When you are hunting tough critters like buffalo and bison it’s important to realize that your rifle bullet has a big and important job to do. The bullet has to drive through heavy muscle and massive bones in order to get to the vitals of the animal and put it on the ground. When you’re talking about an animal that weighs somewhere around 1800 pounds, you should realize that this is not an easy thing to do. And you should further realize that those lightly-constructed bullets that were designed for hunting thin-skinned game are not going to be up to the task.

The bullets pictured above are 350 gr. Barnes TSX bullets fired from a .375 H&H into the shoulder of a massive Australian buffalo. You will notice the the bullet tips have the classic mushroom so important for effective tissue damage, while the base of the bullets are long and have held their shape. This is important for getting the necessary penetration. This is exactly the kind of performance that is needed when you go up against the big boys.

Unfortunately, not every bullet that is advertised as a “Dangerous Game Bullet” is going to perform as needed. To date, I have had very good luck with the Barnes TSX bullets. I’ve had almost as good results from the Swift A-frame and the Woodleigh. When you are going up against the big critters, the kind that can fight back, it is critical to use premium bullets that are truly designed for the task.

For further information on bullets for the tough guys, I recommend that you get a copy of “Dangerous-Game Rifles,” by Terry Wieland. Wieldand’s book has several chapters on big game bullets and Wieland knows what he is talking about. It will be time and money well spent.

Robert Ruark said that you should “Use Enough Gun.” And to that I would add you should also Use Enough Bullet!