Bullets For Buffalo

[IvW]

There is no need for a visiting hunter to use solids of any form on Cape buffalo the risks of over penetratiin are just too high, well placed first shot and any follow up shots premium grade expanders.

A premium grade expander that expands to 2 or 2.5(Rhino expanders)x cause a lot more damage than the best solids.

Premium solids are for elephant hunting and the limited rhino hunting still done.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Well I have enjoyed reading all the posts and can only relate my personal experience. When I started hunting buffs with my Heym I used Hornady bullets as that was what it was regulated with and they worked well. I was told to use softs initially and the PH would instruct me when to load a solid. After harvesting the 3 buffs all with softs except the last one my PH had me place an insurance shot through the spine between the shoulders with a solid.
I have used Custom Swift A Frames ever since. I will say that on my 19th buff and having switched to a 505 Gibbs shooting 570grn Handloaded bullets I was surprised to have a quartering to me shot pass through the front shoulder and out of the back hip! Fortunately no buffs behind the old Dugga but food for thought. He looked like he was being electrocuted as the bullet passed through him.
In conclusion my favorite bullets to hunt buffs with are Swift A Frame and the break away solid has been awesome on Elephants but have not used them on buffs.

 

[Brian]

One important factor that we didn't emphasized in this discussions is the significance of bullet diameter. This is especially significant with solids.

Roughly speaking, with all things been similar, and good, wide meplat, solid bullet is used, a .458WM bullet brings a buffalo down almost twice as well as a .375HH bullet and a .577NE is nearly twice as effective as a .458WM.

 

[Red Leg]

One important factor that we didn't emphasized in this discussions is the significance of bullet diameter. This is especially significant with solids.

Roughly speaking, with all things been similar, and good, wide meplat, solid bullet is used, a .458WM bullet brings a buffalo down almost twice as well as a .375HH bullet and a .577NE is nearly twice as effective as a .458WM.

"Brings down a buffalo twice as well" .................. I frankly think that is a irrelevant comparison and false conclusion.

Yes, a .458 makes a bigger hole, but I am not sure I follow the 2X conclusion. A bull shot through the heart with any of the three is equally dead. Moreover, somehow your equation needs to account for both inherent and hunter accuracy. Why don't we throw a little range variable in as well. I think I can create a scenario pretty easily where a .577 would be many times less likely to bring a buffalo down as an accurate .375 used by a confident client.

And since I don't use solids in a .375 for buffalo, for me it is an irrelevant comparison anyway. Should we move beyond buffalo to elephant, where a solid is a likely choice, I would rather use the .375 than the .458 (it drives deeper and the client either hits the brain or he doesn't). I have zero interest in schlepping a .577 across miles and miles of bloody Africa.

 

[Brian]

We sure look at things differently. Nothin' wrong with that. Brian

 

[PerH]

@Badboymelvin

I sincerely apologize for the delay in reading your inquiry . I invariably source all of my .458 Winchester Magnum ammunition and / or reloading components whenever I travel to the United States . I have used Woodleigh 600 grain round nosed steel jacketed solid bullets in a .505 Gibbs , when I hunted water buffalo in Australia ( these were handloaded rounds ) . I actually found their performance to be most satisfactory .

I have not been fortunate enough to try Woodleigh bullets in my custom .458 Winchester Magnum ( yet ) , but I imagine that they should be superior to Hornady bullets . Next time I visit the United States , I intend to acquire some 500 grain Woodleigh round nosed steel jacketed solid bullets and some 500 grain Woodleigh soft nosed bullets for handloading . Is your .458 Winchester Magnum a Zastava Model 70 ?

Also Woodleigh 480 grain soft/solid made for .450 NE would work good in .458 Win,they are a bit shorter than 500 and wont take up much space in case overall capacity.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

I posted the Loads from ammo guide for the 45-70. Like you say "no magic." No max loads like for the Ruger # 1.
Do you know why seasoned buffalo hunters use a solid first and why they want their clients to use a soft first?
What cartridge and bullet do you hunt buffalo with? Thanks, Brian

I'm not sure that seasoned buffalo hunters use a solid first but assuming a PH used a solid first it would be because it is intended as a backup shot and he is planning on the scenario of either head-shooting a charging animal or Texas heart shooting a fleeing animal. If he is planning on a broadside or nearly broadside backup shot on a buffalo, he'd better hope it isn't in a herd.

I've used 404 Jeffery 400g TSX and barnes flat tipped solids on buffalo. I've had consistently great performance from X bullets in all calibers other than my 404. What bullets I have recovered (which, granted all came from dead animals) did not perform as well as I've come to expect. I'll be trying A frames or Woodleighs if I get to take my 404 after buffalo again. The flat tipped solids, on the other hand did exactly what they are supposed to do and penetrated like nobody's business.

 

[Whitebear995]

I've had no problems with Buffalo Bore ammo, either. I mainly use my own handloads though, 440 grain Cast Performance LBT LFNGC, CCI 200 and 44.5gr of RL-7. It's a pretty stout load, and I wouldn't try it in anything but a Marlin. When I chonoed it, was getting 1875fps out of my Guide Gun.

 

[Brian]

That would be a very good combination. Hard, FN cast bullets are great.
Buffalo Fore ammo/bullets are highly rated.