Hunting Report - 300 PRC in the field

I was able to hunt a Nilgai bull and Axis buck using a Bergara Premier Highlander in 300 PRC topped with a Swarovski Z8i 1.7-13.3x42 4A-IF reticle. The brake is American Precision Arms.

The loads were 77.5 gr RETUMBO with Hornady 212 ELD-X bullets. These were running 2848 FPS.

To avoid those who do not like to read:

The 300 PRC is now my favorite 30 magnums. I have quite a few 30 magnums so I say this from experience.

The 300 Win (or short mag) and 300 WBY will do the business. There is no arguing this. But they are limited to the size of bullet and speed you can get from them. Love it or hate it, they also have a belt. They come with a lot of recoil as most of the rifles for them are not threaded for brakes.

The 300 PRC allows larger bullets with better BCs to be loaded out farther (think 6.5 Creedmoor on steroids). This allows more powder, larger and longer bullets. This results in more speed and kinetic energy at greater distance. I have an African trip set up for 2022 and this will be the rifle I will take.

Right now the manufacture's offering rifles for 300 PRC is limited and they are semi to full custom. But, just like the 6.5 CM there will be manufactures producing $500 rifles and I predict this round will be the 300 Mag version of the 6.5 CM. It will be the new darling in the next 18 months.

THE HUNTS:

The hunt was over a 3 day period with morning and evening stalking hunts. The game was plentiful, but the target as always were not. It's amazing when you are hunting a certain animal, that you see everything you're not hunting.

This Axis buck was shot at around 100 yards. It was facing way from me and was paying attention to a doe in heat. We were able to close the distance along a tree line until we got a 1/4 broadside shot. It was a double lung pass through and the bullet was not recovered. The lungs were literally destroyed in a soup of lung meat. The animal dropped it's rear upon impact. It tried to get up and rolled over dead. This old boy was a battler. He had lost the vision in one eye due to fighting. He had old and new scares all over him. He was still keeping his ladies though. (ah..some of you are wondering, 34 and some change)

The Nilgai bull presented a greater challenge. The mature bull we were hunting was proving to be very elusive. Day one we couldn't find a Nilgai anything to say our lives. At the very end of daylight we were able to spot 3 very young bulls on a hill top around 600ish yards away. We marked the spot and decided to glass the next day. We searched the morning and were only able to find Nilgai cows. Just after lunch we spotted the same 3 young bulls on the hill side this time. As we were watching them we notices the old bull come into view 1/2 way over the crest of the hill top. There was one crooked tree limb for reference and we decided to close the distance. The problem was that there were only two mesquite and oak tree out crops. We could get to the 380ish yard mark and then close the last 180 giving me a 200 yard shot. The shot angle increased as we moved forward. Finally at the second tree group I was able to set up on some the shooting sticks. At this point I could only see around 8" of the bull's top line. It was enough for a lung shoulder shot, but the angle was going to run the bullet up rather than straight through. At the angle he was at there was going to be a slight front to rear bullet travel. Once I moves slighting out from the trees the 3 young bulls busted me. But they were on the hill below the Bull I wanted. He couldn't see them looking at me. I settled in and took the shot. The bull was hit hard and stood for a millisecond. He almost had a look of WT.... and he stacked up right there. The photo of the bull and the shot trees is were he dropped. We turned him for the photo. For those that have never hunted Nilgai, there frontal skin it thick...3/4"-1" thick. They are big and there front is a guarded by both big boned legs. The bullet hit the left lung and shredded it. It then hit the spine and broke it. Then it turned down into the other lung. We were not able to find the bullet in the gut pile. But based on the entrance wound and the angle of the spine break we were able to determine how the bullet preformed.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Hunting Report - 300 PRC in the field