.375 or .416 for Cape buffalo?

[Green Chile]

Gun bearer doesn't look happy! Give the buff a chance...hah.

 

[HankBuck]

Wow! Alot of response there!!
Woohooo...I took a few with the Mighty MastodonView attachment 550100View attachment 550101

Wow! Alot of response there!!
Woohooo...I took a few with the Mighty MastodonView attachment 550100View attachment 550101

Safarikid, That’s IMPRESSIVE ! Can you actually “see the bullet in flight”? Like throwing a lead softball at the buffalo and then drilling a “tunnel” thru him? A more serious question: whats that bullet weigh 1500-1700 grains and velocity of 850-975 fps? Brings New meaning to the phrase “Use enough Gun”. Congratulations on owning one - very unique.

 

[gibbs30c]

Jetjockey, North Westminster

 

[Red Leg]

A 300 gr Swift A-Frame or 300 gr TSX will cleanly take any buffalo in Africa. If you make a bad shot with a .416 that extra 100 grs of bullet weight is unlikely to make any difference at all and due to recoil may increase the odds of bad initial shot placement. The 350 gr bullet, if accurate in your rifle, is also a superb choice - but the 300 is the standard bearer for a reason.

 

[Green Chile]

A 300 gr Swift A-Frame or 300 gr TSX will cleanly take any buffalo in Africa. If you make a bad shot with a .416 that extra 100 grs of bullet weight is unlikely to make any difference at all and due to recoil may increase the odds of bad initial shot placement. The 350 gr bullet, if accurate in your rifle, is also a superb choice - but the 300 is the standard bearer for a reason.

Great post! Says it all.

 

[WAB]

Great post! Says it all.

Agreed. I’ve used a number of different bullets in my .375. The 270 and 300 gr A-Frames and the 350 Woodleigh CW have been the most accurate. Performance wise I have had incredible performance on the big bears with 270 gr A-Frames. The 300 A-Frame is the gold standard for all around use in Africa.

Most interesting is the performance of the 350 gr Woodleigh conventional solid at 2,300 fps on elephant. The penetration has to be seen to be believed. A good friend reported multiple end to end pass throughs on Botswana cows marauding his ranch. I shot a big Botswana bull with this load on a side brain shot. Complete pass through and very dead ele. I wonder if that skull even slowed it down!

 

[Green Chile]

Complete pass through on side brain...impressive.

 

[WAB]

Complete pass through on side brain...impressive.

I was more impressed with end to end pass through on the cows. That’s incredible penetration. We got curious and shot a large acacia tree, likely 16” to 18”. The bullet went right through. There’s nobody out there but we didn’t do it again. Sending bullets bouncing across the pan seemed like a really bad idea. Honestly, we didn’t expect it to go through.

 

[Doubleplay]

I am looking at buying a rifle for Cape buffalo and possibly hippo. I am stuck between the .375 H&H and a .416 rigby or Remington Magnum. I am leaning towards the .375 due to the lighter recoil and that transition between the .308 that I normally shoot won’t be as great. but Would greatly appreciate any input more experienced hunters may have.

375 H&H double.

 

[IvW]

375 H&H will do it but for me the ultimate buffalo rifle is a 404 Jeff in a bolt gun with a qd low power scope...

 

[BeeMaa]

375 H&H will do it but for me the ultimate buffalo rifle is a 404 Jeff in a bolt gun with a qd low power scope...

Blaser R8 of course.

 

[Daisy]

Perhaps this comment would best be on a more specific rifle thread, but I saw an earlier mention of the Blaser. I'm considering downsizing my rifle collection, and going with a Blaser with a couple barrels. I plan to hunt Cape Buffalo perhaps in '25, after my '22 trophies are all back and hung. Blaser offers the .375 H&H, and a "triple two" (seems to be a common caliber in southern Africa) barrel in their Luxus model. To get the .416, in Safari model, you can't get a much smaller caliber to go with it. I want a duiker and a steenbok to go with my Damara Dik-dik. So you guys have convinced me on the .375 H&H! Thanks, Mike Wachtel

You can get a tipped CRB 225gr safari raptor that will give you range out to 400 yards on any of the smaller game.

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

Most all of these comments on “shootability” are very good. If I could add one thing it’d be that stock design/material is a factor. The recoil difference between a Ruger 77 and Kimber Caprivi that I shot in the same day with comparable loads was very noticeable—win for the Kimber. My .416 Rigby Rigby is more comfortable to shoot with factory ammunition than that Ruger.

 

[Badboymelvin]

375 H&H will do it but for me the ultimate buffalo rifle is a 404 Jeff in a bolt gun with a qd low power scope...

Sorry to de-rail the thread but what speed is your 404? The 'old' 2150fps or the 'new' 2400fps with a 400gn?
I'm loading my 425 Express (300WM necked up to .423") to an easy 2300fps...

Cheers,

Russ

 

[Green Chile]

Great comments about optics. I have a Swaro Z8i 1-8x on my 375...and a Swaro Z6i 1-6x on my 458 Lott...and a Swaro Z6i 1.7-10x on my 416 Rigby. I could swap the 375 and 416 scopes...or not. That's been a good setup for me with no regrets.

Replying to myself is a little odd…but as an update, I decided to swap the Z8i 1-8x onto the 416 Rigby and the Z6i 1.7-10x onto the 375. The guns and scopes were acquired at different times and now I’m getting it all sorted out. The 416 goes for elephant next month along with a 7x57 for leopard.

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

Replying to myself is a little odd…but as an update, I decided to swap the Z8i 1-8x onto the 416 Rigby and the Z6i 1.7-10x onto the 375. The guns and scopes were acquired at different times and now I’m getting it all sorted out. The 416 goes for elephant next month along with a 7x57 for leopard.

That Z8 is a helluva tool. Big fan!

 

[Green Chile]

That Z8 is a helluva tool. Big fan!

I have 2 and want at least 1 more. One of my fav scopes. Have one on the 7x57 also. Here's a photo before the swap. Now both guns have the same scope as the lower gun.

 

[WAB]

I have 2 and want at least 1 more. One of my fav scopes. Have one on the 7x57 also. Here's a photo before the swap. Now both guns have the same scope as the lower gun.
View attachment 551014

I love my Z8. My only complaint is the size of the eyepiece. It is large enough to cause bolt interference on some rifles with the low mounts I prefer. I wish Swaro could get their eye piece diameter down to that of the Leupold VX6.

 

[Green Chile]

I love my Z8. My only complaint is the size of the eyepiece. It is large enough to cause bolt interference on some rifles with the low mounts I prefer. I wish Swaro could get their eye piece diameter down to that of the Leupold VX6.

Yes that's true. You can see on my Dakota Model 10 how you wouldn't want to run it further back in the rings. It gets in the way of loading...but make your first shot count!

 

[Puddle]

I settled on a couple of loads a while back and haven't looked back. They just work.

300 grain A-Frame @ ~2,360 fps out of the 9.3x62mm
350 grain Weldcore @ ~2,300 fps out of the .375 H&H

However, I'd love to get my hands on some of those RSA made bullets and work up some loads...