Safari Magazine - The Bullet & The Buffalo

[BeeMaa]

I recently picked up the March/April issue Safari Magazine (official publication of SCI) that has been sitting on my reading table for some time now. As I read through the articles, I came across this picture with a caption at the bottom left side.

The adjacent page showed the PH (Gee Watts of Watts Trophy Hunting Safaris) with the (alleged) 3000+ pound buffalo.

As the recovered bullet starred back at me, I wondered...does Barnes make a 220 grain .375 caliber bullet? Is it really 220 grains and this was some early production model I had no idea about?

Then the buffalo...the 3000+ pound buffalo that was taken with this bullet. How realistic is it to have a buffalo that looks like this and weighs over 3000 lbs?

Seeing as Safari Magazine doesn't care to fact check their articles, I'd like to put it to the membership and ask what your opinion is on the bullet and buffalo.

I'll start it off with a Barnes TSX 350 grain .375 caliber bullet and 1600-1700 pound buffalo.

 

[Josh P]

 

[mark-hunter]

300 grain TSX - 4 grooves,
350 grain TSX - 5 grooves.,

So, @BeeMaa you are right!

For buffalo, I have no idea, but all sources say, they are usually much less then 2000 pounds, so you could be right on that as well

 

[BeeMaa]

@mark-hunter - Pictures I've seen of the 300 grain bullets look like this with 5 relief cuts in the copper, but this could have been changed over the years.

The 350 grain bullet also has 5 relief cuts but the base is much longer, having a closer resemblance to the one recovered in the magazine.

Both the 270 grain and 235 grain bullets have 4 relief cuts, so they are clearly not it.

 

[WAB]

That bull is hard but still fairly young and in very good condition. So good, that I’m going to guess he’s been eating hay and may have a hole in one of his ears. That said, mature bull in good condition on the young side, maybe 1,800 pounds?

 

[Rusty Iron]

These 0.375“ 300 grain Barnes TSX are relatively new. 5 grooves.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I recently picked up the March/April issue Safari Magazine (official publication of SCI) that has been sitting on my reading table for some time now. As I read through the articles, I came across this picture with a caption at the bottom left side.
View attachment 533631

The adjacent page showed the PH (Gee Watts of Watts Trophy Hunting Safaris) with the (alleged) 3000+ pound buffalo.
View attachment 533634

As the recovered bullet starred back at me, I wondered...does Barnes make a 220 grain .375 caliber bullet? Is it really 220 grains and this was some early production model I had no idea about?

Then the buffalo...the 3000+ pound buffalo that was taken with this bullet. How realistic is it to have a buffalo that looks like this and weighs over 3000 lbs?

Seeing as Safari Magazine doesn't care to fact check their articles, I'd like to put it to the membership and ask what your opinion is on the bullet and buffalo.

I'll start it off with a Barnes TSX 350 grain .375 caliber bullet and 1600-1700 pound buffalo.

When I was younger I ignorantly believed that articles published in hunting magazines were written by knowledgeable experts and were beyond reproach. I’ve since come to believe that fully three quarters of them should never see the light of day. The editors of any respectable publication need to be far more discerning about what they choose to publish.

 

[Wheels]

If the article read:

500 pound PH shoots 3,000 pound buffalo.

then the scale of weight the PH is using is about right.


If the buffalo was shot and weighed on Jupiter, then the buffalo is also about 3,000 pounds.


Otherwise the buffalo is probably much closer to 1,500 pounds.

 

[meigsbucks]

350gr / 1600# looks spot on.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

350Gr Barnes TSX
1700LB bull Cape buffalo

 

[BeeMaa]

When I was younger I ignorantly believed that articles published in hunting magazines were written by knowledgeable experts and were beyond reproach. I’ve since come to believe that fully three quarters of them should never see the light of day. The editors of any respectable publication need to be far more discerning about what they choose to publish.

+1

"Believe none of what you hear and believe half of what you see" quote attributed to both Benjamin Franklin and Edgar Allan Poe. Others claim this quote as well.

"Don't believe everything you read." my Mother...and probably yours as well.

 

[BeeMaa]

That bull is hard but still fairly young and in very good condition. So good, that I’m going to guess he’s been eating hay and may have a hole in one of his ears. That said, mature bull in good condition on the young side, maybe 1,800 pounds?

I was going to remark on the age/condition of the bull, but every hunter has a different view on what they are looking for. Some want 40" or better regardless of age while others will wait to find a truly over the hill bull with horns worn smooth, sun bleached skin and hair slip.

I'm in the latter camp.

 

[Sika98k]

Paper never refused ink.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Perhaps it was a £3000+ trophy fee.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Maybe the Dutchman is charging by the pound? My wife is a Afrikaner so I am entitled to a little dig.

 

[sierraone]

Have never read of a cape buffalo weighing 3000 lb. I think @BRICKBURN is more likely to be right.

 

[Dinsdale]

Get that magazine from SCI and it doesn’t even make it out of the wrapper anymore, just dropped in the trash on the way back from the mailbox.

That PH was my first in South Africa.

They say your first safari is the most memorable.

I went back the following year using 2 outfitters in two countries to forget that first and have a do over. I dont even count that trip.

 

[nomspc]

Well, 220 is 63% of 350. And that bullet is a 350. So what’s 63% of 3000? I guess I could believe that buff weighed 1890 lbs.

I learn more useful stuff on this site than I ever have from hunting magazines.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

A large quarter horse would go 1200 pounds. I’d venture to guess a large Cape Buffalo would weigh more, but not on the order of 2.5X as much.

 

[IvW]

Definately a 350gr bullet......not only is their scale fu.....but they also have a steel tape measure that starts at 10".....an average sable of 36" magically measures 46 1/2" on the short horn.......