I got the chance to go and shoot on a big station in central Western Australia approx 1.5 million acres (yes not a miss print) they have Goats , Camels, Brumbies, donkeys, roos, rabbits , dingoes, not to many pigs and quite a few Scrubbers ( wild bulls ).
my 243 and 30-06 are great for everything up to the scrubbers but i think i might be a bit under gunned for them.
Now my question is which toy for the scrubbers do i look to a lever gun 45/70 or 375 up?

Side note the owner was a p#@!d not so long ago as some clown tried to bring one down with a 223 and he had to go and clean up there mess took him three days to find the poor brute.

May start another caliber war here Bushy but we will see!

Phil,
How much do your wild bulls weigh, about, not exactly? We do have wild bull hunts in the US, out Texas way. Most guys use a gun with a heavy bullet, like a 45-70.

The 06 with a 200 or 220 is and always has been serious moose medicine in NA, a big moose goes 800-1000 pounds and they have a slow nervous system, bang and the moose drops in about 10-15 seconds, a lifetime after a shot.

A 45-70 is good for just about anything but in a lever gun you should be fairly close, like 50 to 100 meters max.

The 375 H&H is stout although an older cartridge, it is still a favorite in Africa for the bigger soft skinned game. It would do just fine for wild cattle.

If the 338 Win Mag is avalible in the land down under you might give it a thought, it is tough on bigger soft skinned critters and it can be loaded to kill at one end and cripple on the other if the need is there.

Now your Aussie contrymen are drooling....
Best,
Ed

I've been a .45-70 fan for a long time but have never shot anything as big as a wild bull with it. However I remember an article a while back where the author (Brian Pearce?) used a Corbon load in a .45-70 with success on Cape Buffalo. My Marlin 1895s will shoot 1.5" groups at 100 yards if I do my part and they can handle some pretty stout loads.

Thanks guys the scrub bulls i believe are around 1000 pounds or so i could be wrong the Northen Territory boys would know for sure. according to the owner he has some bigger ones but just how big who knows. distances are between 50 and 150 yards with the average around 75 yards so i guess its up close and personnel.


phil

The 375 H&H Magnum is a most verssitle cartridge. It's legal for everything up to elephant, in a good rifle is deadly accurate and works for stuff like jackal too.

My great grandfather was a buffalo hunter in the Texas panhandle area in the 1870s. They used the 50 caliber sharps to drop them and an 1873 Winchester (44-40 caliber to finish them off, if need be). Now, the way I understand it, they liked the 50 caliber Sharps because of the ability to drop one at a long distance. Since that is not a problem for the bulls in your part of the world and the bulls weigh around 1,000 pounds, a 7mm magnum sounds like a good choice. I killed a 1,600 pound wild steer with a 270 (130 grain cor-loke).

Cary

The 45/70 would be an excellent choice, but be sure to use bullet of heavy construction. Bullets like the lighter Hornadys (300-350 grains) are fairly soft and would probably expand too rapidly for penetration as would the Remington 405-grain. You would be well on your way if you looked into hard-cast bullets in the 400 to 410grain range pushed to around 1,800 fps or so. You can find loaded ammo from Corbon or Buffalo Bore that is much more powerful than conventional loads (just be sure to use them only in Marlin Model 95s, Rugers and etc. and not older rifles) designed for penetration on heavy game.

phill21 wrote:

I got the chance to go and shoot on a big station in central Western Australia approx 1.5 million acres (yes not a miss print) they have Goats , Camels, Brumbies, donkeys, roos, rabbits , dingoes, not to many pigs and quite a few Scrubbers ( wild bulls ).

Lucky bugger!! anychancetotagalong? *wishful thinking*

Mate I reckon a 45-70 would do anything Aussie could throw at us plus some more.

Gidday Phill...I'm with Gelan here....you are one lucky bastard...kissed on the d#%k by a fairy as they say.

Anyway...calibre. I tend to agree with the 45-70 up close...its hard to beat for smackin' them down. For the longer shots, I can't help but feel that your 30.06 would be adequate with the 200 or 220 gn projectile. A scrubbers head is big enough for an easy head shot and it isn't anywhere near as tough or thick as buff's head.

But if you really feel the need for something a "little" bigger, and who doesn't then I would go for the .338 Win Mag. It will defeat anything on offer here in Oz.

Good hunting Phill. Pics....remember the pics mate.

Cheers, Vince

Morning happy people,

Vince i am not sure bigger is always better I think the 45/70 will be the go just a little bit easier to handle in any thick scrub and there is a good range of projectiles availabel

thanks guys
phil

Good choice .........!!!

phill21 wrote:

Morning happy people, Vince i am not sure bigger is always better I think the 45/70 will be the go just a little bit easier to handle in any thick scrub and there is a good range of projectiles availabel thanks guys phil

True enough mate...and cast projectiles are also a very viable option ad well. A good choice in calibre.

What rifle will you use? Now...don't tell me that you will be going for a Marlin. We can't let 1895 Ess Ess think that he has another supporter out there. I mean, a marlin is a really big, hard fighting fish...but as a rifle they run a poor second to a Winchester Mod 94...well in 30.30...and also just behind the Ruger in 45.70.

Cheers, Vince

Now wait a minute!! I have two Marlin 1895s; one rifle from the 1972 batch and a Guide Gun. Both will shoot 1.5" groups at 100 yards with a "standard" load (400 grain bullets at around 1400 ft/sec) and both will handle loads that I don't even want to shoot (350 grain bullets at around 2000 ft/sec) because they HURT. I've killed a couple deer with the Guide Gun. Hopefully I'll get a chance to use them on something a lot bigger sometime.

Hey Mike,

I'm in love with my Guide Gun also.
I load up 400gr Speer Flat Point, using 50gr of IMR 3031. It shoots at 1675fps.
The dang deer drop just as hard with my 45/70, as they do using my .338WinMag.
Mine shoots like yours at 100yds.
1.5".

Under 200yd shots, I would use the 45/70 on anything in North America, with different bullets of course.

Eric