Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cartridge for Buffalo?

Friend of mine. .308 Win factory Federals if I remember correctly. No drama, one shot.

Like shootin' fish in a barrel.

Most of the buffalo were dead prior to the Civil War which started in 1861. The 45-70 was introduced in 1873 and buffalo hunting was banned in 1874 to protect the handful left.

The 45-70 was never used on a large scale to buffalo hunt although I'm sure it killed a few. It was fine for killing indians, but in it's day was considered under powered for anything larger than deer. Only a small step up over 45 Colt hand guns.

I'd think a 30-06 loaded with 180 gr copper bullets would be more than adequate.

That has to be the most bull$hit laden post I have ever seen. You have obviously never seen a 45-70 and a man that knows how to load it and use it at work on large animals.

I used a .270 for mine. The others in my party used 30-06 and 300 mags. We all collected our trophies and it was a one day hunt.

You mean this,correct?

https://rotometals.com/lead-free-bullet-casting-alloy-88-bismuth-12-tin/

Never knew this company existed,learn something new everyday.

Buffalo Cartridges of the American Frontier

By Chuck Hawks

LINK

Commercial hunting of the Western "buffalo" (actually American bison) was widespread from the early 1870's to the early 1880's. The slaughter of the bison reached its peak in 1875 and 1876, declining after 1880. The last great buffalo herd was annihilated in 1884, marking the end of an era.

Many different black powder rifle cartridges were used to kill buffalo on the American frontier. Most popular cartridges of the time, even though quite inadequate to the task, were pressed into service on the plains. A similar thing happened in Africa, particularly during the early years of the 20th Century.

There is neither time nor space in an article such as this to even attempt to describe every moderately successful cartridge ever used to kill an American bison. During the days of the great buffalo hunts on the American plains powerful, accurate, single shot rifles shooting big bore cartridges were the preferred medicine of the serious hunter. This article will briefly examine a few of the best known of those cartridges. Please understand that it is not intended to be an inclusive treatise on the subject.

As was the custom of the time, the big bore black powder cartridges were named by their nominal bullet diameter and typical maximum powder charge; often the bullet weight (in grains) was included. Thus the ".45-70" was a black powder cartridge that used a .45 caliber bullet (.458" diameter) in front of 70 grains of powder. The designation .45-70-405 would indicate the .45-70 cartridge loaded with a 405 grain bullet.

The big bore buffalo cartridges were loaded with black powder, as smokeless powder had not yet been invented. Because black powder is an inefficient propellant by volume, big cases with large powder charges were necessary and muzzle velocities were typically limited to around 1250-1500 fps.

The development of reliable, controlled expansion jacketed bullets was still in the future. On the frontier, bullets of all calibers were generally made of cast lead. The only way to increase shocking power was to increase bullet diameter; the only way to increase penetration was to increase bullet weight (and thus sectional density). In those days terminal ballistics was generally pretty simple; the bigger and heavier the bullet the greater the killing power.

And plenty of killing power was needed, for the American bison is a very big bovine, considerably larger than the average African Cape buffalo. Fortunately, while they can indeed be dangerous to humans, the bison does not have the malevolent disposition of his distant African cousin. The buffalo runners of the West simply stayed out of reach of the big beasts, usually shooting from a rest at ranges around 200 yards and sometimes more. They often used telescopic sights. These men, after all, were not sport hunters, but market hunters after hides. This also explains why the big bore double rifle, used so successfully on large African game, was not popular in the American West; it simply was not accurate enough.

According to the published research of Edward A. Matunas, an average size female bison is supposed to weigh around 930 pounds, and an average male around 1600 pounds. (The figures for average African buffalo are 700 pounds and 1000 pounds.) Very large male bison can weigh 2000 pounds, and extreme monsters weighting 3000 pounds have been recorded. Anyone hunting game that averages ten times his own weight and solves problems by running over them had better carry a powerful rifle!

It is important to remember than the intensive slaughter of the great bison herds, the days of commercial buffalo hunting, lasted only a little over ten years. Subsistence and sport hunters as well as the plains Indians had hunted bison previously, of course, but the planned extermination of the herds was not contemplated until about 1870 and was completed in 1884. It was the early buffalo cartridges that did most of the heavy killing. The final refinement of the American buffalo cartridge actually occurred after the extinction of the last great bison herd.

The excellent Winchester Model 1885 single shot rifle and Model 1886 lever action repeating rifle, and the entire line of big bore cartridges developed for these rifles, was introduced after the herds were gone and commercial buffalo hunting had ceased. The .45-82, .45-85, .45-90, .45-125, .50-100, .50-105, and .50-110 Winchester cartridges, the first of which was introduced in 1886, had no impact on the extermination of the bison. The same thing basically applies to the .40-90 Sharps (Straight), .50-115 Bullard, .50-140 Sharps and several other impressive "buffalo" cartridges.

.45-70 Government

By far the best known of the buffalo cartridges used on the western frontier was the illustrious .45-70 Government. Still popular today, the .45-70 was introduced in 1873 and was the U.S. Army's standard service cartridge from that time until it was officially replaced by the .30-40 Krag in 1892. The .45-70 actually continued in military service with reserve and militia units well into the early 1900's.

Like all U.S. service cartridges, the .45-70 became a popular sporting cartridge with American civilian hunters of the time. It was probably the most popular all-around big game rifle cartridge of its era, and was widely regarded as suitable for all North American game, including bison. Remington Arms, I believe, specifically recommended the .45-70 as the top buffalo cartridge for use in their famous Rolling Block rifles.

The .45-70 is based on a fat, rimmed, straight taper case measuring .500" at its base and .475" at its neck. The case is 2.105" long, and the military cartridge loaded by the Frankford Arsenal had an overall length of 2.73". The .45-70 uses .458" diameter bullets.

.45-70 was a chambering offered in many famous rifles. These included not only the famous "Trapdoor" Springfield military rifles and carbines, but also rifles from Hotchkiss, Marlin, Remington, Sharps, Winchester, and other civilian companies. Commercial ammunition was available from most manufacturers.

The most common .45-70 loads used 330, 350, 400, 405, and 500 grain bullets. The heaviest bullets were the best choice for hunting buffalo.

The 405 grain bullet was the weight chosen for use by the Army. The Frankford Arsenal began mass production of .45-70 cartridges in January of 1874. Frankford Arsenal cartridges were loaded with reduced charges of 55 grains of black powder (.45-55-405) for use in cavalry carbines, and full charges of 70 grains of black powder (.45-70-405) for full length (and therefore heavier) infantry rifles. 55 grains of musket powder gave a muzzle velocity (MV) of 1100 fps and 70 grain loads propelled a 405 grain bullet at a MV of 1350 fps and ME around 1600 ft. lbs. Period tests revealed that the 405 grain bullet penetrated 7.3" of white pine boards at a range of 700 yards, but the cartridge's rainbow trajectory limited its point blank range to about 150 yards for man sized targets.

Commercial .45-70 ammunition was loaded with bullets up to 500 grains in front of 70 grains of black powder (.45-70-500). These commercial loads proved to have superior penetration and killing power on large game. In 1882 Frankford Arsenal also began manufacturing a 500 grain bullet. The secret to the .45-70's success on very large game is the superior SD of its .458" bullets.

Somewhere on the web one can find footage of something like a 300 Win and 45-70 taking one lines of water filled milk jugs. The 300 penetrates 3 to 4. The 45-70 somewhere around 22 to 23.

As to the question of bison or buffalo. It's the one with the big hump that runs/ran on the US plains. You know, the one the nickel was named after. Regardless, the 45-70 with about a 545 grain slug will work for either.

How much of a cartridge do you need to shoot a bison in a coral?

22 LR low between the eyes, just like shooting a steer for butcher

My wife applied for the free range Wyoming Bison (cow/calf) this season. If she gets the tag, she intends to use my Weatherby .300 magnum with a muzzle break.

Looks like it's a tie between the 7MM Remington Magnum and the 30/06.

Sure, all that newfangled trendy stuff.

Some reenactor guy a few years back took his buffalo cow at 70 yards with a .62 (20 gauge) flintlock fowler, .600 cal. 342 grain ball, 80 grains FFFg, dead grass for wadding over powder and ball. The ball was recovered against the skin on the far side.

Birdwatcher

45/110 original. 1 shot. Dead.

I'd go 50-110 myselfelf.

Pard managed a ranch for 20 tears or so. Boss had a permit for a certain amount but a new one or two would be born every year so the herd had to be culled . If he was doing it, he used Winch 94 in 30-30. Always dawn with one shot but if a friend wanted to do the job, They would bring anything from a 45=70 and up. several of them had to be finished with the 30-30.

One of my buddies used my .338 win mag to kill a big bull on a ranch near Dubois, ID in 2002. A 250 gr. partition did the trick. When we field dressed the beast I was shocked how low in the brisket the heart is. That would be shot I would take if I ever went buffalo shooting, and it wouldn't take a .338. BTW, that partition went side to side and mushroomed perfectly. I still have it. It was just under the skin on the off side.

Here's some information on the buffalo hunt. The ranch is near Pasa Robles CA. There are two separate hunts. A cow/yearling @ $2,795. Or a throphy bull @ $4,500. 2 day, fully guided hunt. They have both archery or firearms hunts, year round. No tags required. They field dress & quarter the animal cost is included. Taxidermy and butchering are separate costs. For a better coat they recommend a winter hunt. 100% success rate. It's a 3,500 acre ranch.

I'd go for a full-mounted bull!