Leverguns, cast bullets and buffalo

[JFE]

Last month I returned from a trip to a remote part of the Northern Territory and hunted on Hunt Australia’s concession in Arnhem Land. The camp was great - it really was a well thought out remote bush camp. The rifle I took with me was a Browning Model 71 that I had converted to 45/90. The bullets I chose to use were RCBS 500 gr FNGC, cast from an alloy with a hardness of approx 15 BHN. The rifle in this configuration was only completed a few months earlier and I was keen to use it on something substantial and in Oz they don’t get any bigger than buffalo in NT.

We had followed this particular old bull for a few hundred meters and luckily there was an immature bull quartering towards him that diverted his attention away from us. The old bull was ambling along - he was alert but oblivious to our presence. However he was still moving along quite briskly and changed direction often as he occasionally stopped to feed. His constant movement made shot placement tricky. More importantly, he was heading for dense cover. I would have liked to have closed the gap further, but from where we were was open bush, the air was still and the ground was like corn flakes. I decided it was now or never and, with the bull still moving, from a distance of 70mtrs I sent a 45 cal 500 gr FNGC towards the front end of the old bull.

The hit was audible but the bull didn’t seem to feel it and I was wondering whether I had hit it at all. The bull immediately swivelled around looking for where the noise had come from. Once it turned around I could see blood on the offside shoulder from the exit wound. The first shot had gone through both lungs and was a complete pass through.

We were in a burn with essentially no cover, apart from what little cover was offered by the relatively narrow trees, in this sparsely wooded area. Although hit, clearly he still had a lot of fight left in him and wanted to deal with whatever caused all his pain and suffering. I kept cranking out 45/90 shells as quick as I could operate that lever. When the rifle was empty the bull faltered, then started to wobble and finally started to collapse. With my rifle now empty I dropped a loaded shell on to the carrier and closed the action. I ran towards the bull, quickly thumbing additional cartridges through the loading gate as I ran and approached the animal from behind. I administered another 2 shots at close range, mindful that most accidents occurred when supposedly dead buffalo spring back to life. However he never recovered and expired fairly quickly. The 2 additional shots weren’t necessary but were cheap insurance.

These animals have heavy bone structures, dense muscle and their hide thickness has to be seen to be appreciated. They can absorb a lot of lead, particularly if the first shot is not well placed and still can, even when it is well placed.

The cast bullets performed reasonably well. You can see a photo of a recovered cast bullet and it shows that it held together and expanded well. Of note, this particular bullet didn’t encounter any heavy bone – it travelled about 30 inches through hide, muscle and paunch. A picture below shows just how thick the hide can be on a mature bull.

If I were to do this again I would use the same alloy for the first shot but for subsequent shots I would use a harder alloy. Once the shooting starts I think non-expanding bullets are called for to maximise penetration as you need to do the best you can with whatever shot is presented.

For me it was nice to take a battle scarred old bull like that using an old style gun with open sights in an old black powder cartridge and bullets I cast myself. No doubt anyone trying to do it this way is handicapping themselves and they have to accept that and work within those limitations, but that’s hunting to me. I enjoyed this hunt and all that went into it and it was a good way to baptize the 45/90.

I hope you enjoyed the story and pics.

[rbertalotto]

Great post........Awesome hunt...Congratulations!

[JayF in AZ]

Enjoyed your write-up and the photos. Looks like you had a great hunt. That sure is a big critter.

[Glenn]

Great story, enjoyed it! Even with the expansion, you got pretty good penetration. You didn't happen to use black powder did ya?
Glenn

[octagon]

Hunting buffalo in Australia with a lever. Wow! I could not dream up a cooler hunt if I tried. Congrats and thanks for the great write up and pics.

[JFE]

Thanks guys. While it took a while to write it, the whole thing was over in seconds. It was a real hoot.

Glenn - I used smokeless. The humidity and general conditions would have made clean up and maintenance a problem. Plus I don't think the smokescreen would have helped with the follow up shots!!

[JerryB]

A great hunt and with a great rifle and round. You should be real proud of this, and a good write up.

[AJMD429]

Cool story - thanks for sharing...!

[pwl44m]

Wow 2 Hunts in 1 night, I'm tired and need to go to bed now. Seriously Congratulations on a great hunt and writeup.
Perry

[piller]

That is really cool. The old cartridges and the leverguns can still do the job.

[.45colt]

Great Hunt!! and shooting. Thank You for the post.

[BenT]

Nice bullet performance and great hunt.

[C. Cash]

Good stuff! Congratulations and thank you for sharing.

[M. M. Wright]

Great story! I especially can appreciate the 45-90 since I have an original Winchester 1886 in that caliber. I've only used it for a few whitetail deer but would love to kill an american bison with it. It's about tops on the bucket list.

That is one big buffalo. Is that what is called a Gaur in southeast asia? I've heard they have a mean streak as wide as their horns.

[Griff]

[JFE]

Is that what is called a Gaur in southeast asia? I've heard they have a mean streak as wide as their horns.

No, these are not Gaur, they are Asiatic water buffalo. They were introduced many years ago and are now wild. Gaur do have that reputation but I don't think they can hunted any more, not in India anyways.

[Rusty]

Great story! I don't think I'd change a thing.

Don't mess with success.

You got really good performance from those bullets.

[ollogger]

Thanks for the pix & a great hunt!!!!
Love the size of your pests over there


ollogger

[hfcable]

wonderful ! really great write up and photos, and a great hunt that truly is a hunt in the full meaning and tradition of the word. this is why i like this web site, and the reasons you gave are the ones why i use my lever guns for most everything.

thank you, this made my day and will fill my daydreams this evening!

[Mike Rintoul]

Good story, Sir. I may have missed this in the above post but do you know the metplat diameter of the bullet and the muzzle velocity you were getting out of your '71 conversion?

[JFE]

Thanks for your comments. Glad you liked the story.

Mike - I was conservative in developing the load for the 71 and I had no time for load development prior to the trip. I used Quickload and set max pressure at 40k and it predicted 1750 fps. The meplat diameter measures 0.30".

FYI the buffalo's skin can be very thick as you saw in one of the photos. These animals at one time in the past were hunted for their hides - not to make fine wallets or women's handbags and such, but to make industrial strength conveyor belts, ie they have a pretty tough skin.

I think any lead alloy or meplat configuration is going to have a hard time dealing with skin of that thickness and toughness.

[PriseDeFer]

Good photo. Amazing what one glance at a real beast can tell you. About all the bad things it can do to you. If you bungle.

[3leggedturtle]

WOW That boolit sure expanded nicely. Where you going to hang the horns at? What velocity were they going. Your idea of harder alloy for follow up shots makes a lot of sense.

[Ji in Hawaii]

That is one big buffalo. Is that what is called a Gaur in southeast asia? I've heard they have a mean streak as wide as their horns.

Gaur


Water Buffalo

[tom deinek]

Neat!

What does it taste like -- chicken? lol

Really, does it have a wild taste? How is it compared to domestic beef?

[JFE]

Where you going to hang the horns at? What velocity were they going.

The trophy will be hung up at home. The skin was too scarred and lost most of it hair, so I settled for a skull mount. The velocity is estimated to be around 1750 fps. For thin skinned animals, like elk and moose, that bullet alloy and velocity should work quite well.

Really, does it have a wild taste? How is it compared to domestic beef?

The taste of the meat is not unpleasant and somewhat similar to beef. The big problem with it is that it was very tough even when treated to an extended time in a pressure cooker. The meat was still chewy even though it had fallen apart and that was the backstraps !!

The remote location and ambient temperature meant that there was no real way to hang the meat to age it before we could eat it.