Posted By: GlennS
Bison-long post warning :-) - 11/02/2012 12:40 AM
BISON….this has been a dream of mine for a long time. I don’t know what the draw for it has been all these years but I remember that it was always a desire once I started hunting with a handgun. A couple of years later, Mr. Taffin published a story on his bison hunt with the 475 Linebaugh in the wonderful Freedom Arms sixgun. That really didn’t help my situation at all
I was able to stand in front of that bison on his wall a few years back and it was so impressive to see in person. I don’t know that I know of a more impressive shoulder mount personally than a bison due to the sheer size of the animal. I think the size of the animal has been one of my reasons for wanting to hunt one with a handgun.
I’ve gone back and forth on this for several years as I’ve decided off and on to not shoot one for my own personal reasons as the desire to hunt has really dwindled over the years. I love the hunt and the trip with friends but I don’t enjoy the actual killing portion that much anymore. With a 5 year old that turns 6 in January that has already demanded that he get to shoot a “War” Hog (he hasn’t heard the “T” in there I guess), I figure that the spark will be back once he can start making trips with me. But, recently, a friend and I were planning a hunt and the ranch has a large breeding bison herd on it so I figured it would be a good time to put some good meat in the freezer and test a new bullet for the Linebaugh.
In the past, if you had asked, I would have told you that the load I would use for bison would probably involve a 425 grain WFN bullet over a stiff charge of 296 or 110. Over the last several years, I’ve found that I don’t enjoy those loads very much and I personally don’t think a whole lot is gained by beating yourself up as far as game taking ability goes with these loads. I’ve settled on a load of 14 grains of HS-6 for the 425 grain class of slugs and they do pretty much an even 1050 fps from my 5.5” Linebaugh built sixgun. However, about 2 years ago, some of us got together and Miha, owner of Mihec molds agreed to build a neat two cavity 410 grain plain base mold that has hollow point casting capabilities utilizing Cramer pins that will produce a 385 grain HP bullet once lubed and sized. It was a mold I had wanted to see made for a long time and once it was delivered, I couldn’t be happier. So, my bullet of choice changed for this particular hunt in the name of testing this new bullet that we had access to. The new molds cast a beautiful dual crimp groove bullet that is suitable for use in the long cylindered custom revolvers as well as the Freedom Arms chambered for the 480/475 Linebaugh. As I have not fully equipped myself for casting, a good friend of mine, Dick Thompson, surprised me with a supply of the bullets cast with the larger of the two hollow point pins. They were cast from an alloy comprised of 70% wheelweight material and 30% pure lead. They are a softer alloy that we hoped would give some expansion but not too much if the velocities were held in that 1050-1100 fps range. With my load of 15 grains HS-6, this bullet runs 1167 fps from my gun. A little faster than I was planning but after a few impromptu expansion tests at the range, I felt confident that it would work for what I had in mind. I called and talked with my buddy Ken O’Neil that has killed numerous bison and explained what I was wanting to try with the hollow pointed slug and he felt I would be in good shape so I was confident going into this that all would work well. I had a beautiful bullet and a perfectly built gun that was printing nice tidy groups on the target from field positions. I was ready for this trip at least from the standpoint of the gun and load.
The equipment list was pretty simple. I was taking the 475 along with a Shiloh Sharps in 45-70. If the situation didn’t work out for the sixgun, I would fall back on the Shiloh. I can’t think of a classier gun to take a bison with than the Sharps if I chose to not use the sixgun. The sixgun was going to be carried in my floral carved Elmer Keith holster from Mike Barranti of Barranti Leather. Mike is a very close friend of mine and builds the finest leather items that you will likely find. His abilities and attention to detail are hard to describe. You really need to see his work in person to grasp the small details and quality that his work exudes. This particular holster is one of my favorite field holsters for belt carry and has been on many hunts with me over the last few years. Just before my trip this month, Mike delivered a matching carved cartridge slide for the 475. When Mike originally built the holster, he also built a matching ranger belt which rounds out a VERY nice sixgun rig. Classic and functional, how do you improve on that?
The sixgun mentioned earlier that was to ride in this rig is a standard blued bisley gripped 475 Linebaugh conversion from John Linebaugh. It was built with a 5.5” banded barrel, John’s standard ramp style front sight, Bowen rear sight, and was fitted with ivory micarta stocks built by Dustin Linebaugh. This gun is basically what comes to mind if you think of a John Linebaugh sixgun. The gun is built right and is as accurate as the guy pulling on the trigger. I’ve shot some really small groups with it as well as some larger ones…want to guess which one of us was the culprit on the larger groups? The gun is unique to me as it was actually built in Missouri in the mid 90’s when John moved back to Missouri for a couple of years. My 500 that matches this gun was also built in Missouri the same year so it makes for a neat pair of sixguns.
The location of the hunt was the High Adventure Ranch located in Cook Station, MO. As I mentioned, they have a fairly large breeding herd on the ranch and having been there last year for a Red Stag, axis, and hog hunt, I knew it would be a great trip. They have a nice operation there, great food and just overall nice folks. We arrived at the ranch later in the afternoon the first day due to schedule so we really only had time to talk with the guys there, shoot at the range and then go eat dinner. I did take the time to glass the bison herd which happened to be feeding in a nearby pasture that afternoon. The next morning, we made our rounds of the ranch just to see some of the animals on the property and get a better idea of what we wanted to do for the day. After lunch, I decided to go after the bison. We saw one feeding in one of the fields and figured the others would not be too far from there so we made our way in that general direction. The rest of the herd was feeding in the wooded area near the field that we spotted the lone bull. After making our way into the woods, I picked a bull that was separated from the herd by about 30 yards. I was hoping that this would allow me to take the shot and keep the herd from interfering in the subsequent chaos that follows the shot as well as keep us out of the way of the herd. The bull was making his way to my right towards the herd at about 45-50 yards. I held tight behind the right shoulder about a third of the way up angling toward the offside shoulder and gently squeezed the trigger while following the bull with the sights. When the shot broke, the bull reacted to the hit immediately. It appeared that the slug literally shook the bull. His offside leg came off the ground and he almost collapsed at the shot. He continued to try and make his way to the right and I was prepared to put a second shot into the bull but the guide with me immediately told me that it was not needed. The bull stumbled about 6 yards and collapsed. From the time of the shot to the time that he fell was only a few short seconds. All that preparation and planning and it was over in seconds. I was amazed at the effect that the slug had on such a large animal. The guide told me several times that he couldn’t remember seeing a bull shot that appeared to be hit as hard as this one when the sixgun spoke. The blood loss over the 6 yards was substantial. I took pictures and we made arrangements to have the bull moved for skinning.
Upon skinning the bull, I was able to see exactly how the new slug performed. It entered right behind the right front shoulder, passing through the heart and both lungs. The entry hole was about .75” and busted through a portion of a rib going in. The exit hole on the offside ribcage was about 1” perfectly circular busting two ribs on exit. A small portion of the nose sheared at that point and was found in the meat from the offside shoulder. The remaining portion of the slug exited the back side of the shoulder just missing the shoulder joint. Overall, I was very impressed with the performance of the slug. It performed flawlessly. Cast at the same hardness with a solid nose the bullet would probably still give you some expansion without the small portion of the nose shearing. For lighter skinned game, I think this slug will be extraordinary as cast with the large HP. Having seen it perform on this larger thicker skinned animal, I would not hesitate using it on elk size game either. It basically gives you the effect of the “soft nosed cast” bullet without the hassle of making the soft nose versions if the alloy is correct for your velocity. On this particular slug, if the entire HP section of the nose sheared, you would still have a slug weighing over 300 grains traveling out the opposite side. At this time, there is a group buy running on the Cast Bullet Forum if you are interested in having one made. The price is very reasonable and the mold is of the highest quality. They are made of brass and designed to operate with the Cramer style HP pins and also come with the matching nose punch. Its in the Group Buy section labeled as the “Rerun of the Mihec 477-640 HP”.
Thanks Dick, Ken, and Mike for making this hunt a success! It was a group effort and I enjoyed it immensely, wish you guys could have been there to share it! Maybe next time
I’ve gone back and forth on this for several years as I’ve decided off and on to not shoot one for my own personal reasons as the desire to hunt has really dwindled over the years. I love the hunt and the trip with friends but I don’t enjoy the actual killing portion that much anymore. With a 5 year old that turns 6 in January that has already demanded that he get to shoot a “War” Hog (he hasn’t heard the “T” in there I guess), I figure that the spark will be back once he can start making trips with me. But, recently, a friend and I were planning a hunt and the ranch has a large breeding bison herd on it so I figured it would be a good time to put some good meat in the freezer and test a new bullet for the Linebaugh.
In the past, if you had asked, I would have told you that the load I would use for bison would probably involve a 425 grain WFN bullet over a stiff charge of 296 or 110. Over the last several years, I’ve found that I don’t enjoy those loads very much and I personally don’t think a whole lot is gained by beating yourself up as far as game taking ability goes with these loads. I’ve settled on a load of 14 grains of HS-6 for the 425 grain class of slugs and they do pretty much an even 1050 fps from my 5.5” Linebaugh built sixgun. However, about 2 years ago, some of us got together and Miha, owner of Mihec molds agreed to build a neat two cavity 410 grain plain base mold that has hollow point casting capabilities utilizing Cramer pins that will produce a 385 grain HP bullet once lubed and sized. It was a mold I had wanted to see made for a long time and once it was delivered, I couldn’t be happier. So, my bullet of choice changed for this particular hunt in the name of testing this new bullet that we had access to. The new molds cast a beautiful dual crimp groove bullet that is suitable for use in the long cylindered custom revolvers as well as the Freedom Arms chambered for the 480/475 Linebaugh. As I have not fully equipped myself for casting, a good friend of mine, Dick Thompson, surprised me with a supply of the bullets cast with the larger of the two hollow point pins. They were cast from an alloy comprised of 70% wheelweight material and 30% pure lead. They are a softer alloy that we hoped would give some expansion but not too much if the velocities were held in that 1050-1100 fps range. With my load of 15 grains HS-6, this bullet runs 1167 fps from my gun. A little faster than I was planning but after a few impromptu expansion tests at the range, I felt confident that it would work for what I had in mind. I called and talked with my buddy Ken O’Neil that has killed numerous bison and explained what I was wanting to try with the hollow pointed slug and he felt I would be in good shape so I was confident going into this that all would work well. I had a beautiful bullet and a perfectly built gun that was printing nice tidy groups on the target from field positions. I was ready for this trip at least from the standpoint of the gun and load.
The equipment list was pretty simple. I was taking the 475 along with a Shiloh Sharps in 45-70. If the situation didn’t work out for the sixgun, I would fall back on the Shiloh. I can’t think of a classier gun to take a bison with than the Sharps if I chose to not use the sixgun. The sixgun was going to be carried in my floral carved Elmer Keith holster from Mike Barranti of Barranti Leather. Mike is a very close friend of mine and builds the finest leather items that you will likely find. His abilities and attention to detail are hard to describe. You really need to see his work in person to grasp the small details and quality that his work exudes. This particular holster is one of my favorite field holsters for belt carry and has been on many hunts with me over the last few years. Just before my trip this month, Mike delivered a matching carved cartridge slide for the 475. When Mike originally built the holster, he also built a matching ranger belt which rounds out a VERY nice sixgun rig. Classic and functional, how do you improve on that?
The sixgun mentioned earlier that was to ride in this rig is a standard blued bisley gripped 475 Linebaugh conversion from John Linebaugh. It was built with a 5.5” banded barrel, John’s standard ramp style front sight, Bowen rear sight, and was fitted with ivory micarta stocks built by Dustin Linebaugh. This gun is basically what comes to mind if you think of a John Linebaugh sixgun. The gun is built right and is as accurate as the guy pulling on the trigger. I’ve shot some really small groups with it as well as some larger ones…want to guess which one of us was the culprit on the larger groups? The gun is unique to me as it was actually built in Missouri in the mid 90’s when John moved back to Missouri for a couple of years. My 500 that matches this gun was also built in Missouri the same year so it makes for a neat pair of sixguns.
The location of the hunt was the High Adventure Ranch located in Cook Station, MO. As I mentioned, they have a fairly large breeding herd on the ranch and having been there last year for a Red Stag, axis, and hog hunt, I knew it would be a great trip. They have a nice operation there, great food and just overall nice folks. We arrived at the ranch later in the afternoon the first day due to schedule so we really only had time to talk with the guys there, shoot at the range and then go eat dinner. I did take the time to glass the bison herd which happened to be feeding in a nearby pasture that afternoon. The next morning, we made our rounds of the ranch just to see some of the animals on the property and get a better idea of what we wanted to do for the day. After lunch, I decided to go after the bison. We saw one feeding in one of the fields and figured the others would not be too far from there so we made our way in that general direction. The rest of the herd was feeding in the wooded area near the field that we spotted the lone bull. After making our way into the woods, I picked a bull that was separated from the herd by about 30 yards. I was hoping that this would allow me to take the shot and keep the herd from interfering in the subsequent chaos that follows the shot as well as keep us out of the way of the herd. The bull was making his way to my right towards the herd at about 45-50 yards. I held tight behind the right shoulder about a third of the way up angling toward the offside shoulder and gently squeezed the trigger while following the bull with the sights. When the shot broke, the bull reacted to the hit immediately. It appeared that the slug literally shook the bull. His offside leg came off the ground and he almost collapsed at the shot. He continued to try and make his way to the right and I was prepared to put a second shot into the bull but the guide with me immediately told me that it was not needed. The bull stumbled about 6 yards and collapsed. From the time of the shot to the time that he fell was only a few short seconds. All that preparation and planning and it was over in seconds. I was amazed at the effect that the slug had on such a large animal. The guide told me several times that he couldn’t remember seeing a bull shot that appeared to be hit as hard as this one when the sixgun spoke. The blood loss over the 6 yards was substantial. I took pictures and we made arrangements to have the bull moved for skinning.
Upon skinning the bull, I was able to see exactly how the new slug performed. It entered right behind the right front shoulder, passing through the heart and both lungs. The entry hole was about .75” and busted through a portion of a rib going in. The exit hole on the offside ribcage was about 1” perfectly circular busting two ribs on exit. A small portion of the nose sheared at that point and was found in the meat from the offside shoulder. The remaining portion of the slug exited the back side of the shoulder just missing the shoulder joint. Overall, I was very impressed with the performance of the slug. It performed flawlessly. Cast at the same hardness with a solid nose the bullet would probably still give you some expansion without the small portion of the nose shearing. For lighter skinned game, I think this slug will be extraordinary as cast with the large HP. Having seen it perform on this larger thicker skinned animal, I would not hesitate using it on elk size game either. It basically gives you the effect of the “soft nosed cast” bullet without the hassle of making the soft nose versions if the alloy is correct for your velocity. On this particular slug, if the entire HP section of the nose sheared, you would still have a slug weighing over 300 grains traveling out the opposite side. At this time, there is a group buy running on the Cast Bullet Forum if you are interested in having one made. The price is very reasonable and the mold is of the highest quality. They are made of brass and designed to operate with the Cramer style HP pins and also come with the matching nose punch. Its in the Group Buy section labeled as the “Rerun of the Mihec 477-640 HP”.
Thanks Dick, Ken, and Mike for making this hunt a success! It was a group effort and I enjoyed it immensely, wish you guys could have been there to share it! Maybe next time
GS
The Equipment for the trip
The Bison
The fired case and a better look at the HP round in the slide from Mike
385 grain HP round on the right, 425 WFN on the left
