I do not know anything about shooting a buffalo at 200 yards, so I do not know where that came from. As far as the bear goes I was on a hunt in Maine a few years ago with a buddy of mine that travels with me on most trips. He had got a bear and while we were trying to find a bear for me a call came across the guide's radio that they had a big bear on the run and wanted us to dump our dogs on the trail and go along. As our hunting was slow that morning we caught up with the pack that had finally treed the big bear. The hunter was an older fellow from PA and had an old single shot 45-70. After we gathered the dogs and got them organized the guy took a shot at the head. I do not know why he shot it in the head because it was a record class bear, anyway after the shot hit the bear square between the ears on the top of the head as it peered down at us, he stood up on all fours on the limb he was on. At that point he looked like he was dazed and may fall any second, well instead of falling he came down the tree in front of the guide and my buddy very much alive! Both men shot the bear several times within 10yds with 357. mags and the guide ended up killing it with my .44 mag. After the flurry of activity which only last 20 seconds ended, we inspected the lack of damage the old 45-70 did. There was a perfectly circular patch of hair missing about the size of a milk jug cap. The skull was plainly visible and not penetrated. The bullet had deflected off of the skull. It may have been a fluke and I have heard of stranger things, but it happened. As far as hog wash goes, the entire episode was videoed by me and although it is very shakey footage, the account that I just described is documented. That has been my only experience with a 45-70 thus my comments, however I guess I have been enlighhtened a bit about the new ammo and performance improvements. Good info Surestrike