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Was scrolling through my notes and found this - excerpts from late Ganyana on the matter of Buffalo charges etc - tho long I find it an excelent reading, taken from a man that was around - Man I miss HIM - quote:

"Where to aim? It all depends...
If you have a double, you always put your first shot into the chest, either a low chest shot to hit the heart, or a high shot (just under the chin) to take out the arteries and hopefully hit the spine. If you have a bolt action or single shot, well that just depends on how far away the buff is when you get the chance for your first shot. If more than 10 paces, put a round in the chest and do an amazingly fast reload so you can go for the spine/brain if it is still coming.

A heart shot buffalo might flatten you but it is unlikely to come round to finish the job. The second shot is reserved for point blank range:- on the nose if the head is still up, over the top of the head into the neck if the head has been dropped.

Why over the top of the head? simple. Buffalo have small brains and well cushioned. The spine is a much larger target and even a hit on one of the spiney processes will cause concussion and drop the animal, giving you time to prove that you can cycle and fire a bolt action rifle as fast as a Semi Auto in moments of need.

Of course, if the buff is fairly buggered anyway when it begins its charge, the head will be held low from the beginning, so shoot over the head into the spine right from the start.

On the Buffalo eradication programmes most of the buffalo we shot were effectively "charging". They were driven onto us by helicopter, and once the shooting started they were pretty belligerent.

The least effective shots were those that went above the heart but below the spine. I had to follow up a cow that had been shot here with a .416 Rigby. When I finally caught up with here 9 hours later she was in fine form, and a .375 on the nose at 2 paces was needed to settle the matter. I dissected her to find out what had gone wrong:- nothing really. Bullet (a solid) had passed over the heart, between the lungs, on through the stomach and intestines and left below the anus (giving her a hysterectomy on the way). The wound would have proved fatal in the long run but didn't even slow her up after 9 hours. In 30 frontal shots I learned that you hit heart, spine or brain or you are in trouble. Later as a PH, I have seen this with clients. Those that place their shots accurately at the chosen target have no trouble.

It is also the reason to wait 30 mins before starting a follow up. Adrenaline makes buffalo bullet proof. A 9,3x62 in the chest stops a buffalo that is just running. Seen an angry buff take 4 .577 Nitro rounds in the chest (and a .505 through the lungs from the side), and still throw Clive Connolly, breaking his Westly Richards double in the process. Moral. Shoot straight and don't wound the bastards in the first place.

Any charge that starts more than 15 paces away is going to get a chest shot just under the chin from me and then I'll reload and wait until I cannot miss a spine or brain shot.

A buffalo charge actually starts out quite slowly, and adrenaline flowing through you makes everything seem to slow down even more. The only time you do not have a chance for two shots with a bolt action or even a single (like a Ruger No 1) is in thick jesse, or when you make the mistake of running after the buffalo you have just shot to find that it has turned around behind some cover and is now already running at full speed towards you and you are running at full speed towards it! Bad bad plan.

The head held high is usually the sign of an unwounded or lightly wounded animal. Have settled two charges with shots on the point of the nose during the eradication days. Neither buff was critically hit.

If you want to know why the government guys got all the practice on the wounded animals, it was because all the local farmers joined in the culls using everything from .22 hornit (the terminal F**kwit who tried it reckoned Bell used a .22 on buff so his hornit should be fine. Bell actually used a .22 savage high power - but this fellow killed three and wounded two on that cull) to .505's, but mostly the farmers used 7.62 NATO rifles with ball ammo. All animals that over ran the stop line, were wounded or otherwise got away had to be followed up and dispatched. Most of the guys were game for the cull, but generally politely declined to help follow up the wounded, usually citing unsuitable rifles, kids back home, visitors for lunch etc. The poor bastards in the helicopter did most of the finishing off (get the angle wrong in your shoulder and a .458 will bruise you from finger tip to waist and hanging out of the door on a helio it's easy to get the angle wrong). The rest the government guys had to follow up. My diary shows that one in six follow ups resulted in a charge. as an 18 year old will more balls than brains I had a couple of narrow misses, - walked past one that then charged from behind etc. I grew up quick!!!!

Two points. I use a 9,3 because one of the sons of darkness put a 7.62 bullet through my right shoulder! I own a .404 but every time I fire it, I have to book a visit to the physio and take some propon! The surgeon has had to replace the bolt that holds the arm to the socket twice. That siat though, the reason I own a .404, and until I got married a .450NE, is that when things are going wrong a 9,3 is awfully small. The operational plan is to carry the 9,3 and if needed swap to the .404 when necessary (like a follow up). Just things have never quite worked out that way and have never shot an animal with the .404, .450 or any of the other cannons I have owned.

I use Woodleigh solids and some bonded core, flat nosed softs that Ken Stuart in South Africa made for me. When I started out on the buffalo eradication, I had a government issue Bruno (CZ) 9,3 and a choice of ancient Kynoch ammo or fresh RWS TUG's. Opted for the TUG's. All penetrated sufficiently to brain or spine the largest bull.

In reply to an earlier question on open vs scope sights. I aways used a ghost ring sight once I bought my own rifle (a Mauser factory original). Lately I have been playing with a surefire red dot and a Leopold 1-4 scope on the new Dumoulin rifle I have. Conclusion: - The sight is irrelevant, provided the rifle fits and the sight does not obstruct access to the bolt handle. At 10 paces in less than a second- who has time for sights. Keep both eyes open look at the target and put the bullet there. Most scopes though obstruct access to the bolt- even if only slightly and that I don't like.

It is also the reason why I dislike many heavy rifles like A square. Delightful to shoot, but impossible to snap shoot with. The rifle you need to deal with a charge must point as well as any ten grand trap shotgun.

I used to practice extensively with my F.N. FAL, for night contact work (when you cannot see the sights anyway), and the closest I came to getting stomped by a buff was on a night exercise with some trainee PH's and a new ranger. The buff charged from about 40 m. 17 .375 rounds and 3 .404 rounds went crashing in its direction (a fair number hitting), until it reached about 10 paces. Then the game scout holding the spotlight panicked, threw the light at the buff and took off running. I could just make out the outline of the buff against the sky and decided it was time to intervene or somebody was going to get hurt. I wasn't planning on shooting anything and only had my F.N. A triple tap got the spine and the brain. Next morning, following up another animal that had unfortunately been wounded in the "contact" I walked right passed the wounded one that had circled round and lay up behind an ant heap. I was concentrating on the bush ahead whilst a game scout followed the spoor. Tracks lead straight ahead through open grassland- but the buff came from behind. I double tapped it in the spine at about ten paces.

My experience is that a great rifle that you can point shoot well is far more important than calibre. Balance is everything and don't give me any rifle weighing much over 8lbs unless it is an F.N."

Lastly, The nicest clients are those who can shoot. I don't like to even unsling my rifle. I would rather watch through my Bino's and enjoy the hunt than have to worry about backing up the client. I don't care if the client is using a 30-06 provided, I have confidence in his ability to put it where it counts first time.

Edited by 93mouse (05/11/24 12:34 AM)