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Actually, with an expanding bullet through the lungs, they can take a long time to die. I watched a buffalo video done here in BC. The first shot was with a 30/06, 180gr. Nosler partition through both lungs, exited out the off side. Shot was fairly close. The person shot the buff another 3 or 4 times, each time the film showed entry and exit blasts sprays, same place.
28 minutes after the first shot, the buff put his head down and collapsed.
Shooing down through the lungs into the heart from a horse broadside to the buffalo was the preferred method, whether with the revolver, single shot martial pistol or by the natives with an arrow.
SxS 12 and 10 bores were also tried, with round balls, of course. The .54 calibre Martial single shot pistols were preferable to long barreled guns.
Quite a bit on this in "Firearms of the American West 1803-1865"
Also stated, you could not kill a buffalo with a .36 Navy revolver.
The single shot 1868 Sharps and Remington .50/70's were used to kill thousands of them with issue ammo.70gr. BP and 450gr. bullet.
The big slow moving bullets seemed to kill better than the modern rifles of small bore, even though they have expanding bullets.

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