrhage quickly.

If you want to use solids on a Cape Buffalo , then up your caliber to a point where the wound cavity can be made big enough by sheer bullet diameter ( like a .450 Dakota or .500 Jeffery or a .505 Gibbs ) . Of course , you still want to be careful . Cape Buffalo in South Africa are usually found in herds . You don't want over penetration , where you can hit an animal behind your intended target .

Today , I still think that ( regardless of caliber ) a premium grade soft point is the ticket for Cape Buffalo . I personally like the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullets in a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum . The Swift A Frame is pretty good ( but I haven't personally used it on Cape Buffalo ) . The South African Rhino Solid Shank is a VERY good Cape Buffalo bullet . Sadly , it's not available as loaded ammunition .

 

[IvW]

Cannot understand the need for a solid on buffalo especially dwarf buffalo.....
By all means carry a couple of proper brass meplat solids on the belt....

 

[Sarg]

Thank you @sgt_zim I thought we had a few that failed on some of our clients hunts, also as I said we don't have much to choose from here right now & nobody in the US will send any thing out side the US.

Great post @Hunter-Habib with lots of good information but nothing to do with what I was asking !

I never mentioned Cape Buffalo & wasn't asking about using solids on them or on any thing just if any body had & if these Hornady DGS or DGX had a history of failing as I remember some thing like that in the passed .

I'm likely to be encountering the much smaller Dwarf or Forest Buffalo as I said & Duiker, Red River hogs, Bushbuck .

I would be hoping to find some swift A frames for my first shot on some thing big, TBBC next & in a pinch X bullets if not those.

Been shooting Buffalo of all types for over 40yrs, some of that commercial meat shooting & guiding on hundreds after that, so I know what I'm doing .

 

[WAB]

My wife used our 9.3x62 with 286 gr A-Frames on her buffalo with great success. A beautiful shot that knocked it off it’s feet. It recovered, ran less than 100 yards and tipped over. I’m sure if you hunt around you can come up with some Oryx or A-Frames.

 

[Tanks]

I used DGX on buffalo and DGS on elephant last August with great results. I am sure they would work on the 9.3.

 

[IvW]

Thank you @sgt_zim I thought we had a few that failed on some of our clients hunts, also as I said we don't have much to choose from here right now & nobody in the US will send any thing out side the US.

Great post @Hunter-Habib with lots of good information but nothing to do with what I was asking !

I never mentioned Cape Buffalo & wasn't asking about using solids on them or on any thing just if any body had & if these Hornady DGS or DGX had a history of failing as I remember some thing like that in the passed .

I'm likely to be encountering the much smaller Dwarf or Forest Buffalo as I said & Duiker, Red River hogs, Bushbuck .

I would be hoping to find some swift A frames for my first shot on some thing big, TBBC next & in a pinch X bullets if not those.

Been shooting Buffalo of all types for over 40yrs, some of that commercial meat shooting & guiding on hundreds after that, so I know what I'm doing .

If that was the case you would not be asking about DGS.....

 

[Longwalker]

Sarg, you seem a little confused about the names DGS vs DGX. Are you sure you know the difference? Perhaps this explanation will help sgt_zim too.
Your question was about DGS ( "S" for SOLID). DGS is a full metal jacket bullet built for penetration and zero expansion. No lead exposed at the nose, Lead core, copper plated steel jacket. It is a bullet with a reasonable reputation and usually works as well as any other good quality standard steel jacket, lead core bullet.
The DGX ( X is for "eXpanding") is a different bullet. It is a soft point, lead core copper plated steel jacketed bullet. The first version of that DGX design was problematic, and there were many jacket/core separations and erratic performance in big game. Hornady fixed that problem a few years ago by bonding the DGX core to jacket.
I personally would not use the old DGX for anything larger than big antelope. The new version "DGX Bonded" is a reasonably good bullet and you should have satisfactory results on game up to the size of buffalo.
If you use the DGS, expect no expansion at all. If you use the DGX, make sure you choose the new bonded version and you should enjoy success.
And, c'mon fellas from the USA, someone from New Zealand is not able to buy bullets from USA stores!

 

[John Wasmuth]

As far as I know Hornady offers a 286 gr Expanding bonded bullet and a 300 gr rn DG Solid. The DGX does pretty good as far as I’ve been able to tell with the limited animals I’ve used it on. As far as failure goes it’s hard to say a bullet failed if it kills the animal you put it through….. going through heavy vertebrae and then busting into the cranial vault it left some tell tale pieces of lead and copper but still penetrated at minimum of 2 feet. Haven’t recovered what’s left of the bullet from the skull but I’ll eventually find it. Everything else has been through and through with enough tissue destruction to cause really quick deaths to whatever they hit. On the DGS I’m pretty sure they’ll just punch right through and unless you do CNS hits all you’ll have is .366 caliber holes with lengthy death times. I’ve got no complaints using Hornadys so far.

 

[Longwalker]

Well this certainly seems confusing. I was incorrectly thinking .375" when I wrote the previous answer. On looking at Hornady's on line catalogue, there is no DGX bonded 300 gr. bullet In 9.3MM. I don't think the Hornady 9.3mm 286 grain expanding bullet is bonded, it is the old "Interlock" and just a standard cup and core, with gilding metal jacket bullet. Nothing fancy, but Ok for smaller big game if not pushed too hard. So to be clear, Hornady makes the DGS solid in 9.3 but not the DGX. My apologies for the unclear post above.

 

[sgt_zim]

Well this certainly seems confusing. I was incorrectly thinking .375" when I wrote the previous answer. On looking at Hornady's on line catalogue, there is no DGX bonded 300 gr. bullet In 9.3MM. I don't think the Hornady 9.3mm 286 grain expanding bullet is bonded, it is the old "Interlock" and just a standard cup and core, with gilding metal jacket bullet. Nothing fancy, but Ok for smaller big game if not pushed too hard. So to be clear, Hornady makes the DGS solid in 9.3 but not the DGX. My apologies for the unclear post above.

I own Hornady IX, X, and XI. To my knowledge, they've never offered DGX in .366. They used to have a 250 gr GMX, but I see in their latest manual that it has been discontinued. And as I recall, the jacket separation was common to both DGS and DGX. One wonders how you could get that in a FMJ, but that's my recollection.

@John Wasmuth - their 286, which is very accurate out of my 9.3, has a mechanical "bond," not a chemical one like Swift or Norma. Probably not a big deal at 9.3x62 velocities, and probably unlikely to suffer core separation. I think there's nothing in NA I could hunt that would seriously challenge the integrity of it.

The only 250 gr I've ever shot out of mine was AccuBond. It took quite a lot of LD to actually find an accurate load. I just don't ever seem to have good luck with Nosler bullets. Took some effort to get a decent load with Partition 286, as well.

 

[John Wasmuth]

I have had less than great performance out of noslers except for their .224 BT 55 grain in a .22-250. Bigger bullets not so much. I’ve had good performance from 285 gr PPU at lower velocity but right now the hornadys are chronographed at 2550 on average and didn’t feel the need to slow them down and they are superbly accurate. Does the old interlock work? I suppose it does satisfactory since everything I’ve shot with it took one round and done.

 

[medvedhunting]

I own Hornady IX, X, and XI. To my knowledge, they've never offered DGX in .366. They used to have a 250 gr GMX, but I see in their latest manual that it has been discontinued. And as I recall, the jacket separation was common to both DGS and DGX. One wonders how you could get that in a FMJ, but that's my recollection.

@John Wasmuth - their 286, which is very accurate out of my 9.3, has a mechanical "bond," not a chemical one like Swift or Norma. Probably not a big deal at 9.3x62 velocities, and probably unlikely to suffer core separation. I think there's nothing in NA I could hunt that would seriously challenge the integrity of it.

The only 250 gr I've ever shot out of mine was AccuBond. It took quite a lot of LD to actually find an accurate load. I just don't ever seem to have good luck with Nosler bullets. Took some effort to get a decent load with Partition 286, as well.

my tests with hornady bullets did not work out very good and at least the milk jugs filled with water stopped very well that bullet ... and i have to say hornady was very hard to deal with as they thought i wanted some extra bullets lol ... while i wanted to report only the issues i had ...