Short action 30 cal

Love my 300 Sherman short!
 
300 SS

But even with such a cartridge, you might need to be ready for multiple follow up shots. Ive never hunted a nilgai but living here in south Texas and having worked for king ranch, I know people who have and have heard many stories. These things are tough and won't go down easy.
 
For Nigai I would recommend a 300wm or something in that power class with a 200 grain bonded bullet or monolithic expanding in the 180 grain range.
Personally if I was going to shoot one with a short action caliber I would be picky and only make head or high neck shots in order to avoid tracking and needing multiple shots to put one on the ground quickly.
They have very thick elastic hide that seals up bullet holes and leaves little to no sign after being shot add to that they are very tough animals that can require multiple shots with a 30cal magnum and the very thick brush of South Texas they will run straight into after the initial shot is made.
 
.300 WSM, there is still factory support for it.
A good, bonded bullet of 180 - 200 grains.

That would be a potent combo in a short action especially if the Bighorn action he intends to use has the AW mag well cut and could utilize the extra space in a magazine without a binder plate.
I'm not familiar enough with Bighorn actions but I know my Atlas actions I can load out to 2.965 in my alpha mags without any hangup on the feed ramp without any mods.
 
That would be a potent combo in a short action especially if the Bighorn action he intends to use has the AW mag well cut and could utilize the extra space in a magazine without a binder plate.
I'm not familiar enough with Bighorn actions but I know my Atlas actions I can load out to 2.965 in my alpha mags without any hangup on the feed ramp without any mods.
bighorn good to go. i load 7SAW with 180s to 2.95 in my origin
 
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Nilgai is the best tasting meat I’ve had, that wasn’t mountain lion.

I did a 308 on my Bighorn TL3.

Good bullets, good shot placement, and rudimentary tracking skills if you don’t like spine/head shots. I personally wouldn’t want to have a single ounce of that animal that was edible damaged. Pop both lungs and wait. I’m serious, best meat I’ve ever had that was previously attached to a hoof or four. I’d gladly track one over wasting meat.
 
That would be a potent combo in a short action especially if the Bighorn action he intends to use has the AW mag well cut and could utilize the extra space in a magazine without a binder plate.
I'm not familiar enough with Bighorn actions but I know my Atlas actions I can load out to 2.965 in my alpha mags without any hangup on the feed ramp without any mods.
I am planning on putting in a bdl stock with a wyatt box to get the most length as i can. The 300 wsm is high on my list.
 
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