Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game What is or preferred caliber for Cape Buffalo

What do y you like for cape buffalo and why that specifically ?

Probably 375 H&H minimum

Many would want the 6.5 CM......where legal! 😁 Personally, I’d go with the .375 H&H, but, one of the 416’s would be very hard to beat ! memtb

I've been privileged to be in the back of a toyoata pick-up about 75 yds from one. this was in a very open "Farm" ( we would call it a ranch" kinda SE of Joberg, back in 2002. He was as big as a French "Limousine" Bull but had meaner horns and bigger feet, ha. I also had three Rhinos come so close as to "bump" the front end when they crossed our trial, heavy fog and we were looking another direction! So...

Many would say a 375 H&H would do swell, and it "could". I would lean heavily to a .416 minimum ( 400gr/2400fps) or even a .458 Lott. The .404 Jeffery is a favorite, but I had trouble with failure to fires ( when I was having one built for buff, a cull hunt that fell through) that long sloping shoulder needs to be fireformed "before" working up the 400/2400fps. I even had factory ammo FTF. Supposedly, the 404 Jeff recoils like a .375 H&H (maybe at 2200) and hits game like a 458 win. Out in the open, he can be like "Elsie the Cow", in scrub, pretty scary!

.375 H&H It works, components and ammo are relatively easy to find and theres a good variety, plus they are cheaper than the big stuff, a number of rifles are chambered for it, and it is pleasant to shoot compared to the over 40s.

That's definitely a case where smaller might be better if you can't handle the larger one accurately.

Brian Pearce showed em how the cow ate the cabbage with the plain ol' 45-70 loaded to potential with good bullets.

I've killed 3 with my .375 H&H. No problems

My choice is the 416 Remington via M70 in a McM stock. A fairly light rifle that carries well. My PH, carrying a custom 416 Rigby, was more than pleased with my choice. In fact, he wanted it.... I'm letting the Covid dust settle before I head back to either Zimbabwe or the Caprivi

If you like drama, use a cartridge you're afraid of. Otherwise, the H&H will do just fine.

I'd like to be able to say from personal experience, but can't, never been there or done that where Cape Buffalo are concerned. So I rely on a very good friend that has. He uses a 416 Rigby for everything he goes after over there.

I’ve taken two with the 375 H&H (300 gr.), three with a 404 Jeffery (400 gr.) and two with a 458 Lott (500 gr.) They all seem to work. Personally, I like the 404 Jeffery the best, but have seen the biggest hits from the the Lott. YMMV.

4 cape buffalo with 4 shots .416 Ruger 400 grain Swift A Frame. Only downside is ammunition availability in Zimbabwe when airlines lose your luggage in Africa. Multiple use in Alaska for brown bear protection or hunting.

I am a rookie with having only taken 1 cape buffalo with a 404 Jeffery. It worked splendidly and the PH was happy I brought it over the 375.

I now have Model 70 in 416 Remington and a load worked up for the 350gr TSX.

I shoot this rifle better than the 404 and can have longer practice sessions with it. So I have finally found my big gun,

One of the hardest recoiling rifles I ever shot was a young man's Mark V in 416 Weatherby! That thing was brutal! I "almost" got a scope eye from it. My idea of of 'too much gun". I once had a Ruger #1 Tropical in 458WM and it shot like a varmint rifle! Barnes 450X was just super accurate. I owned a custom Mauser in 458 Lott, beautiful wood and all. Hit a low dip in my finances and had to sell it before I even gt to shoot it! I was chapped. But, about that time ( 2000) I blew my neck out, so Common Sense said it was time to dial it back. Big animals just seem to call for big bullets to me!

I'm going on a buffalo hunt next june/july. I'll hunt with my 375 H&H loaded with 300 grains Partition or 270 grains TSX. Can't wait for it...

Karamojo Bell would probably say 7x57

This thread reminds me of an ad I seen years ago in the paper. For Sale Ruger #1 460 Weatherby magnum. 19 rounds of ammo.


On a serious note I loaded for a friend all his ammo for a Safari back in 95 It was Speer .458 African Grand slams with the tungsten core. They were 500 grains. This was for a .458 Win mag.
Those bullets were about 5.50 apiece back then. Not even sure if they still make them. IIRC I set them on top of a whopper charge of H4198. An Elephant. a Lion , and a buff all succumbed to them. Also have a friend who has taken a buff with a .375 H+H .
I'd say take the largest you can accurately shoot. One good one is better than ten bad ones.

I've killed 2 cape buffalo both with a 375 Ruger with 300 grain Nolser Partition.

Biggest you can shoot well, but not less than .375 H&H.

It can be done with less, but most countries require the 375 at a minimum. Yes, the 9.3x62 is just a little behind the 375, but the 35 Whelen is just a little behind the 9.3, and the 338-06 is just a little behind the Whelen, and so on.

375 minimum, to whatever your maximum is.

I like the 375 H&H because I have one.

I want 416 Rigby for no good reason, and a 404 Jeffrey too. I am building a 458 WM at the moment. Hope I like it when I am done.

The PH I've hunted with the most killed around 500 with the .30-06 and the original 180-grain Nosler Partitions back in the 1970s when culling on a big ranch in what was then Rhodesia. And no, they were not taken at night with head shots. Instead, herds were driven past the him by ranch workers, and he took every reasonable shot offered, including frontal shots on big bulls.

The majority of African PHs I've known had also killed several with cartridges including the .30-06, 7mm Remington Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum with basic chest shots. Of course, they use larger cartridges when back up clients, but the above mentioned PH mentioned that he often had to follow up and finish bulls with his .375 H&H--that his clients had wounded with larger cartridges....