HOW TO HUNT:
MOUNTAIN REEDBUCK
SHOTGUNS:
IT’S ALL IN THE GRIP
SAM COLT:
BIG BLUNDE
AFRICAN LEGENDS TRUE OR FALSE?
3-INCH GROUPS AT 1100YARDS BC FACTOR OF .910 September 2017
TESTS
Namibia N$41,50
R39,00 incl VAT
09462
p10 Ruger LCP ll Pistol p49 Portable Night Vision p34 ASP Defence Ammo p53 Ballistic Gelatine 9 770256 067003
HOW TO HUNT:
MOUNTAIN REEDBUCK
SHOTGUNS:
IT’S ALL IN THE GRIP
SAM COLT:
W
BIG BLUNDER
Class IN ic Memo Book: of a Garies Rang me er
VOLUME 42
NUMBER 09 SEPTEMBER 2017
AFRICAN LEGENDS TRUE OR FALSE?
GL
AD
S
TO
RM
EXCLUSIVE
EN
VICTRIX
TU
M
TORMENTUM
3-INCH GROUPS AT 1100YARDS BC FACTOR OF .910 September 2017 Namibia N$41,50
TESTS
ON THE COVER: Victrix Armaments’ Tormentum (left) in .375 CheyTac and Gladius in 6.5x47 Lapua. Read more on p36. Photo by Richard Lange
IU
R39,00 incl VAT
09462
p10 Ruger LCP ll Pistol p49 Portable Night Vision p34 ASP Defence Ammo p53 Ballistic Gelatine 9 770256 067003
Features
10 14 18 22 26 30 36 42 46 50 54 58 61
LET THERE BE LIGHT Ruger’s .380 LCPll sub-compact: true pocket power
Paul Scarlata
SAM COLT’S BIG BLUNDER Rejecting a staffer’s simple solution…
Robin Barkes
PRINCE OF THE PEAKS Mountain reedbuck: challenging and fine eating
Francois van Emmenes
GET A GRIP! The shotgun’s ‘hand’ is more than a handle
Charles Duff
THE BUFFALO AND OMINOUS PYTHON Going tip-toe through the minefields…
Michiel Thoolen
‘WESSEL RYKAARDS’HUNTING PAIR
Reliving the transition from flintlock to breechloader
VICTRIX TACTICAL AND SPORTING RIFLES
Benchrest accuracy out the box!
MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF AFRICA
Investigating the hunting lore we inherited
MC Heunis
Phillip Hayes
Gregor Woods
A DISASTROUS HUNT?
Jaco Fourie
MANKAZANA’S MAGIC
Frans Bussiahn
Learn from your mistakes!
SCI No1 East Cape kudu shot with flintlock
MY FIRST SAFARIS
Professional hunting in the 1960s
CAMPI A BHATI: CLASSIC EAST AFRICAN SAFARI
Traditional East African elephant hunt
DICKIE BIRD: A GREAT HUNTER Life and death in a land much like our own
John Coleman
As told to Gerrie Du Plessis Mark Young
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Departments TRAIL TALK – 6 Seeing Better READERS LETTERS – 8 Custom Rifles Leopard Dilemma Crocodiles and Roan Jumbo Tusks Peter Flack TEST REPORTS ASP Self Defence Handgun Bullets – 34 NiteSite Spotter Xtreme – 49 ASP Ballistic Gelatine – 53 BOOK SHELF – 64 Memories of a Game Ranger MAGNUM YOUTH – 65 Psychological Aspects of Shooting MAGNUM’S MARKET – 66 SUBSCRIPTIONS – 66 TRADING POST – 66 GALLERY – 68 More on Buffalo Oxen Magnum’s Choice Prices Giraffe Bone Write For Us
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EDITORIAL OFFICE
Tel: 031-572-6551 Fax: 086-520-3711 PO Box 35204, Northway, 4065 mail@manmagnum.co.za Editor Phillip Hayes Contributing Editor Gregor Woods Contributing Editor Malcolm Cobb Design and Production Talita Meyer Senior Subeditor Anthony Shelley Subeditor Morgan Haselau Administration and Distribution Gail Osborne Subscriptions and Binders Gina Mostert subscriptions@manmagnum.co.za Trading Post and Reader’s Market Gina Mostert classifieds@manmagnum.co.za MEDIA 24 (Weekly Magazines) Man/Magnum is published and distributed by Media 24, a division of Nasionale Pers Editorial Head Chris Burgess Publisher Theuns Venter Advertising Head Dirk Lamprecht 012-485-9356, Dirk.Lamprecht@media24.com Category Manager Armand Kasselman Debtors’Accounts Soraya Essop 021-408-3521 Proprietor SA Hunt Publishing (Pty) Ltd Printed by Paarl Media Cape Distribution In the event of retail supply problems contact Armand Kasselman, 021-443-9975 Opinions expressed in advertisements or articles are not necessarily those of the Editors or Publishers. Readers should take every care with firearms and ammunition. Magnum has no control over readers’ components or techniques and cannot entertain claims of any nature whatsoever. The Editors reserve the right to change and/or shorten articles and letters. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for the content of advertisements.
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Trail Talk
by PHILLIP HAYES
Seeing Better
W
hen I started my first job, I had no hunting rifle, so I swopped a Winchester Defender pump-action shotgun for a military Mauser dating from the Second World War. The Israelis had re-barrelled it to fire the 7.62mm NATO round. The bore seemed in good nick and on receiving my licence I immediately bought a pack of 180gr Norma Plastic Point cartridges and headed to the range. I quickly realised that the open sights were good enough only for shots out to 100m. I managed groups of 4 inches at 100m, but beyond that, precise aiming was not possible with the old military sights, and accuracy suffered. Clearly a scope was needed to test the rifle’s true potential at 100m, and for longer shots when hunting. As money was in short supply I opted for one of the more affordable scopes, a Tasco 4x32 with a TVview. In those days Tascos were made in Japan and I was pleasantly surprised by the clarity of the optics. I had gunsmith Kevan Healey drill and tap the receiver and mount the scope. My first hunt took place near Bloemfontein and the farmer insisted I shoot at a target at 100m before venturing afield; I think we were both surprised when the old warhorse placed three shots into half an inch. Earlier, on the range, I’d had to settle for 1½-inch five-shot groups. I explained that the old rifle with its brand-new scope was a recent combination; my original intention had been to use open sights. His comment was rather short: “A telescope makes you see better, not shoot better.” The words stuck, and later I put them to good use when guiding new arrivals of foreign clients almost every week. I saw hunters arriving with expensive rifles and cheap scopes – usually those hunts would not be very successful. Then there were those with expensive scopes who could not hit what they aimed at. The more successful hunters were usually those with well-used rifles and well-used scopes. The
6 | ManMAGNUM | September 2017
lesson was well learnt: regular practice affords you a better chance of success. Even after I had bought several rifles and scopes, my .308 with its bargainbasement Tasco fixed 4-power scope was my go-to rifle. I hit with it simply because I was using it most of the time – on the range and in the field. I became so comfortable with the scope that I later used it on several other rifles, and even today, I shoot better groups with low magnification than higher. However, times have clearly moved on, as I saw when recently testing the Victrix .375 CheyTac rifle at 1km for this edition, and when looking around at what shooters are using at various shooting ranges. Most rifles are wearing long-range scopes. For example, when I joined the local hunting rifle shooting club some 20 years ago, a 3-9x50 was deemed adequate and the 8x56 was a popular choice. Anything of higher magnification was seen as unnecessary. I recently read an article on the SA Hunting Rifle Shooting Association’s website; it stated that, for the .223 class a maximum magnification of 14 is allowed and height adjustment turrets may not be used. In the open division you would not be competitive with a scope that does not have a turret for easy height adjustment, and 16X magnification is the minimum. In this sport, shots are taken out to a maximum range of 350m. I’m simply not used to a magnification of 16 or more and have difficulty adapting to it. However, I am currently testing a Leica Magnus 1.8-12x50m and a Zeiss Conquest V6 5-30x50 – two scopes for two totally different applications: hunting and long-range shooting. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the glass, light transmission and ease of use. I used the Leica on the same old Mauser, now recently sporterised, and managed cloverleaf groups at 100m on 12x, and the same was possible with the Zeiss set on 12x. Of course, at longer ranges the higher magnification of the Zeiss or similar scopes is a must. This made me realise it’s time to upgrade from my old hunting scopes,
Win a Classic African Book This month, one lucky reader stands the chance to win a copy of the new edition of Memories of a Game Ranger by Harr y Wolhuter. This book has entertained readers for 70 years, and tells of Wolhuter’s experiences as one of the first game wardens in the Kruger National Park. He started his tenure in 1902 and went on to serve the Kruger for 44 years. His firsthand account of his tough, yet rewarding, work as a game ranger is a must read for anyone interested in wildlife, conservation or hunting. To stand a chance to win, read the review of Memories of a Game Ranger on page 64 and answer the following question: What year did Wolhuter have his now famous encounter with two aggressive lions? Email your answer to mail@ manmagnum.co.za. Please include your name, telephone number and province. The winner will be announced in Magnum’s October 2017 edition.
most being 3-9 magnification, as time has marched on. Mid-level glass is now better than most top-end glass of 20 years ago and my eyes are not what they used to be. In certain cases I found scopes currently selling for R6 000 that have better clarity and definition than my 15- to 20year-old scopes bearing more upmarket brand-names. It’s time for me to replace the scopes on my rifles with better ones, to enable me to see better and maybe even shoot better. If you haven’t looked closely at what’s available at retailers lately, do yourself a favour and check out the new optics. It’s an eye-opener. We at Magnum will do our part to keep you informed with more test reports on new scopes and the latest developments, and we’ll be writing more on associated equipment for long-range shooting and hunting rifle shooting competitions. See you at the range.
Letters Custom Rifles
My grandfather was a gunsmith during the 1970s and until the early 90s; he also built custom rifles. During the 1980s, an advertisement for a rifle he built with interchangeable barrels appeared in Magnum. I am trying to track down someone who might own this famous rifle or any of his custom rifles. Please contact me via Magnum. − Nicolas Fanourakis, Gauteng
Leopard Dilemma
In April this year, I was guiding a client on a kudu hunt on a farm near Otjiwarongo, Namibia. It was about 10am and after an unsuccessful stalk we decided to sit in a hide. As usual, my German short-haired pointer “Tinka” was with me in the veld, and as always, she lay down under the hide. To prevent her doing some private hunting − she cannot resist squirrels – I had leashed her to a tree near the hide. Before long, perhaps five minutes, she started to snarl. I hissed at her to stop, but instead she snarled yet louder and then started barking at something. Thinking it may be a snake or a waran (lizard) I climbed down to investigate. You can imagine my surprise to see a leopard approaching my dog – they were just five metres apart. The instant the leopard saw me he turned and with two graceful leaps, vanished into the high grass. I still wonder how the leopard failed to be aware of our human presence. He surely must have heard me hissing at Tinka. Though I saw him only for a split second, he did not appear to be in bad condition. Having left my rifle in the hide, I would have had to face him bare-handed, had he attacked. I am sure that, if he had attacked Tinka and I had gone to her aid, he would have attacked me too. But I could not be sure what my wife’s reaction would have been, had I come home without our dog. − Peter Kienitz, Namibia
Crocodiles and Roan
Terry Irwin’s articles about maneaters (Magnum, December 2016 and January 2017) were interesting. He tells a story from the war in Burma where only 20 Japanese out of 1 000 survived when fleeing from Ramree Island due to attacks by saltwater crocodiles. In a book called The Banzai Hunters, author Peter Haining mentions this incident. He suggests that although Japanese troops were killed by saltwater crocodiles the numbers were probably far less than 980. He refers to WOG Lofts who, doing thorough research in British Army, Navy and RAF records that deal with Burma in 1945 – the incident allegedly happened on the night of 19 February 1945 – found no confirmation of large numbers of Japanese troops being eaten by crocodiles when fleeing the island. The story Irwin refers to seems to have originated with the London Gazette, published in 1948. Lofts also found out from residents on Ramree Island that several Japanese veterans who had returned to the place never mentioned a crocodile massacre. Also in your January 2017 edition in another interesting article, Robin Barkes writes about an early Portuguese hunter named D Fernandez das Neves who shoots an animal he called “chipalapala”. By the description it sounds like a roan antelope to me. − Ottar Rønning, Norway
➤
The local African tribal names for the roan antelope are nothing remotely like “chipalapala”. The name Neves gives, or dialectic derivations of it such as “phalapala” (Tshivenda), “impalampala” (siSwati), “Impalampala” (isiZulu) and others, all mean “sable antelope”. The problem is that Neves describes the animal’s general appearance and horns as being similar to those of a European domestic bovine bull. It’s hard to imagine a typical European bovine bull having horns remotely like those of the roan
or sable antelope, both of which also carry their heads and necks very high, which bovine bulls do not. There is no sure explanation of this anomaly – we feel Barkes is likely correct in saying that Neves probably saw a black wildebeest, the bulls of which can look strikingly like Spanish fighting bulls, but simply mixed up the African names when writing his journal. – Editor
Jumbo Tusks
I have just read Robin Hurt`s article “Safari Hunting as a Conservation Tool, Part 1” (Magnum, May 2017). Elephants actually do have milk tusks, but these are shed very early. More interesting is the fact that the six molars in each jaw quadrant are shed sequentially and are completely gone by about 60 years. After this, condition deteriorates and this usually means tickets for the individual. It is hard to imagine that tusks would continue to grow once the molars are gone. In all I have ever read about big tuskers, molars are never mentioned, which is a shame. Can anyone shed some light? − Chris Gow, Western Cape
Peter Flack
It is shocking news that Peter Flack will no longer be involved in hunting as he is a man who commanded huge respect amongst thinking hunters. Sadly one must accept that he had good personal reasons for his decision and I hope that this does not signal dissent in the ranks of hunting organisations which will provide more encouragement to the anti-hunters. Ethical hunting has lost an important advocate and I for one will also miss his writings. Two of my grandsons were fortunate to be accepted on one of the weeklong hunting courses that Peter used to run for youngsters and they will never forget that experience. – Geoff Taylor, Gauteng
Your letters are an important part of Magnum. We (readers and editors) like to hear your problems and opinions. Unless marked ‘NOT FOR PUBLICATION’ all letters are considered and are edited for length and/or clarity. Pen names may be used, provided that your full name, address and daytime phone number are furnished. Please try to keep your letters short and to the point.
8 | ManMAGNUM | September 2017
Handguns In this left hand view, you can see the safety mounted on the face of the trigger, the finger rest base plate on the magazine and the well-textured grip frame.
LetThere Be Light!
The LCP II mounts the Viridian laser sight in front of the trigger guard where it can be activated by the red ambidextrous off/on button. Note the dual grasping grooves on the slide, magazine release, slide stop lever and the low mount sights.
by PAUL SCARLATA photos by ELAINE SANDBERG and BECKY SCARLATA
Ruger’s LCP II .380 pistol is sub-compact and ultra-concealable 10 | ManMAGNUM | September 2017
A simple disassembly.
The LCP ll also comes without a laser.
S
turm, Ruger & Company’s prodone you have with you”. Pistols chambered uct line includes something for for the .380 tend to be small, light and easy just about every type of shooter. to conceal, which means the odds are much For the sportsman, it produces better that you will have it with you, rather single-shot, bolt-action and semithan leaving it in your safe at home. auto rim-fire and centre-fire rifles, rim-fire I’m sure it will raise the hackles of the and centre-fire revolvers, semi-automatic traditionalists out there, but the LCP is a pistols and O/U shotguns. I have heard it said ‘plastic’ pistol. The frame is made of glassthat if a shooter “can’t find what they need in filled nylon with alloy inserts to provide addiRuger’s catalogue, they’re in a lot of trouble!” tional strength and includes rails for the slide Ruger broke into the concealed carry to reciprocate on. The slide is machined from weapon (CCW) pistol market in hardened steel and features a 2008 with the introduction of blue finish. its .380 calibre Light ComAs has become almost pact Pistol (LCP), a radical mandatory with polymer departure from Ruger’s frame handguns today, the previous efforts in this LCP features a double-acarea. To be perfectly hontion-only (DOA) trigger. est about it (we gun writers This not only provides simwill do that on occasion), plicity of operation – a feadespite being chambered ture I consider of the utmost for the .380 ACP cartridge, importance on any firearm it was smaller and lighter intended for personal prothan some .22, .25 and .32 tection – but also provides calibre pistols. the traditional safety feaBefore the ‘bigger bultures of the double-action lets are better bullets’ revolver and allows operacrowd begins criticising tion without the necessity the .380 cartridge, let me The Viridian laser sight projects a of manipulating external make two points in its bright, easy-to-see red dot on the tarsafety devices. Cartridge defence. In the last few get, even in normal daylight. ignition is by means of an years, the use of improved internal hammer which propellants and high-tech I feel is more reliable on JHP bullets have improved the effectiveness sub-compact pistols than a striker. of the .380 cartridge to where some loads The LCP uses a ‘single-strike’ trigger now approach low end 9mm Para performechanism which means that if you have mance. This brings me to my second point, a misfire, or are dry firing an empty pistol as the old saying goes; “The best gun is the (empty and sans magazine!) for practice,
The LCP II comes standard with an inside-the-pocket holster. This allows you to carry the pistol inside the front pocket of your trousers and allows it to be drawn smoothly.
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 11
The LCP II was test fired using just the laser sight from the low ready position. Recoil was a bit whippy but controllable; reliability was 100%.
it is necessary to partially retract the slide to reset the hammer before you can pull the trigger again. The LCP’s controls are conveniently located with the magazine release button in the ‘proper’ place while a catch, located above the left grip panel, can be used to lock the slide open, providing a convenient means of verifying that the chamber is empty or for cleaning purposes. THE LCP PROVED a popular item for concealed carry for civilians and as a back-up or off-duty weapon with law enforcement officers. Ruger is well known for constantly improving its products and a few years later saw the introduction of the LCP II. This pistol featured larger sights, an improved trigger pull, dual grasping grooves on the slide, a textured grip frame, bladed safety on the face of the trigger, a neutrally balanced sear with significant engagement and strong spring tension, and a hammer catch to help prevent the hammer from contacting the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled through a complete stroke. Shortly before the 2017 National Rifle Association Convention, I received a news release from Ruger announcing a new version of the LCP II with an integral Viridian E-Series red laser. This unit is located on the front of the
12 | ManMAGNUM | September 2017
As can be seen here, all but two of my rounds impacted inside the target’s nine and 10 rings.
pistol’s trigger guard and features ambidextrous off/on buttons that can be activated by the shooter’s trigger finger. While it only adds 40g to the pistol’s weight, because of its size and location it cannot be used with holsters designed for the standard LCP II. Because of this Ruger thoughtfully includes an inside-the-pocket holster with each pistol. Ruger kindly supplied me with a LCP II to evaluate for Magnum’s readers. It was a dainty little thing, the smallest .380 pistol I’ve ever held. The Viridian laser sight was easily activated and produced a bright red dot on the target, even in full daylight. Before accuracy testing, I ran two magazines each of five different types SPECIFICATIONS: LCP II Pistol Calibre Overall length Barrel length Width Weight (unloaded) Sights
.380 ACP 131mm 70mm 19mm 323g front: square blade rear: square notch Capacity 6+1 rds Finish Blue Construction frame: glass-filled nylon slide: steel Extra Features: integral Viridian E-Series red laser, trigger safety, slide release lever, pocket holster, finger rest magazine base plate, cable lock and owner’s manual.
of .380 ammo through the little Ruger: Hornady 90gr FTX, Winchester 90gr Train & Defend, Browning 95gr X-Point, Black Hills’ 100gr FMJ and its new 60gr Extreme Defense. I experienced a single malfunction when one of the Browning JHPs hung up on the feed ramp. Other than that, the petite pistol chugged along with everything I fed it. AS I BELIEVE that attempting to shoot tight groups off a rest with a pistol of this class is not a practical test of its accuracy, to say nothing of an exercise in futility that may damage my fragile ego, my test firing was limited to engaging a combat target from the ‘real-life’ distance of five metres – firing the pistol from a low position with the laser sight. With the pistol’s attenuated grip, recoil was a bit snappy, but once I had the hang of it, of the two dozen rounds I fired at the target, all but two were inside the nine and 10 rings. We found Ruger’s newest product fitted its task to a ‘T’. If you are looking for an ultra-concealable, sub-compact .380 pistol for a civilian CCW, or as an undercover or off-duty weapon for police officers, I believe the LCP II with the Viridian laser sight is the ideal choice. The pistol is expected to retail in SA for about R7 500. Call Guns and Bows on 021-949-2891 for more details.
The original Colt conversion with a genuine old-time holster and cartridge belt.
Sam Colt’s Big Blunder by ROBIN BARKES
N
ot only was Sam Colt an inventive genius, he was also a shrewd businessman. However, ol’ Sam did make one mistake, the biggest of his life, and it was a blunder that would hold up the advancement of his range of firearms for seven years. One day, a Colt factory worker named Rollin White showed his boss an idea for a bored-through cylinder that could replace the percussion cylinder on Colt’s multi-shot guns. The boredthrough cylinder would allow the weapons to be loaded from the rear instead of the slow front-loading procedure. At the time, various inventors were experimenting with different types of self-contained cartridges –
14 | ManMAGNUM | September 2017
Even geniuses can be wrong or fixed ammunition, as it was then called. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the new ammo was perfected and used in all guns. But, incredibly, Sam Colt totally ignored Rollin White’s idea. So White went ahead and patented his boredthrough cylinder, and when gun makers Horace Smith and Dan Wesson saw it, they snapped it up. The agreement was that White would get a royalty on every gun S&W sold. Well, Rollin White was happy, and Smith and Wesson were happy, and Sam Colt could have kicked himself for
missing the opportunity of being the first to exploit this great leap forward in firearms history. In 1862, at the age of only 48, the great Sam Colt suddenly became ill and passed away, while his gun designs remained technically stuck in the muzzle-loading age – he never saw any of them become breech-loaders. I wonder if he didn’t die of a broken heart. At the time of his death, S&W had already produced 22 000 breech-loading revolvers – all rim-fire. It is believed the idea for rim-fire cartridges probably goes back to a patent registered
ABOVE, LEFT: The gun stripped down, showing how Colt converted its cap-and-ball Navy revolver to fire metallic cartridges. ABOVE RIGHT: This shows the new firing pin screwed into the original flat-faced percussion hammer. The loading gate is open, showing the added recoil shield taking up the gap left by shortening the cylinder.
by Robert French in 1831. Nevertheless, all rim-fire cartridges originate with the Flobert BB cap of 1845, which led to the S&W-developed .22 short of 1857. The shrewd Oliver Winchester, major shareholder of the New Haven Arms Company which was making Volcanic repeating firearms, employed inventor Tyler Henry to develop his famous lever-action rifle firing a rim-fire cartridge. The 16-shot Henry rifle was actually used in combat by a few units of the Union Army towards the end of the Civil War (1861-1865). At the same time Christopher Spencer was producing his seven-shot breech-loader also firing a rim-fire cartridge. Firearm history was surging forward, leaving Colt’s percussion handguns and rifles behind. Nevertheless, under the new company director, Elisha Root, the Colt factory did not stand idle. At the time of Sam Colt’s death, the bloody Civil War was at its gory height and the factory was in full production, turning out percussion handguns and rifles by the thousands for the Northern Army. However, concern that they were lagging behind in firearm development due to Sam Colt’s blunder, had company executives desperately searching for a way to get around the Rollin White patent. The answer lay in somehow converting its capand-ball revolvers to take fixed ammunition.
positioned and upright, the weapon could not be fired, nor the cases ejected. When removing the cylinder, the separate ring was also removed. Pretty clever, but a bit complicated and, if the user preferred, he could simply drop in a regular percussion cylinder and fire the gun as a normal cap-and-ball weapon. Only
HOWEVER, THE FIRST conversion system came only in 1869 when the White patent expired. This system was designed to take the strange Thuer tapered cartridge that was loaded from the front of the cylinder, which had been shortened by machining off the end holding the percussion nipples. To fill the space, a conversion ring was fitted onto the rear of the cylinder, incorporating a turning knob, rebounding firing pin and ejector mechanism. Turning the knob to the right enabled the gun to be fired, after which the knob was swung over to the left and the gun again cocked and dry-fired six times, which ejected the spent cases from the front. When the knob was centrally
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 15
5 000 Thuer conversion we’ll have to go back to Colts were made. the Richards-Mason conNext on the scene version of the Colt Navy was the Richards cap-and-ball revolver, for conversion in 1873. it is this gun that I was Colt took their 1860 lucky enough to examArmy .44 cap-andine, load and fire. I have ball revolver and gave always been a lover of it a rebated cylinder, the 1851 Navy Colt and, a round barrel, and having once owned two replaced the under-baroriginals, I was intrigued rel loading-lever with to see how cleverly it an ejector rod fitted to had been converted to the side of the barrel. fire fixed ammunition. Soon, they were also Gone was the familconverting Navy Colts. iar loading lever and The Richards convergone were the nipples sion system still feafrom the cylinder and tured a shortened cylgone was the cutout inder but now the gap that made loading a behind it was filled by ball from the front easa permanently fitted Note the hammer styles of these Colts. Top, Thuer conversion; middle, Richards’ ier. Also, the opening solid recoil shield. This conversion, and bottom, Open Top Frontier Colt (Photo: The Colt Heritage by RL Wilson). on the recoil shield that arrangement was an facilitated thumbing improvement on the caps onto the nipples Thuer conversion and Colt produced 9 Finally, having used up all its old Army was now filled with a spring-operated 000 revolvers of this type. & Navy revolver parts, Colt produced loading gate, and the flat striking face As late as 1877, a small improvespecially made barrels, cylinders and of the hammer now wore a sharp, talment to the ejection system earned this frames for its Open Top Frontier model on-like firing pin. Yet with all these conversion the name Richards-Mason 1872 – the last open-top revolver newfangled additions, the famous model. Now, with the Rollin White patdeveloped by Colt and just one step gun retained its slim, elegant lines. It ent having expired in 1869, you may away from their famous 1873 Colt Sinstill wore its original .36 calibre markbe wondering why on earth Colt was gle-Action Army, aka ‘Peacemaker’ – ing, though the various parts were still converting cap-and-ball revolvthe ‘Wild West’ six-shooter we all know stamped 38. The original cylinder, now ers to breech-loaders. After all, in and love. shortened, still bore its naval battle 1873, it had released its new Singlescene, though some of it was lost to Action Army .45 ‘Peacemaker’ revolver. OKAY, HAVING PUT you in the picture, the cutaway. Well, after the Civil War ended, the Colt let me now finish my story. For that, I n c i d e n t a l l y, t h e b a r r e l w a s factory was stuck with tons of inscribed with Colt’s New York parts for percussion guns, and address and small British proof was determined to use up every marks, meaning that it had bit, one way or another. been made at Colt’s Hartford However, in 1871, Colt factory and proofed in Enghad in fact produced its first land, or it had been made in revolver specifically designed the factory Sam Colt opened for metallic cartridges – the in England and then sent back small .41 calibre House Pisto America when he closed his tol with its unusual cloveroverseas operation down. leaf-shaped cylinder. This was I just had to fire the gun, also Colt’s first revolver to so I promised the owner that employ a top strap and counI’d load up a few black powder ter-sunk cylinder chambers to rounds using .38 special cases accept the rims of cartridges – All rim-fire cartridges had their origins in the little Flobert BB Cap, and my round nosed soft lead an idea years ahead of its time. right. The big rim-fire round is .50 calibre. ‘cowboy’ bullets. These are the
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same cartridges I use in my Sauer und Sohn look-alike of the Colt Peacemaker. However, after getting out my Lee hand-loading set, cases and bullets, I discovered to my disappointment that I’d run out of small pistol primers. “Not to worry,” said the gun owner, “I have a few old loaded rounds made from .357 cases cut down to .38 Long Colt lengths.” And Ten hits out of 12 at 15 paces. Note that the wrong choice of bullets caused some to strike so we were ready sideways. to saddle up and go make smoke. The next day, out on the range, we prepared to fire the converted Colt – a gun ol’ Sam never saw. Setting up a regular target at the foot of the earthen embankment, I walked back counting off 15 long paces, and then marked a firing line. Loading up, I noticed my companion’s cartridges were topped with modern semi-wadcutter bullets and I hoped they were made of soft lead and not linotype metal. Anyway, we began the shoot with my friend taking the first three shots; he put two hits cutting a figure 8 a few inches from the centre, and the third a flyer that hit the paper – sideways. I then took three shots but, not holding low enough, caught the top edge of the paper with one bullet and over shot with the other two. If I had been using a capand-ball gun I would have aimed at the bottom of the target because they always shoot high. But using fixed ammo I figured the gun would shoot to point of aim. I was wrong. Reloading, I corrected my hold and hit the target, and so did my ‘pard’ a few more times. Most strikes were just high of the bull’s eye with a couple along the edges. In some cases, the bullets tumbled, key-holing through the paper. We felt we’d do better next time using cartridges loaded with my ‘cowboy’ bullets which are identical to the slugs originally designed to be fired in the old Colt. The Richards/Mason conversion performed flawlessly and after a careful examination of the stripped-down gun it was found to have suffered no ill effects after its long slumber. The old Colt pointed beautifully and was an absolute pleasure to shoot. I hoped the spirit of Sam Colt was present to see it in action. The famous inventor may have made one blunder in his life, but his name and guns went on to become the most famous in the world – just ask any old cowboy.
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Princes of the Peaks by FRANCOIS VAN EMMENES
Mountain reedbuck offer a challenge amid glorious scenery
Stunning scenery in the Drakensberg Mountains – ideal habitat for both grey rhebuck and mountain reedbuck.
S we The first ram taken in the Drakensberg after instead decided to concentrate on mountain reedbuck from anded left-h taken was shot The ck. rhebu of grey . stream tain moun little the the top of the ‘S’ formed by
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itting with my back against a big rock, I snuggled closer to my elder brother to get away from the biting wind blowing over the mountain. I was about six years old and my shorts and T-shirt offered no protection from the sudden, unseasonable cold spell that had hit the farm that morning. We were visiting Oupa Manie’s farm, Geelhoutkloof, about 30 kilometres west of Mookgophong, in Limpopo. Having herded the cattle in our section to a pre-arranged spot, we sought refuge against the wind behind some big rocks. Should the cattle scatter we would round them up again when Oupa came to help us herd them down the mountain for their weekly dip. I heard the Toyota’s engine a long way off and felt relieved that he had come at last. As I got to my feet a small antelope jumped straight over the rocks and us, before it bolted down the mountain, followed by another, then another. “What was that?” I gasped. “Ribbokke,” said my brother, trying to look nonchalant. “Can we shoot them?” I asked excit-
edly. “Nah, Oupa does not allow slopes – this always brings them any hunting of them; not even to their feet and they may run a Oom Roelf is allowed to shoot short distance, stopping to look them.” I’d had the fright of my back at the source of the noise, life, and that bobbing tail with thereby offering you a quick shot. its white underside was my first They are usually very difficult to memory of what would become spot, especially when bedded one of my favourite animals to down during the hotter hours of hunt. the day, so take your time. They The “ribbokke” were, of love lying under bushes, trees course, mountain reedbuck, disand the cover of rocks. turbed by the approach of the Mountain reedbuck can be bakkie. They were never abunbe hunted with beaters – I have dant on the farm and granddad never tried this and probably allowed no shooting of them, won’t, as I enjoy the quiet solithough the neighbours almost Getting drenched by a sudden downpour did not spoil our fun. tude of the mountains too much. Events like this make you appreciate and remember your hunt. certainly did. Mountain reedI once hunted the hills overbuck occur in all nine provinces looking the Vanderkloof Dam of South Africa and occupy terrain that 300m. On many occasions, a mountain where a popular method is to send out most out-of-shape hunters would likely reedbuck has risen from the grass not two or three farm workers ahead of avoid. Although not true mountain 20m from me and just stood there lookthe hunter who walks a few hundred dwellers like the grey rhebuck, they ing at me – you must be prepared to meters behind them. When disturbed, are sometimes found at altitudes of shoot quickly if such an opportunity prethe fleeing reedbuck circles back to its 2 200m according to Smithers’ Mamsents itself. Obviously, a lightweight rifle home territory – it seems to work well. mals of Southern Africa, and being will render your hunt more enjoyable. This little antelope makes excellent heavily dependent on rocks and shrubs Hunting along the top of a mountain eating – to my taste even better than for cover, they thrive in areas that are produces excellent results, but there will springbuck – and it is considered a cardifficult to hunt without your working up always be several bedded down that you dinal sin to turn them into biltong or a sweat. Hunting mountain reedbuck by will not spot, and which might well give dry wors. Use the entire carcass as you the walk-and-stalk method requires the you away. I normally scan the slopes would a lamb. hunter to be in good physical condition. thoroughly with binoculars, and if I see After my first solo and unsuccessnothing I toss a rock or two down the ful attempt to hunt mountain reedbuck NEVERTHELESS, THE MOST challenging and ultimately satisfying method FAST FACTS is to forego the 4x4 and leg it up and down the mountains, which can range Confusing Names from a low koppie in the Northern Cape to the higher altitudes of the DrakensSome confusion surrounds the where there are abundant yearberg Mountains. Get fit, and then get naming of the reedbuck sub- round crops of ryegrass, the rams even fitter for the latter destination. species. The Afrikaans name for easily reach 75kg. Confusingly, Good boots that support the ankles are the common reedbuck (Redunca another diminutive mountain essential – rocky terrain is almost inevarundinum) is rietbok − all well dwelling antelope of similar itable and a sprained ankle is a very and good. However, the Afrikaans size to the mountain reedbuck, real possibility. In Afrikaans, there is name for the mountain reedbuck a n d s o m e t i m e s s h a r i n g t h e a saying “Ribbok loop waar hy wil” (A (Redunca fulvorufula) is rooirib- same habitat, is the grey rhereedbuck walks where he pleases) – bok. The mountain reedbuck, the buck (Pelea capreolus) whose true of both mountain reedbuck and rams of which weigh between Afrikaans name is vaalribbok. grey rhebuck. 22kg and 38kg, is considerably Unfortunately, English-speaking When hunting alone in the mounsmaller than his common cousin, farmers and hunters in the Easttains, be prepared for any eventuality, w h o w e i g h s b e t w e e n 4 3 k g ern Cape add to the confusion by as help may not be just a phone call and 68kg, and in the KwaZulu- calling the mountain reedbuck away. Use a flat-shooting calibre whose Natal Drakensberg foothills, the “mountain rhebuck”. trajectory you know well, as shots can vary from as close as 25m to as far as
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The farm we hunted on, next to the Vanderkloof Dam – picturesque and ideal mountain reedbuck habitat.
on a farm near Jacobsdal, I was utterly hooked. I spent an entire day in the mountains and although I saw many ewes with young, as well as mature males, and could have shot any number of them, I was dead set on a trophy ram. Later I would learn that it is not only horn size that determines the true value of a trophy. It was extremely enjoyable being out there by myself − no noise and no company but the critters on the mountain. SINCE THEN I have not missed an opportunity to hunt mountain reedbuck, and all of these hunts stand out in my memory. In June 2003, our close-knit group of old varsity mates arranged a mixed bag hunt near Aliwal North in the Eastern Cape. Upon seeing the incredible scenery, I gave up on all the other species available and concentrated solely on mountain reedbuck for the entire hunt. We were permitted to hunt on our own if we so wished – a rare privilege nowadays. A backpack, shooting sticks and my trusty .243 Ackley would be my only company for the morning. The plan was to skirt the top of the ridges and inspect the rocky slopes below for any signs of these antelope. My first recce resulted in a few highpitched whistles and a group of ewes with young showing me their white tails. I wised up quickly and walked more slowly, eventually ending up on the point of a ridge where I
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My second Drakensberg ram of the day.
could go no further. If I turned around and went back the way I’d come, the wind would be in my back, so I stayed put and inspected every visible piece of the opposite mountain. Two black ‘sticks’ between two rocks caught my attention. Closer inspection revealed them to be the horns of a ram bedded down. He hadn’t seen me, so I slowly went prone and rested my rifle on my backpack. When properly steady, I yelled, “HEY!” which brought him to his feet and a second or so later the 100gr bullet put him down where he stood. That afternoon my buddy, Robert, joined me in the mountains, also seeking mountain reedbuck. A sudden downpour sent us scurrying for cover and we wrapped our rifles in some plastic bags to protect them. Rob bagged a big ewe about an hour later. Our next hunt found Rob and me in the Drakensberg near the hamlet of Rhodes in the north Eastern Cape, seeking
both mountain reedbuck and grey rhebuck. This is one of the places in southern Africa where their respective ranges overlap. After spending two days on the highest peaks unsuccessfully hunting grey rhebuck, we were exhausted and every muscle ached, even though we were physically well-prepared for the hunt. Communicating with the two-way radios, we agreed to try instead for mountain reedbuck, opting for terrain a bit more forgiving on our aching bodies and using our remaining time to the fullest. I waited for Rob at our rendezvous on the crest of a hill, and could see him approaching a long way off. As I dawdled around, I suddenly spotted a mountain reedbuck ram on top of a rock about 200m away. I hunkered down and looked for a good shooting position, but a right-hand shot was impossible due the steep angle – I just could not get steady and could not move from where I was for fear of the ram spotting me. I shifted my .243 to my left arm and suddenly I was as steady as can be. The ram fell on the spot – a mature specimen – only minutes after our decision rather to concentrate on them. Sometimes, Lady Luck smiles on the unsuspecting. Rob and I enjoyed some sandwiches
and a cold drink then set off for lower country. Driving us back in their 4x4, our local guides stopped every so often to glass the surrounding mountains, and soon spotted a ram at an impossible distance from the road – about 600m up the mountain. It was Rob’s turn. My guide and I sat back in the 4x4, watching Rob and his guide stalk the ram under cover of a gully that separated two slopes. We scanned the rest of the mountain with our binoculars and soon picked A mountain reedbuck ram hunted in 2003 near Aliwal up another ram bedded down on the North, in the Eastern Cape. opposite slope. Rob carefully got into position and soon his shot echoed down the valley. We watched them walk an-hour later we slowly peaked over a over to the dead ram and shake hands pile of rocks in the vicinity we estimated – it was Rob’s first ram and a very good he’d be. We soon spotted him and I got one at that. ready, this time using my bipod. I took a We radioed them to stay put while I few minutes to catch my breath. He was tried to get a shot at the second ram. We no more than 150m away and a whistle used the same gully for cover and half- or two brought him to his feet. The shot
was good and he staggered down the mountain, coming to rest just before a very steep section that would have carried him much further down. He was a very good ram, measuring 7⁵/8 inches, qualifying for Rowland Ward’s. He had a peculiar growth between his horns, possibly the result of a head shot taken at him when he was raiding lucerne fields – farmers often shoot mountain reedbuck in cultivated lands at night, using a spotlight. Rob and I were elated – three good rams after a long and strenuous weekend in the mountains. Hunters who are not prepared to slog up and down the mountains after these antelope are missing out on a grand experience. This little prince of the mountains is worthy of great respect, so shed those few extra pounds and put on those mountain boots. Enjoy the peace and solitude of the mountains in quest of a quarry that will test your skills.
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Shotguns
A Joseph Lang boxlock showing a typical English straight stock – the logical choice for double triggers.
It’s in the Grip by CHARLES DUFF
An insecure hold can cause the stock to jump under recoil
Top gun: Kronos sporter with a ‘regular’, but tight pistol-grip. Bottom gun: Fausti with a relaxed semi-pistol-grip, ‘pommel’ rounded end.
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A
much overlooked part of the shotgun stock is the pistol-grip or ‘hand’. A badly fitting grip can have a seriously deleterious effect on your shooting. Factory-made shotgun stocks are designed for the ‘average man’, but big men can have small hands and fingers, and small men large hands with long fingers. To get the nomenclature right, we start at the upper rear of the gun’s action, where the grip or ‘hand’ starts, then trace the topmost surface of the grip rearwards, and up the curve to the nose of the comb. Continue rearwards along the mid-section of the comb, known as the ‘face’, until you reach the end of the stock, which is at the top or ‘heel’ of the ‘butt’. Now go back to the action, this time the underside, starting at the back of the trigger guard. Rearwards from that is the underside of the grip or ‘hand’ (if it’s straight, it’s the ‘hand’ of an English stock; if it’s curved it is the ‘pistol-grip’ design). The term ‘butt’ is commonly misused to mean the entire length of wood from the action to the rearmost surface which touches your shoulder. This is in fact the stock, which most gun-writers now call the “butt-stock” to distinguish it from the fore-stock or fore-end. The term “butt” applies to the rearmost surface of the butt-stock which abuts against your shoulder when the gun is mounted for shooting. The butt can simply be the end of the wood, or it might take the form of a thin butt plate made of plastic or metal, or in some cases a rubber pad to soften the effect
A
B
C
D
of the recoil on your shoulder. Whatever its form, its rearmost surface is the ‘butt’, and the upper end of this surface (when the gun is mounted) is called the ‘heel’. The butt is usually but not always slightly concave, and its midway point is where the ‘length-of-pull’ (LOP) measurement is taken (from there to the trigger’s front surface at the centre of its curve). Finally, the sharper-pointed lower end of the butt is called the ‘toe’. The toe should be slightly “off-set”, that is, the very last brief length of wood leading to the toe should be bent very slightly to one side, depending on whether it’s
A – Regular pistol-grip. B – Prince of Wales grip. C – Relaxed curve pistol-grip, not a POW. D – The dimensions mentioned in the article.
a left-hand or right-hand stock. This is because the ‘shoulder pocket’ or slight ‘dent’ that forms in your shoulder when you mount the gun is not vertical but angles outwards, down toward your armpit. Now: back to the pistol-grip. We’ll start with its diameter (A), which is important as it should ensure that your hand has a comfortable and secure purchase. Actually, it would be better to use its circumference, as most grips are slightly oval in cross-section, but as the oval is usually pretty standard in form, the crossways diameter will suffice.
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If the grip is too slender, the shooter It is generally accepted that the tends to grasp it too firmly or tightly, trigger-pull for a field gun should be resulting in tension which adversely between 3 and 3½lbs. Heavier than this affects swing. In extreme cases the can cause you to tug or yank on the trigpossible overlapping of thumb and ger, pulling your shots off to the side. middle finger around the grip is most Lighter triggers can become dangerous, undesirable. This is more likely to occur especially in the field where more diswith straight-hand English stocks which tractions occur than on the range. are generally slimmer than pistol-grips. Furthermore, the middle finger can If the pistol-grip is too thick, your crowd the rear of the trigger guard, fingers will not curl comfortably around causing considerable pain during recoil. the front of the grip to the other side, Should this occur, it can also indicate hence you will not have a secure hold. that the stock is too short for you – you This can lead to the stock jumping about under recoil. With your hand holding the grip normally, there should be a gap of at least two to three centimetres between your thumb and middle finger; they should not touch. Many pistol-grips now have a palm swell, also known as a Wundhammer swell; provided this slight bulge is not overdone, I believe it helps to locate the hand consistently in the correct position. Not all shooters are comfortable with it; Showing how fingers get compressed on a tight grip and some positively dislike it. how the second finger ends up too close to the trigger guard for comfort.
NEXT IS THE measurement from the front centre of the trigger blade to the underside of the front end of the grip (where it meets the metal). This is to ensure that your index finger is comfortably in contact with the trigger (B). Most shooters, myself included, use the first section (pad) of the index finger, some the first joint, and others the second or middle section (which is really not advisable). These variations can make a significant difference to your dimensional requirements for a pistol grip. If this distance is too long, only the very tip of your index finger with reach the trigger (which is unsatisfactory) or you will find yourself sliding your hand further forward or further around the grip in order to get your forefinger properly on the trigger, which is also not a good idea. Conversely, if this distance is too short, the trigger finger will extend too far forward and the wrong section of finger will make contact with the trigger, increasing the perceived pressure required to release it.
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need more length of pull (LOP), which can be remedied by a thicker butt-plate or recoil pad, or a spacer. A temporary fix is to cover the rear of the trigger guard with tape or a small section of rubber tubing. Moulded, streamlined rubber trigger guard buffers are available in Britain, though I have not seen any on sale in SA. However, the common small hacksaw has such a rubber moulding which can be split open and made to fit the trigger guard. It is noticeable, especially on sporting guns, that the curve of the grip is tight, forming almost a right-angle to the line of sight. Crowding the fingers together is undesirable and will lead to hand fatigue. While the straighthand stock is elegant and racy, its use should be confined to double-trigger guns where the trigger hand has to move quickly from front to back trigger. A more relaxed pistol-grip is a
sensible compromise and I do prefer the ‘semi- pistol-grip’ with a rounded end, as distinct from the more sharply truncated designs. The rounded semipistol-grip is often wrongly called the Prince of Wales (POW) style. The true POW is a straight cut-off, usually finished with a flat and often skeletonised grip-cap, and most importantly, this comes straight out of the line of the stock to the toe and is parallel to the plane of the barrels – the sketch shows the differences. Then there’s the depth from the nose of the comb to the front edge of the bottom of the pistol-grip (C) which ensures that your palm is catered for. Shooters with big hands and stubby fingers may have problems with this. LASTLY, THERE IS the distance from the nose of the comb to the rear of breech face (D); this ensures that your thumb can comfortably wrap over the grip just in front of the comb nose. If the gap between breech-face and comb is too short, the trigger finger will extend too far into the trigger guard and also cause your nose to come into painful collision with your thumb. If this space it is too long, you may have trouble reaching the trigger with your index finger. While not strictly to do with the pistol-grip, the gap between your cheekbone and the nose of the comb should be about three fingers’ width, certainly not less than two nor more than four. Too little and your thumb is likely to impinge painfully upon your nose as above. Too long and the stock’s LOP is definitely excessive for you and you will be stretching your neck forward and probably finding the heel of the stock snagging on your clothing or your armpit as you try to mount the gun. In this case, have a gunsmith cut it down to size (always keep the offcut). An overly thick pistol-grip can be fixed relatively easily, but if it is too slender, effecting a cosmetically pleasing repair is not easy. Should your hand extend below the bottom of the pistol-grip, fitting a grip-cap can cure the problem.
Buffalo, Mines and a Lucky Python by MICHIEL THOOLEN
A snake heralds hunting success, as long as we didn’t stumble into that old minefield
Photo by Daryl Balfour Wildphotossafaris.com
Signage warning us of deadly minefields from the Rhodesian Bush War.
D
ubie, my good friend of many years, was my hunting companion on a seven-day buffalo hunt in the Malipati area of Zimbabwe in September 2015. There was a special offer on buffalo and we were both after some decent trophy bulls. The 300 000-hectare hunting concession was in the south-east of Zimbabwe, with the Kruger National Park in the south, Mozambique in the east and Gonarezhou National Park on the northern boundary of our hunting concession, with not a fence in sight. The Zimbabwe-Mozambique boundary is not clearly marked and, to avoid any confrontation, we were urged to not get too close as there could have been some over-zealous Mozambican border officials walking around with automatic rifles and wanting to lay down the law their way. I had my tried and trusted Winchester Model 70 Safari Express in .375 H&H, which had been restocked and custom-fitted by my good friend, Hennie Mulder, of Krugersdorp. I was planning on using 300gr Barnes X and 286g PMP solid ammo, a combination that had served me well in the past. We teamed up with PH George Hallamore, whom I had met previously. The next morning, after sighting-in the rifles, we did a general recce of the area, which he had last hunted some years before. He had previously had success in a narrow strip that extends up from the Nuanetsi River, along the Mozambique border, until it reaches a railway line that goes from Rutenga in Zimbabwe to Malverina in Mozambique at the Sange border post.
The dirt tracks meandered from south to north, between the Gonarezhou National Park and the hunting area, with an old Rhodesian Bush War minefield extending up the middle which was being cleared. Each day we drove past the army unit responsible for the thankless task, and I quietly wondered to myself how long this was going to take and how many casualties there’d be. The first afternoon we cleared the tracks of overgrown vegetation as it seemed they had not been used for at least a year. We dragged a small tree behind the Land Cruiser to sweep away old spoor − any spoor found the next day could only be from the night before and, therefore, fresh enough to follow. We were up early the next morning, looking forward to finding fresh spoor on the newly swept tracks. At about 5.45am, we saw the first signs of buffalo moving out of the Gonarezhou into the hunting area, and we went on a bit until we could confirm that they had not yet crossed back. Leaving the vehicle in the care of two hangers-on, we followed on foot. There had been big rains a few days prior to our arrival, so the ground was soft, making tracking easy. After a few kilometres, we reached an open dry vlei where we could clearly see that five buffalo bulls had moved off in different directions. We followed a lone bull moving in an easterly direction, hoping he would not cross into Mozambique but would lie up somewhere ahead to chew the cud. After about two hours, the game guard with us said we should stop and turn back, as he was worried we were too close to the border. BACK AT THE vlei, we decided to follow what looked like a group of four bulls heading back towards the reserve. In an open patch of grassland, we spotted a small python digesting prey; it curled up and hissed at us while I managed to take some photos. We moved on. I recalled reading somewhere that in some African customs a snake seen during a hunt would result in good luck. As we approached the track where we had left the vehicle, George stopped to admonish the trackers about buffalo having crossed back without us having seen them, when some bulls sprang up on our left, not 30 metres from us. The only one that I could see clearly looked to me like a huge bull and he was facing me head-on, in the open with no obstructions in the way. George just put up the shooting sticks and said, “Shoot him.” Within seconds I had him in my sights; with my scope’s magnification cranked down to 1.5 I could clearly see him. A second hurried instruction from George was interrupted by my shot. At the shot I could see him hunch up and he turned to run behind some bushes. I attempted a quick second shot but pulled the trigger before my rifle was properly aligned and I ended up shooting over him. The other bulls, which I never really saw, took off toward the natonal park. After a few seconds George asked how I had felt about the shot and I confirmed that as far as I could see it was perfect. The bull’s reaction also indicated a solid shot in the
A small python digesting its recent meal.
Recent rains left us with a very muddy track into the hunting concession.
My PH, George Hallamore.
Our vehicle under a baobab tree.
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ABOVE: Boots and bullets from our trip. LEFT: PH George Hallamore (right), and author (left) with his buffalo bull.
boiler room. A quick discussion folnever heard before. I was relieved that lowed and we agreed to follow up it was all over as I was out of ammo. immediately, instead of waiting the First and foremost the animal was customary 10 minutes, as our concern dead and no longer suffering; nobody was that the bull could move into the was injured and we’d avoided the mineminefield between us and the reserve field. George and I shook hands. ”Heck that was only about 300 meters away. bud,” he said, “This was like a contact Unwounded animals tend to keep to situation!” This broke the tension and game trails that meander through the there was much rejoicing with the bush, but wounded animals filled with entire crew. adrenalin tend to run in a straight line, knocking over bushes and small trees I WA S L E F T a l o n e w i t h m y b u l l that may be in the way − obviously we when the crew moved off to cut a didn’t want to follow him into in the track through the bush to allow the minefield. vehicle in to collect the buffalo. I had The next five minutes were the an emotional moment, especially most exciting of my life, following the after my adrenalin rush had subspoor of a heavily wounded buffalo with sided; the death bellow reverberated the danger of being charged at close in my ears. It sounded like the most quarters in thick bush. After about 100 mournful sad sound I had ever heard meters I spotted him and managed to − almost as if he was calling out to his get a solid shot into his shoulder before departed companions. he took off again in a southerly direction, thankfully away from the minefield. I managed to get another round into his chest area, followed by a shot from George with his .416 Rigby. Eventually, the bull was down. All in all, it took 10 rounds, of which six were solid hits, with the last two insurance shots from about 10 meters, plus one or two shots from George. Then followed the bull’s death bellow, something I had Loading my buffalo onto a vehicle.
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And then conflicting emotions started, first incredible sadness at the passing of this great beast who had survived lions and man-made snares, to eventually die at the hands of this city slicker who thought he knew a lot. What was I doing here? Who was I to take the life of this magnificent animal? Then, reflecting on my accomplishment, I realised we had set out to hunt a bull on buffalo terms, done it fairly and ethically on foot, and we’d finished what we had started. And although I expended a lot of ammo, I actually think the first shot would have been enough if we had waited the traditional 10 minutes before following up, but the minefield threat added to the frenetic finish. In those seven days with George, we chatted about many things as we became friends. You have to admire these guys, hunting up to 180 days in good years, traversing the country side in search of big game, and so often facing great danger. My good friend Dubie had no luck on this trip − he never got his buffalo, even after trying right up until the last morning. He went out each day at about 4am, travelling to all corners of the concession. He walked his entire hunting crew off its feet, and I don’t think that lot will forget the tough ‘boertjie’ from Johannesburg.
`Wessel Rykaards´ Hunting Pair by MC HEUNIS
As in 1880, Boers hunt with the best of British
T
he baboon, the monkey and the pig… this might sound like the start of a children’s story, but it’s actually a South African hunting story of an historical nature involving the famous British gun-making firm of Westley Richards. Westley Richards was founded in Birmingham in 1812 by 22-year-old
William Westley Richards who aspired “to be the maker of as good a gun as can be made” – this remains the company’s motto to this day. In 1815 he also opened a gun shop in New Bond Street, London. William soon proved himself an exceptional innovator and registered a number of gun-related patents such as a waterproof primer for percussion guns, the first flip-up sight,
and his renowned capping breechloader rifle. These he marketed in Britain and abroad. In 1865 his son, Westley Richards, took over the company, proving to be as innovative and talented as his father. Young Westley’s many designs included the falling block rifle action and the solid drawn metallic cartridge case. In 1871 John Deeley (inventor of the
The Wessel Rykaards hunting pair: Aapstert (monkey tail) below, Bobbejaanbout (baboon thigh) above. Photo by Gert Odendaal.
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ABOVE: A Boer explaining the new-fangled breech mechanism of the monkey tail to a staunch Voortrekker traditionalist. Photo by Gert Odendaal. LEFT: My young sow with the monkey tail and the paper cartridge it fires. Photo by Max van Vuuren.
revolutionary Anson & Deeley boxlock hammerless action) took over the commercial side of the business, expanding it into South Africa and India, ensuring long term global success for the company. In South Africa the firm quickly became famous for its high quality products, in particular the capping breech-loader, dubbed the “monkey tail” due to the perceived resemblance of its breech-opening top-lever to a monkey’s tail. Westley Richards exported some 21 000 of these rifles to SA, which proved themselves during the Transvaal War of 1881, many remaining in service in the Boer republics as late as 1896. The Boers became firm believers in what many called “Wessel Rykaards” rifles, and the Transvaal government continued to import Westley Richards made Martini-Henry rifles until 1899. Enough history! In May 2017 we had our annual black powder re-enactment of an 1880 hunt in the Waterberg bushveld near Thabazimbi. During this week the participants recreate a typical Boer camp, and hunt as they would have in the winter of 1880. This means firearms, clothing, accommodation, supplies, hunting techniques and meat processing must resemble, as closely as possible, those of that era. The individuals involved all have extensive knowledge of local history, black powder firearms, traditional hunting, pioneering and field crafts, plus a general love for the olden ways. All hunting is done on foot and game carcasses are carried back to the camp. The firearms used include flintlock and caplock muzzle-loaders, my Westley Richards monkey tail, a Snider, a couple of Martini-Henry rifles, some Cape Guns, a Winchester repeater and even a beautifully preserved Soper. Such a
varied collection is typical of those among Boers of that time, each of whom supplied his own rifle according to his personal preference or means. The first couple of days were spent stalking through the bush, alone or in pairs. The abundant rains of the past summer had transformed the red earth patches we’d known in previous winters, into lush grasslands with an abundance of thorny shrubs and trees. In places we had to make our way through dense grass taller than a man, while other spots were so densely overgrown we had to take wide detours. This growth made stalking rather challenging, as silent movement was almost impossible. NEVERTHELESS, WE HAD some memorable hunting experiences. On the first day I hunted with my old stalking buddy Max van Vuuren, and we managed to manoeuvre ourselves in between two bellowing impala rams, one with ewes, the other a lone challenger. When they approached each other to do battle, we quickly got down. Sitting back to back, each facing in the direction of an approaching ram, we waited, and within a few seconds Max was able to take a clear frontal shot at the challenger with his military Martini. The ram, with one horn broken from a previous fight, ran a few paces before expiring. During another stalk elsewhere on the farm, we heard the terrified squeals of a pig not far off. Knowing that at least three different sets of leopard tracks had been identified during that week, we concluded that a leopard had taken a warthog. We froze as the bush suddenly came alive with animals trying to get away from the danger. An impala herd bolted away to our left and the kudu we were looking for barked about 100 paces
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The shooting stick nature provided in the perfect position. Photo by Max van Vuuren.
ahead and ran off. Suddenly, about 30 paces ahead of us, a bush started shaking, and a white mane emerged and moved toward us under cover of some grassy patches. We could scarcely believe our eyes when we saw a bushpig – normally nocturnal and highly elusive – heading towards us in broad daylight. As I was in front, I took aim at the spot where the pig would clear the grassy cover about 15 metres ahead. Just then Max closed his Martini’s action in case a follow-up shot was needed. The soft, metallic click was enough to make the wily pig spin around and disappear in a flash – a close encounter of the bushveld kind. ON SIGHTING-IN DAY, before the hunt commenced, I had admired my friend Herman Nel’s Westley Richards 16-bore flintlock rifle. This beautiful piece, with its full-length stock and sleek English lines, had a rifled barrel with a slow twist. At 55 metres, Herman had proved that the classy old lady, firing a patched ball, still had a powerful punch. To my great pleasure, he let me fire this grand old dame and I managed to place the ball within the inner circle of the target with my first shot. The lock-time was surprisingly brief, and throughout this exercise and the entire week of hunting, this nigh
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200-year-old rifle never misfired – a testimony to Westley Richards’ quality. Consequently, on day three, I suggested to Herman that the two Wessel Rykaard rifles should hunt together, as they represented two stalwarts of Boer firearms history. His flintlock represented the Voortrekkers, the old guard who stuck to their bobbejaanbout guns (Dutch/Afrikaans for baboon thigh)
Bushveld carrying stakes. Photo by Gert Odendaal.
for many decades, while my aapstert (monkey tail) represented the next generation of Boers of the 1880-1881 war, who stayed abreast of the latest developments in Europe. This had all the makings of an historical day. We rose early and after a good dose of Boeretroos left camp on foot, heading into the rising sun. We crossed the Sandspruit and kept east as far as possible, following the riverine course to conceal our movement until we reached the end of a disused cattle camp, thus ensuring the sun was behind us when we started hunting. Noting the wind direction, we hunted in a north-westerly direction. An hour or two of slow meticulous movement followed, during which time we saw some impala, but none presented a shot. As we got to the end of the camp we saw a warthog slipping beneath the fence, apparently unaware of our presence. We therefore headed north to the nearest cattle gate so as to cross into the next camp as quietly as possible. From there we resumed our stalk in a westerly direction. The pig’s spoor disappeared into thick grass, so we abandoned it to go after some impala we could hear further on. As this area was very densely
overgrown, we slowly made It turned out to be a sow with our way down a dusty farm three very young piglets, so I track and later some game decided not to shoot, but to trails where the sea of grass see how close I could get over had been coursed by countopen ground before they saw less hooves. me. I walked upright slowly Some distance further towards the group, with the on we stopped to listen slight breeze on my face. I and take in the surroundhad covered about 10 paces ings. While standing there when another younger sow, quietly watching, Herman possibly from a previous litasked, “Do you smell a ter, appeared on the scene. I pig?” I sniffed the air and decided to take a shot at her lo and behold I could smell should the opportunity arise. the hog. I looked around Between us was a single dead and soon saw a red brown tree forming an ideal rifle rest. hump protruding from a I gripped a cleft on its stem grassy patch to our right. Herman with his Westley Richards flintlock and the old sow it took. with my supporting hand to Photo by Gert Odendaal. I pointed it out to Herman, form a cushion for the barrel who initially thought it was and waited. The young sow an anthill, but then the soon presented herself; I anthill made a slight movement. We began our stalk and as aimed and fired a textbook shot on the right shoulder. The we drew nearer we observed that she was feeding with her hog went down on the spot and died within a few seconds backside towards us. We crept closer until a very dense patch due to the massive loss of lung blood pouring from the monof grass rendered it impossible to proceed without making too key tail’s large exit wound. much noise. I told Herman to get ready to make the shot as soon as she turned. Standing at the ready, we soon realised she had no intention of turning, as she was merrily digging and eating away. To attract her attention I started whistling softly and grunting to make her turn to listen. However, Miss Piggy merely turned and lifted her head, keeping her derrière toward us. I nodded to Herman and he took the shot. The ball penetrated the pig’s back just in front of the neck and she dropped in her tracks raising a cloud of red dust. When eviscerating this old sow, we found a bad abscess in her anus, which would probably have caused her prolonged suffering and a painful death had we not encountered her. I made incisions in the front and back legs through which I pushed two stakes for carrying the carcass, and we tied a riempie around the abdomen to keep dirt out of the stomach cavity. We hooked a tusk over the forward stake to prevent the head from swinging as we walked, which makes carrying the carcass a bit easier. Back at camp we carefully dissected the head to find the 16-bore lead ball which had made a large channel through the back and into the skull, shattering the bones around the brain and the top part of the jaw, before embedding itself in the sinus cavities behind the eyes. No wonder death had been instantaneous. THE NEXT DAY it was the monkey tail’s turn. We hunted an area quite different from the previous, being a large open sandy patch beneath a forest of camelthorn trees. Stalking was rather difficult due to the lack of shrubs and grass, but we managed to get within 50m of a sounder of pigs.
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 33
Test Report
by PHILLIP HAYES
ASP Self Defence Handgun Bullets
The packaging of the ASP monolithic defence bullets is neat and the containers can be re-used.
W
hen your life depends on a bullet’s ability to stop a threat decisively, only the best w i l l d o . A d va n c e d Shooting Products (ASP), a Gautengbased bullet manufacturer, produces a range of bullets in most calibres to fit this bill. I received two types of 9mm bullets for testing, the Single Metal Expanding-Copper (SME-C) and the Single Metal Jagged Hollow Point-Copper (SMJHP-C). Both are ‘monolithic’, and the SME-C has in its centre an aluminium ball between its eight petals; the ball aids expansion when the bullet is fired through barriers, such as the windscreen of a car. In contrast, the SMJHP-C has just six petals, the tips of which are sharp and not rounded as those of most other jacketed hollow points tend to be. I was expecting feeding problems here. Both bullet diameters are .354 inches; the SME-C’s length is 17.64mm while the SMJHP-C’s is 19.06mm. Both bullets are turned so that where the ogive and shank meet, the diameter of the shank is undersized for the first few millimetres. The rest
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of the shank measures .354. Thus while the cartridge overall length (COL) may be slightly longer than that of other 9mmP rounds, these chamber without the bullets touching the lands as the undersized section enters the bore. I started by loading PMP cases with 4.2gr MP200 for a COL of 27mm (determined by my magazine length, not the crimping grooves). However, when seating the bullets I found that the PMP case walls bulged slightly. I then tried Hornady cases which have slightly thinner walls and this solved the problem. The primers were Sellier & Bellot. I fired the two bullet types over a chronograph: the SME-C clocked 1 092fps and the SMJHP-C averaged 1 162fps. The higher velocity of the latter may be the result of seating
The ASP bullets in 9mmP.
these bullets slightly deeper, though in my experience, small variations in seating depths don’t normally alter velocities by much, if at all. Both loads were comfortable to shoot, showed no signs of excessive pressure and fast follow-up shots were possible. Group sizes averaged 74mm at 10m – the same as my Frontier 124gr reloads, and recoil was also similar. By comparison, Winchester Defender +P ammunition had a distinct bite. However, these bullets are not about group size, they’re about terminal performance. To test this I used 10% ballistic gelatine marketed by ASP as a package: container, gelatine, preservative and instructions. I followed the instructions and ended up with blocks of gel roughly 15.6kg in weight, 37.5cm long, 24.5cm wide and 16.5cm high. ASP says its gel’s consistency is similar to that used by America’s FBI. I then placed four layers of denim in front of the gel, and fired the two ASP bullets as well as Peregrine’s 100gr monolithic (see our test report in Magnum, November 2016), the 124gr Winchester Defender +P and a 135gr Hornady Critical Duty (Magnum, August 2017) into the gelatine to compare results.
The bullets tested in gelatine. From left a SMJHP-C (bone and gel), 90gr Peregrine SD bullet, SME-C that lost some of its petals, the SMJHP-C, Hornady Critical Duty and Winchester Defender.
The SMJHP-C opened to 23.59mm after penetrating the four layers of denim and the first 1¹/5 inches of gel; it went on to stop after a total penetration of 10.5 inches. The six petals opened perfectly and the bullet retained 100% of its original weight. The SME-C opened to maximum diameter (25.42mm) after penetrating only 1¼ inches of gel, shedding five of its eight petals over the next eight inches, and stopped after penetrating 14.7 inches of gel. Retained weight was 110gr. By comparison, a 100gr Peregrine bullet opened perfectly and penetrated 9.5 inches. The Winchester Defender penetrated 14.7 inches, and the Critical Duty went straight through the gelatine block. The SMJHP-C’s performance was impressive, creating a permanent wound channel of just over 2 inches at its widest in the gel. The SME-C’s wound channel measured 1½ inches. Clearly, the SME-C penetrated deeper because it lost some petals. However, these petals formed secondary wound channels,
which would cause more bleeding. The surprise with both ASP bullets is the muzzle velocity, which is achieved with very modest recoil. The 115gr SMJHP-C generated muzzle energy of 345ft-lb, and the SME-C generated 305ft-lb – adequate for a daily carry load. AS A TORTURE test, I fired an SMJHP-C bullet through thick bone (12mm) and meat (6mm) into the gel. The boned deformed some of the petals, two opening only slightly, two opened to about 40% and two to about 80%. It was clear that the bullet opened up while penetrating the bone, and went on to penetrate almost the entire length of the block of gel while cutting a wide wound channel through the first third of the block. Weight retention was 100%. These bullets performed to the manufacturer’s claims and should be an excellent choice for home defence. My initial doubt about The newer version of the ASP bullets (right) has a slight boat tail to make seating easier.
possible feeding problems with the SMJHP-C was unfounded, as both bullets performed without a hitch, and fed every time, despite my deliberately trying to cause a jam by cycling them through my pistols literally hundreds of times. The SME-C would probably be my choice if car windows or more solid barriers were to be encountered; for defence against attack in my home I’d opt for the SMJHP-C – though both performed more than well enough to qualify as excellent carry loads. A friend who joined me for the test shoot, commented that the ASP bullets did exactly what he expected from a premium self-defence bullet, with the added benefit of extremely quick follow-up shots being possible. Both are premium bullets with excellent threat-stopping ability, and naturally, are priced accordingly: the SME-C bullets sell for R685 per pack of 20, and the SMJHP-C for R595 per 20. ASP is ready to market factory-loaded ammunition in both versions. They make similar bullets in 380ACP/9mmK, .38 special, .357 Mag, .357Sig, .40S&W, .44mag, .45ACP, and .50 Cal. For more information contact Dawid van Reenen on 082-303-6790.
The broken petals of the SME-C in the gelatine block.
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ictrix Rifles by PHILLIP HAYES
The most accurate factory-made rifles?
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I
magine buying a factory rifle from a retailer, taking it to the range, selecting a load that might work and hand-loading it on the spot, then, in a howling wind, shooting two bullets within three inches of each other at one kilometre. Well, it now seems possible with Victrix’s brand new Tormentum rifle in .375 CheyTac – since this is pretty much what I did on a 1 000m range near Meyerton. Rifle manufacturer Victrix, having recently become part of the Beretta Group, introduced their high-end rifles at IWA in Germany last year. The range comprises a tactical series (Minerva), a competition series (Victoria) and hunting rifles (Lunae). The first Victrix rifles recently landed in South Africa. I test-fired two from their tactical range: the flagship Tormentum in .375 CheyTac (also
Victrix Gladius.
The .375 CheyTac (middle) based on a .505 Gibbs case, flanked by 6.5x47 cartridges.
Victrix’s flagship Tormentum in .375 CheyTac.
available in .408 CheyTac) and the Gladius in 6.5x47 Lapua. Victrix also offers off-the-shelf rifles for competing at the highest level of F-Class. The maker chose Benchmark as its exclusive barrel supplier. The rest is done in-house. The action is similar in design to a Remington 700, and the chassis can be used on most stocks made for the Remington 700. The bolthead has three locking lugs with a 60˚ lift and 105°/105°/150° lug-geom e t r y, w h i c h p r o v i d e s greater resistance
to flexing than the more traditional 120°/120°/120° ‘cloverleaf’ geometry. This layout also aids the picking-up and feeding of rounds from a magazine when used in a tactical configuration. Victrix has developed its own trigger, a dedicated three-lever tactical design, adjustable over an 8–21 ounce range (250–600g) for the tactical rifles, and a four-lever target trigger with an adjustment range of 1–2.5 ounces (30–70g). The action and bolt are machined from 17.4PH stainless steel and then hardened (body 48
Rockwell, bolt 45 Rockwell), and Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) coated with chromium nitride and nobium – for wear-resistance and smooth operation. I was told that the PVD coating makes the need for oil or grease obsolete; we tested the rifles without any oil on them and the actions were extremely smooth. Tenon thread is M27x1.5 and, of course, tolerances are ‘benchrest’ standard. Picatinny rails are screwed and pinned to the action. The Tormentum’s action is scaled and beefed up considerably to accommodate the more powerful cartridges and the bolt head has the normal 120/120/120 degree locking lugs.
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Absolute.
Sport.
Target.
Carbon Performance.
Lunae.
Balistix Bullets, a South African Company, developed a 375gr bullet specifically for the CheyTac which was used in Peterson Cartridge (American match-grade brass manufacturer) cases. But first, something about these bullets: according to Balistix, it first considers the rifle twist, and then develops the bullet to suit the twist. The bullets, all monolithics, are made out of 99.5% copper in a target and hunting design that Balistix claims should shoot to the same point of impact. A Hexagonal Boron Nitrate (HBN) dry lubricant is used on its bullets, said to lessen friction and fouling, with a rebated boat-tail on each one. We’ll get back to the bullets later. The 375gr bullet has a BC of .91 – no, that’s not a typo – and is launched from the Tormentum at 2 930fps. This is made possible by using the Peterson case (based on a .505 Gibbs), Federal 215 primer and
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123gr Vihtavuori N570 powder. The reloading was done on the range with ultra-precision Exact Shooting, Exact Sizing dies, also custom-made in South Africa. This was the first time I’d seen these dies: a single precision die that perfectly resizes your brass to conform to your chamber. The first stage conforms the case’s body and shoulders perfectly to the chamber and the second stage just resizes the case neck, resulting in perfect concentricity. The beauty of the Exact Sizing Die is that it does not oversize your brass which increases accuracy and brass life, and the range results were spectacular. See more at www.exactshooting.com. THE AVERAGE VELOCITY on the LabRadar doppler radar chronograph was 2 930fps. This translates to muzzle energy of 7 065ft-lb. At 2 000 yards, the .375 CheyTac bullet is travelling at 1
416fps and still has 1 670ft-lbs energy, the same as an AK47’s bullet at the muzzle − impressive to say the least! At the range, a gusty 12mph crosswind prevailed from left to right throughout most of the shooting session. To make things more difficult, the 1 000m target was on an incline where the wind was constantly shifting, creating intermittent updrafts in the shooting direction and with strong gusts to the right. We had no choice but to carry on. After dry-firing the trigger three times, I fired the first shot at the 1 000m target, a red dot on a white steel plate. The idea was not to hit the red dot, but to see how small a grouping was possible. After three shots we drove the kilometre and found two shots 2.9 inches apart and the third 5 inches lower down. That’s three shots in less than 8 inches at 1 000m, with a rifle I have never shot before, and in dismal weather conditions with a load that was a thumb-suck. I was also very uncomfortable when shooting these first three shots as the bench setup (as always) was not suited to my oversized body. In addition, I had to cant my head at an acute angle to get a proper sight picture. To prove that this was not a fluke, another shooter used the same reloads in another rifle and put two shots 3 inches apart. I could not help wondering what this rifle, bullet and reloading die would be capable of under ideal circumstances, and with proper load development. Getting a 1MOA group at 1 000m means the shots should be in 11.44 inches, something the Tormentum could do all day without any problem − my first effort produced well under 1MOA, and things could only get better from there. Of course, the question now was, what could this rifle do at 2km? The Tormentum weighs 12.7kg without a scope, and the three-chamber detachable muzzle-brake helps to tame the recoil. I found that the rifle gave more of a rearward push than the recoil associated with big calibres and large-capacity cases – more like shooting a .308 or .30-06 than a .375.
Above: View from the shooting pit to the 1 000m target. Right: Two shots 2.9 inches apart at 1km.
I THEN SHOT the Gladius, the baby in the tactical range (the middle ground is filled by the Scorpio in calibres like the .338 Lapua). The 6.5x47 reloads consisted of Lapua cases, Balistix’s 115gr 6.5mm target bullets, CCI 400 primers, and 40.5gr of Somchem’s S355. No case preparation was done, and the bullet was seated .5mm from the lands, again using the Exact Sizing Die. With the lighter bullet and the strong unpredictable wind, we decided against long-range testing. I started by firing a couple of shots at a 100m target, and finished with three shots cutting one another, and the fourth some 2mm away right on the cross of the target. Dialling the scope for 375m, I fired several shots at a 100mm gong without a single miss. Two other shooters duplicated this with the same rifle and scope without changing any settings. THE INCLEMENT WEATHER forced us to abandon the shoot and we reconvened the following week to test the Gladius 6.5x47L at a 100m indoor range. The lighting was not good enough for precise groups but, after getting a feel for the trigger, I managed a three-shot group whose single hole measured 7.3mm edge-to-edge (0.8mm centre-to-centre). I then used the target bullets to shoot a group whose single hole
Three shots, 115gr Balistix hunting bullet.
Three shots, Balistix target bullet, 100m.
My best 100m group.
measured 10.8mm (4.3mm C-to-C) and the hunting bullet to shoot three shots into a hole measuring 9.8mm (3.3mm C-to-C). The hunting and target bullets’ groups were just over .5 inches from the point of aim, which would make no practical difference in the hunting field. One of the Balistix Team Shooter’s then fired a 4.5mm three shot group, same rifle, scope and reloads. It was crystal clear that this ‘small’ magazine-fed tactical rifle weighing 6.4kg with its 26-inch bull barrel, was extremely accurate. I was shooting in artificial light which strained my eyes, the target floating in and out of focus, and, again, the bench was made for normal sized people. With proper load development, this rifle should cut one hole in paper all day. And, of course, this is not a target rifle. I cannot wait to get my hands on a Victrix F-Class rifle made for absolute precision shooting. There’s really not much more I can say. The two rifles did the talking − just look at the photos of the targets. To say I was impressed with the Victrix rifles would be an understatement. All proved extremely accurate, indicating precise manufacturing procedures with almost no variance in tolerances. So impressed was I, in fact, that I immediately bought the Gladius in 6.5x47.
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 39
TORMENTUM Calibre (twist rate) Barrel length Barrel Action Magazine Magazine optional Trigger Muzzle Brake Action Rail Buttstock horiz. adj. Buttstock vert. adj. Monopod rail Folding Forend Top rail Side rails Bipod rail Carry handle Stock colour Colours 0ptional Hard case Weight Dimension min/max mm
.375 Cheytac (1:10) 30ꞌꞌ Single-cut in Aisi 416R lapped FLUTED Marte CT 3-lug action in Aisi 630 with detach. magaz. PVD-coated 5 rounds Polymer 7 rounds Double-stage - adjustable 3 chambers detachable 45 MOA 50mm 60mm Stand equip. w/ QD sling attach Evo Octagonal Elliptic 45 MOA Standard equipment full length Standard equipment w/ QD sling attach. Standard equipment Hard black anodised Tan (action, barrel, muzzle brake, cheek piece, magazine, screws and rails) and black Standard equipment 12.7kg 1230/1450
The bolt of the Tormentum (top) and Gladius. Insert: Note the three locking lugs.
GLADIUS Calibre (twist rate) Barrel length Barrel Action Magazine Magazine optional Trigger Muzzle Brake Action Rail Buttstock horiz adj. Buttstock vert adj. Monopod rail Top Rail Side rails Bipod rail Hard case Weight Dimension min/max mm
6.5x47 (1:8) 22ꞌꞌ- 26ꞌꞌ Single cut in Aisi 416R lapped Minerva short 3-lug action in Aisi 630 with detachable magazine and PVD-coated 5 rounds (compatible AI AICS system) Polymer 8 rounds - Metal 5 rounds - Metal 10 Rounds Double-stage - adjustable 3 chambers detachable 20 MOA 50mm 60mm Standard equipment w/ QD sling attach 20 MOA Standard equipment only on Oct. Ellipt fore-end Standard equipment w/ QD sling attach Standard equipment 6.4kg (22ꞌꞌ) – 6.7kg (26ꞌꞌ) 900/1 125 (22ꞌꞌ) – 1 000/1 225 (26ꞌꞌ)
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Exact Shooting’s locally produced precision die. Even the packaging is top notch.
This rifle felt right from the moment I first picked it up, and the finish is simply the best I have ever seen on a factory-made rifle, putting almost every custom rifle I have seen to shame. I could, perhaps, exchange the aluminium tactical stock for an after-market stock made for the Remington 700 to create a ‘traditional’ looking rifle. However, its out-of-the-box accuracy is superior to most custom target rifles I have seen in action. Victrix’s target rifles for both Open and FTR Classes feature stocks of wood, wood-laminate, aluminium and carbon-fibre. The design is minimalist, specifically for shooting a rested rifle, and the proof that the rifles work lies in the gold medal victory of their CEO, Giuseppe Valtorta, with his FTR rifle at the 2015 European F Class Championships. To be competitive at club, national or international level, one needs proper equipment. With Victrix it is possible to buy the equipment at a retailer and head straight to the competition. I shall thoroughly test the Victoria competition rifles at a later stage. The same goes for the Balistix bullets, and the Exact dies. Both are locally-produced, quality products and will feature in a future edition of Magnum. It is hard to believe that a bullet manufacturer can come up with a bullet that, without load development, shoots one hole groups in calibres as diverse as the 6.5 and .375. From what I have seen and experienced so far, I can highly recommend both. Quality like this comes at a price, but it is money well spent. The estimated retail prices including VAT are: Tormentum .375 CheyTac with detachable magazine: R180 000; 6.5x47 Gladius with detachable magazine: R108 000; 338 Lapua Scorpio with detachable magazine: R120 000; Victoria Carbon Performance single shot in .308 Match: R110 000; Victoria F-Class Target Rifle single shot .308 Match in grey, blue or red laminates: R100 000; Victoria Sport Series single shot .308 match: R90 000, and the Lunae Hunting at R85 000. Fo r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n c o n t a c t Ra p a l a V M C o n 011-794-6950.
N
umerous myths and legends recorded by hunters in Africa were perpetuated by writers and story-tellers who knew no better. Settlers also adopted certain African tribal beliefs. Many such tales persist to this day – some may be dismissed as nonsense; others are ‘understandable misunderstandings’, and one or two contain an element of truth. I have often read that an elephant unfailingly falls on its wounded side. A century of photographic evidence disproves this. Elephants shot through the heart or lungs may fall on either side. Brain-shots collapse the back legs first. John Coleman tells me that in his experience those felled with side brainshots usually, but not always, fall on their shot side. Frontal brain-shots usually collapse an elephant straight down onto his belly with his legs tucked under
Myths and Legends of the Dark Continent by GREGOR WOODS
How much truth lies in Africa’s hunting legends? him. He might then roll onto his side. Another fallacy commonly found in hunting literature is that the carcass of a hippo shot in the water will take some ten hours to resurface, bloated by stomach gases. It usually takes between one and three hours, depending on its stomach contents. Many southern African tribes believe that pythons call vocally. The late Brian Marsh once heard a “hooo” call coming from a koppie in Rhodesia and was told by his African guide that it was a python. The famous ivory hunter and
author, John ‘Pondoro’ Taylor wrote that pythons have a call similar to a rooster’s crow and “will bark or growl at you when disturbed”. However, it is quite impossible for pythons (or any snakes) to make such calls because they have no vocal cords. They have a narrow tube which runs from the lung, through the throat to the front of the lower jaw, where it ends as an orifice. This enables them to breathe while swallowing prey. The only sound snakes can make is a hiss or a puff by forcing air from the lung through this tube.
The author took this photo of grey louries in his Windhoek suburban garden, all crying “go-away” when neither hunter nor game were present.
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A c o m m on b e l i e f i s t h a t to see that it contained the parpythons kill and eat humans. tially digested body of an adult Snake experts assert that no African. Pythons abound in this such officially verified case is area, but it was the first known on record. With wildlife, I have case of an adult man being killed learned never to say “never” and swallowed by one.” This can – I keep an open mind. I can’t be dated pre-1974, apropos the imagine the python’s brain is Portuguese military patrol in programmed to stop it killing and Mozambique. Question is: does it eating any particular species of qualify as “officially verified”? appropriate size. I am reminded I have read of pythons attackof the dogma that healthy lions ing humans, but doubt their pur“never” prey on humans, and It’s a myth that shot elephants always fall on their wounded side. pose was to eat them. In all cases that only lions which are cripthe pythons were handled, injured pled or otherwise prevented from or provoked – I suspect they were catching their natural prey, turn manpythons are known to swallow antelope reacting to perceived threats. If pythons eater. This has been disproved countweighing as much as a man. have killed and eaten humans, the less times. (I’ve also read that lions I have on file an old newspaper incidence is statistically insignificant. It “never” eat carrion, only their own kills clipping of a Daily News Africa Service is safe to say that, if left alone, pythons – another fallacy). So I am reluctant report: “Lourenco Marques: A Portupose no threat to humans. to accept categorically that pythons guese military patrol found and killed a The greater honeyguide (Indicarefuse to kill and eat humans. I’ve seen seven-metre long python near Mueda in tor indicator) is a bird known to lead a photo of a python that swallowed a Cabo Delgado District. When the men humans to wild beehives (reputedly Brahman calf weighing about 34kg. Big cut open the snake, they were horrified in the hope of receiving a share of the
‘S CHOICE
‘S CHOICE
M
agnum regularly tests products to find quality and good value worth sharing with our readers. If it meets the mark, then the product gets a ‘thumbs up’ with the ‘Magnum Choice’ seal. When you see an item in-store with the special sticker you’ll know that its been chosen by the Magnum team. Below is a short list of the first selection − there’s a lot more to come. So look out for the sticker and ask for the products by name.
‘S CHOICE
‘S CHOIC
1
BUSHILL BINO AND CAMERA HARNESS RRP R210 For a retailer near you phone 021-945-2160 Outdoor comfort −elastic shoulder harness makes carrying binos or cameras a breeze.
3 GUNSMITHY’S 3 SPRAY-CLEAN STEPS RRP R376.00 For more info: www.bushill.co.za A one-stop solution for perfect firearm care. Three easy aersol steps: 1) Carbon Cleaner, 2) All-Purpose Cleaner and Copper Remover, and 3) All-purpose oil. They cost more if bought individually. Pack includes cleaning patches.
2
YOUNGS “303” RRP R178 Learn more at www.bushill.co.za A combo of nitro cleaner and rust preventer, from Parker-Hale. It’s the great stuff we all grew up with − it might not smell the same anymore, but it still works the same old way!
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 43
honey). Many tribes believe it also leads humans to snakes. A variation asserts that if you fail to share with the bird some of the honeycomb, it will follow you, and subsequently lead you to a snake. In Magnum June 2017, John Coleman told of a honeyguide which led him to a large bush-covered termite mound where he encountered a big black mamba face-to-face. He did not linger to determine the existence of any beehive which may have rendered the snake’s presence a coincidence, nor did he mention any prior failure on his part to leave a share of pillaged honeycomb for the bird. That honeyguides lead humans to honey is undisputed, though I have my doubts about their wanting a feast of honey. All the various honeyguides are insect eaters, so, more likely, they seek the bee larvae to be found within the honeycomb compartments. And humans discard larvae-filled honeycomb. Humans also smoke the bees out, so a raided hive affords the honeyguide temporary safe access to exposed larvae. However, the snake aspect of this legend is very persistent and widespread in Africa, and if you’ve studied mythology, you’ll know this usually indicates an element of truth. Now, I cannot bring myself to believe that a bird with a brain the size of a pea is capable of vengeance, so I am dismissive of the ‘reneged on the honey deal’ aspect. Why then lead a man to a snake? WELL, THERE IS another African legend that says honeyguides also guide honey badgers (Mellivora capensis, Afrikaans: ratel) to beehives. Is this myth or truth? Let’s consider the facts: there is no doubting the honey badger’s predilection for honeycomb (that’s how he got his name). A recent TV documentary showed the problems local beekeepers have with honey badgers raiding their prefab beehives. The apiarists elevate each beehive some two metres above the ground on a very smooth metal pole which is greased to prevent the badgers climbing it. Again,
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This is a young baobab tree. Few people recognise them, hence some believe the legend that baobabs are created fully grown.
however, I am not sure it’s honey that the badgers seek. Referring to studies of badgers’ stomach contents, Smithers’ Mammals of Southern Africa specifically mentions bee larvae as constituting a regular part of their diet. But whether honey or larvae, if a honeyguide will lead a human to a beehive in anticipation of the spoils, is it not conceivable it would do the same for an animal with a proven predilection for honeycomb? According to Smithers, snakes make up 18% of the honey badger’s regular diet – puff-adders and other species; he is even known to attack black mambas. He is largely impervious to snake bites and bee-stings – his skin is so thick and tough, and his coat It is widely believed that the honeyguide has a symbiotic relationship with honey badgers.
is so dense, that snakes’ fangs can’t penetrate it. The old Dutch/Afrikaans saying “so taai soos ’n ratel” (as tough as a honey badger) is no exaggeration. Now, it becomes interesting to speculate: if a bird has an instinctive symbiotic relationship with both humans and badgers regarding beehives, might the same bird also lead a badger to another of its proven dietary delights – a snake? Well, what would be in it for the bird? At a guess, perhaps simply the instinctive nurturing of the symbiotic relationship – keeping the badger instinctively eager to follow the bird’s lead, to ensure future supplies of honeycomb. But – back to the legend – why then lead a human to a snake? Could it be that the bird just occasionally becomes confused? Or perhaps, aeons ago, Africans witnessed honeyguides leading badgers to snakes, and these two honeyguide stories simply became confused as they were passed down over centuries, as often happens in oral folklore. THE HYENA HAS long been the source of myths in Africa, and tribespeople attach all manner of bad omens to this animal. To some, its appearance in a village heralds imminent death. Much of this superstition is due to the female hyena’s very peculiar sex organs, which, as early as Aristotle (384BC – 322BC) had people believing the hyena is hermaphroditic – having both male and female sex organs. Some tribes believe it can change its gender at will, or at the will of the tribal ancestors’ spirits. The female has an extraordinarily large and highly erectile clitoris, similar in length and thickness to
the male’s penis, and her vaginal labia anything. Simply put, lengthy civilisaare fused to form what is very easily tion has dulled our senses. mistaken for a scrotum. This is one of However, an observant professional those ‘understandable misunderstandhunter who has long understudied ings’ which probably arose when hyenas such trackers partly recovers these with apparent male genitalia were seen senses – possibly in greater measure giving birth or suckling pups. than he realises. If he regularly follows The baobab tree is likewise shrouded up dangerous game, and experiences in legend, one being that all baobab enough ambushes and charges, his trees were created fully grown. When mind (perhaps subconsciously) records I laughed at this, a highly experienced, the barely perceptible sounds, sights elderly PH very tersely asked me, “Well, and smells that indicate the close have you ever seen a young baobab?” I presence of a dangerous animal prehad to answer no. What is more, no one paring to charge. The hunter may not else I asked that question had either. So be conscious of the faintest rustle from More mystery, myth and legend surround the the next time I hunted in baobab couna leopard’s twitching tail as it tenses hyena than any other African animal. Photo by try, I asked my tracker, and he led me Daryl Balfour Wildphotossafaris.com. for the spring, or the slight change in to the one illustrated here. When young, a lion’s breathing, or the otherwise they don’t look like baobabs. Just to rub imperceptible whiff of liquid dung on a it in, my wife bonsaied a baobab! tense, wounded buffalo waiting in the jesse. However, his I never did buy the ‘go-away bird’ (grey lourie) legend. subconscious reminds him that when he last sensed those Actually, its call sounds more like “khwaaah”. Flocks of grey things, danger lurked. Alerted now, he interprets this as louries regularly visited my garden in Windhoek, emitting his ‘sixth sense’, but it is really an acute extension of his this call all the time, with nary a hunter or animal in sight. existing senses. Certainly, they will call as you approach in the veld, which may alert whatever game is within earshot, but then so will many birds, including the ubiquitous hadeda. The story that the grey lourie follows hunters, persistently warning game of their approach, is contrary to my experience. I’ve had them call, fly ahead and settle, then repeat the procedure – but only because I was walking towards them; they soon headed off elsewhere. Their perceived role as self-appointed protector of game against hunters is fatuous. WHAT OF THE highly controversial ‘sixth sense’ that warns hunters of imminent danger? Many top professional hunters have claimed to have it. Extrasensory perception (ESP) suggests that the mind can receive signals without the use of any of the five known senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. However, ESP remains scientifically unprovable, and for that reason I don’t accept it, though I keep an open mind. However, let me be very clear: I do not disbelieve hunters who claim experience of this; I merely believe that what they experience is sensory rather than extrasensory. Let me explain. We all know that most animals have senses of smell and hearing many times more acute than our own, that vultures have eyesight vastly superior to our own, and that elephants communicate at astonishing distances by the sensitivity of the soles of their feet to ground vibrations (at close distances, snakes and other creatures can do the same). Those who’ve hunted with Bushmen and other top African trackers will admit that, to us, their observation and interpretation of sign seems nothing less than miraculous, and they can hear and smell the quarry before we perceive
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 45
Y
outh and inexperience sometimes get you into situations that hindsight reveals might best have been avoided. Then again, maybe not… Many years ago, I went on a hunting trip with a fellow university student who had grown up on a farm. He was a very keen and experienced bushbuck hunter, and was willing to teach me all he knew. We had each acquired a brand new rifle which we hoped to use on the hunt of our lives: he a beautiful Steyr Mannlicher full-stock carbine in 7x57, and I a Sako .30-06. Since my friend was the more experienced hunter, I entrusted him with all the arrangements for our five-day Zululand adventure – let’s put that one down to youthful naїvety. The plan was to spend the first week of our July holiday hunting bushbuck on his father’s cattle farm near Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal, before we left for Zululand. Everything went according to plan. After three days of really hard hunting, I finally had my chance at a trophy bushbuck. I vividly remember how we crawled slowly across a large rock to peek into the valley below, and saw the ram standing no more than
The Mkuze River in Zululand.
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A Disastrous Hunt? by JACO FOURIE
If anything can go wrong, it will… 75 paces from us. Half hidden by the dense shrubbery, he inched cautiously along while feeding. I was acutely aware that this was the big moment I had been hoping for. Still prone, I readied myself for the shot. Gradually, the bushbuck appeared from behind a shrub and as his head and shoulders came into view, I centred the crosshairs of my scope on his neck and slowly squeezed the trigger. At the shot, all four legs buckled and the ram rolled onto his side. Next we were off to Zululand. My friend wanted to hunt a trophy nyala, while I was simply hoping to gain some
further hunting experience in a different part of the country. Unfortunately the weather did not play along and we experienced some unusually wet conditions for that time of year. Heavy rains had fallen during the preceding few days, but we decided not to cancel our hunt, hoping that the weather would clear. My friend’s father was kind enough to lend us his two-wheel-drive Toyota Hilux pickup truck, and we left at four in the morning, in pitch darkness, to begin our three-hour drive from their farm to Zululand. During the drive, rainfall varied from light drizzle to heavy downpours, and as the dawn broke, we turned onto the dirt road leading to our keenly anticipated destination. The road was
strewn with scattered puddles, but we did not slow down as we wanted to get an early start. Just where the gravel road passed beneath an old railway bridge, we had to drive through a dip containing an inconspicuous puddle. My friend was driving; I was still half asleep when I heard an almighty crash and opened my eyes to Letter permits and photos of Zululand. see water coming over our bonnet. Simultaneously, I heard the sickening crack of the hot engine block as it buildings where we were greeted by filled with cold water. two neatly dressed game scouts. FortuOf course, with the wisdom of hindnately, due to his upbringing on a Natal sight, I knew the right course of action farm, my friend spoke fluent Zulu. We would have been to drive a bit slower introduced ourselves, only to find that and, on seeing the puddle, climb out of we were expected. What great luck! the vehicle and wade through the water to assess its depth. But there we were, more WHILE WAITING FOR the farm manthan 300km away from home, in a fullyager to arrive, we spotted a huge nyala laden pickup truck submerged in water in bull moving slowly into a reed bed on the middle of nowhere. This was before the bank of the nearby Mkuze River. My the era of cellphones, so we were good friend grabbed his rifle and set off with and solidly alone in our predicament. one of the game scouts to stalk the bull. We stripped down to our underpants After an hour they returned, and my and climbed out of the pickup – the friend told me that, although it was a water reached to just below our groins. huge bull, he was not sure if it would We took our clothes, rifles, ammunition qualify for Rowland Ward’s Records of and some valuables, and started walkBig Game, and besides, we just arrived ing along the dirt road in the hope of and had yet to receive our game perfinding help. After walking about two mits. With five days of hunting still kilometres we came to a house with outahead of us, he had decided to pass up
the opportunity. He reasoned that if the first animal we saw was such a huge nyala bull, there had to be plenty more like him roaming about. At about 10am, the farm manager arrived to welcome us. He soon pulled our Toyota pickup out of the water and towed it to the camp. Then he issued our game permits and left. We never saw him again. We were left without transport on a large farm, meaning any game we shot out in the bush we’d have to carry back to camp. We also discovered that the slaughtering facilities were very basic – there was no cold room in which to store our meat or trophies. I made a mental note to be very sure, when booking future hunts, to ask all the right questions, so that there would be no misunderstandings as to the available amenities. And also to select an established and respectable venue which comes recommended by someone I know and trust, who had recently hunted there. Instead my friend and I had quite literally waded into an unanticipated situation and now saw ourselves as stranded without any way to contact the outside world. Things could have become serious if one of us had been injured.
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 47
It was with huge relief, therebut I could not bring myself to shoot. fore, that we subsequently It occurred to me that, firstly, we would discovered a single phone booth – of all have to carry him back to camp several things – at the camp, with a telephone kilometres away, and secondly, we had that was functional. However, my friend no cold room facility available to us. could not muster the courage to phone So there I stood, presented with the his father and tell him of the unfortunate chance of a lifetime, but killing this anifate that had befallen his Toyota pickup. That afternoon, with dark rain clouds looming, we set out to explore the farm, but it was not long before the first raindrops started falling, drenching us and our new rifles. After a while, the rain stopped and we were treated to a delightful sight: the sun broke through the dark clouds and a magnificent rainbow appeared over the treetops. On our return to camp, I kicked off my wet boots and left them outside my room to dry. We had our dinner and some liquid refreshments Warthog on a carry pole. before retiring to bed. The next morning, when I tried to mal would simply have been a senseless put on my boots, I felt something cold waste of a life, a magnificent trophy and and soft occupying the front of the right about 100kg of meat. boot. I carefully withdrew my foot, We returned to camp for lunch and inverted the boot, and out fell a bulllater that afternoon decided to up our frog. I was relieved – at least it wasn’t chances by going our separate ways a snake or a scorpion. From that day with our respective game scouts, lookforth, I have never left my boots lying ing for impala and nyala. The only way around – I am always careful to place I could communicate with Enoch, the them on something well above the scout accompanying me, was through ground to keep out the local wildlife. sign language. One thing is certain: the quickest way to learn a language is to THE MORNING WAS cool and overcast. spend your days alone in the bush with Being our first outing on a strange farm, someone who speaks only that lanwe decided to stay together rather guage. By the end of the week I already than hunt separately. The veld was had a basic Zulu vocabulary enabling rain-soaked, so our boots and trousers me to have some elementary conversawere soon completely saturated. We tion with Enoch. had walked for about an hour without It took us two days of hunting seeing much game, when suddenly, before we successfully stalked an in a clearing ahead of us, a massive impala ewe. On the walk back to the kudu bull with horns for the record camp we came across a group of wartbook appeared. I slowly raised my rifle, hogs feeding, resulting in my second expecting the kudu to bolt, but he did kill of the day. We used a fencing pole not move; instead he simply stared in to carry both animals back to camp, our direction. I placed my crosshairs where we gutted and hung them in an squarely on his chest, an easy shot, open shed.
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We spent the next two days stalking impala rams, but they kept eluding us. On the third day we again stalked a ram but failed. Come late afternoon, I was ready to give up and started back to camp along the twisting middelmannetjie (centre ridge) track through the bush. As we rounded a bend in the road, we spotted the elusive ram standing 100 paces away. I rested my rifle on Enoch’s shoulder and dropped the impala with a perfect neck shot. WE CARRIED THE ram back to camp to be skinned. I checked the carcasses of the warthog and impala ewe I’d shot two days earlier and it was very clear that if I did not take urgent steps I would lose all my meat. I wracked my brain and remembered the refrigerator standing in the kitchen of the house we were occupying. I emptied it and stuffed as much of the meat as I could salvage into it, to the extent of having to put a heavy chair against the door to keep it shut. The remaining meat I gave to Enoch and his colleague. After four days, we headed for the phone booth. To say that my friend’s father was livid would be an understatement. I don’t know if it was his intention to punish us, but he arrived to pick us up with his Mercedes sedan, making it impossible to take our meat and trophies with us. I still recall the icy silence in that Mercedes as we drove back to Greytown with our belongings stacked on our laps. Two months passed before we received a bill through the mail, along with a formal apology from the farm manager for neglecting us. However to this day, this trip stands out in my mind as one of my more memorable hunting experiences. I guess if you learn several valuable lessons all during one hunt, and come away better prepared for future trips, such a hunt cannot be deemed unsuccessful.
Test Report
F
irst generation night vision devices (NVDs) were developed during World War II. The German Army used military NVDs as early as 1939. The technology was then used in Korea, and extensively deployed during the Vietnam War; today it’s a crucial part of any competent modern military. Soon, NVDs were developed for civilian applications such as game-viewing, night-culling and home-defence. In recent years, night vision technology has advanced in leaps and bounds and, as with most electronic devices, prices have dropped – today, numerous affordable NVDs are available commercially. Suburban Guns of Cape Town imports NVD products from NiteSite, a UK-based company, for distribution to retailers country-wide. Magnum recently tested the Spotter Xtreme, which is essentially a combination of spotting scope and camera that can be used at night with total discreteness. This self-contained, hand-held infrared device is shaped a bit like an electric drill that’s had its front section cut off and two large lenses inserted into the body from the front – a large semi-squared one (the LED illuminator) above and a smaller telephoto camera lens below. On the back of the ‘drill’ body is a 3.5” LCD screen, much like that of a digital camera or cell-phone. You grasp the pistol-grip and aim the device at the subject, which appears on the screen. The outer casing is rugged polymer with a hardened rubber wraparound guard on the front to protect the LED illuminator and lens. Its apparent bulkiness is deceptive – it weighs only 1.3kg. The infrared illuminator is extremely bright (though not to the naked eye, of course) providing an illumination and identification range of up to 500m, combined with a camera with 20x zoom lens. At minimum zoom, the field of view is 25°. The Spotter has a built-in, lithium-ion battery with an estimated continuous runtime of 20 hours on
by MORGAN HASELAU
NiteSite Spotter Xtreme low-intensity LED infrared, or 2.2 hours on full p o w e r. T h e unit comes with a twoprong AC/ DC charger for plugging into the wall like a smartphone. There is also a 12V D C s o c ke t in the handle which accepts an optional car charger (not included) – a must for a long night’s game-spotting from a vehicle. The Spotter is remarkably simple and easy to use, and fully ambidextrous – one hand grasps the handle, the other operates the power switch and control levers. Below the LCD screen is the power switch which toggles to set for day or night, and a knob to adjust the LED infrared intensity. In the base of the head are two levers, one to control the image zoom, the other to focus – both situated to conduce steadiness during operation. The Spotter can be used in lowlight conditions, dusk or dawn, and the infrared works through glass, so a window or a windscreen poses no problem. We have not, however, tested it through laminations or gas-filled double-glazing, nor through any type of low-emissivity (low-e) glass coatings, colours, polymers or composites. Another great feature is the AV-out socket (3.5mm 4-pin jack) which facilitates connection to a digital recording device to capture video clips. The device is threaded for tripod
mounting, which, coupled with the camera and AV output, capacitates it as a security monitor. To test the Spotter I waited for a dark moonless night and headed out to a dry spruit near my home, accompanied by two friends I’d recruited to serve as stand-in kudu, given the paucity of game running around Bryanston these days. First we tested the 500m visibility claim; I had one of my ‘kudu’ head off along the spruit, and the Spotter picked him up clearly at about 400m, which was as far as he could get. I found the zoom and focus levers easy to operate, even when we had our kudu running around so that I could test the controls on a moving target. The Spotter Xtreme is a solid, versatile and affordable piece of equipment, suitable for various sporting, scientific and tactical applications. The unit and its charger come in a tough plastic carry case with foam inner for added protection. Optional extras include an AV cable, throughthe-handle carry strap, and additional plug-in charger for use in your vehicle’s cigarette lighter or power point. NB: This is not a toy. Excessive exposure to infrared wavelengths can damage human vision. Users younger than 16 years should be supervised. For prices and details of retailers in your area, email dick.myburgh@ suburbanguns.co.za or phone 074-140-0583.
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 49
Black Powder
Glassing for game.
The Mankazana Valley, looking eastwards.
Mankazana’s Magic by FRANS BUSSIAHN
An exceptional trophy brought down with an old flintlock
Joe Dabney with his kudu bull.
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T
he Mankazana Valley, near the town of Adelaide in the Eastern Cape, is a place of breathtaking beauty and abundance. The area has a vast array of plant and animal species, and is blessed with a natural bounty found in few other parts of our country. It is one of the only places in South Africa, where blue duiker and vaal rhebok can occur naturally on the same property, or where stands of 500-year-old sneezewood trees (Ptaeroxylon obliquum) are found, giving the area an almost mystical and magical quality. I am privileged to call this wonderful area ‘home’, and have been lucky enough to live and hunt here for the past 15 years or so. Although I have experienced many special and memorable hunts in the valley, one hunt in particular, stands out from the rest. It took place in mid-2016, towards the end of the open hunting season for kudu. Joe Dabney, an American client and good friend, was hunting with me for the umpteenth time. This hunt, however, was a little different from the rest. Being from the land of Davey Crockett and having grown up hunting squirrels in the woods of Tennessee, Joe had decided that he was going to hunt in Africa with a real, North American flintlock. The weapon of his choice, was in .54 calibre, modelled precisely on a gun produced by a gunsmith called The flintlock Joe used. Isaac Haynes, who was based in Pennsylvania in the 1770s. The weapon fires a lead ball weighing about 210gr, with a muzzle velocity of 1 850fps. As Joe explained, the major limitation of the flintlock was not so much its accuracy or bullet drop (about four or five inches from 30 yards to 100 yards), but the decrease in the ball’s energy − about 1 675 footpounds (ft-lb) at the muzzle that drops to a mere 600ft-lb at 100 yards. It was for this reason that Joe limited his shooting distance to about 60 yards. JOE’S SHOOTING SKILLS had always impressed me − squirrels are small targets − and his range session this time was no different. At a distance of 50-60 yards, he was consistently hitting an impala-sized target behind the shoulder. After the fourth or fifth successful shot, he turned to me and said “A huntin’ we shall go”. Although I was satisfied with Joe’s shooting on the range, I could not help feeling a little apprehensive, as conditions in the veld would almost certainly be trickier, and it was unlikely that we’d have as much time to make a shot. Joe had also stipulated that his priority was a kudu bull! Anyone who has hunted kudu will know that getting one to stand still at under 60
yards, while one fiddles with peep sights and hammers on an eight-foot smoke pole, is a big ask. However, the client is always right, and so the great kudu flintlock hunt commenced. The first afternoon found Joe, Mongezi, my long-serving tracker, Dan, my 10-year-old son, and me sitting atop one of my favourite vantage points, overlooking a small valley. Shortly after our arrival, Dan spotted a group of kudu cows feeding towards us. Although it was quite late in the season, the rut was on the go and the odd kudu bull was still showing an interest in the cows. I was, therefore, fairly optimistic that a bull would be trailing the group of cows and we soon spotted a young bull browsing here and there, as he followed the cows, moving ever closer to us. The bull fitted Joe’s description of “any kudu bull will do” and probably measured no more than 35 inches, but given the limitations of the flintlock, I was happy for Joe to take his chances. By the time the bull stopped to feed directly below us, Joe was ready, aiming his flintlock down at the bull, his face a picture of concentration and anticipation. Suddenly, the loud boom of the flintlock reverberated, followed by the smell of gunpowder, while a huge pall of white smoke hung in the still air. Below us, the young bull froze, with ears twitching and muscles tense. Then he slowly turned, gracefully running up the valley, completely unharmed. Joe’s shot had been low, and we figured that he had held too low when compensating for the steep angle of the shot. The look on Mongezi’s face said it all and the drive back to camp that evening was quiet. Joe was very philosophical about it and said that even if he never managed another shot at a kudu, he was happy that he had had his chance. At 70 years of age, he felt that he’d had probably missed his oncein-a-lifetime opportunity. By noon the following day, we were in position, seated in the shade of a large boerboon tree (Schotia afra), which had branches almost touching the ground, concealing us completely. We were at the edge of a clearing about 100m in diameter, surrounded on all sides by wild olive (Olea africana) woodland, so typical of the Mankazana Valley. Although it was midday, the temperature was mild and within 20 minutes of our arrival, a blesbuck ram and a group of warthogs appeared, grazing on the short, sweet “kweek” grass in the clearing. Luckily for us, the wind held steady and these new arrivals were completely unaware of our presence, eventually moving off without giving us away. A short while later, I glimpsed the horns of a kudu, emerging from the far side of the clearing. It was a respectable bull,
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in the mid-40-inch range, and once, twice and then fell to Joe and I exchanged a silent the ground and rolled over on thumbs-up signal. Within sechis side. onds, another, younger bull None of us spoke a word. emerged from the same game It had all happened so quickly path and followed the first and it felt as if we were all in kudu to the middle of the cleara dream, watching the specing about 60m from where we tacle unfold. In complete sat − tantalizingly close, but silence, we watched the still out of flintlock range. They downed bull for any signs of faced one another and sudmovement and after about denly locked horns, kicking up five minutes, I signalled for dust, while fighting for domi- This picture was taken almost exactly where Joe shot his kudu, Mongezi and Dan to have a looking eastwards down the Mankazana Valley, towards Adelaide. nance. closer look, while I kept my W h i l e w e wa t c h e d t h e rifle trained on the kudu. spectacle, I noticed out of the corner signalled that he was ready and as if After lobbing a few stones at the bull of my eye another set of horns slowly by magic, the huge kudu bull suddenly without getting any reaction, Mongezi approaching through the bush on our stopped no more than 50m away, pereventually moved closer, touched the left. A couple of seconds later, one of fectly broadside and slowly lowered his kudu’s eye with a stick and then gave the largest kudu bulls I have ever seen head to horn the earth in front of him. us the thumbs-up. I turned to Joe, emerged from the bush line, no more The seconds ticked by, and I was cerwho had a massive grin on his face, than 40m from our hiding place. Withtain the bull would hear our collective and said “I’m very glad you missed out even glancing in our direction, the heart beats at any moment. I willed Joe that kudu yesterday,” to which he just massive kudu very slowly and deliberto squeeze the trigger. Suddenly, the laughed. ately, while sweeping his horns back silence was broken by the gun powder and forth, moved towards the sparring igniting, followed by the unmistakable MANY HAVE EXPERIENCED the embaryounger bulls. He was truly magnifithud of the lead ball hitting its target. rassment that comes when what cent, with a thick, muscular neck and Through the smoke I clearly saw the bull seemed like a large trophy at a distance a long, dark mane. His horns, covered sway at the impact of the shot and then, turns out to be smaller upon closer in mud, were incredibly thick, deeply as if in slow motion, he turned and ran inspection. Well, Joe’s kudu was just curled and had long ivory tips flaring towards the far side of the clearing. My the opposite and it seemed to grow outwards. The kind of bull one sees mind was racing. Was the shot good? bigger the nearer we approached. only a few times in a season, and usuWas this kudu too big for such a primiIt was one of the most beautiful and ally only from far away. In this case, tive weapon? striking kudu bulls I had ever hunted, a the old hunters’ adage was true – an Before he could reach the safety trophy of a lifetime. exceptional trophy is easy to recognise. of the far tree line, the bull slowed Long after the urge to hunt has and then stopped, his legs splayed dimmed, the memories of this special I FIERCELY SIGNALLED, trying to catch and blood was clearly visible behind hunt will remain. If I could have chosen Joe’s eye, but he was gazing intently his right shoulder and on his snout. the perfect hunt, it would have been this at the two younger bulls and was comWe watched as he slowly swayed one. My favourite game animal, hunted pletely unaware of the monster cleanly and ethically, in good to our left. Mongezi and Dan company and in a truly wonderwere about to pop with exciteful and wild part of our beautiment, and I was worried that ful country. No high fences, no the big kudu would sense us roads and vehicles, only us and at any moment. A well-placed the huge kudu. pebble got Joe’s attention and The cherry on top of this his eyes widened as he noticed extraordinary hunt, was receiving the newcomer. He needed no confirmation that after the manfurther encouragement, and datory drying period, Joe’s kudu as quickly and quietly as he measured over 53 inches and could, he re-positioned himnow officially ranks as the new self, angling slightly to his left. SCI no 1 East Cape Kudu, After what felt like forever, Joe Walk-and-stalk hunting in the valley. hunted with black powder.
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Test Report
by PHILLIP HAYES
ASP Ballistic Gelatine
D
uring my quest to find the ultimate defensive bullet I have concocted all types of test media – most fairly messy – in attempting to simulate real-life conditions. Those days are now over; Advanced Shooting Products (ASP) in Gauteng are marketing what they call “10% munitions grade” ballistic gelatine. The procedure is simple: buy the package, follow the instructions, and the next day you should have a block of gel to use for “scientific” research – or just plain fun – on the range. The FBI’s ballistics tests of defence loads have become the yardstick for most manufacturers when developing their bullets. However, when testing locally produced handgun ammunition, we at Magnum were at a distinct disadvantage, as sourcing gelatine was difficult. The biggest problem I have faced is to get gelatine translucent enough to enable me to see the bullet and its path into the gel. ASP’s gel kit includes a 15-litre plastic container to serve as a mould, a packet containing 1.56g of ordinance grade gelatine powder, 8 millilitres of preservative and the instructions. Using a pot with a capacity of just over 20 litres, I poured in 14 litres of bottled and filtered water at room temperature. I mixed in the gelatine powder and stirred for about 30 minutes to ensure that no lumps remained, then left it for an hour, by which time the contents were thick and all powder absorbed. Then I slowly heated the pot on a gas stove, ensuring that the temperature did not exceed 40° Celsius. The mixture became clearer as the temperature rose. Next, I stirred in the preservative and poured the entire contents
into the plastic mould. I allowed the solution to cool to room temperature and then refrigerated it for eight hours. The ASP gel can be re-used once, though only the first solution will be true 10% ordinance gel. Simply re-heat the used gel to just below 40°C, pour it into a mould and let it cool. ASP’s instructions explain how the gel’s consistency can be tested using a BB gun. I transported the gel to the range in a cool-box and tipped the mould upside
down on a plastic drum. Punching a small hole in the bottom (now top) of the mould released the vacuum and the gel slipped out easily. The consistency was similar to my last home-brewed gel, perhaps slightly firmer. Shooting various bullets and loads into the gel blocks delivered laboratory-like results enabling me to compare their terminal performance in the same test media. The results were spectacular and interesting, and it was great fun. The gel performs as advertised, is translucent enough to clearly show the ‘wound channels’ and bullets, and can be handled without creating a mess. We used this gel for our bullet tests described on page 34. This gel will make future Magnum ballistic tests easier and more scientific as we will be strictly comparing ‘apples with apples’. The basic kit costs R680; a refill costs R490. For more information contact Dawid van Reenen on 082-303-6790.
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My First Safaris by JOHN COLEMAN
The bushbuck’s bark, the squawk of monkeys, and I knew the leopard was coming…
TOP CLOCKWISE: The author with Fred’s tusker. The author (left) with Fred and his buffalo. Fred and the lion he took on an island in the Chobe swamp. Fred rounded off his safari with a sitatunga.
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I
was a game ranger in Rhodesia’s Department of National Parks at Victoria Falls and Wankie National Park from 1957 to mid-1962, when I decided to leave because the pay was so lousy. I resigned and moved with my family onto Nampini, a beautiful 25 000-hectare ranch near Kazungula, on the Zambezi River, owned by my father-in-law, George Kileff. Here I started hunting safaris, and in neighbouring Botswana. At that time, Chobe Game Reserve was still on the drawing boards, but was loosely demarcated. We explored the Savuti and other areas that are now part of the reserve, where the hunting was fantastic, particularly for elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard. Mitch Spencer, who owned a curio shop at Victoria Falls and ran a few hunting safaris in Bechuanaland (Botswana, after independence in 1966), asked me if I would like to help him. Of course, I immediately accepted and one of the first safaris I conducted for him was in late 1962 with a father and son, Ed and Ted Pedersen, from Salt Lake City, in Utah. Later on, I took a few more of Mitch’s clients hunting on Nampini ranch and in Botswana. One of the clients I took out in those early days was a bloke by the name of Fred. He was a big, middle-aged man. I could see that he was pretty fit and should be able to keep going on long hikes after elephant. He booked a 30-day safari, which entitled him to shoot all species of game available in Botswana and Rhodesia at that time, including elephant, buffalo, hippo, lion and leopard. My hunting vehicle was an old Land Rover which I had renovated; it looked a bit rough, but was reliable and, as it was the dry season, I took the top off. We started hunting on Nampini ranch, concentrating on good sable, waterbuck, eland, buffalo and leopard. Lions came and went, so we kept our eyes open for tracks. I told Luka, my Khoisan tracker, to ask neighbour-
The fly-camp on the Savuti in Botswana.
ing tribesmen to let us know if they saw any big lion or elephant. Fred had brought a .375H&H magnum, with a supply of 300gr fullmetal jacket (solid) and soft-nosed bullets. The first morning, he took a couple of shots to check if the scope was set correctly and both shots hit the centre of the target at 100 paces. I was relieved to see that he was a good shot. He didn’t seem to be the excitable sort, so I was confident he wouldn’t get buck fever when about to shoot big game. DURING THE FIRST few days, Fred felled a sable, eland and waterbuck. He also shot a young buffalo bull for staff rations. Then Luka found the spoor of a big male leopard and we set up a couple of baits with a warthog and an impala. I chose heavily bushed spots in dry watercourses, where a leopard was likely to be lying up and would be more inclined to come in to the bait before dark. I built a blind, about 30 paces from each bit of bait, on a slight rise and cleared the bush in direct sight
lines without creating too much disturbance. When we were finished, Fred started to unzip his fly to urinate near the second bait, and I had to yell at him to stop − the leopard certainly would not approach if it scented fresh human urine! Then we left and I waited two days, hunting in another area, before checking the two baits. I found both had been partly devoured. The impala had been fed on by a big leopard and the warthog by only a small female, so we abandoned that one. Late that afternoon, Fred and I went into the first blind before sundown and settled down to wait. We had only been there for about 40 minutes, when I heard the alarm bark of a bushbuck, then the squawks of some monkeys. The leopard was coming! I motioned to Fred to get ready and he picked up his rifle and pointed it towards the bait, through the hole in the wall. “Just relax, it is coming in. Don’t shoot until you can see it well, and I tap you on the shoulder,” I hissed. He nodded. The rifle was loaded with 300gr soft-nosed bullets –
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ideal for big cats. I had my double, 12-gauge shotgun, loaded for crocs and hippo. As we reached the bank I saw a path of with AAA shells “just in case”. flattened reeds where the lions had emerged. We climbed The sun was just setting when I saw movement near the through the reeds and once on firm ground we stopped to bait and then the leopard appeared, ghost-like, below the look and listen. The island was fairly open, with a few big bait. I grabbed Fred by the arm and held up my hand, showtrees and some patches of thick bush. The light breeze was ing him to wait. The leopard hesitated for about a minute, fairly constant, blowing from right to left, so the cats would then leapt up next to the bait, presenting a good broadside not scent us. shot. I tapped Fred on the shoulder and the shot thundered. The alarm whistle of a lechwe fixed our eyes to the spot The big cat leapt up in the but nothing happened for a air, hit the branch below and few moments. Then the two slowly slid down, dropping out huge lions broke cover and of sight. “Good shot, Fred. I stopped broadside on, near a think it is dead, but we must big termite mound only about approach carefully,” I said, 50 paces away. “Take the one shaking his hand. We cauon the left – he has the best tiously approached, firearms mane,” I whispered. Fred rested ready, but it was dead, partly his rifle on a small branch, took hanging by its jaws caught on aim and fired. The lion let out a monkey-rope creeper. a huge grunt, sprang up and We h u n t e d f o r a f e w took off like a rocket, running more days on Nampini, but through bush and stumbling found no big lion tracks. We over fallen logs; the other one saw just elephant cows and followed. “You hit him right, a couple of small bulls, so he won’t go far, just wait a few we headed off to the Savuti minutes, then we will follow the Channel in Botswana, which blood spoor,” I said. After about runs from the Chobe River to five minutes we walked over the inland Savuti Swamp, but Leopard with its teeth clamped on monkey-rope. and Luka pointed out spatters only after good rains cause of bright red blood. We carefully the river to rise. followed the clear blood trail After a long, dusty journey through the game reserve, we and came to where it entered a patch of thick undergrowth. I came to a good camping spot in a grove of big trees, a short held up my hand and we stood listening; it was dead quiet – distance down the channel from the Chobe River. My trackers, not even a bird call. The lions were in there. some staff and I quickly set up the fly-camp. We had settled down to have a couple of beers and to relax when we heard SUDDENLY, THERE WERE loud grunts and one of the lions the wonderful sound of lions roaring, not too far from the came straight at us. I was ready to shoot but at the last seccamp. Fred wanted to set off after them right away. “We will ond, he turned to the river, and I heard him splashing across. follow them in the morning; it will be too dark soon,” I said. “I’m pretty sure the one you shot is dead, but we must now He reluctantly agreed and we had dinner and retired to bed. be wide awake. I’ll go ahead, and you and Luka keep about Early next day, we set off walking with Luka leading. We five paces behind me,” I whispered. I crept along the clear soon came on the tracks of two big lions heading towards the trail of blood, stopping every few paces to listen − I nearly Chobe swamps. “Fred, load your .375 with soft-nosed bullets stepped on a francolin, which gave us a big fright as it took and be ready. The tracks are pretty fresh and we may come off with wings whirring. upon the lions soon,” I said. I had my .458 loaded with 510gr A few more cautious steps, and I saw the injured lion’s soft-nosed bullets. rump and tail poking out from behind a bush. I stood watching, then picked up a stick and threw it at the animal’s rump. LUKA SET OFF on the clear tracks in the sand, and we soon No reaction, so I crept forward until I could see the whole saw the lions heading for a small island near the edge of the animal, and thankfully it was dead! swamp. We kept going fairly fast, hoping to catch up with We all shook hands and I sent Luka back to call the skinthem before they crossed to the island. They got there before ner. We had our lion on our first day in the swamp. Now all we we did, and Luka pointed out the tracks going into the water. had to do was find a good elephant. There was a slow-running channel about 50 yards wide and In the end, after some long hikes, Fred got a good elethen some reeds on the edge of the island. phant bull and an old buffalo. He also bagged fine sitatunga We slowly waded chest deep through water, on the alert and lechwe, all adding to the safari’s success.
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Campi a Bhati: Classic EastAfricanSafari by HANS DAVIES a s told to GERRIE DU PLESSIS
Early 1950s Kenya elephant hunt
L
et me take you back to the early 1950s. The hunting party had gathered on my farm near Eldoret in Kenya’s western highlands. We were finalising preparations for a safari to a remote area east of Mount Kenya – the Tana River valley, revered by Kenyan hunters for its forest giants with glis-
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tening white tusks reaching to the ground. Two younger hunters, Nick Davies and Piet Potgieter, had joined me to do general game hunts. I alone had an elephant licence in addition to my general game licence. We had all grown up in a community where hunting was very much part of a culture passed down
for generations – boys barely strong enough to carry a rifle already hunted for the pot. Our love and respect for nature was bred into us, likewise our abhorrence of waste and needless destruction. Two experienced trackers would hunt with us, and Kassan, our farm cook was coming along (my safaris were renowned for their luxury of
a camp cook). I had shot several elephant but never one carrying 100lbs a side. I had arranged this six-week safari specifically to search for a bull with such tusks. My five-ton army-style Bedford 4x4 truck was loaded with camping equipment and dry rations, plus two 44-gallon drums to be filled with petrol at the last roadside pump on the way to the Tana. My old army surplus Jeep would be our hunting vehicle; amid cheerful conversation and joking, we loaded our rifles, ammunition, clothing and bedding into the back of it, with my 10.75 Mauser, two Winchester .375s, a Winchester .30-06 and a 7mm Mauser carefully secured among the bedding. AT FOUR THE next morning, the highland air was brisk beneath the crystal clear dome of flickering stars. A faint red line was just showing on the eastern horizon when we headed out towards Nakuru on the Rift Valley floor. Later, as we trundled down the valley’s slopes, we gazed in awe at the banks of low cloud and mist hanging here and there, with Lake Nakuru clearly visible, surrounded with lush green tropical forest in the distance below. Further along, Lake Elmenteita was a faint glimmer lying between the Rift Valley’s high wall and a number of extinct volcano cones on the opposite side. Hours later we passed Lake Naivasha and then, with massive Mount Longonot – which last erupted in 1863 – on our right, we began the long, arduous trek up the Rift Valley’s wall. Then through Nairobi and Nyeri to Fort Hall where we picked up the obligatory flora and fauna game guard. Early the following afternoon, I awoke with a jolt as Nick suddenly braked on rounding a bend in the dusty track. The Tana River lay directly ahead – we’d reached hunters’ heaven! The Tana was low and we forded it without problems. A mile further on we turned off and followed an elephant path heading back towards the river downstream. We selected a site about a 100m from the river and made camp.
Sam the tracker, Hans Davies (with helmet) who shot the elephant, Piet Potgieter, Nick Davies and the game guard.
Kassan immediately assumed his role as camp captain, shouting orders in all directions. We named the spot Campi a Bhati – Swahili for “camp of good luck”. That evening we were kept awake by hippos bellowing far downstream and later a leopard’s rasping sounded quite nearby. Sometime after midnight we were awakened by the noise of a large breeding herd of elephant passing close-by.
We named the spot Campi a Bhati – Swahili for ‘camp of good luck’ The next day we went scouting in the Jeep, following the big elephant path we’d driven in on to reach our campsite the day before. We startled two huge buffalo bulls dozing in the shade next to a small glade in the forest. Our excitement mounted when we glimpsed a bushbuck diving into the forest, so we rushed back to camp to
prepare for an early start next day. The days flew past all too quickly. Every day I searched for large elephant spoor which we followed to no avail. Days later we followed the first really big elephant tracks until midday, but on coming upon him, found both his tusks to be badly worn. A few days later, we followed another set of big tracks far down the river, coming upon the bull at dusk, to discover he carried only one tusk – albeit quite a heavy one. I shot my buffalo, but my hundred-pounder still eluded me. So far, I had seen tusks in the 80lb-class at best, and had to continually suppress the thought that I might yet again have to settle for smaller tusks. One morning, almost a month after our arrival, Nick and Piet accompanied me, along with the two trackers and game guard. We were hunting on the far side of the Tana, and parked the Jeep beside a lugga (dry, sandy stream bed) beneath a big old wild fig tree some three miles from the river. After some hours we found a wellworn elephant path and followed it. At about midday, we turned off to some nearby hills that were mostly devoid of vegetation. I sat glassing the surrounds
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while the others enjoyed the shade of ond tracker and the game guard to stay a leafless baobab’s trunk. One of the put; Sam, Piet and Nick were to protrackers was wandering about kicking ceed with me. We slipped up the incline dry elephant droppings, remarking and carefully crested the low ridge. that there had not been an elephant in Both bulls were dozing where we’d this area for months, when I suddenly initially seen them. There was some gasped. He was wrong; there were two slightly denser shrubbery a little to the elephants present right that moment, right, so, falling back, we moved across one showing a very thick tusk, though I and crested the ridge again behind this, could not see its length. treading very carefully as the ground I could see their backs above the here was littered with dry leaves. low shrub. When the other bull showed his head, his small tusks confirmed my suspicion that he was the askari. Everyone was quiet now. After some minu t e s , t h e t h i c ktusked bull stepped out into an open patch and my heart did a triple somersault – his tusks reached down to the ground! I had literally worn out my hunting boots walking the proverbial A fairly old elephant bull with small, worn tusks. hundred miles for a hundred-pounder, and now here he was, dozing in the midday heat, just We entered the second depression 800 yards away. and tested the wind again. I now left Sam, one of the trackers, shook his the tracker behind and led Piet and Nick ash-bag and the white powder floated who were to be my backup if things to our right and slightly behind us – a went awry. About 50 yards from the big favourable draught. Between us and bull we stopped behind a low shrub. He the elephants were a depression with hadn’t moved and his askari was dozfairly dense shrub, then a low, bare ing about 60 yards further on. The wind rocky ridge and then another deprestested favourably, so we cautiously sion with dense, mostly dry shrub. proceeded. From there it was virtually Just how these depressions might open dry bush to the big bull. alter the direction of the slight breeze I kept sweeping my eyes from the was uncertain. We set off in single bull down to the leaf-strewn ground; I file. Reaching the first depression, we dared not waste this opportunity. Each turned right along its lugga to ensure time I stopped to plan my progress I we remained well downwind of the elechecked the bull’s demeanour. He was phants. clearly asleep, his ears slowly flapping. Every 100 yards or so we tested We eventually made it to a bush the wind; so far it was keeping steady. about 30 yards from the bull. PrayAfter about 400 yards I asked the secing the wind would not betray me,
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I slipped off the 10.75’s safety – its faint click sounded like a crack of lightning. Raising the rifle to my shoulder, I stepped out from behind the bush and saw that the bull’s ears had stopped flapping. I realised I had to shoot quickly but my hands were so sweaty… No time! The bull whipped his trunk up in an “S” to smell for the source of the strange sound. The bead of the front sight wavered on his temple and as it settled halfway between the eye and the earhole, the shot went off, surprising me. I saw dust fly from his temple precisely where the bead had settled. I neither heard the shot nor fel t the recoil. The elephant simply disappeared. Jerking my head up, I saw dust rise as his massive form slumped to the ground. Sprinting towards him, I found him lying on his folded legs as if kneeling, his head held upright by his tusks. From about 15 yards I fired again, aiming for his heart and lung area to anchor him properly. Then, as I walked towards him, he slowly rolled over onto his right side. It was over. For a while I stood there trembling as I came to realise I had actually shot a magnificent hundred-pounder. His right tusk was significantly shorter than the left, which is why he’d rolled over onto that side. His long, left tusk, thicker than a man’s thigh, curved gracefully some six feet above the ground. I guessed it would weigh well over 120lbs. After the tusks had dried out for some weeks, the right one weighed 108lbs and the left 145lbs. I later shot more hundred-pounders, but this one remained my biggest ever.
Dickie Bird: A Great Hunter by MARK YOUNG
The life of a hunter of maneaters in India
T
he Nilgiri range of hills forms part of the Western Ghats of South India, and in this region the wildlife sanctuaries of three different states converge. The largest is the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary. At its periphery lies our Carmel jungle lodge.
Two other nearby game sanctuaries are the Madumalai in the state of Tamil Nadu, and the Muthunga in Kerala state, which form parts of the bigger Karnataka National Park. The sanctuaries have very dense jungles due to the abundance of southwest monsoons. Nestling on the sides
of these hills are large tea and coffee estates, carved out of virgin jungles, mainly by former British planters who lived luxurious lives in their palatial bungalows, indulging in the sports of hunting, fishing, pig sticking, polo, and taking part in the famous ‘Ooty Hunt’. Every so often, during dry seasons, wild animals from the jungle venture into the neighbouring villages and estates looking for food and water. And so it happened that some years ago, a large forest leopard suddenly appeared in this area with its neargrown cub and terrorised the labourers on several estates. In due course, these marauders were declared maneaters by the Madras government, meaning that any holder of a game licence was authorised to hunt and kill them, and if successful, would earn a substantial reward. The modus operandi of this particular maneater was to sit on a hillock at dusk and observe the activities of
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the people in the plantation labour lines down below. As soon as a labourer or family member left the hut and squatted down near a bush a little way away to attend to the call of nature, the animal stealthily crept up from behind and pounced, struck a few blows with its claws then killed by clamping its fangs into the victim’s throat. The leopard then quickly carried its prey to a secluded spot outside the boundaries of the estate where she and her cub devoured them. The two leopards terrorised several estates, resulting in the labourers’ refusal to go to work. Steps had to be taken quickly, as the timely pluckA leopard on a rock behind Carmel Lodge, Bandipur. ing of the tea leaves was crucial and could not be suspended. The management promptly hired the services of Dickie Bird, a well-known big-game hunter of surprise. He rushed out onto the verandah and dimly saw the German descent, to rid the land of the two killers. leopard dragging Raju across the yard and into the foliage Dickie Bird was the postmaster of Santaveri, a small but he could not shoot for fear of hitting Raju. Dickie could hamlet amid a scrub jungle near the coffee town of Chicknot believe the cunning and audacity of the animal. Perhaps, amagalur, and he lived on his own small coffee plantation the leopard had sensed that the bait was a set-up and had nearby. Every morning, after sorting out the mail, he would spotted him at the window. On entering, it found Raju sitting head off into the jungles. He supplemented his meagre income on the floor, presenting an easier prey. by conducting big game hunts for the rich and famous. He Raju’s cries had drawn several people to the scene but knew the Santaveri jungles like the back of his hand. none offered to accompany Dickie in following up the leopard. It was a dark night and a heavy drizzle had begun. NeverDICKIE ARRIVED IN his battered old Land Rover with his theless, Dickie set off on the drag marks to try to rescue his Shikari friend Raju. Early next morning, Dickie and Raju long-time friend. He walked a fair distance, first within the inspected the labour line. A common method of bringing a estate and then in the adjoining jungle. By now he knew he leopard or tiger within shooting distance was to tether a goat was too late to find Raju alive. And then he found the body or position other live bait that would attract the predator abandoned on a narrow footpath in the jungle. Dickie’s torchwhile the hunter hid nearby. Having observed that the last light revealed that Raju’s neck was in tatters, the head almost room of the labour line had a small window overlooking the torn away from the torso. With horror and great sadness, he rear of the building, Dickie chose to use this method. The plan covered the body with his raincoat and rushed back to get had to be kept a secret to avoid inquisitive onlookers from help to carry it back for cremation. giving the game away. On returning to the scene a short while later, Dickie shone Towards dusk, Dickie placed a lit lantern outside the rear his torch from afar and saw the two leopards feeding on the wall of the labour line and sat on a high stool inside the end body. They sensed the presence of the humans and quickly room, peering through the window in the direction of the bait. moved away. As they fled, Dickie hurriedly fired two Eley LG He had poked the barrel of his .318 Westley Richards rifle cartridges from his BSA 12-bore in their direction. His most through the window mesh. Raju sat on the floor, driving off swarms of mosquitoes. The door leading outside had a simple lock – a piece of wooden reeper serving as a latch which could be operated from either side of the door. It seems the leopard must have been watching all this activity. Just before 9pm, when most of the labourer families were asleep, the leopard crept onto the verandah and noiselessly lifted the wooden latch, nudging the door ajar. It silently entered the room and locked its powerful jaws around Raju’s neck. The poor man uttered a few agonised cries for help before the leopard swiftly dragged him out of the room and into the night. This occurred in mere seconds, taking Dickie completely by A leopard in the jungle just outside Carmel Lodge, Bandipur.
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urgent task right now was to a hit in a vital organ. Climbing attend to the body. Silently down the rock, he cautiously bidding goodbye to his faithful entered the lantana and spotand loyal friend of many years, ted the leopard lying on its side. Dickie gave the headman money Taking no chances, he fired both and instructed the men to carry barrels at the leopard, which Raju’s body back for cremation at raised its head for a second then dawn according to their religious collapsed dead. Dickie felt a custom. The estate writer, armed great sense of relief, as did his with an old ex-army .303 Enfield two accomplices. rifle, accompanied the group. The men carried the leopard Dickie then took up the A rare night photo of leopard and porcupine, taken by famous back to Silverdale estate where trail of the leopards. He was cricketer Roger Binny on his farm at Bandipur. several hundred people gathexhausted but determined to ered to gaze at the maneater find and kill them. Fortunately, which had terrorised so many in the rain had ceased and the moon wanted this maneater tracked and recent weeks. They heaped gifts and appeared through the clouds, lightkilled, and some of the workers were praises upon Dickie and treated him ing up the jungle. Close to dawn, he willing to help. as a hero. came across some large rocks where Early next morning, Dickie set off he heard a loud sawing sound. Silently with two of the estate workers. His IN DICKIE’S TWILIGHT years, he lived creeping forward, in the faint light he route took him past the spot where close to the Lalbagh-Kerekhan and saw the back of one of the leopards he’d found Raju’s body, and the memKathlekhan coffee estates which I manabout 15 feet away. He aimed and fired ory made him more determined to aged. Quite often, we met up during two shots from his 12-bore at the neck find the killer. He found leopard pugweekends, and he would relate to me of the leopard. It leapt into the air and marks and followed them deep into the stories of his exciting hunting escafell dead. Then he heard the sound of jungle. After they had walked a conpades in the jungles. Later, he returned an animal running away through the siderable distance, one of the workto Santaveri and lived in poverty in dense undergrowth, and assumed it to ers spotted a leopard lying on a rock a small hut on the outskirts of the be the grown leopard cub. some distance away. As they stealthhamlet. Dickie Bird’s father had been ily approached the rock, they recoga count from Heidelberg, Germany, DICKIE RETURNED TO Silverdale nised the fully-grown offspring of the and his mother a local Lambani coffee estate completely worn out. He sent maneater that had killed Raju. Resting picker of great beauty. The only legacy men to fetch the carcass of the leophis .318 Westley Richards on the shoulhe received from his father was a gold ard, and when it arrived later that day, der of one of the men, Dickie took caresignet ring with twin eagles engraved he skinned it himself. Next morning he ful aim and fired. The leopard sprang on a green stone, which was his father’s was back at his desk in Sanup and then rolled family crest. taveri, attending to his nordown into the thick Dickie was quite content to live a mal duties as postmaster. lantana bush below. very simple life, alone in his thatched Tw o m o n t h s l a t e r, Fully realising the hut. One Christmas eve, he went to Dickie received an urgent risk involved, having the post office to cash a postal order telegram requesting his been twice mauled of a few dollars his son had sent him return to Silverdale estate in the past, Dickie from Texas. A couple of miscreants to hunt the second, now swapped his .318 for saw him collect the cash and followed fully-grown leopard, which his 12-bore shotgun him. Dickie bought a few provisions had killed two villagers in the loaded with Eley LG including a small cake and a bottle of same area. He headed back cartridges and, beckthe local brew, arrack, to celebrate his to the estate, settled into oning the two workers Christmas. That night, as he lay asleep the same guest room proto take cover behind under the influence of arrack, the two vided by the managehim, very cautiously miscreants entered his hut, robbed ment, and visited approached the rock. him of his few rupees, then smashed the scenes of the He was relieved to his kerosene lantern on the floor and killings. Now find traces of dark ran off. The dry thatch caught fire, and the entire blood spattered over sadly, the flames engulfed and killed village the rock, indicating this great old hunter.
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 63
Book Shelf
Classic Reads
Memories of a Game Ranger
by Harry Wolhuter
Harry Wolhuter (1877-1964) was one of the first game rangers in the Sabi Nature Reserve which, with the addition of Shingwedzi Nature Reserve and various other parcels of land, would eventually become the world-renowned Kruger National Park. Tall and spare, but strongly built, the gently-spoken and unassuming Wolhuter dedicated his life to protecting the Kruger’s wildlife, eventually completing 44 years of service. On his retirement in 1946, he was asked by friends and family to pen his experiences and, after some hesitation on his part, the first edition of Memories of a Game Ranger was released in 1948. We can all be thankful that he overcame his initial reservations, for his tales told of an extraordinary life in the bush. The book has entertained both hunters and wildlife enthusiasts for nearly 70 years, and has become classic Africana. It starts by detailing Wolhuter’s early years, a fascinating recollection of life in South Africa during the late 1870s. Born in Beaufort West in the Cape colony, he showed an early inclination toward hunting and wildlife. As he later remarked, “Although my adult life’s work has been employed almost entirely in the guardianship and protection of wildlife, during my early years I was, as I fancy is the case with most children, concerned more with perfecting my skill to outwit and destroy it!” When he was a young teen his family relocated to the Transvaal, where he held a number of jobs before his life was interrupted by the
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outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899. He served with Steinacker’s Horse, a colonial unit of the British Army which focused on stopping the movement of men, arms and dispatches between Portuguese East Africa and the Boer Republics. When the war drew to a close, the unit continued to serve as a border patrol, and it was while he was stationed there that Wolhuter received the opportunity to serve as assistant warden under James StevensonHamilton, the old Sabi Game Reserve’s first warden. Both men took up their appointments in 1902. The book goes on to detail the four decades Wolhuter spent living and working in the Lowveld bush. He writes in a simple yet entertaining style, full of anecdotes about interesting encounters and experiences. He offers his insights into a game ranger’s hard but rewarding life, and describes his observations regarding the park’s animals and the people living there. One such story which deserves mention is that for which Wolhuter is perhaps best known – it describes the occasion when he killed a fully grown male lion with a sheath knife. He was returning on horseback from one of
his usual patrols along the Olifants River in 1903. Riding on ahead of his group, he spotted two lions which made a beeline straight for him and, before he could shoulder his rifle or spur his horse on to escape, one of the lions leaped onto his horse’s hindquarters, knocking Wolhuter out of his saddle. He fell on top of the second lion, which gripped his shoulder in its jaws and began dragging him away. Despite the excruciating pain, and what could only have been the sheer terror of being imminently dispatched and devoured, he was able with his uninjured arm to grab his knife from his belt, and struck two quick blows behind the lion’s left shoulder. The lion let out a ferocious roar and Wolhuter was able to direct another thrust, this time into its throat. The lion released him and slunk off into the bush where it later succumbed to its wounds. Wolhuter then managed to climb a tree to take refuge from the second lion, and was overjoyed to see that one of his faithful dogs had come back to find him. This brave animal rushed at the lion, chasing it off a number of times… It was a truly incredible ordeal. Rather read Wolhuter’s account in his own words − my brief description here cannot do justice to the tale. His knife, belt and the skin of the lion can still be seen on display in Skukuza, the park’s main camp. This third edition has a new cover, now with a photo; the type has been reset and the paper stock far superior to the 1971 edition, but Wolhuter’s tales are the same, retaining their gripping excitement, and imbued throughout with the same drawings by renowned wildlife artist Charles Astley-Maberley. Memories of a Game Ranger is a must read for anyone interested in game ranging, the early history of the Kruger Park, or Africa in general. It is filled with exciting bushveld adventure, and is a remarkable first-hand historical account − a true African classic! – Morgan Haselau
YOUTH
Psychological Aspects of Shooting
T
arget shooting for youngsters is not simply a matter of picking up a rifle or pistol and shooting. It’s as much a mental exercise as a physical sport. Mental training will not give you shooting skills you do not have, but it will enable you to achieve your maximum potential.
your mind says, “Ah, yes, I considered that possibility; I can handle it.”
Goals and routines For each competition, set a goal that you would like to achieve. It should be realistic and achievable.
Focusing Fo r m a h a b it , p r i o r t o firing a shot, of closing your eyes, and in your mind’s eye, go through the whole sequence of your shot delivery technique. This habit will help you to focus instinctively on delivery technique during competitions. But once a shot is fired, put it out of your mind, whether it was good or bad – don’t let it affect your focus for your next shot. Focus on each shot must be absolute.
Mental preparation Prepare yourself for things that can go wrong. Your rifle or pistol can malfunction, you might drop it in the sand, or drop a magazine onto a hard surface, or spill your ammo into sand; your belt/holster rig might fail in some way… Think these possibilities through and do whatever you can to prepare yourself for such eventualities: always take basic equipment to the range such as screwdrivers, cloths, brushes, cleaning kit, ramrod, oil, spare magazines, adhesive tape, spare ear-guards, spare shooting glasses, shoelaces, etc, and check your rig and all other equipment thoroughly before leaving home. Physical preparation is a form of mental preparation; when something goes wrong, instead of it unsettling you,
to achieve your set goal, or it can cause you stress and loss of focus. Determine what it does for you, and use it or discontinue it accordingly. Follow the same routines in training as you would in competitions, as this will ensure that changing positions, for example, is smooth and stress-free.
Be positive
Decide which routines work for you. For instance, keeping score during a competition has a positive effect on some people, and a negative effect on others. It can encourage you to concentrate harder
Be positive and self-encouraging. Give yourself credit f o r a n e xc e l l e n t t ra i n i n g session, progress that you have made, goals achieved, and problem situations you’ve handled in the way you mentally rehearsed them. Encourage and support your fellow shooters − it’s good sportsmanship and will have a positive effect on you and everyone around you. – Elzaan Fourie
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 65
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Gallery
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More on Buffalo Oxen
5
The article “Buffalo Oxen� (May 2017 edition) drew a marvellous response from readers who very kindly sent me photos confirming this phenomenon and providing further information. The Aberdare National Park in Kenya has a comparatively high incidence of buffalo oxen due to intense hyena predation which results in more bullcalves and sub-adults being castrated during these attacks. Photo No 1 taken by Murray Grant of Kenya is extraordinary in that it illustrates the phenome-
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Gallery non from both ends, so to speak. It shows the absence of both tail and testes – bitten off by one or more hyenas when the animal was still a calf – and the resulting aberrational horn development – the cow-like absence of a boss or ‘battle-helmet’ which normally protects the top of an adult bull’s skull, and the abnormally long, blade-like horns with tips that curl forwards. Note also the remnant shoulder hump of a bull, but the skinny neck of a non-combatant beast. This animal is in fine condition due to the lush grass in the Aberdares. Photos 2 and 3, also taken by Murray Grant in the Aberdare National Park, show different views of one and the same animal − important in that they illustrate how easily a buffalo ox can be mistaken for a cow. Viewed from the side, the lack of a boss and the decidedly effeminate head and face positively shout “cow”. The remnant p e n i s s h e a t h , h o w e v e r, p r o v e s conclusively that this animal was born a male. If this was obscured by long grass or bush, the hunter might have briefly waited for a rear view, and since it reveals the absence of testicles, his immediate assumption would have been, “cow”. This appears a youngish animal, probably castrated relatively late, evidenced by the penis sheath not yet having atrophied, and the horns still looking somewhat “bullish”. It too, has lost both tail and testes in the attack. Murray, who is a wildlife sculptor, knows of two further buffalo oxen in the Aberdare Park. Photo No 4 was sent to us by long-standing Magnum reader Henry Henley of Kenya, whose buffalo ox photos appeared in May edition (he first sent me a buffalo ox photo in 2004). This example, also photographed in the Aberdare Park and confirmed by Henry as being an ox, is interesting in that the animal was clearly castrated at a later stage in its development, as its ox-like features are less exaggerated than most. Its undeveloped boss retains two slight remnant humps, and its shoulder hump appears bull-like. However, the
unduly long horn stems reveal that telltale flat, blade-like appearance, and the insipient forward curl of the horn tips is a dead giveaway. Photo No 5, taken by regular Magnum contributor, PH Robin Hurt of Namibia, is especially interesting in that the “ox-like” horns are more exaggerated than any we’ve seen so far, and the skinny neck and total absence of a boss render its status obvious… and yet… it’s not an ox! Well, not in the strictly technical sense. But it’s not a bull either – at least, not in the de facto sense. Robin’s client shot this animal in Botswana, and owing to its horn-shape and absence of any scrotum, they assumed it to be an ox from the outset. Only when it was skinned did they discover two undeveloped testicles the size of pigeon eggs beneath the skin! Its ‘neutrality’ had begun at the earliest possible age, hence the exaggerated ‘ox’ features. Of great surprise to me is the apparent dearth of reference to this in hunting and wildlife literature. I am 72 and have been a life-long reader of such books and magazines, yet I have never read a single paragraph on buffalo oxen and their peculiarly characteristic horn growth. Nor has anyone of my acquaintance ever mentioned this, other than the few who sent photos after we drew attention to it. When viewing several such examples in just two or three months, this phenomenon doesn’t seem uncommon, but when I consider the millions of buffalo that
have been seen by hunters, game rangers and photographers in the past century, without my ever having read of this mutation, it becomes apparent that such horns must be an extreme rarity. Given that buffalo castration by hyenas must surely be fairly common, the only conclusion I can reach is that very few buffalo bull-calves survive hyena attacks. − Gregor Woods
Magnum’s Choice Prices In our August 2017 edition we listed incorrect prices for the Magnum’s Choice products. We regret the error and have made the necessary changes. The updated prices appear in the advertisement on page 43 in this issue.
Giraffe Bone Well, there’s a thing – a giraffe cow gnawing on a bone. And not just a quick nibble, nor a decisive bite to crack it open for the marrow, but simply rolling
September 2017 | ManMAGNUM | 69
the whole bone round in her mouth for ages, savouring it like a delicacy. In the 45 minutes or so that I sat watching her, she never once dropped what seemed to be a thigh or shin bone from a bovid – sheep, goat or small antelope. But giraffe are supposedly herbivores, so why a bone? A few people have suggested that it’s a need for calcium, but I’m not convinced. I took the photo in early July at Dinokeng Game Reserve, near Hammanskraal, just north of Pretoria. Yes, the veld was dry, being winter, but there was certainly no shortage of fodder. Perhaps one of the Magnum readers can advise us about this seemingly odd behaviour. – Anthony Shelley
Write for Us At Magnum we’re always on the lookout for new articles for publication, be they from our regular contributors or from first timers. We will consider any article in English or Afrikaans that falls within the magazine’s scope including, among others, hunting non-dangerous species, wingshooting, sport shooting, and short stories that are humorous or thought-provoking. We’ll also look at technical submissions about, for example, firearms, cartridges, reloading, shooting, knives, hunting gear and related DIY matters. Although not essential, a selection of good photographs always gives an article extra impact. Pictures of scenery, live game, your tracker in action, spoor, and geographic, botanical and historical pictures can add detail to complement your writing. Technical articles must be accompanied by appropriate original pictures or diagrams to illustrate points in your text. Digital pictures must be of high resolution and not embedded with other files or documents. Original prints or slides will be returned on request. Articles should be between 1 300 and 2 000 words. Published submissions will be paid for at the usual rates. All material must be free of any copyright restraints. We do not publish fiction or poetry. While Big Game articles are welcomed, we prefer those that deal with ordinary game, to which most of our readers easily relate. Magnum aims to be entertaining and informative, so try to ‘teach’ our readers something new. To save wasted effort, first discuss your ideas with us – sometimes we have a similar article ‘waiting in the wings’. We also recommend you get a free copy of Magnum’s Writers’ Guidelines – please contact Gail on 031572-6551 or email gosborne@manmagnum.co.za. You don’t need to be a professional wordsmith – our editorial team is here to iron out any problems. Take this chance to have your words and name in print!
70 | ManMAGNUM | September 2017
PEOPLE
Meet Our Contributors: Gordon Bailey Gordon had his first experience with firearms during his compulsory military service. He started his career as a game ranger in 1962 and spent 14 years in conservation. On general foot patrols, he favoured the .30-06 Winchester and at the time found that the .30-06/180gr silver tip consistently gave the desired results. On mounted patrols he used the .30-30 Winchester and carried a Browning 9mm Parabellum in a belt holster. Gordon writes: “Working full time in the game reserve provided more than usual ‘wow’ moments and also made it unwise to hunt alone, so we always had a tracker/spotter with us. “I needed one more warthog and had sent the tracker to fetch the tractor that was collecting game already shot. When I came across the warthog, I had to go down on my stomach and crawl through the undergrowth for a clear shot. As he emerged from behind a bush I was just about to squeeze the trigger when I became aware that something was watching me. “Lowering the rifle and turning my head very slowly I found an extremely large buffalo bull standing not five metres to my right and slightly behind me. If I needed to be judged on a silent retreat, that incident would have gained me full marks.”
More About Our Subscribers: Dante Fratti
Our subscriber of the month is Dante Fratti, f r o m t h e We s t e r n Cape. He has been a Magnum subscriber for four years. His favourite calibres are .300H&H and .270 Winchester. He enjoys hunting in the Eastern Cape, which was the location for his last hunt, where he bagged a bushbuck. Dante is also a wing-shooter and owns pointers. He is a member of Kaapjag and the Kraaifontein Shooting Range.