For what it is worth I am taking my custom .450 Marlin after a water buffalo (imported) next week. I will be using JBY's 420gr Crater Lite bullet. The size in the herd on the ranch I am going to runs between 1250lbs (small cow) to over 2000lbs. I figure this is a good test for the rifle and load. In the ballistic buffalo it has held its own with some of my big boomers. I may carry one of them for backup but truthfully don't feel like it will be needed. Wish me luck. reflex264

Yep reflex, 6 days and counting....

Get lotsa pics!

Mad Dog

Dog you still have time to drive down and see me get stomped. Yep I'll take plenty of pics. Maybe by the time I get ready to go to Austrailia you can come along. The .416 Taylor will go on that trip. reflex264

Post pictures - make a clean shot. Good luck.

In Australia,where most Asiatic buf are hunted, many have been taken with a stoutly loaded 45/70.
They are seen as a killing rifle but not a stopping rifle.Buf. hunters who are planning to avoid claims on there life insurance start their hunting with 338's or 375's.Many move on to something larger-see below
http://forums.accuratereloadin...4711043/m/458107373?

A .450 Marlin has a lot more energy than a 45/70.
A .450 Marlin with 400+ grain bullets will stop a buf as well as the .338
Just because it is not a certified African cartridge, doesn't mean it can't do the job.

No problem getting 4000ftlbs with a 450. I am going to carry my 416 Rigby along in case something happens to the .450 but from what I have seen I don't think I will have a problem. I am planning on hunting OZ and Africa in the next two years. I will probably take one of my .416s on both trips. For this trip I feel like I will be fine with the .450. I will have a PH with a big boomer as a backup as well. reflex264

quote:

Originally posted by wombat:
In Australia,where most Asiatic buf are hunted, many have been taken with a stoutly loaded 45/70.
They are seen as a killing rifle but not a stopping rifle.Buf. hunters who are planning to avoid claims on there life insurance start their hunting with 338's or 375's.Many move on to something larger-see below
http://forums.accuratereloadin...4711043/m/458107373?

I just checked out you post.That looks like too much fun. More than likely I will take my Rigby to hunt the NT. The 400gr Nosler partition backed up with solids if I don't change my mind. reflex264

i think this "hunting" vs "stopping rifle" issue is a bit silly. it seemed to have come up in the days of poorly constructed bullets where one would perhaps benefit from a large large bullet that would retain some large pieces if it broke up and back when round nose solids were still thought to penetrate better than flatter nosed projectiles. in this day and age of punch bullets, higher quality hardcasts and monometals a stopper is any rifle that will penetrate to the cns of the critter you're going after. there's entirely too many instances of a buff soaking up 5-10 shots of the big boomers to finally need a stopping cns shot in the brain. you either do that, or you don't stop the beast and any hot loaded 45/70 or 450 marlin with appropriate bullets will do it as well as anything else.

tradmark-you have,quite obviously , never hunted dangerous game with a 500 Nitro.The BS about which type of projectile to use in a marginal round does not arise.

Reflex: Where's the hunt report, man?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Reflex: Where's the hunt report, man?

right here:

buffalo

quote:

Originally posted by The Shottist:
A .450 Marlin has a lot more energy than a 45/70.

If comparing factory ammo, I'll have to agree with you. However, I can load up 45-70 to the same level as the .450 Marlin for my 1895 new Model marlin and even hotter for use in my Ruger #1. In the Ruger, I can easily push a 500 gr. long nosed Lee cast bullet to 1850 FPS and that's definitely pushing .458 Win. mag. levels.
That bullet is too long in the nose to be able to use it in the Marlin though, but I do push a 400 gr. cast bullet to nearly 1950 FPS. My marlin is the first version of the "new models" based on the 336 action and the curved buttplate has a pain quotion that I'm not willing to pass. As it is the first version, I don't want to make any changes to the gun in order to maintain what little collector value, if any it may have.
Considering where I now live, I don't get much chance to hunt anything with it any more. I occasionaly load up a box and take it and the Ruger to the range for a bit of fun shooting.
Paul B.