Bullet for Buffalo

[Griz44mag]

OK,
I have been presented with an opportunity to go hunt buffalo.
I really want to take my beast with a cast bullet.
So here is a question for those who have hunted 1,000# animals.
Is a 308 Win adequate for hunting buffalo?
Is a 225-250gr lead flat nose adequate for making an ethical kill?
Range will be 100-200 yards.
Backup gun will be .416 Rigby (my hunting buddy) who thinks cannons are going to be too small.
I have also poised this question to the ranch owner, and have not yet received a response.

[lonewelder]

I have never hunted buffalo but I don't feel 308win is ethical for them besides a well placed head shot.Just my thoughts

[lonewelder]

Besides everyone knows you can't kill a buff with a lead boolit!

[rexherring]

Shot placement is still the key. A young girl here just got a nice bull with her .30-06. My buddy shot his with a .270. The .308 should work with a good bullet like a Nosler Partition 180 because you do need some penetration. They are not as hard to drop as a water buffalo but still can be tough. So your lead slug should do the job as long as you can put it where it belongs.

[Doc Highwall]

I killed a moose that dressed out at 900 lbs. with a 30/06 with one shot, a 190 grain Hornady interlock.

Shot placement with a good constructed bullet will do the job.

W.D.Bell killed many elephants with a 7x57 and they weigh a lot more then a bison.

[btroj]

308 with cast wouldn't be my first choice.

Can anyone say 45-70?

I would want 35 cal or larger and 250 gr of lead if I am using cast.

[nicholst55]

308 with cast wouldn't be my first choice.

Can anyone say 45-70?

I would want 35 cal or larger and 250 gr of lead if I am using cast.

I'm inclined to agree. If a .308 is the biggest rifle you own, I would recommend a premium jacketed bullet.

[MT Chambers]

Buffalos deserve to be hunted with rifles of the great period of the buffalo hunts, a Sharps or Rem. RB, a soft lead bullet, and a case full of real black powder, this may be the perfect opportunity to grab the C. Sharps or Shiloh, that you know you've always wanted!!

[timspawn]

As this is a ranch hunt I would try and get to within less than 100 yards for my first shot and be ready for a follow up shot. You wont have to worry about loosing a wounded animal but you want to be as humane as possible. I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night but I have killed water buffalo with a 45-70 double rifle.

[crabo]

One thing to remember is the buffalo's herd mentality. They want to gather around a wounded animal and might make followup shots difficult depending on the situation.

[tall grass]

Yes sir, Dead or wounded the others will gather around. I have lots of respect for the Native Americans that hunted bison with sharp pointy things especially before there were horses to hunt from.

Jim

[runfiverun]

I want to see a picture of a 250 gr boolit that will work/fit in the 308 and stay above the neck.

I don't think penetration will be the problem.

[sharpsguy]

I've killed five buffalo, and seen another half dozen or so taken. Get a 45-70 and load it with a 500 grain cast bullet and you won't have any problem. 1150 to 1300 fps is the sweet spot for the velocity that gives complete pass through from shoulder to shoulder and out the other side. Make SURE there is no buffalo behind the one you are shooting, as if there is, you will probably kill two with one shot. Seriously.

A lot of buffalo were killed back in the day with a 40-70 Straight and a 45-90 shooting 330 to 385 grain cast bullets. That's about as light as I would go. You CAN kill one with a 308 and a cast bullet, it's just that I would use a 45 if it were me.

[RugerFan]

Depending on alloy and velocity, I think using a .308 with a heavy CB is very doable at 100 yards.

[quilbilly]

Having raised buff's for a dozen years, your 308 with the 200 will do just fine unless that adult cow or bull has blood in his/her eye and is aiming to do a little stomping on you (unlikely unless she has a calf and you are under 40 yards away). I always carried my 444 Marlin with 265 and later 310's cast in the herd's field and only had to use it once but was glad to have it. Sadly, I lost all my romantic notions about buff's. Never feed a buff a Dorito (Nacho Flavor) unless you enjoy having him/her in your lap.

[Lefty SRH]

Depending on alloy and velocity, I think using a .308 with a heavy CB is very doable at 100 yards.

This is what I'm thinking. I've started playing with a 215gr cast in my .308 Win with a 16" barrel. So far the second testing revealed 2 MOA (ironsights) and a velocity average of the best group was 2175fps.

[frank505]

I have killed them with a 223 to the wonderful 505 Gibbs. Watched dozens killed with about whatever stuff from 40 caliber on up. Because we said you cant shoot our buffalo with less than a 40, and I dont mean some pissant pistol cartridge. Marksmanship matters most of all, cows are fairly easy, bulls are very different. Take off the top of the heart and they go down quickly. Lung shots are slow killers, head shots if you know where the brain is, work very well.
Buffalo are built different and shot placement is the most important factor in your shoot.

[NVScouter]

As you put it. You have an oportunity, I think the small investment of a larger bore would at least fit the oportunity better. Where are you hunting?

[725]

A heavy cast would work if you can take out the lungs and heart. My .308 with a Bear Claw Bonded bullet in a HE cartridge went all the way through a very large Eland. Close & broadside. .45-70 is still a proven and preferred (by me) work-horse for such a job.

[Griz44mag]

I will be free range hunting on a private ranch in my home state of Texas. These are not fed farm animals, but as close to wild as I guess they can actually be these days. The hunt is a herd management hunt, the objective will be an older cow that has outlived her productive days. I do currently cast a 180gr lead (NOE 311-180) copper gas check them, lube with CR. I load them to 2100 FPS. Last season, I cast an almost identical bullet at 150gr and took several whitetail with it. Bullet passed completely through, but did not expand as much as I would like for it too. I figure a 180-200gr of the same material should perform very nicely on a bison cow. I can hold .55 MOA at 150 yards all day long with this round. Head shots are something I have taken in the past, but consider it to be a risk of wounding an animal instead of a clean kill. I have not done that in a few decades now. I am, and have been my whole life, a hunter that never takes a shot that I am not 99.9% sure of both entry and exit on my meat animals. I have allowed many deer to walk away when I could not get the perfect broadside shot. I should hear something back from the ranch owner today about his recommendation for caliber and bullet. I have gotten a very mixed opinion of what it takes to make an ethical kill on an American bison. I have been offered the use of a 50 cal caliber black powder rifle, and may consider that if I have time to do some load workups and chrony tests first. I am looking forward to this hunt, but want to make sure I respect both the game and the ranch owner.