A Few "User Friendly" Cartridges for Cape Buffalo. Just For Fun, Pick Your Winner.

[Nevada Mike]

I just found another one that I forgot about.

.405 Winchester

300 grain bullet 2,500 fps.
400 grain bullet 2,000 fps.
That puts it right in there with the other on the list.
Probably get higher velocity in the Ruger No.1 ( Not that it is needed.)

Also, I didn't realize that the .404 J is .421 cal, I always thought it wa s.410 cal.
That's a good thing as Martha Stewart used to say.

You know that I have a weakness for a large caliber and CEB Bullets. I think that the .421 bullet is special order from CEB.

404 JEFFERY IS .423 CALIBER.

 

[Tintin]

Woodleigh of course has a 450 gn option and the Hydro, and NF can be had in 340, 380 and 430 gn as well.

Don't know if WL has started production yet of the more obscure calibres, and A-Frame always seem hard to find.

Woodleigh do

350gn
400gn
450gn

softs for .404 Jeffery.

All these have been produced recently and are available - at least here in Australia.

 

[cmk]

Woodleigh do

350gn
400gn
450gn

softs for .404 Jeffery.

All these have been produced recently and are available - at least here in Australia.

Good to hear that production is up and running (again). I actually forgot about the 350gn bullet, but I guess that it is mainly aimed at the 10.75x68. Should still work fine in a 404, if impact velocity is kept correct.

To stray off-topic for a moment; I'd really like to see a good quality 300-or-so grain bullet for hunting 'back at home'

 

[Brian]

404 JEFFERY & 400 GRAIN SWIFT A FRAME.

View attachment 703495View attachment 703496

That is perfect!

 

[Brian]

404 JEFFERY IS .423 CALIBER.

`Nevada Mike, .423, Right. Thanks for the correction. Brian

 

[CZDiesel]

Two that haven’t been mentioned but are both great Buffalo medicine and both are comfortable to shoot!
400 H&H
470 Capstick

 

[Brian]

A bit of an oxymoron to put user friendly and just for fun together is it?

A 375 is certainly the first choice for user friendly. Depending upon the definition... Light recoil, easy to shoot accurately, easy to find a gun anywhere from really cheap to really fancy and fully decked out customs. Easy to mountbany optic of choice. Easy to find and relatively low cost ammo and components. I cannot think of a more user friendly cartridge from any definition and that is more adequate for buffalo than a 375 H&H or Ruger. Nor can I think of a more boring one

So in the "Just for Fun" category we can go a bit wild! I bought a 505 Gibbs for that reason but it turned out to be a favorite which I used on 2 buffalo, a huge giraffe, and a very large white rhino.

Last hunt I took a 111 year old 450 NE no. 2 3 1/2" double hammer top lever rifle for buffalo with original open sights. That was a fun gun to hunt with although not anywhere near as sensible as my Marcel Thys side lock Best gun in 470NE.

A recent JFF gun I am playing with is a H&H Royal 10 bore Paradox built in 1899 and reworked in 1909. Just today I've received a shipment of rounds to try in it as an attempt to develop a safe load capable of taking a buffalo

Another JFF buffalo rifle I've got in the back of my head is a Winchester lever gun in 475 Turnbull

Back to the original question. For a combination of the two opposing goals, I'd say an old British double in 450/470NE, probably in 3 1/4"...

Hi Bob, Thanks for your post.
Just for clarification, I want to mention that in the title of this thread I wrote "User friendly" and " just for fun" in two different sentences. No oxymoron there.
I meant "user friendly" in terms of shooting the cartridge, of course. In the next sentence I wrote "just for fun" regarding choosing a winner. I was scratching my head for a while figuring out what you meant. Cheers, brian

 

[colorado]

.375 H&H Magnum. Most popular cape buffalo round.
.375 cal. 300 grain bullet 2,500 fps.

450-400 N.E.. Very popular for cape buffalo with double rifle users.
.410 cal. 400 grain bullet 2,100fps.

45-70. Generally rated as a poor choice for cape buffalo.
.458 cal 300 grain bullet 2,500 fps
.458 cal 400 grain bullet 2,100 fps.

.50 Alaskan Never gets mentioned as a cape buffalo cartridge.
. 510 cal 435 grain bullet 2,000 fps.

.50-110 Winchester. Old west bison cartridge, seldom mentioned as a possible cape buffalo cartridge.
. 510 cal. 450 grain bullet 2,100 fps.

Which cartridges do you like as the best one for your first shot on a cape buffalo, and why?

For the sake of fair comparison lets say this;
- All first shots on your buffalo are taken on a standing cape buffalo at about 50 yds and are placed well in the vitals of the cape buffalo.
- All bullets are the same high quality, recent generation design and construction.
- Bullet can be soft or solid, your choice, you're the shooter.

I wouldn't be surprised if I left out some other interesting cartridges in this "User Friendly" category.
If one comes to mind please add it into the mix with it's modern muzzle velocity and bullet weight.

Thanks, Brian

243 ?

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

450/400 because it works and apart from being comfortable to shoot it is also fits the bill as enough gun.

 

[Brian]

243 ?

Colorado. I wish I thought of that.

 

[Brian]

This is good discussion, much appreciated.

It looks like the 450-400 is one of the winners along with the 404J. They get it done at moderate pressures, where my loads in the 45-70 are nearly 50,000 CUP.

Lower pressures are a good thing when you are duking it out with a cape buffalo.

The .416's are rightly mentioned here and they are bullet proof, pardon the pun. It' take bit of work to make friends with their recoil, but well worth the effort. My PH stopped a very close range charge with his .416 Rigby a couple of year ago on a buffalo that I hit poorly with a .375HH.

Personally I am stuck on the fifty calibers, they kill buffalo fast.
My 50-110 hits hard, but again, I run it pretty hot and that alone is a bit controversial.
Also, the older I get the less "user friendly" it seems to be.

Just one more thing I want to mention. It's often said that the 50 calibre's and up are not great penetrators. This spring we were impressed/surprised with the penetration of my .577 NE Peregrine 700 grain solid.
Complete penetration through the shoulders usually, and on one shot on a buffalo facing me the bullet went brisket to the root of the tail. ( it was a long shot and the terminal velocity was probably down around 1,500-1,600 fps. I'm guessing. "Bang flop.")

Good discussion.

 

[1dirthawker]

Double rifles have their place, but a trusty bolt rifle with a good scope is probably more "user friendly" for the average hunter. This sort of rules out the 450/400 and the like.

nope, my 450-400 double wears a 1-6x scope. it is deadly

 

[BryceM]

Well, it wasn’t just the scope I was talking about. I long to have and use a nice double on a DG hunt someday. They excel at a few things.

That said, there are some very real drawbacks. Most doubles are challenging to feed. As a result, many people don’t practice enough to be proficient with 2 triggers and quick reloads. All of that is surmountable, of course with effort, but that doesn’t qualify as user friendly.

Mounting a scope or red-dot sight can increase a doubles utility, but it’s generally easier and more straightforward to mount a scope on a bolt gun. Again with effort, time, and resources it can be done.

Chevys and Fords are more user friendly than Ferraris, even when nobody doubts a Ferrari’s performance and everyone wants one.

 

[OxfordTheCat]

.45-70...

I know I'm alone on this one.

At least one supporter here.

For a reasonable hunting shot at buff, I would happily shoot a trap door safe 45-70 at ~1650 and not think twice.

If you said I had to shoot quartering toward with no PH in reserve I might reconsider, but I'd reconsider with most cartridges as well.

 

[colorado]

Colorado. I wish I thought of that.

lol!