Curious why cape buffalo have the same minimum caliber requirement as Rhino, Hippo and Elephant?

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I have used a .375 exclusively on buffalo with great success. Any second shots were purely insurance shots. But let's say a buffalo is inbound with the intent to do serious harm. I would argue a .375 is just as likely to terminate the excitement as a .416 class rifle. Neither bullet in the chest is probably going to stop or divert a charge at close range. A 300 or 400 gr bullet going up the snout will. I simply believe most people are likely to put that bullet into such a small target with a .375 than a forty something.

I will agree that a .458 Lott and the 500's do have the potential to turn a charge, but even with those, I would be trying to get 500 grs of whatever into the control center under the boss.

So, if I have a choice between a .375, a forty, or a .500, I'll gladly opt for the .375 and its flexibility and ease of carry.

Back to the OP's original question, I am certain that a 250 gr bullet of the proper construction from a .338 would be absolutely lethal on cape buffalo. After all, the 318 WR was a favorite for buffalo (and rhino and elephant and everything else) for the better part of two generations before and between the wars. That said, a .375 is a very sensible minimum.

Should you wish to try something smaller, book your hunt in Mozambique where there is no minimum at all.

@Red Leg
My mate Ted Mitchell shot a water buffalo with his 35 Mitchell Express and dropped it but he didn't see the one behind the bush. This one promptly decide to try and turn ted into a pile of red mush and charged. Fortunately Ted had chambered a fresh round and still had his rifle shouldered. All Ted could see thru his scope was a pile hair when he pulled the trigger. Range was about 10-15 yards. The bullet hit the Buffalo just below the boss and it came to a skidding halt near his feet. To quote Ted, he put another into it to make sure it was dead then cleaned his underwear and tried to get his heart back under control. Fortunately Ted is a great bushman, excellent shot and cool under pressure. It sure put the wind up him but his 35 did the job without fuss.
I'm not saying it would be the same on a cape Buffalo but with a Woodleigh hydro or 310 gn solid or northforks CPS I think you would have a good chance. Yes over 5,000fpe with a 40-50 cal would perform better but a properly constructed 338-35 with 4,000fpe will still get it's attention.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Is 375 required for leopard and lion?

I swear I've seen videos of leopard hunting with .308, 30-06 etc.

@Northern Shooter
My PHs favourite calibers for leopard over bait is a 25-06 with a 120gn bullet. He says it kills them very quickly.
Bob

 

[Tibavati]

1. Yes
2. I wouldn’t go below .338 caliber
3. For body shots on elephant, yes. No for the others (except rhinoceros which I am yet to hunt and thus, can’t speak from field experience)

I’ve been doing all this with .375 Holland & Holland Magnum caliber rifles ever since 1974, so I am well familiar with the attributes & limitations of this caliber. It’s the Swiss army knife of rifle calibers, in terms of its versatility. The “One Size Fits All” of the big game hunting scene. Or at least, as close to this philosophy as is humanly possible.
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I’ll go a bit in-depth into your first question.

Firstly, it’s extremely unwise to compare the resiliency of American bison or Asiatic/Australian water buffalo with the Cape buffalo. The only common element between all of them is that they’re bovines. Yes, the Cape buffalo weighs less than an American bison or Asiatic water buffalo. But weight alone isn’t a reliable indication of a dangerous game animal’s tenacity for life. Cape buffalo are far more aggressive & cunning and stronger framed.

Many modern day safari client hunters don’t fully appreciate just exactly how dangerous a Cape buffalo really is, due to the way in which majority of Cape buffalo are taken in Africa today. The white hunter gets them near the buffalo at an angle where the most opportune shot into the vital regions may be made, shooting sticks are erected, a telescopic sighted .375 Holland & Holland Magnum (loaded with premium grade controlled expansion bullets) is used for the kill shot and then it’s all over (assuming that everything goes according to plan, of course). There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, as this is often how I myself (a client hunter) do it as well. But people have begun to forget that there’s a very valid reason why these irate looking bovines are called “Africa‘s Black Death”. It’s an extremely appropriately earned nickname.

Sure, smaller calibers have been used to successfully down African Cape buffalo for years. The 7x57mm Mauser (loaded with 173Gr DWM military surplus round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids) was used very successfully by WDM Bell for taking Cape buffalo. But these were picked shots. Only when a hunter must take a shot at a Cape buffalo in dense vegetation/cover where there is low visibility, then will he look down at the bore of his rifle and wish that it was bigger.

I’ve culled several water buffalo in South Bengal under government orders in 1979, back when I was under the employment of the Ministry of forests. The rifles that I (and my men) employed, were the standard government issue .303 British Lee Enfield service rifle (loaded with 174Gr steel jacketed army surplus FMJ military ball). When hit in the soft region behind the shoulder, all of the game (males averaging at 2160 LBs live weight) could be consistently relied upon to eventually succumb to their injuries. But several of the larger water buffalo lived up to 18 minutes even after getting multiple shots through the heart and/or lungs. I would definitely not consider employing the .303 British against African Cape buffalo (even if it were legal).
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I've been immensely fortunate enough to have been able to hunt most of the world's species of wild bovines at least once up until now (Cape buffalo, American bison, Asiatic water buffalo, Seladang, Gaur, Banteng) with the exception of the Australian scrub bull (a dream game animal of mine). I can say with 100% certainty that Cape buffalo, Gaur & Seladang top the list in terms of:
1) Tenacity for life
2) Ferocity
3) Cunning

I shot a Seladang bison bull in Chiengmai, Northern Thailand in 1979 by employing a .30-06 Springfield (loaded with Kynoch 220Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids). I had made a heart-lung shot. The Seladang expired on the following day (but not before playing a very macabre game of hide & seek with me on the day that I shot him, when I had to eventually abandon the hunt for the day the moment I realized that HE WAS THE ONE STALKING ME). Were I armed with a caliber of rifle above .338… then, I’ve absolutely zero doubt that he would have dropped far sooner.
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You history is very impressive! I have taken 12 of the worlds ox. The first, a cape buff, was taken with a 470 double. The rest with a 375HH or 9.3x62. The only smaller caliber I would consider is the 338Lapua. Same ballistics as the 375HH and flatter.

On buffalo, when shot, they take it poorly. The 375HH came out in 1912. 114 years of experience removes all doubt.