So my wife and my buddy's wife have given their blessing for us to go hunt Bison in Montana in 2019. I need a new rifle to make the trip complete. My only bias in the choice is that I would like to keep it a little traditional so I don't need a new 300 win mag. I am open on cartridge but have been reading that 45-70 seems to be the most popular choice.

I am looking for y'all to weigh in on rifle and caliber.

Thank you in advance.

Well, everyone should have a 10/22. Amazing things can be done with the rifle.

Put this in the FWIW category - Mike Venturino and Clint Smith went BPCR bison hunting once, and came back arguing that the .50 was better than the .45.

45-70. How traditional? Sharps? Hi-wall? Lever gun? In the single shots, you can get any of the old timers you want. They will all kill a buffalo, unless you get one of the pipsqueak rounds like 38-55. In the lever gun, it is going to be 45-70.

But that .300 mag will do the job, too!

Or maybe you need a nice double rifle in .458 Win Mag, or even one of the old Nitro Express rounds.

45-70 sounds about right.

https://shilohrifle.com/rifles...4-hartford-clone-en/

Get one of these. It can handle anything you feed it. I'm going change out the scope with a Williams peep sight one of these days.

Marlin 1895 in 45-70



Jim

.45-70 is a nice choice. A little more modern might be a .375 H&H Winchester 70. I know it's bison, not Cape Buffalo, but probably as close as most of us will ever get.

big horn armory model 90a

http://www.bighornarmory.com/c...el-90a-454-casull-6/

Model 90A is 454 Casull. I would get it in stainless, grey laminate. have the muzzle threaded .

I had a 45-70, had. I hated it and I am not recoil sensitive. I would be more prone to hunt it with a good big game rifle and cartridge that I would use going forward.

But I would understand if you want a rifle that you can always say. "this is my buffalo rifle".

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
.45-70 is a nice choice. A little more modern might be a .375 H&H Winchester 70. I know it's bison, not Cape Buffalo, but probably as close as most of us will ever get.

.375 H&H is actually a relatively pleasant cartridge to shoot. It shoots a heavy bullet at moderate velocity, so it doesn't hammer you or ruin huge swaths of meat like the high velocity magnums. You can shoot a whitetail deer with one and it looks about like it was shot with a .30-06.

It's a side note, but I think I might want something larger than a .375 H&H if I was hunting cape buffalo. My dad took a .375 H&H (a Winchester Model 70, incidentally) to Africa in the 80s and came within moments of being killed by a wounded buffalo that had taken multiple .375 bullets to the vitals (it started chasing him and literally died and collapsed on top of him at the moment it caught up to him). He always swore that if he ever went back he was going to buy a .416 Rigby.

How about a rifle made in Montana for a hunt in Montana? Montana Rife company, Cooper firearms for bolt action, or there is C.Sharpsarms for single shot. I think there are others

What type of hunt? Reservation? Private land?

Buffalo hunts can run the gamut from tough, long range shots on skittish bulls...to lay the gun over a fence and shoot them in a corral.

Way back when we had the first hunts here I drew a tag, Unfortunately they stopped the hunt two days before I was to show up in West Yellowstone. I was going to take my Win M-70 in .375 H&H with 300 gr Trophy Bonded bullets.

A .45-70 will surely work with proper placement.

DO look up the anatomy of the buffalo. They are a bit different than a deer.

9.3x62 would do it....it’s traditional...depending on where you are standing.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
What type of hunt? Reservation? Private land?

Buffalo hunts can run the gamut from tough, long range shots on skittish bulls...to lay the gun over a fence and shoot them in a corral.

Exactly. I talked to a guy who stated his "hunt" was essentially having the guide drive them up to a herd, in a fenced pasture, and choosing which animal fit the bill. Buying a traditional gun for such a hunt is a bit odd.

Consider your future possibilities for this rifle -- type of game, distance to game, ammo, recoil. IMO there are better options than 45-70 for most game. A bolt action will be more accurate than a lever action, and will allow more optics options. There are calibers that will essentially do what the .45-70 will do with less recoil -- 338 Federal and 35 Whelen are a couple of options.

If you also deer hunt in eastern woods, look at the Ruger American Ranch Rifle in 450 Bushmaster. After hunting with one this year in Ohio (straight walled cartridges only) it has become my go to. Sight at 170, hold on crosshairs to 210. Roughly same energy as 45-70.

Bring a large enough cooler, too.

If I had the chance my 1885 model Browning 45-70 would get the nod. Load to whatever level you can handle and fire up the grill.

quote:

Originally posted by msfzoe:
Bring a large enough cooler, too.

Bison is wonderful meat!!

I've knew a guy that put a couple of chest freezers on a trailer to bring one back. Obviously on ice, not electric while driving.

For me it'd be an excuse to put a 45-70 in the stable.

The Marlin Model 1895SBL in the last Jurassic World movie carried by Chris Pratt I always thought was a sexy looking gun.