.375 H&H enough gun for Cape Buffalo?

[Odinsraven]

375 has come aways with the heavy for calibre 350 gr round - 1000's have been culled with 303 mk VII FMJ - have just got Doctaris Perfect Shot II and he suggests its all you need !

But as with all things - take what you shoot best !

For plainsgame 375 is absolutely fine - have used 270 gr bullets and everything dies - even shot a Springbok with a 300 gr solid - why it was all we had with us and it had a broken leg !

 

[Bruce]

375H&H Magnum with Swift A Frame 300g bullets put in the correct place... BUFFALO DOWN!!!
NOT as reliable for stopping a charge...but that's where your PH jumps in!!

 

[AZDAVE]

375 will work just fine, you most important detail is to wait for the correct angle and make the first shot count in the vitals. Take the money you save by not buying another rifle and hunt some plains game. Your PH carries a stopping rifle and every PH I have spoke with would rather see a client show up with a well worn 375 that he or she can shoot accurately with and a +40 cal that they can't. So take your 375, some A-frames and quality solids and go shoot your buff.

 

[wesheltonj]

The 375 H&H has been killing animals since 1912, including all DG. You will be fine with your 375.

As for Ammo, I would recommend Norma African PH. They are loaded with 350g Woodleigh bullets. And would recommend Norma Oryx 300 Grain for everything else you plan to shoot, which by the way will work on Buffalo too.

 

[Ridgewalker]

+to everyone above. Lots of good examples.
My 375 H&H has worked for everything from Caracal and duiker to eland and Cape buffalo and accurate enough for crocodile. That said, if I only wanted a DG gun I would start with the 404 Jeffrey and go up.
Craig Boddington has written that he has killed most of his Cape buffalo using the 375 and it works.
Dr Kevin Robertson also has written it works well for most people although he, like others above, recommends the 350-380 grain bullets if your rifle will shoot it accurately.
I’ll repeat bullet placement as you and most above have said is key.
Just practice a lot off sticks and at 25 yards off hand and you should be fine.
You’re going to have a grand hunt I’m sure! Best of luck!

 

[Nyati]

The .375HH works, just be sure to use a premium bullet such as TBBC or Swift AFrame, and shoot straight.

Good luck !

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

I want to hunt a Cape Buffalo.

I own a .375 H&H Safari Express Win Model 70 (Controlled Feed)

Do I need to buy a bigger caliber to hunt Cape Buffalo? I know the .375 is the minimum for dangerous game in many places, but is the minimum enough?

Thanks

Its enough.....more than enough
One well placed shot with a quality bullet and you are done

 

[Edge]

You nailed where my head is at.

If I was gonna buy a “Cape Buffalo Rifle” and didn’t own a .375 H&H I would probably buy a .416 or .458

But since I own the .375 I am planning to just roll with that unless it was definitely not enough

I am happy to hear that people generally think the ,375 will do the job

375 H&H did the job on this big fella with solids...

 

[canbow]

I want to hunt a Cape Buffalo.

I own a .375 H&H Safari Express Win Model 70 (Controlled Feed)

Do I need to buy a bigger caliber to hunt Cape Buffalo? I know the .375 is the minimum for dangerous game in many places, but is the minimum enough?

Thanks

yup killed one with a bow a number of years ago, but if you hit it in tail no caliber is large enough

 

[TERMINATOR]

375 will work just fine, you most important detail is to wait for the correct angle and make the first shot count in the vitals. Take the money you save by not buying another rifle and hunt some plains game. Your PH carries a stopping rifle and every PH I have spoke with would rather see a client show up with a well worn 375 that he or she can shoot accurately with and a +40 cal that they can't. So take your 375, some A-frames and quality solids and go shoot your buff.

I am do my best to make sure this is no charge

 

[RogerHeintzman]

Oh yes! I've taken 2 with my Rem. M700. Hornady 300 DGX.

 

[Scott CWO]

The .375 will do more than fine with a Swift A-Frame or another quality bullet.

For me, I take a .338 Win Mag shooting 225 gr Swift A-Frames for plains game, lion and leopard and a .458 Lott for buffalo and other thick-skinned DG. I also use the Lott in Alaska as a brown bear stopper while guiding so it made more sense for me to get more specialized.

 

[flatwater bill]

1. do I need to buy a bigger caliber?
2. Is the minimum enough?

to which Brick replies "yes"

I love it....................FWB

 

[meigsbucks]

Put a good bullet in the right place. The .375 will do the job.
I used a .416 Ruger on my buffalo, but my second rifle was a .375. Why not a lighter rifle for my second rifle? Because I wanted whatever rifle was in my hands to be adequate for buffalo.

 

[ActionBob]

I think you mentioned Trophy Bonded Bear Claws. Great choice! My M70 shoots them sub MOA. A Frames and TSX's are good choices as well.

The only time I felt grossly undergunned with a 375 was in Australia with a loaner gun shooting 270 grain Federal blue box softs that just did not penetrate those huge water buffalo bulls. Thankfully they are more easily convinced to die on average than the normal cape buff

Your 375 will do just fine with proper loads for the task and decent shooting. Practice immediately reloading and keep shooting until he is down or your PH says to hold up. Even with a perfect first shot.

My simple practice routine at a conventional range was to set up targets at 100, 50, and 25 yards (I was fortunate to be able to often find the range devoid of other rifle shooters). So shooting off sticks i would practice 3 quick shots at each target so i had to readjust for each, and go far to near as well as near to far. Not ideal practice but probably the best you are permitted at a standard range.

 

[Ridgewalker]

My simple practice routine at a conventional range was to set up targets at 100, 50, and 25 yards (I was fortunate to be able to often find the range devoid of other rifle shooters). So shooting off sticks i would practice 3 quick shots at each target so i had to readjust for each, and go far to near as well as near to far. Not ideal practice but probably the best you are permitted at a standard range.

Great idea! I will try that out for my upcoming lion/lioness hunt only will use sticks for the 100 yd, then off-hand for the 50 & 25 yards. Timed of course. I like your training regime!

 

[ActionBob]

Great idea! I will try that out for my upcoming lion/lioness hunt only will use sticks for the 100 yd, then off-hand for the 50 & 25 yards. Timed of course. I like your training regime!

Yea I'd mix it up like that as well Now i have a place i can shoot right behind the house so easier to get creative. But at the public or member ranges you have to work within the rules.... and figure out how to get there when no one else is around.

 

[neckdeep]

I have shot 2 Cape Buffalo with the 375, neither where hit perfectly and only the first one was hit fatally through both lungs with the first shot but required 2 more shot's as he finally emerged from the grass 15 minutes later. The second one last September in Mozambique was a whole different story. My first shot was either deflected or I just plain screwed it up and the bullet hit just above the spine where the neck connects to the shoulders, about 1 1/2 feet or more from where I was aiming. The solid per the PH request just zipped right through him, not leaving much of a blood trail. About 14 shots and 5 hours of amazing tracking through some very thick stuff we finally got the bull. I personally believe even though poorly hit a soft or even better yet a bigger hole would have slowed him down more. So to answer your question the 375 will absolutely do the job with a premium bullet and placed in the right spot. If you can handle a bigger gun and want to try one I think it's a good idea. In dangerous game country your PH may not be able to back you up in every instance or protect you from a charge so a larger caliber might be useful for that also.

 

[Philip Glass]

I want to hunt a Cape Buffalo.

I own a .375 H&H Safari Express Win Model 70 (Controlled Feed)

Do I need to buy a bigger caliber to hunt Cape Buffalo? I know the .375 is the minimum for dangerous game in many places, but is the minimum enough?

Thanks

Simply put its fine but .416 is better. I shot my buff with .416 Ruger and it went well, I thought afterwards what would have been different had I used my .375? When I chase buff again it will be with my .470NE KGun.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

I think you mentioned Trophy Bonded Bear Claws. Great choice! My M70 shoots them sub MOA. A Frames and TSX's are good choice

My simple practice routine at a conventional range was to set up targets at 100, 50, and 25 yards (I was fortunate to be able to often find the range devoid of other rifle shooters). So shooting off sticks i would practice 3 quick shots at each target so i had to readjust for each, and go far to near as well as near to far. Not ideal practice but probably the best you are permitted at a standard range.

I used a similar set up. set four 10 liter jugs filled with water at 100, 75, 50 and 25 yards. then as fast as I could, I would shoot the 100 yard jug off sticks, 75 yard jug off sticks, 50 yard jug freehand and the 25 yard jug freehand. The water filled jugs gave me immediate feedback on accuracy.