To give perspective to the cartridges that the old buffalo hunters pounded the southern and northern herds with, I am including a couple of images here. The first shows the four main calibers used by the big professional outfits of the day. L to R is the big .45-110 or sometimes called the .45 2 7/8. It fired a 500 grain paper patch lead slug in front of 100 grains of black powder. Next is the 40-90, sometimes called the .40 2 5/8. It threw a 373 grain paper patch slug in front of 90 grains of black powder. This caliber was not used much on the Texas range but became popular on the northern range from 1879 until that kill ended in about 1885. The next one is the 44-90 or the .44 2 5/8. It threw a 500 grain paper patch slug in front of 100 grains of black powder. This caliber was heavily used on the Texas range and is a commonly found cartridge in old camp sites. The fourth one is the famed 50-90 or .50 2 1/2 and often called the Big .50. It tossed a 473 grain paper patch slug in front of 100 grains of black powder. Contrary to popular belief, the Big .50 was not the most accurate at long range and was supplanted by the .45-110 in 1876 as the super long range rifle for buffalo. However, many men stuck with the Big .50, perhaps because they were familiar with the trajectory and its effectiveness. On the extreme right is a standard 30-06 round, an iconic caliber that has been in use all over the world for big game since its inception as a military round in 1906. You can see that the big buffalo guns were hosses of the highest order and to shoot one for 200 or 300 rounds in a day might give a man a headache. I have shot my 45-110 60 to 70 times in a day and I was not a happy camper! The second photo shows my brother touching off a round in my own .45-110 at twilight. As the old hunters would say, we could hear the boom of the big buffalo rifles in the distance and it sounded like a war going on. A historian once described the men who lived this rough and rowdy life in a most succinct manner. Rath City had two saloons well stocked with whiskey to deaden the pain and dull the minds of the men who lived to kill. And in my own words, and they killed...until the bison were all but gone.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 22:56:36 +0000
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