Which Cal/Rifle For Buffalo?

[MalleeFarmer]

G'day going Up north next year and I'm thinking I'll need a rifle for Buffs and Boars what would be a suitable Rifle and Cal for buffs (obviously if it kills buffs it will kill boars)
Cheers
Mallee.

[North East]

I'd say a .375 H&H would do the job....not over the top recoil and will easily do the porkers as well.

[brett1868]

Tried and tested big game rifle would have to be the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, used the world over and very capable of dispatching buffalo.

[deye243]

Well i'm old school so a CZ 550 MAGNUM in 375H&H or 458 WIN MAG will do it

[KWhorenet]

*EDIT: I had a very nice CZ550 375H&H Magnum with 5 shot staggered internal mag.

[MalleeFarmer]

Ok so .375HHMag sounds like the go. Would a .338 win be any good?

[Mick280]

More than enough with the right bullet selection!!

[MalleeFarmer]

Ok so .375hh be ideal and a .338wm be ok what sort of rifle should I be looking at I like the win M70 Alaskan also don't mind the ruger guide gun. Haven't really looked at any others. Cheers.

[North East]

Ok so .375hh be ideal and a .338wm be ok what sort of rifle should I be looking at I like the win M70 Alaskan also don't mind the ruger guide gun. Haven't really looked at any others. Cheers.

Whatever gun you choose is your choice....however don't over do the magnification on the scope.

[Title_II]

You guys have buffalo? When were they imported?

[brett1868]

Imported originally between 1825 & 1843 to provide meat to remote areas but were abandoned in mid 1900's before turning feral. We have both the east & west Asian varieties and numbers have been as high as 350,000 but after culling in the 80's are more around the 150,000 mark. They are confined to the top end of the northern territory due to climate so not causing any problems in other parts of the country. They do however cause significant environmental damage in the Northern Territory and have been the target of several large culling programs as they can carry tuberculosis and brucellosis which presents a serious risk to our cattle industry.

[Chronos]

A bloke I've talked to in the NT used to do all his buff hunting with a .338WM and the guy I bought mine off used his when guiding in the NT. As has been said its all about bullet selection and shot placement. Something like the 250gr Barnes will penetrate plenty or so I'm told, one bloke told me he had seen two donkeys killed with one 250gr barnes the penetration was so complete.

However at the end of the day you'll struggle to load up a 338wm much more than 3000fpe and a lot of blokes are punching out over 4000 and even 5000 from their buff cartridges. They are a big dangerous animal and id rather drop it with one shot than pull the trigger and cross my fingers.

If I was going to buy a gun for a NT trip id start at .375H&H or Ruger and work up, not down. But I'd consider borrowing a proven gun before I bought my own for one trip.

Chronos

[brett1868]

On a positive note, Woodleigh in Victoria produce possibly one of the best large game projectiles on the market. They have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to projectile design for stopping things. Some good reference in the link below.

http://www.woodleighbullets.com.au/info-a-reference/dangerous-game

[Mick280]

Don't know of to many dangerous game cartridges that are punching out over 3000fps , 340 - 375 Wby Maybe.
Educate me please!!

[North East]

Don't know of to many dangerous game cartridges that are punching out over 3000fps , 340 - 375 Wby Maybe.
Educate me please!!

Yes...I want to know about that one too. A .204 will do about 4200' ft/sec and thats the speed queen. I can't imagine the larger calibers doing those velocities.

[Mick280]

Definitely not amongst your traditional D/G cartridges anyway!
Without getting too technical,Cartridges using quality well constructed or solid projectiles of say 250 - 500 gn would battle to reach that mark at the bottom end of the weight scale.
The 338 Win Mag I owned was good for around 2850 fps with 250 gn Accubonds , Sako 85 - 24" Barrel.
I have a mate that has a Christenson Arms in 375 RUM that will push a 300 gn projectile at a shade over 3000 fps.
Cost you a bloody fortune in powder to run the thing !!!

[Mick280]

Going back to MalleeFarmer's original question!
My choice for the two applications he has mentioned would be a good quality Lever Action in 45/70.

[brett1868]

Weird question but how big a guy are you? No point buying a .375 H&H if your 60 kgs cause it'll knock you around a bit. Buy the biggest caliber rifle that you can comfortably handle, load it with the heaviest projectile it'll take, get proficient with shot placement for the chosen game and know where to hit them.

https://www.ssaa.org.au/stories/hunting-shot-placement-buffalo-and-cattle.html

[Chronos]

Don't know of to many dangerous game cartridges that are punching out over 3000fps , 340 - 375 Wby Maybe.
Educate me please!!

No one said 3000fps.

It's about energy, not velocity and 5000fpe is just one mark used to measure DG cartridges.


Chronos

[Chronos]

Going back to MalleeFarmer's original question!
My choice for the two applications he has mentioned would be a good quality Lever Action in 45/70.

Are you sure about the 45-70? More a man stopper that a large game cartridge. Pigs yes but possibly not buffalo, not when your life may depend on it.

Put it this way, unless it has Weatherby in its name or can push 250gr fast is be careful about what you buy.

Chronos

[Walt68]

Savage 116 in .338 WM, will do the trick nicely with 250 grain Remington Corelockt.
very accurate, the price is right.

[Baronvonrort]

G'day going Up north next year and I'm thinking I'll need a rifle for Buffs and Boars what would be a suitable Rifle
Cheers
Mallee.

This guy shot over 30,000 of them with a .308w,perhaps that could be suitable.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OneyeUxzL40

[headspace]

I've shot 2 Buffalo with my 308W using 165gn bullets. The first one was a big cow and the bullet was a 165gn Interlock. The second was a 3 year old bull and I used a 165gn Barnes MRX on it, through shoulder and into the heart /lungs. The pet meat shooters up in the NT use mainly 30 cal., but if I was seriously going after a bigger one my choice would be a 9.3x64. A lot easier to load and shoot with not as much recoil as the 375Holland. Plenty of Buff have been taken with the 338Win mag, but if you want to go the extra expense for 375 H &H go for it. The thing with Buff is try to get as close as possible and place your shot well. Some people go up there with bloody cannons they can't shoot well because of the recoil plus the cost of the ammo. Having said all that, and money no object I'd make space in my safe for a 416Rigby. But I just like it.
JD

[Mick280]

Sorry Chronos
My bad on the energy reading mate ( Have to get my glasses checked )
As for the 45/70,Haven't shot buffalo with mine but have heard and read about plenty who have.
As for my experiences with it , Have accounted for quiet a few gnarly old scrub Bulls in N/E WA with mine using 400 gn Barnes Busters with not to many follow ups needed!
Again , apologies for the mix up , Had me scratching my head there for a minute.
Mick

[North East]

Had me confused too.

[Chronos]

Sorry Chronos
My bad on the energy reading mate ( Have to get my glasses checked )
As for the 45/70,Haven't shot buffalo with mine but have heard and read about plenty who have.
As for my experiences with it , Have accounted for quiet a few gnarly old scrub Bulls in N/E WA with mine using 400 gn Barnes Busters with not to many follow ups needed!
Again , apologies for the mix up , Had me scratching my head there for a minute.
Mick

No worries mick, probably should have made it clearer I was talking about foot pounds energy and not feet per second when I wrote 3000fpe invade some read it as a typo.

I think headspace has nailed it when he said "people go up there with canons they can't shoot well"

Know your gun and its limitations then choose your shot I guess it the key.

Chronos

[Mick280]

Totally agree with the both of you!
If you can't shoot it confidently and competently, Don't shoot it at all!!!

[Oldbloke]

Don't know of to many dangerous game cartridges that are punching out over 3000fps , 340 - 375 Wby Maybe.
Educate me please!!

No one said 3000fps.

It's about energy, not velocity and 5000fpe is just one mark used to measure DG cartridges.


Chronos

Sometimes the brain anticipates what it expects to see. I had to blink too. We dont often see fpe mentioned but see fps pretty often.

Juxt for 1 trip I would try and borrow a suitable rifle. I would expect a 338 or similar would do the job, I would be using high quality projectiles.

[brett1868]

I should be right for Buffalo with 13000 fpe

[Title_II]

There are .50 BMG loads that run over 3,000