Strictly 250GR for Cape Buffalo?

[grand veneur]

I have quoted several times the author of an old book about hunting in India who wrote around 1900 that beginners should use big bore cartridges for hunting heavy DG and leave the shooting of this game with smaller caliber cartridges the very experienced DG hunters.

 

[Flipper Dude]

So pretty much……..A newbie hunter shouldn’t use it, and a seasoned hunter wouldn’t choose it.

( See what I did there? It’s a slow day )

 

[Luederitz]

If I would use (which I will not do) a 9,3mm caliber, I´d rather use the 9,3x64 Brenneke instead of the 9,3x62 Bock.
As bullet I would chose the 320gr Degol or Woodleigh.

 

[coreydb]

Almost 30 years ago, I took my 375 H&H to South Africa for a plains game hunt. I developed a load with the original Barnes X using their 250gn bullet. There was no data from Barnes back then, so I just started with 270gn data and looked for pressure signs while I worked up my load.

That ammo worked great for 8 plains game species from springbok to zebra. While I was in camp, I found out that there was a guy from Sydney hunting out of the same camp with a different PH. What are the odds of another Aussie being in the same camp while I was hunting? Back then especially it was pretty unlikely. We chatted most evenings and I got along with him fine.

At the end of the hunt, I gave all my unfired ammo to my PH and didnt think any more about it. 6-12 months later, I got a call from the other Aussie to say he had gone back for a cape buffalo hunt. He used a camp rifle in 375H&H and my PH gave him the 250gn Barnes X bullets I had left there. The PH wanted the guy to use the 250gn load as they were hunting a large herd and he was worried about over penetration with bunched up animals. They killed their buffalo with one shot using my ammo. The guy wanted to let me know and I was glad to hear about it.

Granted its a sample of one, but thought it was relevant to the OP.

Maybe just one example, but to me this establishes a new performance floor. I hate overkill; I like just enough kill.

 

[Tanks]

I have quoted several times the author of an old book about hunting in India who wrote around 1900 that beginners should use big bore cartridges for hunting heavy DG and leave the shooting of this game with smaller caliber cartridges the very experienced DG hunters.

How things change. It is the opposite now. Neophytes get recommendations for smaller calibers due to people, even experienced folks, being afraid of recoil.

 

[bimbo]

The PH was in South Africa but he also worked some in Mozambique and Zambia, the legality never came up and was just a general chat around the campfire.

338 will be legal in burkina faso,benin ,ethiopia ,uganda ,mozambico ,zimbabwe (out of gvt concession )and south africa with 250 grs minimum .

 

[bimbo]

I strictly prefer 570 grains. Seems to make a bigger hole.

The passed off Ganyana ,Don Heath, during an amount buffalo operation culling in his career ,said:I have saw shoot over 500 thousand buffalo and I have found ,after dressing,which bullets with speed over 2200 fps with solid bullet ,will make larger wounds then caliber with lower velocity.A 9.3 will make a cavitational bubble larger then 500 NE ,solid by solid.

 

[Tom Leoni]

My PH considers the 270-300gr range as optimal for a .375 against Cape buffalo. I honestly don't see any reason to go lower than that. Sure, anecdotally, you may get hundreds of success stories with a 250-grainer, but again I don't see the reason to stray below 270gr--which in the mind of many is itself less than ideal.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

The problem with putting limitations on caliber/weight bullets for hunting is they are often not up to date with technology. I would never consider 250 gr cup and core 375 H&H lead bullets adequate for Cape buffalo, especially at close range with a lot of gas behind them. 300 gr maybe. For slow moving solids I think 300 gr would be fine. 350 gr better. But copper bullets are a whole different ball game. At high speed they retain most of their mass after impact but still penetrate well and mushroom for greater diameter wound channel. A lighter copper bullet will work as well as 50 grs heavier old standard lead stuff IF it is loaded with enough velocity.

 

[pilar]

It boggles my mind that Hornaday loads the CX in 250gr and the loads up the 270gr interlock as a Dangerous Game round , hornday flip that please
270-275-300gr CX would have such a better use and 250gr interlock ( deer , elk , bear , plains game) as a 375 ruger owner

^^^^ I completely disagree with OH ( minimum 270-300gr on a mono , the 250 imo just doesn’t do it 100% of the time)

 

[bimbo]

The problem with putting limitations on caliber/weight bullets for hunting is they are often not up to date with technology. I would never consider 250 gr cup and core 375 H&H lead bullets adequate for Cape buffalo, especially at close range with a lot of gas behind them. 300 gr maybe. For slow moving solids I think 300 gr would be fine. 350 gr better. But copper bullets are a whole different ball game. At high speed they retain most of their mass after impact but still penetrate well and mushroom for greater diameter wound channel. A lighter copper bullet will work as well as 50 grs heavier old standard lead stuff IF it is loaded with enough velocity.

Also by double bullet's weight with old lead bullet ,we will have limits about angle shot.With premium bullet with a sd of .300 and a speed between 2200 and 2400 at close range no limits about it on buffalo in particular for westerner african buffalo

 

[Rem280]

I user 250 grain Trophy Bonded Bear claw vs a brown bear, hogs and a trail camera. Worked fine on them. As for Cape Buffalo I used 270 grain TSX bullet and worked great. Much different build on these critters and would stick with 270 grain or heavier for Cape Buffalo.

 

[Hunt anything]

I user 250 grain Trophy Bonded Bear claw vs a brown bear, hogs and a trail camera. Worked fine on them. As for Cape Buffalo I used 270 grain TSX bullet and worked great. Much different build on these critters and would stick with 270 grain or heavier for Cape Buffalo.

How did the trail camera taste and how did I you cook it?

 

[Rem280]

How did the trail camera taste and how did I you cook it?

Ha! Pig tasted great, guess I did not miss completely shooting at the running hog. Sadly did not taste it.