Velo and I disagree on this subject (respectfully!). The .577 BPE was never intended to be a buffalo or elephant cartridge. In the BP era it was considered a mid bore, and ideally suited for red stag and boar. It also worked well on African PG. And I suspect accounted for a lot deer and the occasional tiger in the Raj. The BP ten bore rifles were considered the all purpose African caliber which would handle buff and heart shots a elephant. Cal Pappas has indeed taken buffalo with the .577 BPE (hopefully he will weigh in - he will agree with Velo and disagree with me) and modern bullet construction means it is capable of doing so with the right shot presentation. But you are signing up for a lot of ifs. Sort of like taking a Winchester 44-40 in BP after whitetail. If everything goes right, it will kill a deer. If it doesn't you will lose him. Similar situation with buff, except the outcome could be someone gets hammered.
Hi Red Leg,
I totally respect your opinion because I know it is largely based on experience.
The BPE load I mentioned may not be legal for heavy DG in some countries anyway so therefore, my opinion is purely academic anyway.
Furthermore, even though I would not feel undergunned for buffalo, with a .577 BPE and proper composition 570 gr bullets (not the heaviest .58 caliber bullet out there I know), nonetheless I much rather would prefer at least a .400 NE 3" as my minimum cartridge in a double rifle on buffalo, to be sure of penetrating the vitals from any reasonable angle.
Again just IMO, the .577 BPE with a tough 570 gr bullet going about 1750 fps should do pretty well on a 1400 to 1800 pound animal.
Likewise, If Sir Samuel Baker or Arthur Neumann were here, no doubt they'd be typing like mad on this subject tonight, as they both used the 570 gr bullet of "hardened lead" at about 1750 fps, to shoot many elephant and buffalo alike, from their .577 BP doubles, if I am not mistaken (wouldn't be the first time I was mistaken).
Baker wrote of shooting lengthwise through Buffaloes with this "express load" in his .577 BP double.
Since this BPE thread was started, I did some more reading up on the subject and,
Find that many folks recommend against using modern bullets in original BP rifles.
Reportedly the rifling in the old softer steel barrels can be damaged from them.
So, I would be left with lead or paper patched lead, soft or somewhat hardened but, today's steel jacketed Woodleighs would be straight out.
As for elephant, I'm possibly never going to be able to afford one but, if I ever do manage to go for a tusk less or management one some year, I would not want to mess around with any BP caliber, of any sort.
Best regards,
Velo Dog.