Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

2012 South Africa Safari for Cape buffalo with .405 Winchester

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More than two years of preparation for this hunt began with the decision to use my Miroku made Winchester 1895 .405 WCF takedown rifle to take a Cape buffalo. Though many buffalo have been taken with the standard 300 grain .405 bullets, the “Judge G” modification (reaming the chamber to allow crimping the 400 grain Woodleigh bonded JSP and FMJ bullets at their cannelure) allowed me to use these heavier bullets to duplicate factory ballistics of the highly respected 450/400 Nitro Express 3” cartridge which is known to be effective on large and dangerous game such as buffalo. The following is the story of the culmination of this effort in Africa.
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AN ENTHUSIASTIC BEGINNING
Landing Monday morning May 28, 2012 at O.R. Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, RSA after the 15 hour flight from JFK brought our group of five sleepy hunters back to life in anticipation of the coming seven days of hunting with Chris Troskie Safaris Africa. http://www.ct-safaris.com/
After clearing customs with the expert assistance of Air 2000 personnel and pocketing our gun permits, four of our group left for their plains game hunt in a small bus for the lodge near Lephalale in western Limpopo Province and I left in the Toyota hunting truck of dangerous game professional hunter, Johan Cornelius, for the South African Lowveld region to pursue my first Cape buffalo.
Josef Riekers of TAR Sporting Agency had booked the hunt and he had explained to me that where Johan and I would hunt there was a large buffalo herd that had recently broken up into a main herd of 100 animals and several small herds of old cows and a much lesser number of old bulls, some solitary and others in very small groups. It was desired to reduce the numbers of old cows and old bulls, so I had been given the choice of taking either an old cow or bull at the same price. Since the probability of locating the more numerous cows was much better and I had only a week to hunt, the old cow was my choice.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
As we drove east towards Mozambique on the N4 highway, we had plenty of time to get acquainted and I was pleased to learn some details of Johan’s PH experience which had begun at age 18 and covered over 15 years of hunting in RSA, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Whether with bow and arrow or rifle, hunting buffalo was his favorite thing to do. His love of hunting buffalo and his experience as a partner and pilot in a commercial air charter service further convinced me that Chris had chosen the right person for my hunt. Johan also proved to have a good sense of humor when we stopped for diesel fuel and a comfort break at the Alzu Petroport; there we visited the glass walled men’s room where we could view Cape buffalo in a pasture below; another new African experience for me and I hope that it was one-way glass. Fortified with Cappuccino coffee and a giant chocolate chip muffin we drove on and soon dropped down through a pass in the Drakensberg Mountain range into the sub tropical Lowveld where we passed by plantations of oranges, bananas, sugar cane, pineapples, and mangoes; this reminded me of the crop fields of Kauai, the Garden Island of Hawaii. We soon arrived at the Paradise Creek motel, our base of operation for the hunt. This is near the Malelane Gate entrance to Kruger National Park, which I hoped to visit after shooting a buffalo.

DISASTER STRIKES
The Paradise Creek features a pleasant indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant adjacent to a covered patio and swimming pool which are surrounded by tall trees and chalet buildings with two guest rooms per building. After a good dinner we adjourned to our rooms to unpack and get some sleep to be fresh for the hunt the following day. Then disaster struck! My gun permit was missing and nowhere to be found. As if this was not enough, when I dry fired my rifle, the lateral adjustment of the receiver sight was loose and would need to be fixed and test fired before we could hunt; another real bummer. Sleep came slowly that night and was frequently disturbed by occasional loud metallic bangs as fruit from the trees fell onto the metal roof.
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After we ate an excellent Tuesday morning breakfast, Johan called Chris so he could report my lost gun permit to the police so they could provide me an affidavit proving that I had had a valid permit should we be stopped and checked before Air 2000 could provide me with another permit. Then in my room, Johan quickly determined that the set screw for the lateral sight adjustment was missing and my luck changed when the tiny screw was found inside the soft rifle case and Johan reinstalled it with his Leatherman tool, locking in my crude alignment of the peep sight.

THINGS IMPROVE
Then it was off to the hunting area just south of the Crocodile River which forms the southern boundary of Kruger Park, to pick up trackers James and John who would direct us to their range to sight in my rifle. The “range” proved to be the lower side of the dirt dam of a lake where we were to hunt; you have to love Africa. John scraped out a place on the sloping dirt of the dam for the large white plastic jug upon which Johan had used a marker to draw a two inch black dot for an aiming point while Johan maneuvered his hunting rig into position to be used as a shooting platform 50 yards from the target.

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A herd of several dozen buffalo were grazing about a half mile below the dam when we drove up to the dam, but they had departed by the time I had fired the few shots required to make the final sight adjustments. When my hand loaded 400 grain Woodleigh solid hit in the two inch black dot, I was ready. Johan test fired his .375 H&H once and then proclaimed it was time to go hunting. We drove on the two track trail across the dam, through a sparsely wooded slope, and up on to the thickly wooded ridge to the hunting camp near the ridge top. We quickly dismounted and after loading our rifles, James and John led the way up the ridge, all the time watching and listening for signs of game and checking the wind.
We soon came across buffalo spoor, tracks and cattle–like droppings, from the previous night. With the wind in our faces, we followed this spoor until we came across fresher spoor; both trackers tested the droppings with their boots and agreed to follow the new spoor. Soon, the droppings became so fresh that they and the sand where they lay were quite damp; we were getting close, so I checked my rifle to be sure a loaded round was in the chamber.

THINGS GET REALLY INTERESTING

Then the spoor left the sandy trail and went straight into the thick, dry, thorny woods where the ground was littered with dead leaves and dry twigs which would make our passage very noisy, so Johan and the trackers held a conference. Johan pointed out to me the sound of Oxpecker birds(tick eating birds that accompany buffalo) directly ahead of us and that the sound seemed to be slowly moving to our left. Johan was confident that the birds were following a small group of buffalo and that we should hunt them to see if there was a shooter in the bunch. It was decided that we would turn left on a sandy trail so the wind came directly from our right and quietly hunt parallel to the buffalo while looking for an opportunity to see them or intercept them. Within a hundred yards, the opportunity to intercept came in the form of an open sandy trail at right angles to our path. We turned right and silently crept along until both trackers dropped to a crouch and pointed into the bush just to our left.
After a quick look, Johan grasped my right sleeve and gently pulled me a couple of steps where he set up the sticks and pointed to the backside of a huge buffalo cow slowly grazing away from us in the dim and mottled shade of the trees, showing us only her backside and a little of her left side. The range appeared to be only 15 to 20 yards and I would need to shoot before she grazed out of sight in the dense cover. As I eased the 1895 onto the sticks I quietly whispered in Johan’s ear, where do I shoot? He answered “between the front legs” (that humor again). So I did, placing the front sight bead just behind the last rib and squeezing the trigger; the cow jerked and kicked a hind leg in reaction to the impact of the 400 grain soft point. As I rapidly levered in a solid, she had begun to move off to her right behind a tree so I threw a shot at her soon-to-disappear backside. My luck held and the bullet broke the back at the pelvis, causing the cow to fall heavily to the ground and emit a very loud bellow that could have been heard for a mile.

Unfortunately, the bellow was heard and immediately brought some of her companion buffalo running from beyond where she went down. Johan had his .375 up now and told me “reload and get ready”. We could see the front legs of at least three buffalo moving our way through the dense cover no more than 10 yards away, so Johan and the trackers began making loud guttural sounds and shouting at them until they slowly backed out of sight. Meanwhile, where had my fallen buffalo gone? She was nowhere in sight, so we slowly eased forward to where she had hit the ground and saw that she had dragged herself another several yards into the brush. As we approached, she let out a loud death rattle bellow and this attracted buffalo again. Once again, the loud grunting and yelling eventually caused them to retreat and Johan was able to touch the dead buffalo’s eye with the end of his rifle barrel to determine that it was now really lifeless. Even then, we kept our rifles at the ready for several minutes just in case any other buffalo were to approach and try to get even.
CRS and PH
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CRS and Trackers
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SERENDIPITY
What luck! It seemed that everything went our way once the rifle sight was fixed. We found buffalo on the first day of the hunt, were downwind from them from the beginning making them totally unaware of our presence, the Oxpeckers gave away the location and direction of travel of the buffalo, the last of the small group had just passed when we came up from behind (we could have walked right into the middle of their parade), and the last animal was a huge old cow, which was just what we were hunting. Also, my weeks of practicing shooting quick three shot groups from the sticks (as taught by coach Joseph Riekers) paid off by getting in the fast second shot to the spine that avoided having to track a wounded buffalo into thick cover. The skinners found that the first shot had plowed through the stomach area and put a big hole through the heart before it exited the body between the front legs; just as my PH requested! Serendipity! I am now beginning to understand why so many hunters keep coming back to Africa to pursue the Cape buffalo.

ALL DOWN HILL FROM HERE
Johan is quite familiar with Kruger Park, so we spent the afternoon driving from the Malelane Gate over to exit at the Crocodile Bridge and saw elephants, hundreds of buffalo, rhino, giraffe, kudu, wildebeest, other animals and many interesting birds. Then it was back to Paradise Creek for celebratory whiskies and cigars before a big steak dinner. We left Paradise Creek at 4:am the next morning for the six hour drive to Lephalale to join Chris Troskie and the other hunters to pursue for the rest of the week trophy waterbuck and warthog, but that is another story for another time.
African sunset pic from lodge
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Last edited by crs on Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Pitchy »

Wow, very cool CRS. 8) 8)
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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Magnificent!
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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Wonderful!
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by pwl44m »

That is one big animal. How do they compare in size to Water Buffalo ? There was a Ranch across the street from Me in Bangor that had WB for milk production to make Mozzerella Cheese and those things were Huge but docile, One could walk among them. I think that is not the case with Cape Buffs.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by M. M. Wright »

Wow CRS, that is wonderful! Good pictures too.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by kimwcook »

Pitchy wrote:Wow, very cool CRS. 8) 8)
That's a big +1
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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:mrgreen:
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Old Savage »

crs - FABULOUS!!!!!! Campaigning the 405 - Big Medicine on the dark continent - I don't know how any one will top this?

this was our heavy stopping rifle in Montana - the other was a 17. I think we may have established the ends of the range of the levergun hunts here - my hat is off you to you my friend.

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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Griff »

Congrats Charles! Excellent kill, superb story and exceptional telling! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Rusty »

Excellent writing sounds like you had a great time. Congratulations! :D
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Ji in Hawaii »

Great shooting, and awesome performance of the old 405. Teddy would be proud.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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Great story. glad you enjoyed your hunt. Chris handed me off to his friend Stoffel for me to get my Blue Wildebeest and for Chris to go to the Airport and pick up 2 more hunters. Chris is a great guide, and he doesn't let you down when he hands you off to another guide. How did you like the food at Chris' place? Sabina is one of the best cooks I have ever known, and she was a perfect hostess while I was there. Just don't get too near that attack parrot of hers.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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Great read! Congratulations and thanks for posting! :D

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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by FWiedner »

Nice cow , Charles.

Well done!

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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by O.S.O.K. »

Congrats! And thanks for the great account and pics :). Enjoyed reading it.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by allhands »

Great story telling Charles! ALthough we did hear it before, over cigars and adult beverages, around a campfire in Africa!!!! Hope we get to sit around that fire together again!!!!The pics are awesome....talk soon..Billy
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Pete44ru »

That account was WAAAAAAY better than any I read in a gun rag, crs ! !

Thanks for taking the time & effort to prepare for your post, & then posting it.

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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Sixgun »

That was a "post of substance"! :D Nice pics and a well written story line.

Funny thing, when you talked about he screw coming loose, I had the same issue during an airplane flight to Denver. The front sight "walked" out and was found in the rifle case. Must be the bouncing around in the cargo area and let that be a lesson to all of us traveling on a plane.

Once again, nice pics & story----------Sixgun
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

All, it was a great experience and fun to document, so I am glad you enjoyed the report; thanks for your comments. Now for a specific response or two:

pwl44M - My cape buffalo cow seemed larger than my water buffalo cow which was estimated (who can weigh these things in the field?) at 1500 pounds. However, photos of Asian and Australin water bufalo look to be very large. I would guess they are all of similar size when full grown and old, but recommend some authoritative source for the last word.

Hobe - I always thought of your website instructions when practicing reloading the 1895 .405 rapidly with my left hand. With practice it can be done rather quickly with the cartridge carrier just left of the belt buckle. Thanks.

OS - Yes and the .405 campaign is not over. I still need a bear, moose, elk, and maybe a hippo and some warthogs(they are a hoot to stalk). I will soon be loading some Hornady 210 grain XTP .41 magnum pistol bullets for little stuff like deer and feral hogs too.
Great picture of the rifle and ground squirrel, but what is the untold story of those two brown things at the bottom of the picture?

Piuller - +1 on the food and hospitality. All the evening meals with all hunters, hosts, and PHs were memorable events.

Sixgun - Even my screw-in peep aperture came loose for the first time. It may be time for some locktite on these threads?
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by getitdone1 »

Nice story and pictures.

Is that a recoil pad I see on that gun? :D

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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Nath »

I tips me hat to you Sir :D

Glad for you, well done :D

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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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MOST EXCELLENT!!!!!
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by KWK »

.400 Jeff. ballistics in a lever--nice! The Powley computer says .30-06 pressures at an -06 cartridge length, so it's reasonable. Good work.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by octagon »

Nice shooting crs, what a great adventure!
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by .45colt »

Fantastic. :mrgreen: .
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

getitdone1 - yes, it is a Limbsaver and it does a good job. Of all the shooting I have done with this reifle, it has never bruised me. I has pushed me around a time or two, but one gets used to that.

KWK - thanks for the Powley Computer observation. I have Pressure Trace II pressure testing gear, but have been too busy to ser it up and do the testing.
WRT felt recoil, the 400 grain loads at just under 2100 fps do not feel any different than the 300 grain loads at 2250 fps. I have read elsewhere that certain 300 grain loads have been measured at 2400 fps with safe pressures in an 1895 .405. At this point, I plan to stick with my present 300 and 400 grain loads and try some 210 grain pistol bullets for for deer and small feral hogs.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by 2ndovc »

Charles,

I am envious of your adventure, and so very happy it went so well for you.

Hope to make the same trip someday!!

jb 8)
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Ben_Rumson »

Man what an adventure!! Thanks for taking the time for the great write up... 8)
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by olyinaz »

What a great write up! Thanks!!

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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by 86er »

While digging through my reloading journals yesterday to find what I was looking for I came upon my 450/400 3" loads that my double rifle was regulated with. It pushed the .411-400gr Woodleigh at 2068 fps precisely. You have duplicated this load exactly if I recall the averages that we recorded correctly. Well that load took (between me and my clients that used it) 4 Cape Buffalo-all one shot kill, 1 Lion-one shot kill, one Elephant- 2 head shots, two Kudu-one shot each, one eland-2 shots to chest and one warthog-one shot. You have the advantage of 3 shot capacity and a lighter rifle!
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Mike D. »

What a GREAT story of your successful hunt. Congrats all around for a fine time and wonderful trophy. :D
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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Are you getting your hide tanned, or getting a mount done?
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by KWK »

crs wrote:I have Pressure Trace II pressure testing gear, but have been too busy to ser it up and do the testing.
Your .405 is similar to the .400 Whelen and the .411 Hawk. Z-Hat has tested their .411 using Oehler's strain gauge equipment, and stayed within .30-06 pressures at speeds beyond that of the .400 Jeffery. I believe you will have, too (assuming a prudent powder choice).

Z-Hat has offered the .411 in the Browning 1895's for many years.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

86er - you are right on the money with the velocity of 2068 fps with the .411 400grain Woodies.
More serendipity.

Though I love double shotguns, the 1895 handling, magazine capacity, speed of reloading, cost, and ability to easily shoot different type and weight bullets made it an easy choice over a .450/400 double rifle. Now if someone were to give me a nice Belgian double rifle in .405 WCF, I might give it the old college try. :)

piller - I gave the hide to Johan to go with a skull and horns he has.
When my skull and horns get back to me, I will give them to Terry of Buck-n-Duck to finish off as a European mount on a board. He has done this with my bison and it looks good.
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tman
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by tman »

Always dreamed of hunting Africa's big stuff with my 1886 SRC and 1895 30-06 SRC. You made it reallity for me. Thanks and congrats on an excellent trophy.
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Jacko
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Jacko »

getitdone1 , thanks for a great read. You took me along with you.

regards Jacko
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Thanks for the bump, Ray. I must have missed this when Charles posted it six years ago!
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

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crs
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

Ray,
Thanks for the bump.
I re-read all the nice compliments from folks and it did bring back some good memories.

So, I reckon that I should do a post on the three boars that I shot this past Saturday, the grandson turkey hunt the weekend before, and the grandson pheasant hunt - all in the last two weeks. Just so folks do not think that I am losing my edge or just lazy.
OK, I will post those this week - before my son and I go to his range this Friday to try his new scoped Magpul 6.5 Creedmoor and test the new stock on my grandsons 7mm-08. :D
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Charles, please do post.
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crs
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

OK,
In a separate post with pix.:
Pheasants with Grandson
Wild turkey with grandson
Feral boars with buddies

I will work on it now. :D
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by HawkCreek »

I was perusing the used track at cabelas today and almost walked out with a Miroku 1895 in .405 because of this thread. I can find a cheaper one on gunbroker and have been resisting the urge because I need an SRC in .30-40 first but holding the .405 and it really started calling to me. If they'd have had any ammo for it I probably couldn't have left it behind.

Y'all are some enablers.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

last time I looked, there were several on line dealers with .405 ammo.

:wink:
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by HawkCreek »

crs wrote: Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:25 pm

More than two years of preparation for this hunt began with the decision to use my Miroku made Winchester 1895 .405 WCF takedown rifle to take a Cape buffalo. Though many buffalo have been taken with the standard 300 grain .405 bullets, the “Judge G” modification (reaming the chamber to allow crimping the 400 grain Woodleigh bonded JSP and FMJ bullets at their cannelure) allowed me to use these heavier bullets to duplicate factory ballistics of the highly respected 450/400 Nitro Express 3” cartridge which is known to be effective on large and dangerous game such as buffalo. The following is the story of the culmination of this effort in Africa.
Question for you, CRS. With the longer OAL the 400 grain bullets must give the .405 are you able to fully load the magazine with these cartridges? With the way the front of the magazine on an 1895 slants I can see how it would be reduced in capacity but I don't have a .405 to check such things. And a follow up to that, if capacity was reduced did you first load a few rounds of the lighter 300 grain bullets to give yourself a full magazine when hunting the buffalo?
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

Hawk,
Correct.
Only two of the longer 400 grain cartridges would go in the magazine without creating a jam.
I practiced shooting buffalo targets with one in the chamber and two down.(and practiced , practiced, etc)

When actually hunting, I first loaded two 300 grain Northfork FPS, then two 400 grain Woodleigh solids, and then a 400 grain Woodleigh Weldcore in the chamber.

Per the Boy Scouts, Be Prepared!
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by HawkCreek »

Interesting, thanks for the info CRS! Makes me wonder about spending some time in a fab shop trying to replicate the original style 1895 box magazine. I wonder if it would fit another long round or two? Hmm...
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

The magazine modifications were considered, but beyond my capabilities.
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Re: Cape Buffalo with the 1895 .405 WCF

Post by crs »

BTT for RunsFrom Bear - here is some good levergun hunting stuff!
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