7MM Magnum for Texas Nilgai

[Bert dwyer]

Three shoots 7 Rem magnum , all good placement

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

As some have said its not really a caliber thing more of a SHOT PLACEMENT thing. 7RM is capable of all NA game. Load or buy something with good bullets and see if they work for your rifle. The 7RM is more than good enough for Mr Blue... its all in shot placement....

 

[frogfan]

Hunted my first Nilgai this past February on the Yturria Ranch. We all brought different flavors of 300's as the outfitter had a stated minimum. Once there we were strongly encouraged to shoot house rifles, being 375 H&H and 338 Lapua. I am not a fan of shooting another man's rifle but one of the guides had built both rifles and they shot lights out.

I ended up with the 338 Lapua and killed my bull at 65 yards right before sunset. I was amazed when the bull soaked up the 300 grain 338 and was never knocked off his feet. The shot was spot on according to the guide and the bull made it roughly 50 yards before dropping. The bullet never exited, and we were able to recover it from the off shoulder.

I am a big fan of the 7mm and have taken many animals with one but I think I would lean to something heavier as long as you are comfortable shooting it. According to our outfitter, a big problem is the subcutaneous fat layer on the shoulders of the bull that protect them when fighting. This fat layer apparently seals up after the shot, and with no exit many times, this allows for very little bleeding. If you are familiar with the brush in South Texas you can understand why this could be a problem.

In any case, good luck. It is a great hunt and they are spooky animals. Getting close is all the fun, and the meat is fantastic.

 

[Bert dwyer]

As some have said its not really a caliber thing more of a SHOT PLACEMENT thing. 7RM is capable of all NA game. Load or buy something with good bullets and see if they work for your rifle. The 7RM is more than good enough for Mr Blue... its all in shot placement....

 

[Bert dwyer]

As advise take a good pair of eye glasses for protection ,

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

As advise take a good pair of eye glasses for protection ,

Umm. From the sun?

 

[7070yshot]

Planning a hunt for next year. Nilgai is on my bucket list. Have my new 7mag , M70 Supergrade. Undecided weather to just buy a box of factory loads or reload my own.

I like making my own but will not pound this rifle with a lot of Maximum loads.

This being said, what would be your bullet choice? hand loaded or factory? I'm looking at the

160gr Partition
160gr Swift A-Frame

Nilgai are supposedly very thick skinned, hard to kill antelope. In fact the guides mostly require a magnum .30 caliber minimum to hunt. I guess they get tired of chaising *** shot animals all around the ranch

Ok I hunt Nilgai at least once a year sometimes twice. Dropped piles of them. You will never find a tougher animal in NA. Sorry that's just my opinion and the reality is they are thick skinned animals.
as such your typical lead core of any kind is not going to do the job. I've watched many hunters write a check for a animal than was hit as many as 5 times walk/run off. You want immediate terminal performance, period. 7Mag is awesome. I recommend Barns LRX solids not TTSX.NT CEB's not Hornady, not Nosler. The only bullet I see them consistently dropped with is Barnes with these small calibers. Use the biggest bullet you can at the highest reasonable velocity. You need to penetration with full energy transfer. Breaking the axel on this animals will work but I've only see it worth with 338-416 calibers at 80-300y. Only one of those went all the way through.
My personal choice is 338LM 280g Barnes LRX at 2945FPS. Longest shot was 511y,DRT blew his heart up. I've seen 300wm and 300Rum just tickle these beasts at 75-100y! Then bam, gone.
the RUM shooter hit it 5 times. Never found it.
375HH or 375RUM are other good calibers.

you can talk to Sam Ilse who is the only guide I go with. We have shot a lot and he has seen more Nilgai shot than any other human on the planet. He knows and Id trusthis recommendations.
I just finished building a 338LM for a client specifically for Nilgai Killing.
It's the smallest calIber I will personally use.
7mag is a caliber that definitely kills above what you would expect. Use the Barnes LRX bullets and try to get a shot at 250y and under. Ask Sam what he thinks but that is my recommendation.

 

[rustyshackleford]

Nilgai are a tough animal the vitals are further forward then our native animals we have taken numerous when thinning herds on a couple ranches that dont allow commercial hunting a nosler accubond would be a good choice or one of the mono bullets we have taken them with everything from a 243 to 338 lapua but most were taken with a 6.5-06 improved shooting a 140gr. gameking find accuracy what ever bullet you choose as shots can be long if you are hunting a ranch were they are hunted alot Bob is correct about the 30 cal. some ranches require it or larger for some reason a bad shot from a 30 is no better than a bad shot from a 7mm so make a good shot and collect your animal

So how'd the game king do? I only ask since they are notoriously "soft" and I imagine your velocity was in the 3k neighborhood. I wouldn't have imagined that would be a go too for such quarry.

 

[NielsC]

I've taken them with 338 Lapua shooting 300 GE Berger, 6.5 grendel, 6.5 creed. I think shot placement most important. Shoot what you shoot well and don't look back. Just make sure you place the shot where you want

Here is the key! Shot placement. Whatever you are shooting spend enough time and ammo to be confident with where your bullet will land. Do some shooting up and down hill. Not every shot is on a measured range and flat ground. know your bullet ballistics and I guarantee it will add a lot of pleasure to your hunf.

 

[Tom Erickson]

I have been working on a load for my 28 nosler I went with barns for Penetration .and don't have to eat lead

 

[six pack]

Either the Partition or the A-Frame will be fine but shot placement is everything with Nilgai. The last one I took was with my 375 H&H. Another was with my 300 WM. Very tough animals for sure that make great mounts and outstanding table far. Here's my last one.....

 

[snakeeyes]

Planning a hunt for next year. Nilgai is on my bucket list. Have my new 7mag , M70 Supergrade. Undecided weather to just buy a box of factory loads or reload my own.

I like making my own but will not pound this rifle with a lot of Maximum loads.

This being said, what would be your bullet choice? hand loaded or factory? I'm looking at the

160gr Partition
160gr Swift A-Frame

Nilgai are supposedly very thick skinned, hard to kill antelope. In fact the guides mostly require a magnum .30 caliber minimum to hunt. I guess they get tired of chaising *** shot animals all around the ranch

Just curious. Why not the 175 grain partition? They shot under a n inch in my Rem 700 and velocity was 2950fps.

 

[Boatninja]

Planning a hunt for next year. Nilgai is on my bucket list. Have my new 7mag , M70 Supergrade. Undecided weather to just buy a box of factory loads or reload my own.

I like making my own but will not pound this rifle with a lot of Maximum loads.

This being said, what would be your bullet choice? hand loaded or factory? I'm looking at the

160gr Partition
160gr Swift A-Frame

Nilgai are supposedly very thick skinned, hard to kill antelope. In fact the guides mostly require a magnum .30 caliber minimum to hunt. I guess they get tired of chaising *** shot animals all around the ranch

. As big as they are, wounded Nilgi

Planning a hunt for next year. Nilgai is on my bucket list. Have my new 7mag , M70 Supergrade. Undecided weather to just buy a box of factory loads or reload my own.

I like making my own but will not pound this rifle with a lot of Maximum loads.

This being said, what would be your bullet choice? hand loaded or factory? I'm looking at the

160gr Partition
160gr Swift A-Frame

Nilgai are supposedly very thick skinned, hard to kill antelope. In fact the guides mostly require a magnum .30 caliber minimum to hunt. I guess they get tired of chaising *** shot animals all around the ranch

As large as they are, wounded Nilgai have an amazing ability to disappear in the Texas brush. I heard one guide say "it's like they crawl in a hole and cover it up behind them".

 

[Tom Wright]

Planning a hunt for next year. Nilgai is on my bucket list. Have my new 7mag , M70 Supergrade. Undecided weather to just buy a box of factory loads or reload my own.

I like making my own but will not pound this rifle with a lot of Maximum loads.

This being said, what would be your bullet choice? hand loaded or factory? I'm looking at the

160gr Partition
160gr Swift A-Frame

Nilgai are supposedly very thick skinned, hard to kill antelope. In fact the guides mostly require a magnum .30 caliber minimum to hunt. I guess they get tired of chaising *** shot animals all around the ranch

I am also doing a nilgai hunt next year, and I just heard from the ranch's owner that he prefers a 30 caliber--big tough animals with flexible skin that closes up like a bear when hit, leaving a poor or non-existent blood trail. Some people advocate .375 or larger.

I've taken a bunch of large African antelope with my .300 and ALWAYS shoot A frames. They always flatten out perfectly and most of the energy is expended inside the animal. If you go to Swift's website you'll see a video showing how the offside hide stretches out , leaving the bullet just under the hide. Last year I shot a 1700 pound eland with mine and he stood like he was hit between the eyes with a hammer. The bullet was just under the skin on the off side shoulder as advertised.

The 7mm might be a bit under-gunned, but load it with the heaviest A frame you can get. I've taken game out to 450 yards with it, including kudu, zebra, ibex, tsessebe, wildebeest and the eland. Good hunting!