Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa .405 Win vs Cape Buff - who wins?

Brother, that particular female rates as one of the best ever, so losing one to Osa sure as Hell ain't a disgrace

Bout time you showed up! I'll give you a call later this afternoon after I get through with all my conferences.

I done been following yer fun!!! Use the 1895 for a lion and the Sharps for the buffalo

I'm with ET.

There is much to be sais about the penetration of the 45/70. Those last two posters are the guys who know.
Randy

Well, no lion in my future men, not at 80grand for the "chance" at one anyway! Amazing to think that in Teddy's day lions were considered "pests" and now they are the most expensive hunt in Africa with the exception of the limited Black Rhino hunting. jorge

Actually Randy, Jorge's Sharps is a 45-110. In other words-a Buffler Gun!! Only makes sense to kill a buffler with a buffler gun!!!

Thanks for the correction. I have no experience with 45/110, but have got penetration from left hip through right shoulder of a 1200 pound bull moose. It took out 6" of spine in the process with a 0ne inch exit wound.

I can only assume 110 vs 70 gr would be more powerful, If needed. That Sharps is brute for strong and accurate in Jorge's control.

Randy

I see no reason why it won't work if you use a proper bullet..I would opt for a North fork cup pont myself and feel fine with a .405 Win. and a few solids would be nice...

One might consider doing like one of my clients from AR did and that is have to have the gun long throated and the magazine modified and it will then duplicate a 450-400 and that's real buffalo medicine..I don't think 2000 FPS is advisable in a .405 Win. Mod. 95..In a Ruger single shot I would think 2000 FPS or even more would be doable and easy to do in that strong action, but I have not tried, so your on your own there.

My main concern is not caliber as I have killed buffalo with the 8x57, 7x57, 308 and 30-06. My concern is the Mod. 95 Win. which is the slowest to load action in the modern world..

I love my M-95 , 30-06 stoked with 200 and 220 gr. Noslers but it's a bummer to load in a hurry unless your happy to single load it after it goes dry and I have no problem with this on deer and elk but in a buffalo charge single loading has very little appeal to me!

Ray: Like I've said before here, given the great penetration of the TSX, I think the 300gr@ 2250 will suffice. If you click on the link for Boddington's article, his daughter killed a Waer buffalo with one shot with factory non-bonded 300gr Hornadys to the shoulder. Maybe there's some data (SAFE) for the 1895 with 400gr solids, but I haven't seen it but I suspect to keep pressures safe one needs to slow down a 400gr pill to 1850 or so to be safe. jorge

Solids are doable in the .405 but the problem is that many of the bores are not actually .411". I inquired with North Fork about this and they said it was best to get the barrel slugged. I also followed up with Winchester and they said that the groove diameter in MY 1885 was .413". Your mileage may vary!

Good reading here nonetheless:
http://www.northforkbullets.com/magento/blog/?p=156

I just dropped NF a note for a price quote on the 300gr solids.

jorgeI, Make it work! Stunt or not, It'll be a helluva story when you get back! Hell, read my thread, and see what me and my son are gonna do!


maddog

Hell yeah I'll make it work. Here's another "stunt" kill:






Oh and I did read your thread congrats and good luck!

jorgeI, just remember, ya gotta wear a pith helmet, when ya do the shootin!



maddog

Heck with the pith helmet! You are shooting a Winchester lever-action----wear a Stetson!

Nah, this hat is as "daring" as I'll get, lest I'd be called a clown again. I'm sensitive...

Jorge,

Hodgdon lists 1945 fps for 400-grain Woodleighs with H4895 at M95 pressures (44,900) so I wouldn't worry too much about getting sufficient velocity with that weight

I also wouldn't worry about the bore being an odd diameter. I have yet to measure a modern .405 barrel that wasn't .411" or very close to it. The bigger bores are all on old rifles--and even then I wouldn't worry about it too much, as I've gotten fine hunting accuracy with .308 bullets in .303 British rifles.

She actually used her Ruger No. 1 on Cape Buff as well. In fact, she wrote an article about this hunt for Sports Afield last year. Her dad also references her Cape Buff in his book "Safari Rifles II". You are correct that Hornady does not offer a factory loading for the 405 Win. with a 400-gr. bullet but they (the Boddingtons) had Hornady make up some loads using the 400-gr. bullets for her. The goal here was to replicate the original 450-400 performance. I am aware, and its been noted in this thread as well, that the No. 1 is much more flexible when it comes to hand-loads than the Win. M95 so you would be limited, especially with 400-grainers. Still, I think with proper load work-up, you could safely get to 1950 - 2000 FPS using these heavier bullets.

Jorge,

Just a little more inspiration for ya!!!









Cheers!
-Bob F.