I bought a .505 gibbs for buffalo. I was wondering if a light bullet like a 350 to 400 grain is used would it increase the effective range for plains game? What type of distance can I expect with a scoped rifle?

To be honest, I really don’t like the idea of messing with multiple bullet weights.

Most buffalo guns shoot just fine out to 150 yards or so, and in my experience, 99% of the plains game you shoot is in that range as well in any area you would be hunting buffalo.

If you are going to be in the Kalahari or such, a longer ranged setup might be helpful, or if you are doing a specific “specialty” plains game animal, setting up for that is different- and for those something other than a Gibbs makes sense.

Shoot your buffalo bullet at PG and be happy... the animal won’t know the difference.

I see your point. But in theory dropping the weight of the bullet could maybe give one an extra 100 yards?

Just my .2 cents. Took a DG rifle with associated DG scope on a plains game hunt only as I might of gotten into buffalo and thought .375 would do everything and wanted to see its limitations. And so did the other 2. And we all did see the limitations. My son brought my 7mm-08 winchester Featherweight with swaro 3-10, so technically I had 2 rifles. Had a much better experience with the 7mm-08 and scope combo as shots tended to be longer and the 1.75-6 heavy duplex really sucked at 250 yards plus on a small animal. Could work in a pinch but the 7mm dropped everything with much more precision except that zebra at 50 in the bushes with the 375. Poor shot placement mattered on wildebeast (blue and black) and Gemsbock. Either a better scope, rifle or both as I will bring 2 guns if plains game involved. A 300 win mag is what I am thinking but I just picked up a Winchester 300 ultra mag model 70 supergrade that I think will fit the bill. With at least a 3-9 with good reticle for longer range shooting. I can't imagine taking an accurate 2-300 yard shot with a 505 with any bullet or probable scope combo, although the swaro 1-6 illuminated are very good. The flinch and recoil will undoubtedly play a factor in long range precision, if the bullet even gets there. If I had a better scope with better reticle the 375 would of been more satisfactory for sure. Good learning experience. Like I said just my experience. I own a 505 as well. Good luck on the hunt!

What I have done with my 375 when hunting combo dangerous and plains game is have a 2 scopes on detectable mounts. One scope of lesser power say 1.5 to 6 sighted in for dangerous game with heavy bullets. Another scope of greater power say 3 to 9 sighted in for the lighter flatter shooting loads for plains game. That being said , with a 505 you are going to get a lot of drop past 150 yards even with a lighter bullet. but the good news is that most of the plains game is taken under 150 yards

Get a great long eye relief true:1-4, 1-6, 1-8 etc
with a custom dial cut in yards (I prefer a lighted reticle)

shoot it like any thing else
(Scope will need a fair bit of elevation travel)( a 20MOA rail under the optic might help)

150 ZERO
Range
0
100
200
300
400
500
Trajectory
-1.5
1.6
-4.1
-21.4
-54.4
-108.4
Come UP in MOA
-
-1.5
1.9
6.8
13
20.7
Come UP in Mils
-
-0.4
0.6
2
3.8
6

Steel,

I agree with Mr. Butler. In most areas where you'll hunt buffalo a 200 yard shot will be a long one. Use one bullet weight for everything and you'll be covered for whatever you run into. To my mind a 375 would be a good choice as a second rifle giving you a legal caliber for buffalo if your 505 encountered a problem and a flat enough trajectory for that 300 yards shot should you find yourself in that situation.

Mark

Another thing I had done for a friend-
set him up with two red dots (removed with a coin from his pocket) (or a screwdriver)

one set close
one set at about 250
it worked for him
not as well as the scope setup for the other guy

Id just shoot the same Buffalo bullets in it for PG, It shoots flat enough up to 200 perhaps 300 yards if you do your part, and that's shoot it at 100, 200 and 300 BEFORE you go to Africa, and know where it prints at those ranges. I made some longish shots with the Gibbs and Jefferys on PG many years ago...

That said its always a good idea to take a med. bore like a 30-06, .338 or whatever, to go with a heavy IMO...The only justification I found on a one gun safari is I was traveling from one African country to another checking our Safari companies I booked for and one gun was enough to haul for that long length of time, and I traveled light on luggage as well..Going to one location to hunt made two guns perfect for me, and 3 is the legal limit in most countries..Most hunters travel heavy (3 guns) the first couple of safaris then get lighter as they repeat safaris or so it seemed to me....

My Idea of the perfect one gun safari would be something on the order of a 9.3x64 or the .375 H&H...

I shoot 570g TSX's at 2300 fps out of my 500 Jeffery. I sight it in 2 1/2" high at 100 yards. It's dead on at 25 yards and again at 175 yards. It's good out to about 300 yards without thinking too much. Longest shot so far is a cow elk at 225 yards. They don't get up

Steel I ve used my 505 from impala to buffalo. With TSX it groups 3” at 300yds. I use a B & C reticle 4-14 scope but watch out for the recoil. I love it and there’s no doubt about PG going down immediately, if not also spun around. Beyond that I ve used a 30-378 WBY for plains but in Africa that is rare except Namibia. Since SA and Zim it’s much closer shooting I ve switched to doubles in 577 and 45-70.

Why not? I've shot plenty of plains game with my .600 Wilkes double.
Cal

Of course it’s possible....525 TSX starts at 6100 ft-lbs at 2300 FPS and ends up at 2900# at 300 yards. 13.5” drop. Not bad. Just practice enough and have a decent longer range scope with plenty of eye relief

quote:

Just practice enough and have a decent longer range scope with plenty of eye relief

User beware and take note of the key words for a scoped .505 Gibbs: "plenty of eye relief".

A bit complicated .. you probably want to use a solid on PG in a caliber this large. So two different zeros, also possibly different trajectories. However bear in mind most DG rifles are not as accurate, inherently, as smaller cals due to much greater muzzle movement during recoil and barrels not as stiff. Also most people flinch to some degree with these big rifles. Finally, optics not usually ideal for long range work.

Having said all that in most settings you are going to shoot 150 max. If you can't hit an impala with your DG rifle at 150, you have bigger issues.

Just hitting it is not necessarily putting it down. Proved that with a short range setup at long range

Steel,

Reading between the lines here it might seem that you think you'll hunt,take your buffalo and then pursue PG therefore a bullet weight change might make sense. In reality you might see that 60" kudu the first afternoon or a giant warthog day 3 all before taking the buffalo. You don't want to be fumbling around changing loads in those situations. Bring two rifles with one load each and you'll be covered from duikers to elephant.

Mark

The whole idea of loading different weights on safari, or having several scopes to be swapped, makes no sense at all.

Use one load, and know your rifle, and be done with it.

As long as you know your trajectory the long shots shouldn't be a problem. My longest shot was 350 yards on a wildebeest with my 375 and 350gr Woodleighs. That being said, it sure was nice having the wife's 308 Kimber when we saw a wartie or impala.

What Saeed said. Keep it simple. Know you rifle. Practice, practice, practice!!

Its a good idea to have enough rifle for DG while in DG country hunting..but for a PG hunt Id opt for a 30-06 or 338 Win. for myself..What you decide to use is your own business..

I would use the same bullet. A heavy one.

The .505 used a too light bullet in original loadings.

I’d want 570 grains.

2,500 fps would be easily achievable. I can get that in my .500 A-Square.

One can then shoot anything one wants at any reasonable range and be sure of killing it.

A strong low power, or low range variable power, scope helps, of course.

Make sure you got lots of eye relief....

How does one determine the amount of eye relief a scope has or how much is needed?

quote:

Originally posted by steel:
How does one determine the amount of eye relief a scope has or how much is needed?

If you are referring to a scope on a .460 Weatherby or .505 Gibbs, one easy way to find out is to take at least 3 shots with either.

You would normally get the desired results on the first and if you don't get walloped by the 3rd you have enough eye relief and a bruised shoulder.

On a rifle of this type the more the merrier. Unfortunately Euro makers don’t believe in tons of eye relief. Leopold generally has some of the better eye relief out there. I put extended eye relief Swarovskis on all my scoped rifles above a 375. Around 5 inches maybe more that’s as good as it gets. On my Lott in Australia last summer the flip up cap latch I had rotated 90 degrees to the right sliced the bridge of my nose with the sharp plastic edge. Lesson learned there. But 5” was barely enough.

I would consider a red dot or a scout type scope as as far as I’m concerned it’s a short range setup. I shoot 2 MOA red dots to 200 yards on small steel no problem with an AR15 and 300 isn’t much of an issue as well with some holdover(50-200 yard zero). That said I picked up another Swarovski for my 505 but it shoots pretty good with the fiber optic sights...

People with gashes in their eyebrows will tell you that the worst sin is not pulling the rifle hard into your shoulder pocket.

And they are right.

I have an eyebrow gash.

But even though I hunt big game with heavy caliber rifles, it is not a scope cut.

Mine was caused by a nine-year-old, with poor bat control, swinging freely and loosely with an aluminum bat in the on deck circle.

Forty two stitches later, and I was fine.

Such are the prices we pay.

quote:

People with gashes in their eyebrows will tell you that the worst sin is not pulling the rifle hard into your shoulder pocket.

Mine was from shooting prone with a .375 with a low powered scope and forgetting that i wasn't using a deer rifle...

quote:

Mine was caused by a nine-year-old, with poor bat control, swinging freely and loosely with an aluminum bat in the on deck circle.

Forty two stitches later, and I was fine.

That kid is more dangerous than a Buff - I guess you steer well clear when you come across him, bat in hand.