what ya shooting at? and range?

 

i hear they are some tough critters... go BIG!
i'm thinkin' 375 H&H or 338 win mag with a premium bullet minimum...

 

Hes right.

 

So, perhaps, that single shot .50 BMG upper I have been wanting for my AR should be my 49th birthday present? Hmmm...

 

forgot about those!

 

If you want to go 45-70 it can't be a lever gun for those critters - doesn't throw enough lead. If a 500 grain bullet can take down a Bison from a Sharps rifle, it can take one of those down...

 

I beg to differ sir... I cast my own 540gr bullets that I shoot through my 45-70 Marlin 1895 all the time..

Here is one next to a 45ACP




Doc

 

Nothing a 22 could not handle!

As long as you can run real good.

These seem about the same size as a moose and it is said a 45-70 can hunt anything in North America?

 

Ranch Dog took a Nilgai in Texas with a Marlin 444. It was a number of years ago. The forum thread may be around here or maybe another site.....

Dan

 

There are more free-range nilgai in Texas than there are in their native India. Nilgai are tough. They are also very wary. Your shots may not be under 150-200 yds. Also, they don't stand around waiting for the shot.

I have no doubt the 45-70 has the power to drop a nilgai. That said, if it were me, I would take a flatter shooting rifle with plenty of power. My 338 RUM did well on nilgai but you don't need that much punch. A 338 WinMag or a 338 Federal would be good choice in my opinion as would a 300 WinMag.

I know this sounds like overkill but, I've killed a lot of different species of antelope ( from eland on down) with my 375 H&H. It is one of my favorites . The recoil is more of a push than the sharp impact from a lot of the fast magnums, meat damage is minimal, plenty of knockdown and with 250-270 grain bullets, it will shoot as flat as a 30-06.

Nilgai meat is among the best! Be sure to plan on keeping the meat.

Good luck on your hunt!!!

T.S.

 

Agree with Texas shooter.Range is going to be factor in 45-70. Up to 200 yds 45-70 in 405 or greater cast should do the trick. These guys have great senses and are always lookin for boogeyman. If they are in large acreage and are not semi domesticated they can be a challenge. If once in life time hunt and big bucks are cost might want something falter shooting and have big punch to give you better odds. Good luck. We will need pictures.

 

I would have to give the 45-70 an edge due to its cool factor. Just purchased my first 45-70 and intend to use it for big game. Something about taking a large animal down with an old cowboy round in a lever gun has that cool/fun/sporting factor for me. I have plenty of wild rifles in various different calibers, don't get me wrong i love shooting them as well. But it seems more fun and sporting to use the iron sights and old tried and true equipment to kill an animal. Each of your choices will get the job done though. Just my two cents.

 

I would have to give the 45-70 an edge due to its cool factor. Just purchased my first 45-70 and intend to use it for big game. Something about taking a large animal down with an old cowboy round in a lever gun has that cool/fun/sporting factor for me. I have plenty of wild rifles in various different calibers, don't get me wrong i love shooting them as well. But it seems more fun and sporting to use the iron sights and old tried and true equipment to kill an animal. Each of your choices will get the job done though. Just my two cents.

Cool doesn't have much to do with ethical killing. Use the best tool for the job.
Antelope and goats are some of the wariest critters on the planet - not like a bison that will just give you the eye. So don't count on a 100-150 yd shot which is where the 45-70 does its best work.

 

I've never hunted Nilgai with a 45-70 so I can't comment from personal experience...

I have however, hunted Nilgai in Kenedy County, S. Texas on the King Ranch. Nilgai Bull are big and may get close to 650lbs with the cows close to 500lbs. While they're very sturdy and powerful animals don't make them into something they are not. Mature Nilgai typically weigh 350lbs to 550lbs. They're Asian Antelope species. Hunters in my party harvested them using 7mm mag, 308 Winchester and even a 30-30. Like every other type of hunting I've ever done, shot placement most important, then variables like distance, caliber, energy, bullet type, etc, etc become important. 50 yard shot into the boiler room, a 30-30 and right bullet combination can get the job done (I've personally seen it) on a nice Bull. There is a video on Internet of guy (Razor Dobbs I think) harvesting a huge Nilgai Bull with a 5" 10mm pistol.
Condisering all the moose, elk, grizzly and African game animals cleanly taken with the 30-06, I sure wouldn't sweat the 30-06 at reasonable distances with appropriate ammo.
To your question about carrying a 45-70? Depends on the distances you'll be shooting. Inside 150 yards with the appropriate ammunition, I personally wouldn't hesitate to use 45-70 on Nilgai or almost any other animal that didn't hunt you back. The old 45-70 been effectively bagging big, ornery, tough critters for about 140years.
If planning on 300-400 yard shots then yes, I'd go the 300 mag route.
Good luck!!!

 

I would think a well constructed 200-220 grain bullet in .300 win mag would do the trick at any realistic and ethical distance. I have both, and would probably bring both to see how I felt the day of the hunt. Sounds like fun. At least the Nilgai don't eat you if you wound it, but I bet could give you a good stomping.

 

Friend of mine just returned from one of those drawn tag hunts, saw nada as the TX game and fish reportedly shot bunches from helicopters two weeks before he and crew arrived. Best check out the population before plunking down any big bucks for tags. But maybe populations would recover in two years. As for rifles figure the 45-70 a 200 yard gun and the 300 a 400 yard gun. Either will work but so will the old '06 with 180 GR bullets. The 300 for Nilgai might tempt me to put together 200 GR loads.

 

9.3x62 will do what you want with little or no fuss. It has less recoil than the magnums and throws a 285 gr bullet at around 2500fps depending on the ammo you choose. That is flat enough shooting for 300yds and uses a medium length action (not magum length).
If you can get within 180yds of them then the 45 70 will happily do the job too. They may be tough but they are not bulletproof. African wildebeest and Buffalo are tough too, but both have fallen to the 9.3 and 45 70 readily enough....
Just my 2 cents...

 

This is spot on.
The 9.3 is gaining a lot of popularity down here with hunters chasing sambar deer and buffalo (up North).
It would give you better range than the 45-70, but the levergun is cool....

 

I took a bull and a cow with my open sighted guide gun, Remington 405s, and re7. Look up 45-70 Vs nilgai bull on this site. When I was there I witnessed one feller take 5-6 nilgai with a scoped 7mm wsm, he was a top rated clays shooter. The ranch rifles were BAR 300wm. If using a GG, I'd shoot heavy cast or premium jacketed bullets. We killed 17?,iirc, that weekend. Many were taken running, so shot placement was difficult. I had the only levergun in the camp. Few of the bullets passed thru.

Will you be chasing them, hunting from a blind or spot/stalk? A .30-'06 to the neck would work just fine, likely s/s or blind hunting.
The meat is the finest available. Be sure the ranch hands give you all of it. I had to argue to get the carcass, rib cage and flank, that netted 37? pounds of hamburger. I hunted just south of the Falfurrias check point. If I had a 300 WM, I'd use it as I had my bullets fell short at longer distances.

Papalote

 

As others have said, under 150 m the 45-70 will easyly take nilgaai. On the other hand, with 350 g hardcast pushed to around 2100 fps I would not hesitate to take shots up to 250 m.
if you know it is going to be 200 m plus shots then I would opt for a rifle with longer legs. My 308 Norma magnum with180 g perigrine solids have taken Kudu,gemsbuck and eland at well over 500 m.
Still, shot placement is king.

 

Well, if power and range is what you want, another option (and I would definitely agree with the recommendation of bringing along a guide gun in 45-70)is a Ruger bolt in 375 Ruger. I load my own and a 270gr bullet doing 2600fps is a laser out to about 400yds...probably even 500yds, but I haven't shot it that far yet! Mine is sighted in at 225yds, and is an absolute tack driver! This one is the guide gun and has a 20"bbl, there are some newer Ruger long rang rifles out there they just produced with a bit longer barrel, but I haven't seen the need yet!!
Here is mine with a Leupold VX-R 4-12x40....with this rifle, you are good for anything that walks on the planet!

 

270 grain 375s at 2600 fps is the ballistics of the 376 Steyr as well. I have two Steyr prohunters in that cartridge. And they are tack drivers too. I would not feel disadvantaged carrying one of those on a nilgai hunt.

T.S.

 

525 pile driver under RL 7will put it down for the count.

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I will second the 375 Ruger. I have the African model with the 23" barrel. I have mine topped with a nikon with 5" eye relief. The factory 270 bullet has the same trajectory as a 180gr fired from a 30-06.
I plan on using it for elk hunting in the near future if I draw a tag.

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The Marlin "won't put out enough lead" come on give me a break here. Simply NOT true!!!!!!!!!! My 465gr Wide Flat nose cast will function through a Marlin and will without question take the Critter in question.

WITH ------------------- as with all game, a properly placed shot and reasonable range.

The attached image is of a big cow elk taken at 161yds with complete penetration. The second image is of the same bullet found, surprisingly, after a quartering shot on another big cow.

The "found" bullet weighs 327.9gr (started at 465gr.) and traveled about 30" after loosing the nose in the big/heavy front upper leg bone.

Other suggested rifles may do equally as well, but with a proper cast bullet, 400gr. or more in weight, in the 45/70 put out the muzzle in the mid 1000 - 2000fps range will get the job done.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot