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.
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Originally Posted by Piedmont
That rifle, load, and bullet alloy combo looks like the perfect Elk medicine.
