375 H&H for Bison

[hyltoto]

My brother wants to go blast a Buffler when he gets back from Iraq. I have a 375 H&H Encore rifle, which bulllet type would be best, 300 grFMJ or a 270 gr  expanding one?

[Lawdog]

hyltoto,

If he is bound and determined to use a .375 H&H then go with the 270 gr. expanding bullet.  An American Bison isn't near as dangerous as an African Cape Buffalo.  Lawdog

[hyltoto]

Being Easterners, we don't have a battery of large caliber magnum weapons, generally varmit rifles, 30-06, 6.5 Swedes and rifled 12 ga. slug guns, 205x50 muzzleloaders. I picked up the 375 to clip on the Encore, because the Encore 45-70 doesn't shoot up-loaded ammo very well. The Winchester supreme saboted 12 ga. slug looks like a good choice on paper. This is why I am soliciting some experience on the subject. Any advice is appreciated.

[longwinters]

My brother in law shoots em with a 300 win.  No problems.  They arent that tough . . . like the lawdog says.

[Lawdog]

hyltoto,

Sorry.  My fault, my last post wasn't much help.  I should have said that when I shot mine I used a .300 Weatherby with 200 gr. Partitions.  Broadside at 185 yards, and one shot through the heart/lungs did the job.  When I got to the ranch I stayed at there were four hunters that were just leaving, all got nice Bison(only one was a bull) and the calibers they used went from 2 .30-06's, 1 .35 Whelen and 1 .45-70.  All were one shot kills.  Of the other two hunters that were in camp when I was there one used a .300 Winchester Mag. and the other used a 7mm Rem. Mag. both took nice cows.

A 67.0 grains charge of IMR 4064 should give you around 2650+/- fps. behind either a Nosler 260 gr. Partition or a Barnes 250 gr. X should give more then enough penetration for any Bison.  I hope this was more help for you.  Lawdog

[cjishere2]

I handload my 375 H&H magnum and 30-06 so that both chronograph as close to 2500 fps as I can get them.  This enables me to use the same POA (point of aim), with PSP bullets, for each, out to 300 yards.  

With 180 grain PSP handloads, my 22 inch barrel 30-06 gives me:  2512 fps and 2524 fpe.

With 300 grain PSP handloads, my 22 inch barrel 375 H&H magnum gives me:  2490 fps and 4133 fpe.

Both my 30-06 and 375 H&H magnum are better than minute of angle shooting rifles and, firing PSP's, at 2512 fps and 2490 fps, respectively, put those bullets:
In the 10 ring at 25 yards
3 inches high at 100 yards
In the 10 ring at 220 yards
10 inches low at 300 yards

As to bullet choice, regardless of caliber:
1) If I was planning to make a heart/lung shot, I'd use a PSP or SP bullet.
2) If I was planning to make a shoulder, hip or central nervous system shot, I'd use a partition, bonded or FMJ bullet.

Personally, I like PSP bullets in:
180 grain Sierra 30-06
300 grain Sierra 375 H&H magnum

Personally, I like partition bullets in:
180 grain Nosler 30-06
300 grain Nosler 375 H&H magnum

The partition bullets, with the same handload components, tend to shoot slightly lower between 200 and 300 yards than the PSP bullets.  That is because of their different ballistic coefficients.  The PSP bullets I use have a higher ballistic coefficient than the partition bullets that I use.  At longer range that makes a difference in retained fps thus effecting trajectory.

The Sierra and Nosler choices are purely personal and based on my own experiences in shooting 45 big game animals ranging in size from coues deer, smallest, to moose, largest.  There are a whole bunch of good PSP, SP, partition, bonded and FMJ bullets available these days so you have lots of choices.  If it were up to me, I'd select the bullets that give me the best groups in both PSP and partition.  I'm a firm believer in shot placement and knowing the anatomy of the animal that I'm hunting.  Jack O'Connor published a book called:  THE ART OF HUNTING BIG GAME IN NORTH AMERICA.  In chapter 22 he provides advice and diagrams on "Where To Hit Them."  He does not specifically address bison in that book but he does in THE BIG GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA.  Between the two, or some other source book that I'm not aware of, you can probably figure out all you need to know about shot placement.

I've never shot a bison.  One of my pals did, just outside the Yellowstone Park boundary in Montana during, I think, the 1980's.  He used a 45-70 and an old fashioned long, slim tube Lyman scope to make a one shot kill using a heart/lung shot.  I don't remember what bullet he used or how fast he loaded it.

All of my fps data comes from a cross checked chronograph.  All of my fpe data comes from the formula:  fps times fps times bullet weight divided by 450,000 equals fpe.  The loads I've written about were selected because I have been able, over time, to consistently shoot better than minute of angle groups with them in my rifles.

Good luck with the bison hunt.

CJ