"Trampoline effect of the loose skin" ? Never heard this one before. Care to expand on this a little but IvW?
We are talking about hunting old Cape Buffalo bulls here not young bulls or cows.
The front chest and neck area of such a bull is covered by thick loose skin which in some cases can be an inch thick. This skin is such to protect the underlying muscle during fighting as well as when moving(often headlong) through bush and brush.
The skin in this area is loose , incredibly tough yet supple, so that it can give way during fighting or moving through brush at speed. It possesses "give", the ability to be pushed in. This effect has the ability to absorb a bullets energy and further cause a bullet to expand rapidly even before it has penetrated the chest cavity.
This is referred to as the Trampoline effect.
When hunting DG the most important is shot placement, penetration from a premium grade bullet in an appropriate caliber.
The 375 H&H has probably killed more Cape Buffalo than any other, it is the minimum in most countries. It does have it's short comings. One is speed. 2550 fps is just a bit too fast. The higher the impact velocity the faster the bullet expands, add to this the trampoline effect and bullet failure is imminent. 2200-2400 fps with the right bullet would be better.
Heavier bullets of the right design posses better momentum and straight line penetration, than light bullets at high velocity.
300 gr should be the minimum in 375 H&H for Cape buffalo and 350 gr are a lot better and the 380 gr is probably the best.
Cup and core NP would be a dismal performer on a full frontal shot on a buffalo. It will rapidly expand on the thick loose skin, loosing a lot of weight before even entering the chest cavity, which will result in serious loss of momentum and penetration.
