COVID-19 PANDEMIC: INDUSTRY IN DISTRESS – PLAN NOW TO SURVIVE
MAN
PART ART 1
Mystery of the Harry Manners Kambaku Tusks
RT SP O M & P1 5
Why Not Change Your Frame?
II
Beretta APX 9mmP Pistol
AR-15 VARIANT
HUNTING: Crocodile, Reedbuck, Nyala
S&W
Optics cs Ready Re
Handmade Jeffery .256 Mannlicher Sporters May 2020
Namibia N$47,00
47,00 incl VAT
05494
G3 ICONIC BATTLE RIFLE
9 770256 067003
COVID-19 PANDEMIC: INDUSTRY IN DISTRESS – PLAN NOW TO SURVIVE
MAGNUM AG
MAN
PART ART 1
II
Beretta APX 9mmP Pistol
RT
Why Not Change Your Frame?
M
&
P1 5
NUMBER 5 MAY 2020
SP O
VOLUME 45
Mystery of the Harry Manners Kambaku Tusks
AR-15 VARIANT
ON THE COVER:
HUNTING: Crocodile, Reedbuck, Nyala
Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport II Optics Ready AR15 Variant. Read more on p36. Photo by André Grobler.
cs Ready Re S&W Optics
Handmade Jeffery .256 Mannlicher Sporters May 2020
Namibia N$47,00
47,00 incl VAT
05494
G3 ICONIC BATTLE RIFLE
9 770256 067003
Features
12 16 20 24 27 28 32 36 40 46 50 54 58 62
BERETTA APX REVISITED
Guns go modular – one licence fits all
CROCODILES
Sinister denizens of the deep
Phillip Hayes John Coleman
PALL MALL PEACEMAKER
Robin Barkes
FISHING FOR BUSHBUCK Neck shots: dredging the depths
Bruce Truter
Cowboy Colt – with English understatement
WHO GETS THE BLAME?
Ivan Smith
GUN METALLURGY
Roger Ingle
… for ‘cordite ear’ The story of steel
ROADSIDE DISPATCHES
Just another day in Tanganyika
Royce Buckle
SMITH & WESSON M&P15 SPORT II
André Grobler
MANNERS TUSKS MYSTERY REVISITED
Gregor Woods
AIR RIFLE COMPETITION
André Grobler
IN THE LEOPARD’S LAIR
Lew Clark
New AR-15 .223 – choose your preferred sights Who shot the bull whose tusks appear in Kambaku? A huge success – “please sir, we want some more” Protective instinct is a frightening force
JEFFERY’S .256 MANNLICHER RIFLES
German precision engineering, classic English lines
GIRAFFE HUNT CHRONICLES
In culling terms, giraffe differ not from cattle
G3
The last battle rifle with muscle
Hubert Montgomery Kevin Thomas Casper Minnaar
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Trail Talk
by PHILLIP HAYES
Shoot that Defensive Handgun RECENTLY, THE CHOICE of defensive handgun and appropriate ammunition became a hot topic around the braai fire. One individual was adamant that his chosen big-bore handgun is the ultimate in stopping power. Of course, everyone is entitled to an opinion and personal preference, and I respect that. Buying a Glock or even a massive Desert Eagle because you have been dreaming of having one is all part of the joy of gun-ownership. However, there are a few practical rules you should apply when choosing a handgun to protect yourself and your loved ones. Of course, the first rule is to have a firearm with you at all times, irrespective of type, calibre or ammunition choice, rather than be caught without one when things go wrong. A firearm is no good to you if you leave it locked in a safe just because it’s too uncomfortable to carry. In an emergency, if you need a hammer, any hammer will help you to solve the problem, and the same goes for handguns. So, whether you choose a snub-nose .38 Special or the latest highcapacity polymer pistol, be sure to have it with you, or you’re defeating the purpose. I’ve heard many theories about revolvers and single-column magazines not holding enough ammunition for South Africa’s present crime conditions. I’m not convinced of this, but if this is really a concern, the solution is to carry more ammo, as in a speed-loader, ammo strip or extra magazine. Most pistol failures are due to feeding and ejection stoppages or magazine problems. Having a full 17-round magazine that lets you down at the worst moment is no help unless you have a spare and can do a fast mag-change under severe stress. Thus, carrying any reliable handgun which you can comfortably control so as to consistently hit a target under stress, and carrying spare ammo in reserve, renders you safer. Confidence in your weapon and in your own ability to use it proficiently is crucial. I’d rather use a snubby loaded with low-recoiling 148gr target wad-cutters that I can shoot well, than a high-
6 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
capacity wonder pistol that I can’t master. This also holds true for ammo choice. Rather use a standard load that you can hit your target with, than a +P+ load that’s hard to control. Currently there are extremely good defence ammunition options available, examples being Hornady’s Critical Defence and Duty range, or SIG’s V-Crown ammo. The Hornadys (especially Critical Duty) perform on par with the FBI’s requirements. I regard the FBI’s guidelines as sensible as they were derived from data taken from real life shootings. The FBI’s choice is not perfect, but much better than some of the opinions of those who have never been involved in shootings. I’d opt for Critical Defence ammo as it has less penetration compared to Critical Duty. Over-penetration is a serious consideration when firing under duress as you do not want to hit an innocent bystander. Looking at average Joe’s shooting ability (I include myself here), I think we attach too much importance to bullet penetration. All this talk about bullet design and penetration amounts to nothing if you miss the target and possibly hit an innocent bystander or destroy valuable property. This brings me back to the point of knowing your own firearm and regularly practising (preferably under some form of stress such as a time limitation) to ensure you have the best possible chance of hitting whatever you are aiming at. However, that said, it is still wise to make an informed choice on ammunition, hence my inclination towards Hornady’s Critical Defence ammo. Being proficient with your handgun will build confidence and muscle memory, which is far more important than the type or design of gun or ammunition. Although revolvers are out of vogue, they remain a good choice as they are simple and reliable handguns affording an easier learning curve to achieve safe handling and proficiency. However, recently, while I was firing a friend’s Ruger .357 revolver, the trigger got stuck during a rapid-fire exercise. We traced the problem to my not
allowing the trigger to travel fully forward to re-engage the sear before attempting to fire the next shot. As I said, know your weapon intimately – this you can achieve only by using it under conditions simulating what you’ll face when the worst happens. During Greg Ellifritz’s (then firearms and defensive tactics training officer for a USA police department) research program spanning a 10-year period he studied almost 1 800 shooting incidents to determine the calibre, type of bullet, where the bullet hit and whether or not it incapacitated the recipient. His full report was posted on his website http://www. activeresponsetraining.net in 2011. He concluded that for the .38 Special, 29% of the incidents ended in a fatality (39% one-shot-stops); 9mmP: 24% (34% one-shot-stops); .357 Magnum: 34% (44% one-shot-stops) and .45ACP: 29% (39% one-shot-stops). Using a centre-fire rifle or shotgun delivered much higher fatalities, 68% for rifles (58% one-shotstops) and 65% for shotguns (58% oneshot-stops). Ellifritz concluded that the percentage of people stopped with one shot to the torso or head were remarkably similar among the calibres .38, 9mm, .40 and .45 with a spread of only 8 percentage points. “No matter what gun you are shooting, you can only expect a little more than half of the people you shoot to be immediately incapacitated by your first hit.” All common defensive calibres required on average 2 rounds to incapacitate. His conclusion: calibre choice is less important than shot placement. Interestingly, only 75% of shots to the head, 41% of torso hits and 14% of shots in arms and legs led to immediate incapacitation. Bottom line: none of the handgun calibres has magical properties and, statistically, incapacitating an attacker is not a one-shot affair; not even head shots will incapacitate aggressors every time. If you want to significantly increase the odds in your favour, the answer is a rifle or shotgun, and when you have to use a handgun, regular and intensive training.
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Consider This...
by CHRIS PARGETER
Boots on the Ground TH
E AR gre t many excellent ardw game rangers in Men en who will apply ulatio w standing proceand e hemselves, even com king local commues, councils their fellow, less
re those who just don’t give a damn. The rot starts at the top; if the leaders fail to ensure the rules and procedures are followed, then why should others bother? It began with the discovery of a dead white rhino. After an aircraft was called in to investigate, four more rhino carcasses were found in the same area – all with their horns missing. After lion, hyenas, vultures and rot, little was left. The remains of a large dead animal’s dried-out skin, bones and the poisoned, stained ground around it, can remain visible for many
10 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
weeks, or even months, depending on the season. Patrolling field rangers can detect large dead animals by abnormal vulture concentrations, or the presence of numerous hyenas and/or lions. Diligent rangers patrolling in their stretch of the reserve, can pick up any change in the ‘rhythm’ of the bush. Scattered impala could mean poachers have been there and broken up the herd/s or, perhaps it was merely wild dogs that were recently observed in the area. Sometimes it is missing the regulars, such as a waterbuck or nyala bulls. Tracks too, can tell a story. Boots on the ground is what game reserve conservation is all about. The incident caused absolute hell in head office. Why had the carcasses not been detected before? Had nobody heard shots? Five dead rhino should not go completely undetected. What about the patrolling rangers? A very experienced former game warden was sent to investigate. How often did they patrol? Where did they patrol in relation to the dead rhino? The paperwork seemed fine and indicated that the area in which the rhino had been poached was patrolled regularly, as per regulations. After questioning the staff, there was still no explanation and the Sergeant in charge of that section was adamant that all patrolling was taking place. The official decided to walk the patrol route to see how close it got to the carcasses and the four rangers that usually did the patrol were made to join him. Carrying the map marked with the kill sites, they set off on the 9km walk. The official noticed that some of the rangers were a bit portly and did not look very fit. After 3km he was forced to call a halt as the rang-
ers were having trouble keeping up with him. After 5km he abandoned the walk entirely as the rangers were too tired to continue! It was blatant from the evidence that no patrolling had taken place. Neither the Sergeant nor the Reserve Warden could offer an explanation. The entries in the daily logs were thus presumed false and both senior men were suspended. Other staff was drafted in and a patrolling system resurrected. On completion of the enquiry, the investigating official was able to determine that no patrolling had taken place for probably two years or more. Checking by senior staff at that section and at the main field staff office had also not taken place. Both senior park officials were suspended, but this was later rescinded. The field rangers were given a warning. The rhinos, unfortunately, lost out. With the retirement of older, experienced staff and a portion of these being replaced by the new age ‘just a job’ brigade, things can only get worse. I once helped an old-timer regain authority over a small game reserve. A wonderful, well respected Zulu in his sixties, who never failed to give me an outrageous hug, in public or in the office. With no support from above, he had actually been sleeping with his own pistol under his pillow. Locals had taken to throwing their dogs over the fence which then trapped buck against it for them to spear. He reportedly shot a dog in the air as it was flung over the top of the fence! He is now the problem animal ranger for another game reserve and goes alone to hunt down the fence-breakers. I fear that these wonderful old-time rangers, along with the young ‘out of fashion’ super-efficient section rangers, will soon be a thing of the past. God help us, or rather, God help the game!
t â&#x20AC;&#x2122; ll bou the frame by PHILLIP HAYES LEFT: The service-size APX and the frame of the Compact to its left. FAR LEFT: An additional frame for the full-size service pistol, without chassis.
Revisited 12 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
The heavily textured and abbrasive grip of the Compact, enhancing control of the pistol under recoil.
CH 2019 edition, Paul oduced us to the new pistols – Beretta’s win the US Army’s gun System competi is a chassis-based focus on modular feainterchangeable grips and controls. not win the contract, but the APX was made available to the civilian market. In addition to the full size service pistol (17-round capacity) they have the smaller Centurion and Compact. Both feature a shorter slide, slightly shorter than that of the Glock 19, while the Compact has a short grip and a magazine capacity of 13 rounds. The Centurion’s grip length is in between that of the Compact and full size, and has a 15-round capacity. Beretta also opted for interchangeable frames, similar to the system used in some of SIG’s pistols. A serialised and removable fire control chassis (which includes the trigger assembly) is used. The chassis, with the weapon’s serial number, can be removed from an existing frame and simply inserted into another. The frames are sold as separate accessories (no licence needed). At the time of writing I found full-size frames online for R795. I like the idea of buying an additional frame over the counter; it can be the same size in a different colour (black, flat dark earth, green and grey), or for conversion from the Compact’s frame to the slightly larger Cen-
The aftermarket grip that can be bought over the counter without a firearm licence.
THE arlata retta empt dular n. Th sign w tures such a
Mix and match. Compact frame, full size pistol’s barrel, 17-shot magazine.
turion, or vice versa. The Compact makes an excellent concealed carry gun, leaving a rather small ‘print’ beneath clothing, but for extended range sessions I’d prefer a slightly larger frame for my over-sized hands. A Centurion frame will make this possible. REMOVING THE CHASSIS and placing it in the larger frame is straight forward once you have figured out the procedure – something that can be done in a few minutes. It involves removing a pin and lifting the chassis out of the frame, which
most handgun enthusiasts should be able to manage. Of course, with a longer grip, longer magazines are needed, and instead of opting for the Centurion’s 15-round mags I’d probably just buy additional 17-round magazines, which can be used in all the frames. The three interchangeable backstraps (small, medium and large) supplied with each pistol frame allow for further customization. These are held in place with a long steel retainer. To remove the retainer you need to remove the slide and push the top of the retainer to one side while at the same time gripping it at the mag-well
The removable chassis.
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The full-size service pistol fits large hands like mine perfectly.
interch fr a m es i s a st ep i n to t h e fu t u r e end and drawing it out in the same direction you remove the magazine. I found a noticeable difference in the grip size by swopping the inserts, and finally settled on large, which allowed me better control over the pistol during recoil. I also tried the small frame of the Compact with the long slide of the fullsize pistol. The shorter dust cover of the frame revealed part of the guide rod and springs, but the pistol functioned perfectly and was a revelation to
shoot. This assembly is the opposite of the Glock 19X with its Glock 19 slide and full-sized grip of the Glock 17. The Beretta with its short grip and long slide actually felt well balanced in my hands. Even better, it shot well. THE SMALL FRAME of the Compact has only enough space on the grip for my middle and ring finger, the baby finger had to go below the magazine. As the 17-shot full-size magazines work in LEFT: The neat storage box includes two mags, mag loader, interchangeable backstraps, cleaning brush and lock. RIGHT: The Compact with (from left) small, medium and large (fitted) grip.
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the Compact frame I decided to use these for a more comfortable grip. Beretta also offers extension pieces that slide over the longer mags. The problem with the longer mags is that you have fingers gripping the frame and the magazine. With your baby finger on the magazine insert, the mag will not always drop free when the mag release is pressed, but I soon worked around this by relaxing my grip when reloading mags.
Out of curiosity I fitted the full-size pistol’s barrel onto the Compact, and apart from the barrel protruding beyond the slide, the pistol functioned perfectly. A Centurion was unavailable, but on the range, the full-size pistol and Compact performed well. My colleague André Grobler proved that the larger pistol was accurate and easy to shoot by placing two shots very close to each other at 3m and then repeating the exercise with similar results at 20m. Both pistols are clearly very efficient and the full-size version will make an excellent police or military sidearm, or defensive weapon for farmers, rangers, etc. The finger-grooved grip fitted my large hands surprisingly well and the pistol pointed naturally. Right from the start I was able to shoot scores similar to those with my own trusty carry piece. However, I’d prefer a grip without finger-grooves. In contrast, the Compact has an extremely aggressive textured grip without finger-grooves. My first impression was of an overly abrasive surface that would be uncomfortable when used for longer shooting sessions. I was wrong, I got used to the aggressive grip after just two range sessions. Although the grip had space for my index and ring-finger only, I could hold the pistol very steady during recoil and found it easier to shoot than its bigger brother. The diminutive frame soon found favour among all shooters who tried it; Beretta hit the nail on the head with this one. However, holster choice will be important to keep the abrasive grip away from your body during concealed carry. THE TRIGGERS WERE the typical striker-fired pistol type, yet one devoted Glock user had the problem of not always releasing the trigger far enough forward to reset. As my EDC pistol is not striker-fired, I’m no expert on the subject, but comparing it to the Glock’s, I found the Beretta’s trigger slightly ‘slower’ in resetting. However, I adapted to the Beretta trigger fairly easily and was soon achieving extremely fast follow-up shots.
The APX is easy to control, even under rapid fire. LEFT: Two quick shots from 3m. RIGHT: The same exercise as above, but from 20m. The APX is accurate.
APX accessories like holsters and mag pouches are available at retailers, but the Compact posed a challenge. The dust cover of the frame is slightly higher than the service model’s, rendering it impossible to insert a Compact into Beretta’s tight fitting APX full-frame holster.
ABOVE: A Beretta branded holster, purpose-made for the APX.
Beretta’s magazine base plates are a clever design with a flared bottom affording a firm grip should a mag need to be ripped out due to a failure or malfunction.
IN MY BOOK the APX series of pistols offer good value for money and if I was in the market for a polymer striker-fired pistol I’d opt for the Beretta (or SIG) with its modular systems. The availability of interchangeable frames is a step into the future and provides the opportunity to customize your pistol by simply buying what you need over the counter. Why pay for two pistols if I want a compact carry gun and a larger frame for range work?
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 15
Even giant reptiles have weaknesses by JOHN COLEMAN illu stration ALAN WALKER
OM 1 I h mmerc df odesi mb mbia, Angola a me ex ce I hav c that 18 feet (nea
nted crocodiles r safari clients in we), Botswana, Caprivi, so I have
t, or even seen a more than about etres) and, as far never been one ver that size in southern Africa. The biggest croc I know of in southern Africa was shot by Boet van Bart on the Kafue River in Zambia and measured 18ft 4-inches. Van Bart was enormously strong but he, and six local men, could not get it out of the water and had to skin it in the shallows on the edge of the river. They estimated that it weighed about a ton and a half. I shot a croc on the Kwando River in Angola which measured 16½ feet and its girth was such that when I sat straddling it, my feet could hardly touch the ground. It was a female and probably weighed about a ton. Contrary to popular belief, a crocodile’s main diet is not meat but fish, mainly barbel and bream. Big crocs do, of course, catch animals. They usually wait at regular drinking places and when an animal comes to the edge, they explode out of the water, grab it and pull it under, rolling over and over to drown it. If the prey is small enough, the croc will usually devour it immediately by violently shaking it apart. But, if it is too large, they let it rot and then clamp their jaws on it and roll over, tearing chunks off. Crocodiles seldom attack in very shallow water, preferring to lurk in deep pools near the bank so they can quickly pull their prey under. They don’t often take humans, but will do so where people regularly go to get water or bathe. I have shot man-killers with the grisly remains of partly digested humans in the stomach – a very unpleasant sight. I do not believe stories about crocodiles lying in wait on
Crocodiles
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riverbanks and knocking their victims into the water with their tails – a crocodile can’t think that far ahead. I have been hit by the tails of large crocodiles thrashing about in the boat and it certainly wasn’t enough to knock me overboard. But beware of their rock-hard heads which can knock the side out of a boat or even break your leg. Crocodiles’ jaws are extremely strong and, once closed, almost impossible to pull open without killing the croc. Even small crocs won’t let go – their bite is like a pair of pliers with teeth. Their jaws are easily kept closed if bound with rope or duct-tape – just don’t get bitten in the process. If you cover
The biggest croc I know of in southern Africa was shot by Boet van Bart on the Kafue River in Zambia and measured 18ft 4-inches
their eyes with a bag, they will lie still. Their reflexes are extremely fast; if you tap them on the end of the tail you have to be very quick to pull your hand away before they twist around and latch onto it. If a big croc gets you in the water, it will almost certainly kill you – though people do occasionally survive. We used to water-ski on the Zambezi above the Victoria Falls, and usually the noise of the motor would scare the crocs away, but on one occasion a friend fell in and swam for the bank, but was quickly seized in a terrible, bone-crushing grip across his back and pulled under. Before he passed out, he remembered struggling and trying to push his fingers into the croc’s eyes. He awoke lying on the bank, torn and bleeding. He survived, but bore terrible scars across his back and belly. We learned to take nothing for granted and never to underestimate crocodiles. ONCE I WAS called upon to shoot a crocodile that lived in a backwater of the Zambezi. It was said to have taken several local villagers while they were fetching water and to have pulled in and drowned a couple of cattle. On arrival at the village I asked for details and, accompanied by the most senior of the local hunters, I drove to a big, quiet stretch of water about a kilometre away. It was mostly surrounded by reeds, with a few openings where the villagers and their cattle could access the water – which was dark and obviously deep, so I was careful to keep my distance. Luka, my tracker, found a couple of places where the crocodile had come out onto the bank to bask in the sun. He pointed out the size of the feet and the huge marks of the body in the sand. I estimated the croc to be about 16ft long – quite capable of pulling a cow into the water. About 20m higher up the bank was a patch of bush in which Luka and I hid in wait. I had my open-sighted .458 loaded with 510gr soft-nosed bullets. We waited most of the day but the croc didn’t appear.
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That night I recalled my friend Ken Mommsen, a very experienced croc hunter, having said the way to get a crafty croc to expose his head was to tether a dog, which would bark when it spotted the croc. He said crocs love eating dogs and will come in close with their heads above water. So, in the morning I borrowed a villager’s dog and returned to the same spot, where I tied the dog to a tree on the bank, out in the open where it could be seen by the croc, then hid with Luka in the bushes. After a long period of silence, I was about to pack it in when the dog started whining and barking while trying to retreat from the water. Luka pointed to a nearby patch of reeds. There was a ripple and just the top of the croc’s head appeared, moving towards the dog. I rested my elbows on my knees and took aim, waiting for the head to be more exposed. When the croc was quite close, it raised its head higher, eyes fastened on the horrified dog. I drew in a breath of amazement – its head was huge. I aimed for the back of the head, a little behind and below the knobs, and squeezed off the shot. We heard the solid thwack of a hit and the huge animal sank quietly below the surface with hardly a ripple. A few minutes later the villagers rushed down to the river-
Crocodiles seldom attack in very shallow water, preferring to lurk in deep pools near the bank... they don’t often take humans 18 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
bank. “Where is the ngwenya?” they shouted. Luka replied, “It is dead, but has sunk in the water. We must wait for it to float. It will take two days to come up because it eats meat, which does not make much gas in the stomach.” I wasn’t prepared to wait there for so long, so I fetched my small inflatable boat from t h e L a n d Ro v e r a n d launched it. After gingerly probing the riverbed with a long pole, I felt something soft but resistant. It had to be the dead croc lying belly-up on the bottom. I had a rope, so I tied a noose on the end of the pole and started feeling for a foot by scraping along the body. Finally the pole contacted one of the legs and I tried repeatedly to hook the noose over its foot but kept failing. Eventually I slipped it over the leg and pulled it fast, then threw the end of the rope onto the bank and climbed out. Luka and I carefully pulled on the rope, and when we could see the body in the shallower water, I went in and fastened another rope around the croc’s nose. As I did this, the croc began squirming, almost giving me a heart attack, but it was only its nerves causing the movement, as often happens with freshly killed reptiles. With help from some villagers we slowly pulled the huge croc out and rolled it onto the bank – to exclamations of horror and awe from the onlookers. Luka began to skin it, and every time he cut into the skin, the croc would kick and squirm, causing a stampede – much to our amusement. When we opened up the belly, we found a few semi-digested animal parts, but no human remains. After that, the croc attacks stopped, so this one must have been the culprit. I sold the skin to a buyer in Livingstone for a good price – that was a bonus.
Our target showed twelve hits with six in, or touching, the black.
The Colt with a British accent
Pall Mall Peacemaker by ROBIN BARKES
The legendary western Colt looks out of place with the British bowler hat and brolly.
TH
ERICA VIL War, 1861-1865, ast g ict to be fought zle-loa e breech-loaders f-con tridges were fast g popu 73, the Colt facer the ss, Richard Jaroduce calibre Single n Army revo hich caught the nce Department ndard issue side arm of the United States Cavalry. Most of the last Indian Wars were fought after the Civil War, and the world was fascinated by tales of fierce fights with Indians (now called Native Americans), romantic stories of cowboys, daring outlaws, and deadly gunfighters of the Wild West. The most-mentioned gun was always Colt’s famous six-shooter. In later years, travelling Wild West shows run by Buffalo Bill Cody and others took the thrills of the West to England and Europe, and the star of the show was again the Colt revolver. Everybody interested in guns wanted one. By this time, a gentleman named Frederick August Kunow Waldemar von Oppen was running Colt’s London Agency at No 14 Pall Mall. In 1874 the Colt factory began shipping out their new breech-loading six-shooters to meet the demand of British customers. The guns were snapped up and many more were shipped to von Oppen. In 1876, he arranged for his agency address of 14 Pall Mall to be added to the Colt address stamped on the barrel. I recently examined one of these Colts and even had the wonderful experience of firing it. Words cannot describe the thrill that I felt when the gun owner passed me the old Colt. I suppose an ordinary fellow would be simply fascinated by the hunk of old iron, but to me the silver-grey patina and worn walnut grips seemed to come alive and I could feel the tingle of nearly one hundred and fifty years of history in my hand. You see, on checking the serial number on the revolver, we found it had been made in 1878. On closer examination the first
I suppose an ordinary fellow would be simply fascinated by the hunk of old iron, but to me the silver-grey patina and worn walnut grips seemed to come alive thing I noticed was the stamping along the 5½-inch barrel which read: COLT’S PAT. FIREARMS MFG.CO. HARTFORD, CONN, USA. DEPOT 14 PALL MALL, LONDON. Interestingly, when my friend bought the Colt on a London sale it came with a separate 4½-inch barrel stamped only with Colt’s Hartford address. Whether the gun was originally ordered with the second barrel or if this was a later acquisition is unknown. PEERING THROUGH AN empty cylinder chamber I was surprised to see a shoulder mid-way. This confused me so I looked for a calibre stamp and finally found a small one on the side of the trigger guard that read .45 CAL and, under that, a capital B. Scratching my head, I hauled out Norm Flayderman’s Cartridges of the World and found the regular .45 long cartridge used in the Colt SAA as well as two FROM LEFT: The short Fiocchi .455 Webley cartridge that did not fit, a .45 long for comparison, one .450 original round and one homemade job.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 21
This Peacemaker was bought with a separate 4½-inch barrel and shorter ejector housing.
ABOVE: The arrow indicates the location of the small .45 Cal B stamping. BELOW: It felt odd slipping the short cartridges into a Colt Peacemaker.
shorter cartridges – one called the .45 Webley and the other listed simply as the .450 revolver round. Obviously the Pall Mall Colt would take either of the two shorter rounds because the shoulder within the chamber would not allow the longer American cartridge to be inserted. I searched through a few other reference books and discovered two more short fat .45 cartridges, one referred to as the .45 Boxer and a very similar one called the .450 Eley. Now I was really confused. Could the .45 B stamping on the gun mean .45 Boxer? Besides that, British revolvers also used a .455 and .476 cartridge as well as a similar .442 Webley (for the Royal Irish Constabulary) and another called the .44 Webley. Heck, talk about cartridge confusion. The .45 Boxer cartridge was an underpowered number charged with only 13 grains of black powder and a 225 grain bullet. Phased out in 1875, it was replaced by the .450 Eley cartridge that retained the Boxer primer but was charged with 18 to 20 grains of powder and a 230 grain bullet. I also discovered that the stamp .45 B did NOT stand for .45 Boxer but .45 British, making me think any of the short .45 cart-ridges could be used in the Pall Mall Colt. Incidentally both the short rounds mentioned were used in British-made revolvers such as the Adams and the Webley, and both were pretty squiblike compared to the long American .45 cartridge charged with 40 grains of powder. The Pall Mall revolver is a Colt, but clearly spoke with a British accent. THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY we set up a target at fifteen long paces and I marked the shooting position with the toe of my boot. My pard passed me a full box of short Fiocchi cartridges and told me to load up. Flipping open the loading gate I slipped in a stubby cartridge – and found it would not go all the way in. So I tried another cartridge to discover that it too appeared to be just a tad too long. The shoulder within the
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In later years, travelling Wild West shows run by Buffalo Bill Cody and others took the thrills of the West to England and Europe, and the star of the show was again the Colt revolver
cylinder would not allow the round to be fully inserted. Closely examining the Fiocchi rounds I discovered they were head stamped with the calibre .455. Disappointed, I turned to my companion and grumbled, “I thought this gun could take any short .45 ammo”. My pal was equally confused and passing me a small box said, “Try these”. The box held a mishmash of old original cartridges as well as hand-loaded rounds made from cut down .45 cases reloaded with light charges of modern powder. I carefully selected six reloaded rounds that all easily slipped into the chambers. I have fired many Colt revolvers taking regular long cartridges so it sure felt strange feeding in those puny-looking little rounds. Going into action with the Pall Mall Colt I felt that I should have been wearing a bowler hat and carrying a brolly, or maybe wearing a red tunic. Taking a double-handed shooting stance I opened up with six slow, deliberate shots. When we walked up to the target, I found I had succeeded in putting two out of six slugs into the black and the rest were scattered around the bull. My companion then loaded up with four reloads and, for interest sake, two old original cartridges to see if they would fire. Also taking slow, deliberate aim and using a two-handed hold, he fired his first four shots. These were followed by a dull click as one of the original old cartridges failed to fire. The second old cartridge did fire – we heard the distinctive doef of a black powder load and got the usual cloud of smoke. The dud round was replaced and my pal took another shot. My companion’s shooting resulted in three hits in the black – well, four actually, if you count the bullet from the black powder round striking sideways and cutting the edge of the bull. Out of twelve shots, we put six into the black and six on the paper that would all have been body hits on a live target. Not too bad for a Colt made in 1878 firing a mixture of handloaded and ancient ammunition.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 23
Fishing for
Bushbuck by BRUCE TRUTER
some fishing stories you might hear, this one is true CK IN days arm a eg to k h ammunition hop i rt Alfre hing ta ater ar l. One fellow op and oduced We had a long h
en it didn’t cost as I always did, I went for a high neck a rifle well fed shot. The ram jumped forward, stumife and I owned bled, and then ran in the direction of the initially selling Kariega River. Before I could fire a secs and ammo as ond shot, he disappeared in the thorn alked into the trees. I knew he was hit. mself as Doug. A strip of thick bush separated the ut fishing and, river from a cattle path running parallel oug owned a to it. On the inland side of the path lay rm on the left fairly open country until the dense bush bank of the Kariega River, some 25km started about 150m away. To cut a long from Port Alfred. The farm was also and arduous story short, I followed the prime bushbuck country. Doug didn’t few blood spots to this path and along hunt but, as he and his young family liked venison and biltong, he held one or two hunts a year to which he invited some of the “tie the dogs loose” gentlemen of the district. These disruptive affairs never sat well with him. When I told him I didn’t fancy them either, he asked if I would do the hunting and we’d share the venison. I readily accepted. Thus began a friendship lasting to this day. Over the years I shot many bushbuck on Doug’s farm. In fact, most of the little I know about bushbuck I learned there. In those days my only centre-fire The lush vegetation around the Kariega River. rifle was a pre-owned Mannlicher-Schönauer .243 with iron sights. I it for a short way before it became too bought it for R120 from Pollock’s Sports dark to see. Calling myself all kinds of in East London. The rifle hadn’t started uncomplimentary names for wounding life as a .243. It had been re-barrelled the buck, I headed for Doug’s house to and the rotary magazine slightly altered borrow a torch. to take .243 cartridges. It was a handOn hearing my story, Doug said he’d some rifle. I never used a sling on it. come with me. He fetched a torch and Now, the story... his fox terrier and we used my truck to get as near as we could to the spot IT WAS A Saturday afternoon in June where I’d last found blood, then we and I was hunting on Doug’s farm. walked. Arriving at the marker I’d left, Around sunset I spotted a bushbuck ram the foxy put his nose to the ground and feeding at the edge of a big expanse of took off along the path. Doug indicated thorn trees about 30 metres away. I that we should just wait. After a minute slowly raised the Mannlicher and shot or so the dog began barking furiously. him. To this day I don’t know why, but We hurried in his direction. instead of aiming for the heart/lung area We approached to find that he was on the other side of the strip of bush separating us from the river. The bush LEFT: Thick bush is natural bushbuck habitat. was too thick for us to get through. As Photo Philip Huebsch.
we dithered about looking for an opening, we heard a splash and Doug said, “He’s jumped into the river.” It took us a good five minutes or more to reach the end of the strip of bush and jog back along the river bank to where the dog, now silent, stood looking at the water. Doug played the torchlight over the water, but nothing stirred. What now? IT WAS A day or two after new moon and the spring tide was pushing in strongly this far up the river, but we didn’t know how this would have influenced the ram. He’d obviously made for the far bank, but whether he’d reached it above or below a point opposite us was anybody’s guess. We decided to look upstream first. We hadn’t gone far when we saw the weak glow of an eye on the opposite bank. Doug switched off the torch to see if the eye wasn’t that of a genet or some other animal. When he switched it back on the eye was still there. The torch batteries weren’t strong enough to show any detail, but we surmised that, dead or alive, it must be the ram. Doug suggested we take his boat and go and fetch it. I said fine. We returned to the house to fetch the oars, and I suggested that Doug phone the farmer across the river to explain the situation and ask permission to enter his land. Doug said the farm had recently been sold and there was no one staying in the house. We grabbed the oars and headed for the boat which Doug kept some distance downriver from the ram’s position. The dog went with us. The boat was plenty heavy but we managed to wrestle it into the water and, with Doug holding my rifle and the dog standing in the prow like a ship’s figurehead, I rowed across to the opposite bank and made the boat fast. We intended to carry the ram to the boat rather than row against the tide.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 25
But there was no ram to carry. On reaching the spot, we discovered that what we’d taken for an eye reflecting the torchlight was an empty beer can some litterbug had thrown into the river. We searched up and down without finding anything of consequence. The dog showed no interest in proceedings. With the torch batteries now worse than useless, we gave up and returned to Doug’s house empty handed. I told Doug I’d be back next day to continue the search. He said he wouldn’t be at home and I must carry on. I returned with my own boat on the back of my bakkie. Named Rocket, it was far easier to row than Doug’s craft. I searched the far bank first, and the adjacent bush – nothing. Returning to Doug’s side, I searched the bank and the bush – again nothing. Had the ram perhaps drowned? If so, I had no idea how long it would take for the carcass to float to the surface. By that afternoon I was too clapped to continue. I had enough mud on me to start my own river; the thorns in my flesh would require surgery, and I walked with a stoop from looking at the ground all the time. Defeat stared me in the face. BUT I DON’T give up easily. The only place I hadn’t looked was in the river itself. But how would I do this? Diving was out. The cogs in my brain turned and eventually I came up with a plan: I would make a dredge of some sort and dredge the bottom. The river was too long to dredge all of it, but I could dredge a few hundred metres upstream and downstream from where the ram had jumped in. Even to my fertile mind it seemed like a very long shot, but it was all I could think of. I’d phone Doug that evening and tell him I would be back next day for a last chance look. On the way home I stopped at my shop for a box of big treble hooks. Using these and a length of galvanised pipe and some heavy fishing line, I concocted a passable dredge to drag along the riverbed by means of a rope attached to
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With the dredge in the water and my rifle and fishing rod in the boat, I began rowing from bank to bank Rocket, confident that the trebles would snag anything they contacted. I’d take a fishing rod with me to avoid having to answer embarrassing questions asked by fishermen I might bump into. Before falling asleep that night I pondered the potential consequences of a misplaced shot – not just for the hunter but for the animal. I knew that most wild animals die far more terrible deaths than being wounded by a hunter’s bullet. I had once come across the rotting carcase of a kudu bull wedged upside down between the sides of a narrow donga into which he had accidently fallen and subsequently starved to death. Buffalo are mauled to death by lions. Maybe adrenalin saw to it that initially the animal didn’t feel the panic and pain of such experiences, but I doubted that adrenalin would last right up to the animal’s death. But who knows? All I knew was that l – as a human being – must do everything I could either to kill the ram or know for certain that it was beyond me to do so. Having arranged for my wife to look after the shop that Monday, I was on the river good and early. As I was preparing to launch Rocket, a retired chap from Kenton-On-Sea (the village at the mouth of the Kariega) who occasionally visited my shop, went past in his boat. He was going fishing upriver – far enough, I
hoped, to where he couldn’t see me. We waved a greeting to each other. With the dredge in the water and my rifle and fishing rod in the boat, I began rowing from bank to bank. I started where the wounded ram had entered the water and then, moving a little downstream between each crossing, I made my way downriver for about 200 metres, which was as far as I intended going. Finding nothing, I returned to my starting point to continue my search upriver. It was about lunchtime when I reached my halfway mark. I went ashore for a break from rowing and to eat the sandwiches my wife had made for me the night before. To say I felt as though I was clutching at straws is putting it mildly. I would need more than fisherman’s luck to find the ram by this hit or miss method. I would dredge another hundred metres upriver and then throw in the towel. The tide was now running out. AS I SAT listlessly eating a sandwich I heard an outboard coming down the river. I swopped the sandwich for my fishing rod and began fiddling with it. It was the chap who had passed me earlier that morning. He stopped opposite me and asked if I had caught anything. No, not a thing I replied. We then chatted about the fishing for a while. As he was about to restart his outboard to leave, he said, “Oh, there’s a dead buck lying on the bank up there,” and pointed with his chin towards the next bend upriver. I made some mundane remark, though in my heart my knees were shaking, and he went on his way downriver. He was no sooner out of sight when I relaunched Rocket, yanked the dredge aboard and rowed the 200m or so to the bend in record time. I found the ram lying on the river-grass where the falling tide had left him. The bullet had hit him in the throat; it was probably damage to the trachea that caused him to drown. I loaded him into Rocket and headed for my truck, only this time I relaxed and let the tide take me downriver.
Who Gets the Blame? by IVAN SMITH
Bang, crackle and pop HEN A does thin ative equenc sn is to lo k for some e t the 195 as a ch were firs unded b ring unds Lo
hat has My nephew and his son have recently So there we were, under the roof, al reacdelved into black powder firearms. They pistol and rifle on separate shooting e. were hand-loading their hunting rifle tables. Ear muffs were offered but et, my ammunition, so it was not a big step to declined; tough old soldiers did not use gunfire black powder muzzle-loaders. The rifle is ear muffs and besides, black powder did ooting a handsome piece, of unknown make, not make much of a bang. Shot after school with two triggers, one stiffer than the shot. Bullets and wads rammed home but the other. The revolver is a cap-and-ball sixafter powder poured. Caps placed. mage. shooter. They are well-made replicas. Smoke and that special smell, dust and Later, hunting with bigger rifles did, but Both come with all the tools needed for splintered rock from strikes and misses. wearing ear protection was a fairly new starting and ramming bullets home. Old shooting memories blended with practice and even today, is not widePowder loads are pre-weighed and kept new experiences. spread in hunting. What a revelation; these As a young man born in old-type guns were pretty Rhodesia, fate decreed long years effective. Somehow I had of close contact with large calibre assumed they would be less than rifles, artillery, grenades and morlethal but that notion was quickly tar bombs. My ears took a batterchanged. The paper targets we ing for a cause I believed in. In set out took a hit every time addition to military service, I had smoke bellowed. This was good hunting aplenty, for the country stuff, and learning something new was wild and almost empty, with is always a pleasure. game of all sorts there for the While cleaning up and packing taking. In the end, a team of away, it dawned on me that the doctors assessed the damage and other two were speaking very awarded compensation when the softly with sort of cracked voices army called me up after police and there was a hissing in my service. As it turned out, high head coming from my ears. That The black powder replica revolver is a cap-and-ball six-shooter tone deafness was not much of a was three months back and my and the rifle of unknown make has double set triggers. handicap, and has gone largely ear drums are still recovering; the unnoticed except for the odd bird TV sound needs to be turned high on a branch chirping soundlessly. in small pill vials to save time when and loud voices sound as though they Fast forward several decades. Here re-loading. These old-fashioned weapons are coming from crackly wireless speakin the semi-desert of the folded mounwere outside of my field of knowledge so, ers. Soft sounds like doves cooing and tains of the East Cape, men still hunt when invited to a shoot at the range just the kettle boiling I hear, but louder when they can. There is also a shooting for the fun of it, I accepted. noises are still a problem. When is one range with a decent clubhouse set on old enough to know better? the side of a mountain that overlooks NOW: A CONFESSION. Never having As is the fashion today, misfortune fruit orchards with a covered veranda been in close proximity to black powder and oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own stupidity must be blamed and cement shooting benches. The shots, my assumption has always been on someone else. So now I am looking range runs up one side of a valley and that the old powder did not make as at Magnum. My finger goes out and it is there are other lanes on each side of much noise as the modern fast-burning pointing at them, and at Robin Barkes. the valley. One lane has gongs, another ones. Slower burning, slower expansion It is their fault for touting the black has falling plates. means softer bang, right? powder stuff. They made me do it.
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Inferior steel was allegedly used in certain pre-98 Mausers. This was a myth.
TH
EELS D for barrels, with rpora bers and some ompon e actions, are d to e reme mechanses. T nd correct forof th d an approprit tre re crucial in eving the nec strength and reads, usually trophic failures in guns, of which some may be attributed to faulty steel. In one instance, an allegedly flawed batch of 10 ML-II stainless steel possibly caused the catastrophic destruction of a firearm, a serious injury to the shooter and a subsequent lawsuit. But most of these reported failures remain unverified by a competent investigation. Fortunately they are rare. To establish the facts, a microscopic analysis of the crystal structure of the metal at and near the fracture has to be done. Interestingly, most metallurgical failures in guns are a consequence of poor heat treatment. I have seen this in a chipped firing pin; the small damage to the nose was due to brittle metal. On the other hand, bulged barrels and distortions in the action are usually the result of excessive stress from pressure, not faulty metal. The problem is that in the absence of a proper technical analysis, harmful hearsays can spread through our shooting community and especially on the internet. The following are examples of some truths and fallacies about gun metallurgy. THE SOFT MAUSER: A belief prevails that the small-ring Mauser actions, namely Models 91, 93, 94, 95 and 96, which preceded the popular Model 98,
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Metallurgical failures can be caused by poor heat treatment of steel. Above are examples of correctly treated and overheated steel from an old Bohler manual.
Gun Metallurgy by ROGER INGLE
Facts and fiction
Mauser M95s gave excellent service, some even more than a century on. Photo Paul Scarlata.
are weak. This is attributed to the supposedly inferior steel used in the rifles of Argentina, Sweden, Spain, Chile and Turkey. It is a myth. Firstly, all the 93 models were built in Germany by Mauser, Ludwig Loewe and DWM using German steel. In the case of the Swedish 96 Mauser, Swedish-made steel was of exceptional quality â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a high grade base alloyed with nickel, copper, and vanadium. To this day it is noted for its exceptional strength and corrosion resistance. I have been unable to find any reports of Mauser actions failing due to poor quality metal. Of course the M96 action is not as robust as the M98 that followed it, but is a little shorter and lighter and has some pleasing features. It is certainly strong enough, and elegantly designed for the military calibres it was
intended for, and the action serves well for many of the .30-calibres. Husqvarna produced an excellent rifle in .30-06 on this action. What then was the origin of this belief? Surprisingly, it was due to an unfortunate direction taken by
bered for various civilian medium calibres. This weakness was presumed due to comparison with the mechanically stronger M98 action, and this half-truth gave birth to the myth. Consequently, many cartridges that were expected to be used in these recycled
A tried and tested military workhorse, the Lee Enfield No 4 Mk 1.
the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Institute (SAAMI) in the United States. Undue concern was raised in 1926 about the large number of small-ring Mauser rifles being imported into the USA with the prospect of their supposedly weak actions being re-used in sporting rifles cham-
actions were required by SAAMI to have low maximum average pressures (MAP). For example, the military 7x57mm cartridge designed for the supposedly weak Spanish Mauser was loaded for a MAP not exceeding 50 370psi, and it is unlikely that Spanish Mausers in military service had a
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The M1903 Springfield rifle. Some of these rifles reportedly suffered chamber fractures.
habit of exploding at this pressure. However, in the USA, SAAMI reduced this to 46 000psi. Both measures used the copper units of pressure (CUP) method. For the 6.5x55mm Swedish cartridge, SAAMI chose 51 000psi while the original military cartridge was specified for 55 110psi. This is a considerable difference but, readers, please note, this observation does not sanction ever going beyond the limits published in load tables. However, it does explain why some European-made ammunition is more potent than its American counterpart. For the technically minded, the MAP used by SAAMI is the 4% standard deviation from the average pressure measured in a test of five shots.
prudent and reasonable. In our shooting sports this is the norm for any veteran firearm. Unfortunately, an article followed in the American Rifleman, advising Enfield No 4 users to have their rifles checked by a gunsmith. Good advice – but for the following. I quote (the italics are mine): “If there are any signs of roughness or erosion in the barrel immediately ahead of the chamber, or any other visible defects in the barrel or chamber walls, then the barrel should be regarded as suspect and the rifle should not be fired until it has been properly fitted with a new barrel.” This is a misleading remark. Erosion had nothing to do with the reported failures. Erosion is often seen in retired British .303 rifles, especially considering that they may have fired thousands of rounds. The condition is due to the cordite propellant used in the service cartridges. It had a high burning temperature which left its mark in the lead into the rifling after a lifetime of use. The damage appears as a misty, satin-like surface just ahead of the chamber at the start of the bore. Such erosion does not occur in the chamber nor does it cause a weakness there. It is vexing that a single misuse of a word can bring the safety of countless numbers of these fine old rifles into question. q
THE BURSTING ENFIELD: In 1987, a report by the British Ministry of Defence followed an investigation of two incidents where the chambers of Enfield No 4 rifles had fractured. It was found that extensive crazed cracking in the chambers was the cause. Crazed cracking is a myriad network of small interconnected cracks. It’s a metallurgical issue. Understandably, no extended investigation followed, as No 4 rifles were no longer in service and were mostly used for cadet drill. Also, the occurrences in just two retired rifles of which over a million had been made had to be considered. The conclusion was an instruction that if No 4 rifles were to be used for shooting, they should be inspected for metal integrity, especially in the chamber and An M16 rifle and bolt. bore. This instruction was
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THE SHATTERING M1903 SPRINGFIELD: A few early M1903 Springfield rifles suffered chamber fractures which were attributed to burnt steel. General Hatcher, author of Hatcher’s Notebook, discovered that on one occasion, large bundles of bar-stock destined for barrels was heated to a forging temperature which was too high. The hot-forming was done to upset one end of the bar to a larger diameter for the chamber end of the barrel to have sufficient material for the machine-profiling that followed. Burnt steel is a condition where the crystalline structure, which gives the steel its strength, is compromised. Such occurrences are hardly significant considering the scale of production of the Springfield rifle. Metallurgical deficiencies were usually revealed by the compulsory five-shot proof test using ‘blue pill’ cartridges, so named for their blue colour indicating a 50% over-charge. Much like its contemporary European and British bolt-action war horses, the M1903 Springfield is a reliable rifle of excellent design. THE CRACKED M16: Some failures in the bolts of M16 rifles were investigated by the US Military Academy’s Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. g Their envi le cce to inoc l r
Interestingly, most metallurgical failures in guns are a consequence of poor heat treatment microscopes, scanning electron microfiling. They had to be thick-walled in s c o p e s a n d c o m p u t e r m o d el l i n g relation to the bore diameter because resources revealed that the fracture the metal was usually weakened by initiated at a localized corrosion pit and micro pockets of gas and inclusions of was then propagated by mechanical foreign material. This is why collectors fatigue. The localised deep corrosion pit seldom risk firing early antique pieces. was caused by imperfect surface heat Prior to the 20th century, most shotgun treatment of the steel in that specific barrels were formed by heating wire or area and possibly neglected care of the strips of iron and steel together while gun. In addition to this, the proximity of winding and beating them around a a sharp notch in the design of the bolt mandrel. The resulting weld fused it may have contributed to the advance of into a more-or-less homogeneous the crack. Shooters should note that pitting in high stress areas is potentially dangerous. Although not strictly a metallurgical issue, the additional problem of sharp features such as the notch described in the report is worth explaining. It is useful to imagine lines of force in a mechanical component under physical strain. The distribution of the stresses can be repre- A lever-action in .444 Marlin that suffered catastrophic failure. sented by straight lines in a smooth bar. However, when encountering the many cormetal tube. This was Damascus steel. ners as in the complexities of a rifle An etching and polishing process bolt, they will tend to converge at correvealed the attractive figure in the ners much like F1 cars do when taking metal. Old Damascus barrels are the best line through the apex of a always suspect and certainly inadsharp corner. This clustering of force equate for nitro loads. There are some lines creates a weak spot of concencontradictions to this remark on the trated stress. Where possible, engininternet but they are wrong. A non-deeers relieve such a stress point by structive determination is all but designing a gentle radius to partially impossible to do and visual inspection relieve it. is insufficient. However, some may be considered safe for a prescribed black EARLY GUN STEELS AND THEIR powder load if they are Belgian or BritWEAKNESS: Antique firearm barrels ish barrels bearing proof marks. were forged from iron or cast in bronze At the same time, steel metallurgy or brass and then cold-formed to the was rapidly advancing. Two processes final shape by primitive machining and followed the ancient method of melting
iron in a crucible. A system called the Bessemer process blew air through the iron smelt to burn off impurities, and later, the open hearth furnace using oxygen followed. To this day it is sometimes used as the first step before the electric or vacuum furnaces to make the hi-tech alloys in our guns. Barrel strength runs parallel to these developments. The Snider Enfield Mk III rifles were made of rather primitive steel with very low carbon content. The breech block was forged from rolled billet material, machined and then possibly heat-treated by quenching in oil to provide some surface hardening. Martini Henry rifles had superior steel, most likely made in the Bessemer process. It was alloyed with some nickel and a little silicon. It is possible that some of the components were given a case-hardening treatment in molten salt. Scientific studies of catastrophic firearm failures, most of which were done at military facilities, show that very few can be attributed to metallurgical problems. Most are caused by obstructions in the bore such as a cleaning patch or a bore-sight bushing. But less frequent and more surprising causes have been reported such as oil or grease on the cartridge or a soft cartridge base. Some were recounted by General Hatcher in his meticulously kept notes. The most common were ballistic faults such as a shot following a lodged bullet in the bore. By far the most such failures occur in the civilian world through incorrect charges or wrong bullets in handloaded cartridges. This is some food for thought.
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Roadside Dispatches by ROYCE BUCKLE illu stration FRED MOUTON
Tales of rural travel in 1950s Tanganyika
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RING 950S, i ral Tanganyika nzania ul of co ial officials were ponsi t trac of wilderness, uding ny wi animals, tribal ople an armers ontact between n and unavo ble, and seldom uld a d s witho me sort of drama – sometimes serious; other time out humour. Road trips were selnt. ighlands, west of Mpanda. A few times a year, I would make trips to Tabora to buy supplies or to have major repair work done on one of our vehicles by a Chinese family who ran a garage. I usually stopped to deliver fresh produce to the Mpanda mine, stayed the night with my friend, Jack Carlyon, and left early next morning for Tabora. The trip was only 220 miles, but depending on road conditions, could take anything from five to ten hours. On one trip I took with me a farmhand named Funga Mesa whom I employed to scout for elephants for me on the Highlands. Grinding along in the vehicle, I was constantly braking and changing gears due to the deplorable road conditions. As we rounded a bend, a fellow sitting at the roadside suddenly leapt up and stood in the middle of the road with both arms raised, one hand grasping a single shoe, the other frantically signalling me to stop. He was dressed in khaki shorts and what would have been a neat white shirt were it not soaked transparent with sweat and clinging to his skin. He came around to my window, his heavily perspiring face contorted with anguish. He was so distraught he gave no customary greeting; all he could manage was, “Sadia, Bwana!” (Help, sir!)
Contact between man and beast was unavoidable, and seldom would a day pass without some sort of drama tramped all over a patch in the road. Now I noticed that bicycle tracks led along the road to this point then ceased, but strangely, there was no sign of any bicycle. That’s odd, I thought. There were no fresh human footprints or vehicle tracks which might indicate that the bicycle had been taken. Only this man’s other shoe lay in the road. AT A LOSS for any other course of action, I told Funga Mesa to take up the bull’s spoor, which was easy to track. We followed for about 70 yards, then came upon a mound of freshly broken green leafy branches piled up to a height of about three feet. I was a bit startled now, as I’d heard that some elephants, after killing a human, had been known to cover the corpse in this manner. Had some passing local picked up the bicycle and made off across the veld, only to be attacked by the elephant? Unlikely, but even if so, where then was the bicycle? There was still no sign of it. We scouted about the spot looking for any spoor that might solve the mystery. Then Funga Mesa spotted something glinting beneath the pile of leafy branches. He pulled
IT TRANSPIRED HE had just been chased by an elephant. I asked him to explain but the poor fellow was almost incoherent. Eventually I got out of him that he had been riding his bicycle along the road when he came across a big bull elephant feeding at the roadside. As the elephant appeared calm and took no notice of him, he thought he would just quietly sneak past and be on his way. However, as he neared the bull, it suddenly swung around and, trumpeting with rage, charged straight at him. Now a strangled silence followed, so I said, “And then?” Suddenly breaking into English, he shrilled, “I drop the bicycle and run up the road at great speed!” I couldn’t help laughing, which left him staring at me, bewildered. I told the man to get into the cab. He ran around the front, climbed in next to Funga Mesa and slammed the door shut. Pointing down the road, I asked him, “How far?” “Mbali kidogo,” he assured me – just a little bit far. His ‘little bit far’ turned out to be three miles. No wonder he was sweating if he’d run three miles, I thought to myself. This part of the road was also sandy, which would have made his run even harder. Then we saw elephant tracks ahead, and signs that a commotion had taken place in the road. We carefully looked all around to see if the elephant was still about, as this was fairly open miombo country, but saw no sign of him. The bull had
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 33
away some of the foliage, and there lay the mangled remains of… the bicycle! I’d heard that elephants can take a dislike to motor vehicles, especially if the hooter is blown, but a bicycle? Could it be that this old bull had just had enough of the creaking, tika-tika-tika sounds of these infernal machines disturbing his peace? I couldn’t help laughing as I drew a mental picture of the angry bull chasing off the rider then returning to furiously tusk the bicycle, pick it up and carry it off into the bush, where he stomped it into a mangled wreck before covering the remains with branches. Funga Mesa started to tease the man, but he was still in shock; all he wanted was for me to drive him to his home 60 miles up the road. He vowed to never try another trip like that. Sometime later, I did a trip on this same dreadful road between Mpanda and Tabora, after an Indian trader’s driver had told me that, since I did not have a heavy load, and I had tyrechains, I shouldn’t have too much trouble. Again, Funga Mesa accompanied me. We left Jack Carlyon’s house about daybreak and were doing pretty well without using the chains. A Public Works Department (PWD) road gang had to be constantly fixing this road, and their shacks were about 60 miles from Mpanda. The gang was in residence at the time, and of course, they stopped me to ask if I would buy them a few items in Tabora, tobacco always topping the list. It always amused me that they had picks, spades, crowbars, axes and hoes, but not a wheelbarrow in sight. Asked why, they’d reply that all the wheelbarrows stood broken at the depot. Of the gang of about twelve, I never found more than six working.
the lioness’s head and neck protruding into the hut’s interior. The headman explained that he had waited for her to get this far and then struck with his axe. I could see that he had almost severed the head from the neck. I had to eat my words. This was rural life in Tanganyika… The road gang then told me that their overdue food supply had not arrived; there was no food in the camp and they begged me to take them back to Mpanda. We loaded all their tools and kit, and as an afterthought, I told them to load the lioness on the truck as well. A few strongly objected, saying it’s a shetani (devil) and what if it wakes up in the truck? However, I insisted, and they loaded the cat. Arriving at the PWD depot in Mpanda, I drove through the open gates, parked a little way from the offices and told everyone to offload but to leave the lioness on the back. Recalling my own initial scepticism on being told the lion story, and well knowing how dismissive government officials could be of the workers’ problems, I wanted the Italian supervisor to see for himself, then I would take the carcass away. His office door was open so I k n o c ke d a n d wa l ke d i n . I attempted to describe the workers’ problem with lions, and told him their food had run out. Angrily, he strode to the door and started to berate the gang, shouting that they always talk nonsense about lions. As for the food delivery, his truck was broken down, what was he supposed to do? Besides, it was only a few days late. I could see there was no point in trying to reason with him; he had worked himself up into a state and was angrily jabbering in Italian, English and kiSwahili. But with this outburst of his, and after what I had witnessed back at the hut, my sympathies lay with the gang. I walked back to my truck and told Funga Mesa to close the upper doors, leave the tailgate down and climb into the back of the truck via the open tailgate. I then quietly told him of my intentions, climbed into the cab and drove up to the office entrance. A grinning Funga Mesa heaved the lion carcass through the open tailgate to land with a thud on the ground outside the office door, and I hastily drove off. The supervisor was a big bloke with a matching temper, so I didn’t want to hang around. I drove down to the shops, where Funga Mesa climbed out and closed the tailgate. I topped the tank up with petrol then had something to drink. By now it was after office hours, so I drove to the home of the District Officer. I explained what had transpired and told him I had dropped off the lioness at the office. He roared with laughter. Most colonials saw humour as the best remedy for the many dramatic episodes of… just another day in Tanganyika.
The headman approached me with the usual greeting, “Jambo, Bwana.” At my polite “Habani gani?” he gravely replied, “The news is very bad…”
THREE DAYS LATER, on our return trip, we arrived at the road gang’s camp to find the whole crowd standing in the road, frantically waving for us to stop. Funga Mesa said, “Maybe there is hardship.” The headman approached me with the usual greeting, “Jambo, Bwana.” At my polite “Habani gani?” he gravely replied, “The news is very bad…” He said that many lions had attacked them in the night. When I expressed scepticism about this story, they all shouted, “It is true, come and see!” We walked to their sleeping hut where I saw lion tracks all around. The headman then dourly informed me that he had killed one of the lions early that morning. Knowing they’d have no firearms, I again expressed scepticism. Beckoning me, he led us around the side of the hut, where I was astonished to see the back and hind quarters of a lioness protruding from a hole at the foot of the hut wall, her head and shoulders out of sight. The headman explained that the lioness had burrowed under the wall to enter the hut. He then invited me inside, where I saw
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Covid-19 and Hunting ALTHOUGH OFFICIAL FIGURES are not yet available of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the hunting industry, initial indications are that it is already tragic. It is estimated that overseas hunters contribute more than R1.9 billion to South Africa’s GDP (according to the latest figures I could find) while contributions from local hunters are estimated to be more than double this. Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA) President, Dries van Coller, says indications are that the situation will be catastrophic for its members. He says many outfitters returned from American and European hunting shows at the beginning of the year full of hope for a good hunting season. Now it is a different story as a lot of overseas hunters have postponed their hunts indefinitely or cancelled. Many of the overseas clients have also in the meantime lost their jobs. Van Coller says numerous professional hunters now do not have jobs while other workers are on unpaid leave and in some cases have even been retrenched. He says the chain reaction is that many supporting businesses are suffering financially. These include guest houses, government with the issuing of permits, taxidermists, those who buy
and distribute the meat, etc. Van Coller says the industry’s GDP contribution to the country will not be near the estimates of the past years. “That is to say if we can hunt again this season?” One of the most concerning factors is the economic situation facing the industry’s overseas client base. The economies of America and Europe have forced hunters to reconsider their disposable income. Many who wanted to hunt in South Africa and Africa will first have to take care of their businesses and families. The industry is in for a very long recovery period even if lockdowns are lifted and overseas travel is opened up soon, he says. CHASA CEO, Stephen Palos, says like all the other economic sectors affected by Covid-19, the local hunting industry stays hopeful that some degree of normality will return soon. “The more optimistic belief is that it would be in time for this hunting season”. Personally, he thinks that “near normality” will not be soon. Most of the local game farmers have lost almost all of their overseas market for this year and everything possible must be done to save the local market. Locally the market would not be near what it has been in the past, he says.
by ANDRÉ GROBLER Palos believes that even with relief on the local lockdown, this would still leave the market with half, or less than half, the turnover of a typical year. The time available and the personal circumstances of each local hunter will have a major effect on how the remainder of the hunting season plays out. People who have the time and money to hunt mostly fall within the Covid-19 high-risk category. They will be far more reluctant to travel, while the younger, bigger, economically active group of hunters will have to get back to work due to the economic situation. Palos says the hunting industry must plan for the worst for the rest of 2020. He says the professional and recreational hunting associations must help in any way possible, for example by marketing hunts when the current situation changes. Notwithstanding this, the next hunting season will still be affected by Covid-19 due to travel issues. Although hunters are more adventurous and more knowledgeable about overseas travel conditions, hunting might be the earliest form of tourism to recover, but it would be by no means normal. In the meantime, the hunting industry has informed the Minister of Environmental Affairs that the local hunting market would be a safe area to test the ‘return to normality’ in the tourism sector.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 35
SPORTT
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Reliable Optics Ready AR-15 by ANDRÉ GROBLER
’S AR-15 variant, the M&P15 Sport II chambered for the 5.56 and .223 Rem actory-fitted sights, a 150mm long Picaceiver and a 28mm integrated Picatin y eir first AR-15 style rifle in 2006 a d have veral variants for recreational a d professhooting. The M&P15’s roots e in the late when the Armalite Corporat n developed a litary rifle called the AR-1 . Colt bought the rights from Armalite d continued to produce a civilian v sion under the name AR-15. The mil ary version, the M-16, became one of e US military’s best-known rifles, although ot for reliability.
SMITH & WESSON’S AR-15 variant, the M&P15 Spor Optics Rea rifle.
THE M&P1 USES the direct impingement system whic , during powder combustion, bleeds off just eno h high-pressure gas from the barrel to cycle the ion. This gas travels along a tube above the barrel thrust the bolt carrier assembly rearwards, eje ng the spent case and engaging the trigger-sear for e next shot. A return spring forces the bolt assembly forward to push the next round from the magazine into the chamber. This reliable system is used by many manufacturers of AR-15 style semi-autos which are highly popular with sport and recreational shooters the world over, likewise in South Africa.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 37
The six-position collapsible stock.
«
The flash suppressor.
The gas block with Picatinny rail and standard M4-type handguard with ventilation holes.
« 38 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
The bevelled magazine-well.
Fieldstripped M&P15 with the bolt assembly and the charge handle on the left.
The M&P15’s two-part receiver is aluminium alloy, coated inside and out with a durable, corrosion-resistant Armornite black finish. The upper section fits tightly onto the lower with no discernible free play. The integral trigger guard is spaciou enough to accommodate a gloved finger. All the controls are grooved for secure grip in all weather conditions. The safety-lever is on the left side of the receiver above the pistol grip; push up for ‘Fire’ and down for ‘Safe’. The shooting hand’s thumb finds it naturally for fast disengagement when shooting against the clock. The bolt-release lever is above and ahead of the trigger guard. The magazine release button is on the right side, well within reach of my trigger finger for quick release. A hinged, spring-loaded cover keeps dirt out of the ejection port. There is also a forward-assist between grip and charge-handle to slam the bolt closed if a round fails to fully chamber; this feature was also on earlier AR-15 style rifles used by military and police. The 16-inch threaded barrel is of 4140 steel with six grooves and a 1:9 twist suitable for 55gr to 75gr bullets, and has an A2-style flash suppressor. The M4-type polymer handguard has ventilation holes top and bottom. The polymer OEM stock has six positions and is collapsible with an aluminium buffer tube. To adjust stock length, depress a lever on the underside and slide the stock to the desired position where it locks into place. With the stock fully forward, the rifle’s overall length is 88.9cm. The sling attachment lies just ahead of the butt-plate. The polymer pistol-grip is standard AR-15 style. The rifle weighs 3.2kg and comes with a 30-round Magpul PMAG. To fieldstrip, make the rifle safe and, with the bolt closed, push the takedown pin (above and behind the trigger) inward from the left and pull it from the right until it stops. Pivot the lower receiver section down and away from the upper. Pull the charging handle to the rear and remove the bolt carrier
The M&P15 Sport II performed flawlessly during our tests.
assembly. Remove the charging handle by pulling it back to the takedown notch then down out of the upper receiver. Take out the bolt assemb l y. R e a s s e m b l e i n reverse order. HEAVY RAINS NECESS I T A T E D a n i n d o o r A 40mm group shot during the free standing exercise. range session. Our test rifle was supplied with a Bushnell red-dot sight and Frontier 55gr .223 Remington Spire Point ammo. The first two freehand shots from 25m landed in the A-zone, 9mm apart. Various similar exercises resulted in groups of up to 40mm. Two shots fired over an x-bag landed 25mm apart. Several doubletap exercises, fired from the ready position and against the clock, consistently placed four shots within 90mm. Magazines fell freely during mag-changes; inserting fresh mags was made easy by the slightly flared
magazine-well, and the bolt release lever worked smoothly to re-impose battery for the next shot. The M&P15 Sport II performed flawlessly during our tests. It provides high fire-power while being very comfortable to The first two free standing shots at shoot, and is ideal for sport 25m were 9mm apart. shooting. As it comes with no sights or optics, you are free to choose your own. It accepts all AR-15 type accessories and replacement parts by Magpul, including their folding MBUS rear and front sights, MOE stocks, grips and handguards, MVG vertical grip and PMAG 30- and 50-round magazines. I recently saw an M&P15 Optic Ready rifle at Safari Outdoor retailing for R18 995. For other stockists, contact the importer, Inyathi Sporting Supplies on 012- 808-9911.
Frontier 55gr SP ammo and 30-round Magpul magazine.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 39
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TICLE st f r Big Ivory” by k Rall m’s February ition der response out e real and perThis p unpublished four ary tusks has d a tr h I have kept et for a quart a century, and r reasons that proceed. This photo became a Pandora’s Box, placing me in an invidious position – obliged to reveal information that will doubtless cause sadness and disappointment. It’s a long and complex story… Dr Rall’s text and captions indicated the tusks were shot by the ‘German’ appearing centrally in the photo, the two sets weighing 240lbs and 220lbs a side. Reader Dries Gouws responded to say the bigger tusks were shot by Harry Manners who appears slightly behind and to the right of the ‘German’ (i.e. on the German’s left side), and these tusks now hang in the Maputo Museum in Mozambique. Dries is correct in that the man on the right is Harry Manners, so it is understandable that he believes these to be the famous Manners tusks – “the Monarch of Murripa” as Harry described the elephant in his book Kambaku. However, the tusks in the picture are not those of the Monarch of Murripa, though they are the tusks presently hanging in the Maputo Museum. I HAD NOT seen the photo when I edited the text, hence didn’t correlate it with the stated weights. When the article appeared, Royce Buckle, an ex-East African PH, and I discussed the tusks, agreeing that the weights could not be right. Next, Bill Feldstein (of .700NE fame) emailed to say the tusks in the photo clearly do not weigh 240lbs. Likewise, Ludo Wurfbain, publisher of Rowland Ward’s Records of Big Game, on receiving his copy of Magnum, emailed me a similar message. Bill Feldstein contacted American gunwriter Joe Coogan, who also challenged the weights, and opined that the central figure in the photo was Wally
42 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
L–R: Gregor Woods, Harry Manners and Leo Kröger provide scale to show the size of the tusks in the Maputo Museum.
The tusks in the picture are not those of the “Monarch of Murripa”, though they are the tusks presently hanging in the Maputo Museum Johnson, Harry Manners’s mentor and hunting partner. Joe Coogan emailed Wally Johnson’s son Walt, an ex-PH, retired in America aged 80. Walt positively confirmed that the central figure in the photo was his father, who shot both elephants, and Walt clearly remembers, as a boy, seeing the very same photo in the Johnson family album, adding that while his father was away on a trip, his mother, needing money, sold both sets of tusks to a trader for a total of £300 sterling. This fact is important and will come up again later.
Joe Coogan and Walt Johnson emailed me to confirm this. So we know for sure who shot the two elephants whose tusks appear in the photo. We asked Dr Rall where he’d obtained this photo and the tusk weights. He said ex-Mozambican Otilio de Vasconzales, who features in his article, gave him the photo and details years ago. Dr Rall accepted Otilio’s word in good faith. The clincher was an email from Leon Hansmeyer showing an enlargement of a section of the tusk held by the man on the far right of Dr Rall’s photo, reveal-
Prior to Mozambique’s independence in 1975, its most famous hunters were Harry Manners, Wally Johnson, ‘Baron’ Werner von Alvensleben, Leo Kröger and Adelino Serras Pires ing a particular stain on the tusk roughly at his forehead level. Leon also attached an enlargement of the same section of tusk which appears on the cover of the latest (Rowland Ward’s) edition of Harry Manners’s book Kambaku – ostensibly the tusks of the “Monarch of Murripa”. The identical stain appears, conclusively revealing these to be one-and-the-same tusk. I SAID EARLIER that the tusks in Dr Rall’s photo were not those of the Monarch of Murripa. Leon’s evidence would appear to prove me wrong, would it not? Well, let me explain. The tusks on the cover of the latest edition of Harry’s book (and also inside every edition of Kambaku) were not those of the Monarch of Murripa. I have known this for 25 years. Dries Gouws, Jürgen Hoffmann and others can be excused for assuming the big tusks in Dr Rall’s photo were the famous Manners tusks – after all, Harry does appear in the photo. However, in addition to Walt Johnson’s very credible testimony that his father shot both elephants, the photo shows Wally Johnson as the focal figure. Harry Manners is standing off to one side and slightly behind Wally, partially obscured. Wally’s central position and stance clearly lay claim to both sets of tusks. Not convinced? Okay – study both photos closely. The tusks in Dr Rall’s photo have not been cleaned. Those on Harry’s book cover have (though the tell-tale stain remains). Secondly, in Dr Rall’s photo, Harry is clean-shaven. On his book cover he is bearded. Time has passed between the two occasions. Walt Johnson’s mother later sold the
ABOVE: Harry Manners (left) and Wally Johnson during their early Mozambique years – late 1930s or early 1940s. BELOW: ‘Baron’Werner von Alvensleben (left) and Leo Kröger in the early 1960s.
tusks to a trader, remember? The photo on (and in) Harry’s book was taken on the sidewalk outside the shop of the Indian trader. Harry asked for the tusks to be carried out into the sunlight for the photograph. I knew the person who took the photo. In Part 3 of this article I’ll reveal who it was and how I know this – as I said, it’s a long and complex story. If still not convinced, please bear with me – I have further compelling evidence. Prior to Mozambique’s independence in 1975, its most famous hunters were Harry Manners, Wally Johnson, ‘Baron’ Werner von Alvensleben, Leo Kröger and Adelino Serras Pires. After the Portuguese government banned unrestricted ivory hunting, Von Alvensleben formed the sport-hunting safari
company Moçambique Safarilandia, employing Manners, Johnson and Kröger as PHs. Pires started his own safari company. With independence and the ensuing civil war, all but Kröger left Mozambique. Manners worked for Kruger National Park in SA as a fencebuilder and tourist officer then retired to an old age home in Nelspruit – which was when I first met him. Johnson joined Safari South in Botswana, where his son Walt was already a PH. Von Alvensleben moved to Portugal. Pires guided safaris elsewhere in Africa. Kröger remained in Lourenço Marques (Maputo) running a commercial fishing boat and export-import business. After the civil war ended, ex-Safarilandia PH, Luis Pedro Sa è Mello, visited Maputo where, in the museum, he saw
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 43
Gregor Woods (left) and Harry Manners discussing ivory in the Maputo Museum in 1995.
a huge pair of tusks. The curator said these were Manners’s “Monarch of Murripa” tusks. They’d been stolen from the Indian trader who’d bought them. After an indeterminate period, they were recovered by the Frelimo police and donated to the Beira Museum, who presented them to Samora Machel, President of independent Mozambique. They hung in his Presidential palace for some years before he presented them to the Maputo Museum. LUIS PEDRO INFORMED Von Alvensleben, who informed Magnum’s Brian Marsh, who informed me. Wanting a positive identification of the tusks, I flew with Harry Manners to Maputo,
44 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
where we stayed with Leo Kröger, then 82 years young. I was now told the official Rowland Ward measurer who’d registered Harry’s “Monarch of Murripa” tusks had been a missionary named David Hall, then working in Lourenço Marques. Regrettably, I did not think to query when this had taken place. However, I knew an American missionary named David Hall, a Magnum subscriber who worked in Togo, West Africa and had invited me to hunt there. By 1995, however, he was living back in America. The problem I now faced was that the tusks on the museum wall, while huge, did not appear to weigh 185 and 183lbs as registered in Rowland Ward’s. They were bolted to the wall facing the main
stairway, high up, and the museum would not take them down for weighing, which I considered crucial for positive identification. The tusks had been scraped clean but retained some marks which I was hoping Harry might recognise. However, we could not get close enough. If we stood beneath them, their bases were a metre above our heads, their tips three metres higher. If we climbed the stairway to their level, we were several metres away. They were also splayed widely outwards, not like those in the two photos, making comparisons difficult. One tusk appeared slightly thicker than its mate. The accompanying plaque, in Portuguese, seemingly posed a mystery. The curator translated: “Tusks from an elephant shot in 1946 in the Manjacaze district of Chibautu, weighing 68kg (150lbs) and 65kg (143lbs) respectively,… holding a position of high standing in the scale of the world’s records. Being on display at the Beira Museum and afterwards in the palace of the President of the Republic, they were put on trust to this Museum in 1980 by decision of His Excellency, the President of the Republic, Samora Moses Machel.” These weights appeared to match the tusks on the wall. The story of these being Harry’s tusks, stolen from the trader and recovered 30-odd years later by Frelimo police, was clearly false, since the plaque gives the district and year in which the bull was shot – where could this information have come from? Readers please note these plaque details, and the tusk weights, for they will come up again presently. Harry said he couldn’t be sure whether these were his tusks. I wrote an article about this (Magnum, November 1995), leaving the question hanging. If I’d known then what I learned later, my article would have been very different. Incidents during and after our trip made it clear that, at 78, Harry’s memory was failing him. Then, later – after I’d written the article – we were discuss-
ing ivory, and Harry told me that not long after he’d sold his Monarch of Murripa tusks to the Indian trader, he’d visited the shop, and was angry when the trader told him he’d sawn the tusks into shorter sections to crate them for shipment to India. I believed this, and of course it immediately struck me that it meant Harry had known all along that the tusks in the museum were not his. He misled me. I couldn’t blame him one bit. Harry and I had become close friends. I’d thoroughly enjoyed our trip, learned much, and formed a lasting and highly entertaining friendship with Leo Kröger. Harry was frail and near the end of his life (he died two years later). He had nothing, and lived a dismal life in an old age home. Magnum offered him a fully paid trip to his old country after a 20-year absence, to stay with his good friend from their old hunting days. Harry went along with it. Who in his circumstances wouldn’t? I was glad for him. And I chose not to divulge this information, not wanting to hurt Harry in his waning years.
The last photo taken of Harry Manners, April 27, 1997, with Kevin Pickard. Harry died a week later. Photo courtesy Anne Pickard.
1946 by the big game hunter Wally Johnson who sold them to a merchant in Beira, Damodar Anandjee, who donated them to the Museum later. Their weights are 68.500 kg and 66.000 kg (151.015 lbs and 145.504 lbs), respectively, according to an information kindly supplied by the Mayor of Beira, Engineer J.R. Simöes Cordeiro. Those tusks, in view of the data contained in the Rowland Ward’s Records of Big Game would place Moçambique in the 21st place in the list of world records.” Compare this data with that of the plaque in the Maputo Museum. Allow for differences in place-name spellings (1974 Colonial spellings were later Africanized), and for insignificant differences in weight. I think you’ll agree, these are the same tusks. Those in Maputo’s museum are the Wally Johnson tusks that appear in both Dr Rall’s photo and in Harry’s book. The photo I took in the Maputo Museum reveals the right-hand tusk to have the same tell-tale stain. Furthermore, I suspect these are the same tusks at 35th position in Rowland Ward’s 2020 edition, shot in Mozambique, owned by the Mozambique government, now weighing 149 and 143lbs due to further drying out since 1981, the entry date. Both are 8ft long but differ in circumference by 4½ inches. In my April Gallery piece on the Dr Rall photo, I said if you paired the tusks according to colouration, one tusk appeared slightly thicker than its mate.
Harry was frail and near the end of his life. He had nothing, and lived a dismal life in an old age home
I SUBSEQUENTLY CAME to doubt his story about the trader – I’ll explain why in Part 2 of this article – but either way, it did not change the fact that the big tusks in Harry’s book were not those of his Monarch of Murripa. You see, after our trip, I set about locating the missionary Dave Hall. He’d moved to Portugal, but when his Magnum subscription finally caught up with him, he wrote to me on 16 October, 1996, saying he’d been keenly following the Manners tusks odyssey and was indeed the David Hall responsible for registering Harry’s tusks with Rowland Ward’s. However… he had not weighed them – nor even seen them. Dave Hall’s sojourn in Mozambique and friendship with Harry took place in 1974-75 just before independence. Dave wrote: “Being an official measurer for Rowland Ward, with a picture supplied by Harry [doubtless
the same one Harry put in his book – GW] I wrote to RW and asked if it would be possible to at least mention such a magnificent set of tusks, even if with an asterisk and footnote. They took my (Harry’s) word for the weights, which, seeing the photo, wouldn’t be hard to do! The next issue of the book listed Harry’s elephant without any asterisks or comment. Made me happy! Thus, although the monarch was slain on the slopes of Mt Melange on the southeast border of Malawi in 1952, it was only 25 years later that it was officially registered.” Enclosed with Dave’s letter was an article listing known big elephant tusks of Mozambique, published in the AprilMay-June 1974 edition of Rota Sul Southern Route, a Lourenço Marques dual Portuguese-English magazine. An excerpt: “Two tusks are on display at the Beira Museum, which, to our point of view, are to the present the most valuable trophies belonging to Moçambique patrimony. They came from an elephant shot in the area of Maqueze (Chibuto, District of Gaza) in
HOW DID HARRY Manners come to be photographed posing possessively with Wally Johnson’s tusks, and why did he put this photo in his book, implying they were those of his Monarch of Murripa? I’ll answer this in Part 3 (July edition), in a story which I think you’ll find intriguing, albeit saddening.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 45
1
2
3
1: Ranges 1 and 2 were ‘bush’ lanes. 2: A sighter shot (red gong) and two scoring shots at 50m. 3: Shooters waiting their turn at ranges 3 and 4.
Air Rifle Competition
WINNERS 4.5mm Snr
1st
4.5mm Snr
2nd joint
euben Fourie
4.5mm Snr
2nd joint
obus Smit
4.5mm Snr
2nd joint
rica Fourie
4.5mm Jnr
1st
ander Van Eck
4.5mm Jnr
2nd
Marno Malan
4.5mm Jnr
3rd
iane Taljaard
5.5mm Snr
1st (Shootout 1st)
Francois Opperman
5.5mm Snr
2nd (Shootout 2nd)
John Dan Joubert
5.5mm Snr
3rd joint
ohn Gibson
5.5mm Snr
3rd joint
einri Brink
5.5mm Jnr
1st
ander van Westhuizen
5.5mm Jnr
2nd
Dandre Van Zyl
5.5 mm Jnr
3rd
Barry John van der Merwe
Springer Snr
1st joint
enry Nienaber
Springer Snr
1st joint
aniel Marneweck
46 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
achiel Basson
ANDRÉ GROBLER
T
UCH m, Sa s. A to ootin od sh final rain but this
IC PATED air rifle competition hosted by or, Air Arms and Bushill RSA was a great shooters of all ages gathered at the Eeuin Pretoria on 29 February for a day of d excellent prizes. parations for the morning were done in t dampen the spirits of officials or shootnior and 9 junior shooters, of whom 52 s and 34 chose to use the sponsored air rifles – Air Arms rifles in models S510 US, S410 or S400. The rain stopped just as the briefing for the shoot concluded and the rest of the day was enjoyably cool. Safety was a priority for the organisers; competitors, spectators and staff
4
5
6
4: A shooter checking holdover settings on the cylinder of his air rifle. 5: A shooter prepares his under-lever air rifle on range six. 6: Pieter du Toit of Villiers in the Free State taking aim with his lever-action Samyang Ind. Co. air rifle.
at the shooting points were required to wear eye and ear Many of the senior shooters who used their own rifles protection and to adhere to the instructions of the range shared them with another competitor. Eight shooters particiofficers. pated with their break-barrel air rifles but most used PCP air The competition took place across six ranges with swingrifles. I saw air rifles from Steyr, Kral, CZ, a custom air rifle ing targets at different distances. At each range, five scoring and a lever-action Samyang Ind. Co. being used. shots at known distances were required and a voluntary first shot was allowed as a sighter shot. The 50 and 75mm gongs ALL THE SHOOTERS seemed to have embraced the organiswere either hanging squarely or in a diamond form to test the ers’ idea of a fun shoot while at the same time getting to know accuracy of the shooters. their equipment and learning from others. I had the pleasure Range one and two were ‘bush lanes’ and the hunting of meeting a number of competitors ranging from a 5-year-old environment they created proved to be very popular among junior all the way across the board to a few serious and estabthe shooters. The targets on both ranges were at 20m, 30m lished competitors. One Bisley shooter even chose to attend and 40m but the number of shots at each distance varied and the event to practice his shooting skills with his air rifle at the gong sizes. Shooters had to compete from a sitting posilonger distances. Another shooter, a retiree, had bought his air tion over a dead rest obstacle using a shooting bag provided rifle two weeks before the event and decided to participate for by Bushill RSA. Most competitors the sole purpose of meeting other air managed to get good scores on rifle shooters and learning from them. these ranges. By mid-morning he already had several On ranges three and four compages filled with notes. petitors were positioned sitting The competitors displayed excepbehind a table, also using a shooting tional shooting skills and two ended up bag and their first shots had to be at with full scores in the 5.5mm category. the 50m target. These two ranges A shootout for the first place in this were set up along a dirt road that category was then held and Francois went slightly uphill. On range three, Opperman of Rayton, using a Steyr the targets were placed at 50m, 70m Hunting air rifle, won after dropping and 80m and on range four at 30m, just one shot of his required six shots ABOVE: Jackie Crafford Jnr of Air Arms/Bushill RSA congratulates David Fourie who won the Air Arms 40m and 50m. Most shooters found in the shootout. S510 XS rifle in the lucky draw. these ranges more challenging than I spoke to competitors and visitors BELOW: Some of the junior shooters who took part the first two. after the event and their response was in the event. At ranges five and six, shooters that the competition was well organised engaged targets from the prone posiand long overdue – more such events, tion. These ranges were set up in an focusing on air rifles would be welcome. open area. Range five had targets at An Air Arms S510 XS rifle sponsored 50m, 60m and 80m and the challenge by Air Arms was among the prizes in the on this range was the ‘sniper’ shot at lucky draw and was won by an elated 80m at a 50mm gong. Range six had David Fourie of Hekpoort. Our apprecitargets at 40m, 50m and 60m. Again ation and thanks for such a successful the last target (at 60m) was a 50mm event go to Safari Outdoor, Air Arms, gong. Competitors found ranges five Bushill RSA and Hawke who together and six the most difficult. sponsored prizes worth R60 000.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 47
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May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 49
In the Leopard’s Lair by LEW CLARK illu stration ALAN WALKER
Take nothing for granted in the wild 50 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
I SPENT A NUMBER of years on a private hunting concession bordering the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana, in an area known as the Hainaveld. Our southern border was the reserve fence, and our eastern border the Ngamiland fence. This is mostly dune-veld, fearsomely hot in summer and very cold of an evening in winter. One morning, I took a couple who were visiting on a game drive. My wife Vicky and young son David accompanied us on the inevitable search for lions, which are what all visitors to the Kalahari want to see – we had many of these magnificent animals in our area. On this particular day, however, we found none, though we saw plenty of fresh tracks where the lions had dug their way under the fence, gone for a drink of fresh water no more than 30 metres from our guests’ tent, and then headed south where they had again dug their way under the fence and into the reserve. As the day was now becoming uncomfortably warm, I consulted with my guests and we decided to head back to the lodge for a good brunch. Our return route took us past what is one of the largest and probably the oldest ant-bear holes in the region, so, purely for the entertainment of our guests, I turned off and made for this den to let them see something of interest. Unbeknown to me, my decision would place us all in an extremely dangerous situation. I parked the Land Cruiser about 20 metres from the main entrance and we all debussed to go and see the big hole – except my wife Vicky who, having seen it many times, chose to remain in the vehicle. There were a number of entrances to this cavernous hole, but I took the guests directly to the biggest and most impressive one – quite large enough for a man to walk into, remaining upright for a good part of the way. The gentleman with us on this occasion was a portly chap of around 50 years of age. He asked me if I would stand in
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ABOVE: The main entrance to the tunnel I shared with the leopard. Standing in the hole is Paul Anthony and the two youngsters are my boys.
ABOVE LEFT: Author Lew Clark demonstrating the teeth of one of the many lions that visitors to the Hainaveld came to see. ABOVE RIGHT: Lew Clark.
metres away, my guest and his wife and my nine-year-old son exposed to mortal danger. The urge to take flight was almost irresistible, but fortunately I resisted it. I slowly backed out of the hole until my head cleared the tunnel, and then, in as controlled a voice as I could muster, I quietly told the onlookers please to walk back and get on to the game car immediately. My son David, recognising the warning tone of my voice, did not hesitate and strode off at once, taking the gentle-
man’s wife in tow, but our intrepid c a m e ra - m a n a c t u a l l y s t a r t e d t o approach the entrance in which I was standing. Then he heard the leopard’s snarl and, demonstrating a turn of speed and agility that would be the envy of any athlete half his age, he literally flew up the side of the Cruiser and hit the deck under the game viewing benches, leaving his terrified wife trying to open the tailgate in order to climb in. Young David assisted her, and that just left me to get myself out of the predicament I had brought upon us.
If you live in untamed places, rule number one is: never take anything for granted
52 | ManMAGNUM | May 2020
I had intentionally remained in the entrance in the hope that the furious leopard’s attention would be focussed on me long enough to allow the rest of the party to get out of harm’s way. Fortunately this worked. Now it was my turn; slowly and very quietly I backed out of the entrance and made my way to the Land Cruiser, expecting at any moment to see a yellow streak of snarling fury burst from the other entrance, heading straight at me. Thankfully, she chose to remain with her cubs. As we drove off, I looked back and saw her head just above the lip of the entrance to her lair, watching our retreat. We were very lucky to escape unscathed, and for a long time I was painfully remorseful over my heedless n e g l i g e n c e w h i c h c o u l d h ave s o quickly ended in tragedy. After all, I had visited that site at least once a month and knew it well – it was an obvious choice for a leopard’s lair. O ve r a n d o ve r, I m e n t a l l y w e n t through my mistakes. For a start, when you live in untamed places, rule number one is: never take anything for granted. A simple cursory inspection from the relative safety of the Land Cruiser would have revealed that the burrow had new occupants and was now a no-go area. That leopard turned out to be a young female, so this could well have been her first litter. After much contemplation, I reached the conclusion that the faint thumping sound I’d heard on first entering the tunnel must have been the leopard’s tail switching from side to side against the tunnel walls. Angry cats do that. I HAVE NEVER had anyone in my care hurt or injured in the bush, not even bitten by a snake, but I believe this was probably the closest I ever came to breaking that record! I was particularly proud of the way David had reacted, seeing to the safety of the lady first. Needless to add, brunch was a tad subdued.
Test Report
Speras Flashlights MAGNUM RECEIVED TWO Speras flashlights to test, the min i -s i ze d M1 an d a sm al l/ medium size E1 model. The small M1 has a single side switch and, with a CREE XPL2-W2 LED, has a maximum output of 1 000 lumens. The light is powered by a single 14500 (R145) rechargeable battery. A normal AA battery can also be used. The torch is small, slightly thicker than my ring finger (19mm diameter), and 91.8mm long. It comes with a pocket clip and lanyard. It has a single power switch and three intensity settings, low (1 lumen with 100h runtime), medium (70 lumen and 5½h runtime) and high (1 000 lumen and 1.25h runtime). Using a single AA battery runtime is slightly less. Set on low, it provides enough light to perform tasks immediately in front of you. On medium, the beam provides light out to about 30m in a wide arc, and on high I was able to identify objects out to 70m. The beam is fairly wide, which shortens the distance that it reaches. However, the three beams provide enough light for all household and camp situations. The torch also has an SOS and strobe function for emergency use. The battery can be recharged with any mini-USB charger that works on many cell phones. No charger is supplied, but can be bought separately. The flashlight has a magnetic base, and I soon had it permanently stuck to the door of one of my rifle safes and onto a fridge door. This made it very easy to find the flashlight, always being conveniently at hand, and it was useful during load shedding. I even used it for
by PHILLIP HAYES
122.9mm emergency vehicle repairs, sticking it to a truck body panel while changing a flat tyre. The only drawback was that at the highest setting, the flashlight generates quite a lot of heat, understandable considering its diminutive size and 1 000 lumen output. I ran it for 28 minutes and although the flashlight got hot, I could still hold it to use it.
The bigger E1 model (26mm tube and 121.5mm long) if held with my thumb on the rubber switch at the back, projects about 1cm out of my hand. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a simple flashlight, and has only an ON/OFF switch. The 500 lumens, paired with a concentrated beam, were enough to allow me to spot humans in the veld out to about 150m. The light is at its best out to 100m, affording quick identification of problems around the house and is bright enough to blind perpetrators for a few crucial seconds. The E1 came with a 2600mAh 1 8 6 5 0 l i t h i u m - i o n b a t t e r y, a l s o rechargeable via a cellphone charger, which should provide just over 3 hours of runtime. A pocket clip, lanyard and spare O-rings are also included. I found both these lights to be of good quality and extremely handy, the M1 for its versatility, and the E1 for its simplicity. The E1 should make an excellent light for use with your handgun at night, simply press the ON/OFF button for a concentrated 500 lumen beam every time. Speras flashlights are very affordable, the M1 retails for R580 and a battery will set you back R120. Chargers sell for between R200 and R300. The E1 sells for R500 and a 2600mAh battery will cost you R200, while a 3400mAh battery costs R300. For more information visit www.sperasflashlights.co.za, or call them on 071-871-6546.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 53
Jeffery’s .256 Mannlicher Rifles by HUBERT MONTGOMERY
Jeffery’s 1895 Mannlicher (top) and 1903 Mannlicher-Schönauer rifles, both in .256 calibre. Note the elegant styling, the characteristic large round bolt knobs, and the protruding magazine housing of the M1895.
Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher.
MECHANICAL ENGINEER FERDINAND Ritter von Mannlicher joined the Austrian Arms Factory at STEYR around 1877 and produced a multitude of diverse designs until his death in 1904. It has been said that no other small arms inventor has matched his prolific originality and mechanical wizardry. Of interest to us are two Steyr military bolt-action rifles designed by Von Mannlicher; firstly the model 1895 Dutch Mannlicher (a slight modification of the 1893 Romanian Mannlicher) chambered in 6.5x53R Mannlicher (160gr 6.5mm bullet at 2 430fps). It employed a turning bolt with dual locking lugs behind a separate bolt head and a unique sliding ejector. The
Everyone loves slim, lightweight little sporters removable bolt head afforded easy headspace adjustment and replacement if damaged. Its 5-round en-bloc clip fell out the bottom of the magazine after the last round was chambered. The second is the model 1903 Greek military Mannlicher-Schรถnauer rifle. Otto Schรถnauer, working under Von Mannlicher at STEYR, had improved the rotary spool magazine designed by Von Mannlicher and other Steyr engineers.
May 2020 | ManMAGNUM | 55
Original Jeffery Mannlicher rifle serial number 5918 (Paul Eksteen collection).
This 5-round rotary magazine was subsequently used in all Mannlicher-Schönauer sporting rifles. The M1903’s bolt was similar to the M1895’s but the receiver was grooved to accept a cartridge stripper-clip for loading the rimless 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schönauer cartridges (ballistic equivalent of the 6.5x53R). Of course, the rimless round worked much better in the rotary magazine. M a ny r e g a r d t h e M 1 9 0 3 a s Vo n Mannlicher’s best work. This brings us to the London firm of WJ Jeffery & Co. In 1887, Webley employed William Jackman Jeffery, aged thirty, to manage their new showroom at 60 Queen Victoria Street, London. In 1891, after this venture had floundered, WJ Jeffery started his own company, eventually located at 13 King Street in St. James. In 1909, William died and his brother Charles carried on with the business. JEFFERY SOLD DOUBLE r i f l e s , single-shot rifles, bolt-action rifles, shotguns, pistols, revolvers and even air rifles. These ranged from budget-priced farmer’s guns to best-grade fully engraved sidelock double rifles. Jeffery did not manufacture guns or rifles, but outsourced the work to top Birmingham gunmakers such as Leonard Bros, Saunders, Ellis, Webley, Tolley, etc. Most of Jeffery’s bolt-action rifles were made exclusively by Thomas Turner Jr of Birmingham who almost certainly built the two rifles featured in this article. Jeffery was more than just a smart businessman – he possessed a mind uncluttered with obsolete, traditional ideas; he obtained several patents. He had great ability to appreciate good design, organize outside workers and
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ABOVE: Express rear sight with folding leaves. RIGHT: Both rifles have chequered steel butt-plates with traps. Notice extremely narrow stock of 1895 rifle (left). LEFT: Front sight on the 1903.
source components. His greatest contribution is probably the extensive range of proprietary medium and large bore nitro express rifle cartridges he developed. During the years 1895 to 1920, Jeffery was a leader in the British gun trade. Knowing the market intimately, he saw the need for a light, small-bore hunting rifle for deerstalking and hunting small to medium-sized game. At that time, the only other rifles used for such purposes were sporterized bolt-action and single-shot rifles in .303 calibre, and bolt-action 7x57 and 8x57 sporters on Mauser actions. Jeffery chose the 1895 Mannlicher and its 6.5x53R cartridge to build just such a light, trim and handy sporter. The 6.5x53R had a much flatter trajectory than the .303 and had already demonstrated excellent terminal performance due to the deep penetration of its 160grain bullet with a sectional density factor of .328 (similar to that of the 220-grain .30-06 bullet). Jeffery was probably not the first to turn the 1895 Mannlicher into a sporter; it is well known that George Gibbs and Daniel Fraser had made early examples, but Jeffery certainly sold the largest number. Rigby pop-up aperture sight mounted on the cocking piece. Notice the well-executed flattop chequering.
This rifle became known as the Jeffery Mannlicher Sporting Rifle. It was produced from 1895 and was still advertised in Jeffery’s 1912/1913 catalogue. Jeffery offered it in six different grades priced from £6. The factory engraved model cost £20. They advertised it as the .256, the British designation for the 6.5mm calibre, following the British practice of naming cartridges by the bore diameter, not the groove diameter. When the M1903 Greek military Mannlicher-Schönauer became available, Jeffery likewise turned it into a beautiful sporting rifle known as the (new model) “Jeffery MannlicherSchönauer Sporting Rifle” offered in three grades. The calibre remained .256 but of course it was now the rimless 6.5x54mm cartridge. The Jeffery catalogues reflected many optimistic testimonials for the .256 Jeffery Mannlicher rifles such as: “can be used effectively up to 300 or 400 yards”, “will soon supersede the Double Expresses”, “enormous penetration renders them effective against elephants, bison, crocodiles …”, “I have killed two bears, one black and one red, the former at 500 yards” and “for sporting purposes there is no other rifle that can equal it”.
Although these claims seem farfetched, the .256 Mannlicher had a huge following around the world, half the glory going to the M1895 with its rimmed cartridge. In fact, it is often difficult to determine which of the two models is being referred to. Users praised the rifle’s reliability, effectiveness, smoothness of action, light weight and handiness in the field. The rifle illustrated here is an example of the M1895 Jeffery Mannlicher, the ‘No.1’ in the Jeffery catalogue. Its action is marked ‘STEYR’ and dated ‘1897’, the year STEYR built the original military rifle. Jeffery’s records indicate that this sporting rifle (s/n: 5918) was completed in 1898. It has a very slim stock with flat-top chequering on the pistol-grip and fore-end, a chequered steel butt-plate with hidden trap, and horn fore-end tip and grip-cap. The turned-down bolt handle has a large round knob. The beautifully contoured 26-inch barrel is engraved with the serial number and ‘W.J. Jeffery & Co, 13 King Street St.James’s, London’. It has a ramp front sight and 3-leaf express rear sight (the leaves fold rearwards). There are round sling swivels beneath the barrel and the stock. This trim rifle weighs only 7.1 pounds and it handles beautifully. It is remarkable how Jeffery turned an ugly military rifle into such an elegant sporter. The large bolt knob is surprisingly comfortable to operate and the action is as smooth as glass. The en-bloc stripper clip works very well, cleanly dropping out the bottom of the magazine-well on chambering the last round. A spare 5-round clip carried in your pocket is handy when hunting. Also illustrated here is an example of the M1903 Jeffery MannlicherSchönauer, serial number 21230, the ‘No.8’ rifle in the Jeffery catalogue. The action is marked ‘STEYR’ and dated ‘1910’. Jeffery’s records indicate that it was completed in 1912. The top of the receiver ring is marked ‘Modell 1903’.
The 6.5mm model 1903 is especially sought-after, and has a near-fanatical cult following The stock is slightly thicker, due to the rotary magazine, and has flat-top chequering on the pistol-grip and foreend, a chequered steel butt-plate with hidden trap, and horn fore-end tip and grip-cap. Sling swivels are similar. The bolt handle is turned down and has a large, round, hollow knob. The 26-inch barrel has a slightly heavier profile with a ramp front sight and a 5-leaf express rear sight. The Jeffery name and serial number are engraved atop the barrel, ahead of the rear sight. The rifle weighs slightly more at 7.25 pounds. This rifle was factory fitted with an original Rigby aperture sight mounted on the cocking-piece; consequently all five of the express sight blades can be folded down. Again, the sight leaves fold rearwards, unlike Rigby and A-type Mauser express sights.
En-bloc clip with 5 rounds of 6.5x53R cartridges for the model 1895 Mannlicher.
trap in the steel butt-plate; this rifle is still in existence. FC Selous used an 1895 Mannlicher, also by Gibbs, and still in existence. Other prominent users of the 1895 Mannlicher were Sir Edmund Loder, John G. Millais, Maj R.L. Kennion, PHG Powell-Cotton, Maj CH Stigand and Blayney Percival, all of whom used it to kill lions, rhino and elephant. The famous lion hunter, Sir Alfred Pease, used a .256 Mannlicher for 18 years to kill many lions, mostly by the extremely dangerous method of ‘galloping lions’. When STEYR observed that British gunmakers were doing a brisk trade in sporterised military MannlicherSchönauer rifles, they produced their own sporting version in a range of commercial calOriginal Kynoch 6.5x53R Mannlicher ibres. These were the cartridges (left) Model 1903 (6.5x54mm), and 6.5x54 Mannmodel 1905 (9x56mm), licher-Schönauer model 1908 (8x56mm) (centre), both loaded and model 1910 with 160gr solids. On the right is 6.5x53R (9.5x57mm), assembled ammunition newly at the Oesterreichische manufactured by Waffenfabrik Gesellschaft OPM using Norma Steyr. All had flat ‘butter156gr Oryx bullets. knife’ bolt handles and are today highly collectANGLO-BOER WAR General Piet able pieces. They were of such high Cronje used an 1895 Mannlicher sportquality that many were cased and ing rifle at the famous battle of re-sold by famous British firms such as Paardeberg. After Cronje’s surrender, William Evans, Purdey, Holland & the rifle was found in the trenches by Holland, and others. The 6.5mm model Australian trooper Thomas Gunning 1903 is especially sought-after, and and is now displayed in the Australian has a near-fanatical cult following. War Memorial in Canberra. WDM ‘KaraSTEYR factory-production of these at mojo’ Bell used an 1895 straight-maglower cost eventually led to the demise a zine Mannlicher sporte rised by of Jeffery’s ‘handmade’ models and George Gibbs of Bristol, and later spelled the end for the ‘Jeffery .256 acquired a 1903 MannlicherMannlicher’. Although very fine rifles, I Schönauer with his name and Nairobi feel they somehow lack the class of the telephone number stamped inside the original Jeffery .256 Mannlichers.
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ABOVE: A giraffe bull photographed in the Northern Cape. Note the dark patches. BELOW: A young giraffe, with lighter coloured patches.
American sport-hunter Tess Thompson Talley.
Despite their size, giraffe blend in well with their surroundings.
The Giraffe Hunt Chronicals by KEVIN THOMAS
Surplus game is culled – for its own sake INCE RIV G IN the UK, I find mysel rin requency, up against anti-hun ent. I don’t seek to ecome embro in arguments, yet, by ame token I’m not ashamed to sp my profe sion in Africa, spread ov rs as game ranger, wildlife manag nd pr ssional hunter, all to with sust le wildlife conservart of ecotourism. ck the South African and international media were awash with outrage over American sporthunter Tess Thompson Talley’s shooting of a giraffe in South Africa. Not letting it rest, social media sites also climbed on the bandwagon with ignorant trolls roundly abusing Thompson. Probably 99% of the vitriol being directed against her was due to ignor-
ance. Thompson herself, also displayed ignorance by stating on her Facebook page that she’d shot a ‘rare black giraffe’. There’s no such thing as a rare black giraffe. Bulls darken with old age. Giraffa giraffa, the species in question, is the most common of the eight species, and only found in Southern Africa. Thirty-seven-year-old Thompson Talley hit back with one headline saying; It’s Called Conservation: US woman under fire for killing ‘rare’ giraffe in SA hits back. Again, and through sheer ignorance and media hype we have this ‘rare’ giraffe reference. On Twitter Africa Digest’s site 44 000 people retweeted the images and post. One post read, “White American savage who is partly a Neanderthal comes to Africa and shoots down very
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Giraffe are a common (and welcome) sight on many South African game farms and reserves.
rare black giraffe courtesy of South African stupidity”. In the above tweet the giraffe’s status has been elevated further to very rare. The incorrect use of the word ‘rare’ in Thompson Talley’s original posting on Facebook obviously helped stoke the huge emotional outpourings. Not to be outdone, celebrities also weighed in. One was British comedian Ricky Gervais who among other things tweeted, “giraffes are now on the ‘red list’ of endangerment due to a 40% decline over the last 25 years. They could become extinct. Gone forever”. What Gervais is totally ignorant of, is that the decline of giraffe across Africa in this modern era, certainly isn’t due to sport hunting. Rather, it’s due to a breakdown of governance across much of the various giraffe species’s home ranges, coupled to uncontrolled poaching, internecine conflict, habitat destruction and the like.
Unfortunately, not all landmasses where giraffe occur have lion (thanks to the human factor). As a result, the rifle must become the giraffe population regulator
in their outlook, and put simply, their perception of wildlife equates to much needed protein. To them a giraffe is just another edible wild animal that can provide a series of protein-starved kraals with about 2 000lbs of meat. If Gervais cared to visit Africa and ask a few rural-dwelling tribal folk if they saw anything wrong with a giraffe being shot, their response would surprise him. If he cared to live their
saved it from painful old age, or that she did it for conservation. He claims she did it for pleasure and should man up and come clean. If sport hunters didn’t derive any pleasure from hunting they wouldn’t hunt. I guess this critic has no feeling for animals and has obviously never GIRAFFE POPULATIONS ACROSS seen an old giraffe literally starving to most of Africa’s well-managed national death, its digestive tract having ceased parks, wildlife conservancies, and game to function correctly due to old age. No ranches are healthy and in animal starving to death is many cases expanding. a pleasant sight. Evidence Gervais and his ilk need the outpourings of emoalso understand that tion and anger when because of an adult domestic pets are found giraffe’s sheer size, it has starving in neglected no natural predator, aside yards. from lion. And even where Wildlife dynamics on there are healthy lion popconservancies and game ulations, it is the giraffe ranches in Africa form a calves which are heavily complex equation. predated on. UnfortuHuman-created, they need nately, not all landmasses limited and wise scientific where giraffe occur have management to ensure Both male and female giraffe have two distinct, hair-covered ‘horns’ called lion (thanks to the human ongoing sustainability. ossicones. Male giraffe sometimes use their horns for fighting. factor). As a result, the Importantly in Africa, and rifle must become the giraffe life for a month his own attitude change becoming more so by the day, wildlife population regulator. would also probably surprise him. has to be seen to pay its way. If it can’t, Tribal and urban-dwelling Africans Another critic suggested that it is doomed. do not have the same emotional bagThompson Talley shouldn’t try to justify At breeding season’s end, wildlife gage when it comes to wildlife issues as her killing of the giraffe by claiming the managers with scientific research backwesterners do. They’re more pragmatic community benefited, or that she’s ing them, work out the next season’s
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take-off i.e. the huntable quota of game. It isn’t done as a mere thumb suck; it involves aerial surveys and game counts, backed up by ongoing vehicle and foot counts on the ground. What is removed never exceeds the annual increment of young. SPORT HUNTING ISN’T the only way surplus game numbers are reduced. Management culling also takes place, as does live capture for resale via game auctions or for translocation to boost dwindling or threatened populations elsewhere. The principles are much the same as those implemented by a livestock farmer or rancher. Carrying capacity is the key; X number of animals to Y number of acres. Go beyond that and problems arise by way of habitat destruction, overpopulation, starvation, disease, etc. In the bigger picture, giraffe are merely another wildlife species. Shooting an old giraffe is no different to shooting an old kudu bull or impala ram. The sport hunter becomes the management tool used by the landowner to reduce excess numbers. In the case of a species like giraffe, management identify bulls that are beyond breeding and a threat to younger upcoming bulls. It is these old bulls that are put on quota. In the wild, a male giraffe’s longevity is only about 13 years. By using paying sport hunters, additional income can be earned from daily rates and trophy fees. If management does the shooting, the only income derived would be from the sale of the meat, hides, skins, horns, etc. Research shows that South Africa’s game ranch driven hunting industry annually injects billions of Rands into the country’s economy and that sport hunters spend far more than ordinary tourists. In addition, game ranching and related industries provide much needed employment for tens of thousands of people, often in relatively remote areas. Thus, sport hunting is a profitable niche market that shouldn’t be neglected.
ABOVE and LEFT: Removing old, non-breeding giraffe bulls is part of normal wildlife management, and there is no room for emotion.
During the 2005/06 period, Zimbabwe’s Bubye Valley Conservancy (BVC) was offering each client two giraffe on a 10-day hunt. With a total of 5 800 giraffe, they had too many relative to overall landmass. The increase in the conservancy’s lion population helped regulate the young giraffe population and ultimately only 35 old giraffe bulls were placed on quota for sport hunters. As with any game-ranching enterprise, quotas aren’t fixed but rather fluctuate each season. Like all well-run operations, the BVC has a game meat abattoir where the giraffe that are shot are processed. The meat is then passed on to the neighbouring, densely populated, but impoverished, Marange tribal community – free. This also helps negate the need for tribesmen to poach. None of this however, helps offset the hatred generated towards sport hunters by the anti-hunters. During the course of my career I’ve periodically had to shoot giraffe and
I’ve guided clients to shoot giraffe. In all honesty I haven’t enjoyed doing either, but it had to be done. Whether we like it or not, antihunting sentiment is growing. Although I wasn’t able to verify it, I’m told safari bookings for 2018/2019 in South Africa and Zimbabwe were down which means a number of good PHs are out of work as are those employed in related businesses. PROTECTION OF THE sport-hunting industry’s image is vital, and perhaps one of the easiest ways to offset the anti-hunting hatred, is for sport hunters to stop gloating over trophies via social media platforms. And if they do, at least try to be a bit more respectful of the animal(s) they’re showing. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating the shooting of a trophy animal, however, it needs to be done with a bit of reverence. A case of respecting the animal in death as much as we do in life.
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it is still being used as a primary battle rifle by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey TH
ha owed by its reasons that o with politics reliability, and ory on its own. e easily one of aw extensive with some 40 made under ifferent arms manufacturers, together producing some 7 million G3 type rifles. Even today, it is still being used as a primary battle rifle by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and many other security forces, including various specialist roles with the German Bundeswehr. The development and acceptance of the G3 followed an obscure path that is r em i ni sce n t o f th e way Ge rm a n weapons technology was exploited by the Allies after WWII – probably a case of “to the victor, the spoils”. The origin of the G3 dates back to the closing months of WWII at the Mauser Werke in Oberndorf where designers were working on a new assault rifle based on the roller locking mechanism of the highly successful MG42 light machine gun. The prototype MKb Gerät 06 and later Stg45
The very distinct looking magazines of the G3, here in black and olive. Photo Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Association.
3 IS pora have ction ake for tle rifle t out t ce across the
LEFT: Dirt covered G3 with retractable stock, HK-79 grenade launcher and optical sights doing recent duty with ISAF in Afghanistan.
Heavily modified G3 platform used for the successful PSG1 sniper rifle.
did not make it to the production line before the war ended. Oberndorf in the Neckar valley fell into the French occupied section and the technicians and equipment of Mauser Werke were moved to France as part of compensation for the war. Development continued at the Mulhouse Arms Facility in France under supervision of Germans, Ludwig Vorgrimler and Theodore Löffler, with a view to marketing the weapon commercially. France could not adopt the weapon owing to financial constraints with the Indo China War in full swing as well as commitments to NATO, and Vorgrimler left for Spain where he joined the Centre for Technical Studies of Special Materials (CETME) to finalise development of the weapon. Initially the weapon was designated the Modelo 2 in Spain and went through various iterations and calibres from 1950 onwards, before being accepted
by the Spanish Military in 1958 as the Modelo 58, chambered for the 7.62x51mm CETME round (same dimensions as the 7.62x51 NATO, but less powerful). SOME YEARS EARLIER, the German Border Police had begun searching for an issue automatic rifle and showed interest in the CETME design. However, this was cancelled in favour of the FN FAL, for which they placed an order, designated the G1. This was soon followed by the procurement of an issue rifle for the new Bundeswehr with three weapons shortlisted for trials, all in 7.62x51 NATO, being the CETME (designated G3) which was accepted over the AR10 and SIG 510. Meanwhile the deal with FN for further deliveries of the G1 was cancelled owing to Belgium’s reluctance to issue a licence to Germany to manufacture the G1.
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An R1 rifle (top) as used in South Africa compared with the G3. Photo Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Association.
The rights for manufacturing the G3 on the other hand were acquired from CETME through a Dutch intermediary company and awarded to both Rheinmetal and Heckler & Koch (H&K) by the German government for supplying the various armed forces with a new issue rifle, designated the G3A3. Eventually H&K became the sole manufacturer in Germany of the G3 series of which many variants were developed for both the home and export markets. Production of the G3 was based on lessons learnt from German WWII small arms development using processes such as metal stampings and forgings for ease of production, simplicity and reliability. For example, the receiver is made out of a sheet metal stamping, which perhaps wrongly gives the impression of a cheap, inferior quality weapon. The operating system is a roller delayed blowback using a rather heavy bolt carrier and breech block in what appears to be a complex operating ope ati g cycle, but which has been simplified in the engineering and construction. Still,
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Cartridge
Barrel
arrel Extension
Bolt Head
Locking Piece
Locking Rollers
Firing Pin
olt-head Carrier
Schematic of the G3 Bolt Roller Locking Mechanism some commentators describe the cycle as ‘violent’ owing to the weight and speed of the moving parts, though recoil is not much different from that of any other full-calibre battle rifle. While spent case ejection is quite forceful, with resulting dents rendering many cases unsuitable for reloading, in military use this is not a consideration – besides – most mili military ary cartridges are Berdan Berdanprimed anyway.
LATER MODELS HAVE fluted chambers to improve gas blow-by and case extraction. Overall, the G3 design proved so successful that it spawned m a ny va r i a n t s , i n c l u d i n g h i g h l y successful 9mmP sub-machine guns such as the H&K MP5 series of weapons that is still extensively used in police and military applications. Even a sniper rifle rifle, the th PSG1, with subsequent variants,, was based on the G3 platfform, and was regarded as the best semi-automatic sniper b rifle in the 1980s. Front end, including gas tube assembly, front sight, barrel and flash hider. Photo As with most firearms, the Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Association. G3’s operating controls are on tthe left side intended for righth anded operation, hence the s ooter retains a right-handed
G3 stock. Photo Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Association.
Among battle rifles, the G3 has outlasted its contemporaries hold on the pistol grip while charging the weapon with the left hand. This includes the folding cocking lever situated at the front of the hand-guard and selector lever above the trigger. However the G3 is designed as a modular system where parts such as the trigger group and butt-stock can be interchanged or adapted without parts modification. Among others, an ambidextrous trigger group (G3A3A1/G3A4A1 in German Army designation) or a selector with a fourth option to fire 3 round bursts in addition to the standard options of SAFE, semi- and full-automatic. Optical or night vision equipment can be fitted with quick detachable mountings that slot into grooves of the stamped receiver. Standard box type double-column magazines of either steel or aluminium hold twenty rounds; other available configurations include a drum-magazine. The G3’s widespread adoption by security forces around the globe ensured that it saw extensive use in combat, including the Iran-Iraq war, operations by Pakistan’s security forces against militant groups and similarly by Turkey and Greece. In many instances the G3 fights alongside the AK-47/AKM in countries such as Iran and Pakistan which sources weapons from both NATO aligned and former Eastern Bloc countries. Closer to home, the G3 was the main infantry weapon of Portuguese soldiers during their long drawn-out wars in Angola, Guinea Bissau and Mozambique, where it gave good account of itself. South Africa ordered 100 000 G3s from the Portuguese arms manufacturer
FBP for issue to the Air Force, Navy Marines and South West Africa Territory Force (SWATF). Many G3s were also used in the Rhodesian ‘bush war’ by the mounted infantry (Grey Scouts), Guard Force and other units. More recently the G3 made a re-appearance in Iraq among Coalition Forces and later in Afghanistan in the hands of soldiers of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), including increased re-use by the Bundeswehr to supplement their 5.56x45mm calibre G36 when longer range capabilities are required, or lightly armoured targets are engaged. AMONG BATTLE RIFLES, the G3 has outlasted its contemporaries. By comparison, although generally a good, well-made weapon, the M14 was probably the US service rifle with the shortest career owing to the conversion to the M16 in 5.56 cartridge in the late 1960s. The FN FAL on the other hand saw extensive service across the globe for about a quarter of a century, but then also had to make way for the newer generation 5.56mm assault rifles. Germany stuck to the G3 right up
to the mid-1990s and was probably the last major power to adopt the 5.56x45mm, in this instance with their new G36 Assault Rifle as replacement for the G3. However, rumours are increasingly surfacing that the US Army i s a g a i n o n t h e l o o k- o u t f o r a 7.62x51mm type battle rifle for wider issue than purely individual Designated Marksman Rifles (DMR). There seems to be an increased awareness of the 5.56x45mm calibre’s inability to penetrate advanced body armour more commonly encountered on the modern battlefield. Time will tell whether this trend will spread across to other NATO aligned countries. Meanwhile it seems the G3 is not going away soon, and is still a firm favourite of anyone who has trained and used it in combat. It is an accurate, reliable weapon that seems to function just as well in cold arctic conditions as in the dusty deserts of the world. It appears the day of the battle rifle is not over yet, and the G3 will definitely be around for a while to come until something else is developed to overcome the shortcomings of the 5.56mm assault rifles. A rare collectable G3 gifted to the SA Defence Force on 31 July 1967 by the then Minister of Defence PW Botha. Photo Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Association.
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Gallery
Continued from page 66 ➤
ear. According to the caption and text of the February article, Otilio claimed he shot this bull. The author of the article accepted Otilio’s word in good faith. The elephant itself, plus background and foreground vegetation, clearly identify this as the very same scene. Moreover, note the patch of sunlight reflecting off the elephant’s back – identical in both pictures. This proves that the two photos were taken within a very short time of each other – probably minutes. Each man took the camera to photograph the other with the bull. It is, of course, possible that Otilio shot this bull, but given the fact that he is wearing a city-type hat and shirt, and is without rifle, whereas Harry is in full safari kit with the 10.75mm Mauser (used early in his career) propped against the elephant, I’m inclined to suspect that Harry shot this bull, and that Otilio possibly misinformed the author – perhaps merely by implication. Perhaps Otilio went along as a
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guest or came in at the recovery. More importantly, however, these photos prove a connection between Otilio and Harry Manners, and since Harry and Wally Johnson were hunting partners, it might also suggest a possible explanation as to how Otilio came to possess the photo of Wally Johnson posing with his own two big sets of tusks, with Harry in the same picture. – Gregor Woods
More on Muzzle-Loading Shotgun Wads Having read Malcolm Cobb’s Gallery article ‘Wads do you Mean by That’ in the February 2020 edition, I would like to offer more information on this topic. At the Transvaal Muzzle Loaders Club (Shotgun) we are involved in competitive clay target shooting using muzzle-loading shotguns. This takes place under the control of the BPSU (Black Powder Shooting Union of SA) according to M.L.A.I.C. rules (Muzzle Loaders Associations International Committee).
The Gallery piece states that a thin cardboard disc serving as a wad between the powder and shot does not produce satisfactory results. However, most of the top shotgun shots at the world muzzle-loading championships use the thinnest wad possible, usually between 6mm and 8mm thick – and still produce good shot patterns. I use a lubricated 8mm thick fibre wad for my muzzle-loading clay target shooting. These wads are imported by Paul Vimercati of Lindley Historical Weapons (011-794-3516, lindley@pedersoli. co.za). In 12-bore these wads are available in thicknesses of 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and 16mm as well as in 16-bore and 20-bore. I also use these wads for loading black powder shotgun cartridges because modern plastic wads melt and are not ‘in the spirit of the original’ (see Magnum May 2013). Original muzzle-loading shotguns were made in all bores sizes. I have original muzzle-loading shotguns in 10-bore, 12-bore, 13-bore and 14-bore for which I cut felt over-powder wads and cardboard over-shot wads using a rotary cutter in a drill press. The rotary cutter is fitted with a spring-loaded plunger that ejects the cut wad when complete. A member of our club laser cuts wads of any bore size from ceiling board and some club members use them successfully in 10mm thickness for their clay target shooting. Wads for black powder shotgun shooting should be lubricated to keep the fouling soft and to help prevent leading of the barrel. There are many wad lube recipes; I use a mixture of 45% beeswax and 55% Vaseline petroleum jelly which is mixed by melting them together. Some farmers are reluctant to allow hunting with muzzle-loaders because of their perceived danger of causing veld fires. Provided paper or other combustible materials are not used as wadding, this should not be a problem. Anyone interested in muzzle-loading clay target shooting should contact
Gallery Grant Gammon (082-827-8160) Chairman of the Transvaal Muzzle Loaders Club (Shotgun). – Robbie CrawfordBrunt
Africa’s Ancient Axe Anyone who has hunted in Zimbabwe will have seen the typical blacksmith-made axe carried by rural Africans there, which is called a demo in Shona and izembe in nDebele (Matabele). The main craftsmen of these axes are the baTonka. Kevin Thomas tells me that they are also made in the far northeast of Zimbabwe by the Kore-Kore, a clan of the maShona. Though it may appear a crude and primitive tool, it is very cleverly designed. The knobbed handle is made from the root of a mopane tree. Mopane wood is extremely hard and tough – so much so that termites cannot attack it,
which is why the early settler-farmers (before they had creosote) used mopane poles as fence poles, gateposts and for building houses. The axe handle’s knob, in which the blade’s tang is deeply imbedded, provides striking weight, and bulk (strength) to withstand the force transferred via the tang by the blade’s impact. The tang does not protrude from the back of the knob. The tang-hole is burned into the knob in stages, millimetre by millimetre. The knob is carved at a certain pitch, so that the blade is fixed at a very specific angle to the handle. The angled blade is to facilitate a certain chopping action, and for balance. With a well-balanced demo, an experienced axeman can chop all day long without tiring. The angled blade also provides a convenient carry method while walking – the blade securely hooked rearward’s over one’s shoulder
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Gallery with the handle hanging down in front. Using patience and skill, it is astonishing what tribal people accomplish with this axe. They fell very large trees, including hardwoods, and then hollow out the entire trunk to produce a lengthy ma kor o ( dug ou t canoe). They work with a slab of sandstone nearby on which to sharpen the blade, wetting the stone with water. The axe can be used one-handedly for light chopping, or swung with both hands for heavier work. I’ve seen a man chop the gutted carcass of a massive buffalo bull clean in half at the waist in a minute or two, for easier loading onto the back of the bakkie. Also, the axe makes an ever-present weapon, if needed. I have seen other African-made axes, one using about three inches of one end of a vehicle blade-spring with its ready-made integral roll serving as a wrap-round handle socket, but it was small and awkward to use. I’ve seen the Zulu isizenze or battle-axe, but it has a crescent-shaped blade and is strictly for warfare. In Tanzania one of our safari crew used a commercially made version of a demo; the blade shape was similar, but it had a tunnel-socket to receive the handle. It was a good axe, but too large and heavy for all-day carry. A genuine demo or izembe is ideally suited for its purpose, which is to be easily portable, effortless to use for lighter jobs,
illustrations of an original pamphlet which accompanied his letter.
while strong and heavy enough for serious work. I thank Kevin Thomas who kindly supplied these photos. – Gregor Woods
More Kukri Data In ‘Stranger than Fiction’ (Gallery, Feb 2020) I erroneously stated in the photo caption that my Ghurka kukri was “circa 2005” as it had 2005 stamped on the spine. I subsequently realised this could not be right, as I had been given the kukri prior to the year 2005. I could only conclude that 2005 was a serial number. For the benefit of serious militaria collectors among our readers, I started to write a correction for the next edition, but then decided it probably wasn’t important enough to warrant the magazine space. However, I changed my mind on receiving the following letter from Robbie Smith of Gauteng, which confirms that this must indeed be a serial number. His letter also provides an interesting variance in the spelling of kukri – khukuri. I am presenting it in Gallery so as to include
Prize Winner February 2020 Competition Witold Jakutowicz from Cape Town was the lucky winner of the Magnum competition held in February. His prize was a hunting knife handcrafted by Bloemfontein knifemaker JA Van der Westhuizen. Well done Witold!
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Hi Gregor, A comment on khukuri knives: around 1980, the town of Springs held a crafters’ market where a well-spoken gentleman was displaying and selling Gurkha knives. As I recall, he would travel to Nepal twice a year to purchase knives and simultaneously place his order for his next visit. He stated that the Nepalese craftsmen had no power tools, so everything was handmade. The preferred source of steel was railway lines of British manufacture. I can scarcely imagine the hard labour required to complete such a knife. I bought two, and a close examination of the handiwork indicates that precision metal working machines and tools were not used. The patterns stamped in the metalwork were made by a hammer, chisel and punch, and not rolled or stamped by machine. The larger knife bears the name NEPAL and 1997 – obviously not the year of manufacture (this was in 1980). The smaller knife, he informed me, is a “dress knife” that Ghurka officers wear to formal dinners. The card shown here was supplied with each knife, and gives some history of the Gurkha soldiers and details of the manufacturer. - Robbie Smith The spelling khukuri is interesting. The Oxford English Dictionary spells it kukri, and gives its origin as the Hindi word kukri. I can only assume khukuri is a vernacular form, perhaps clannish. During the mid-1980s, my nextdoor neighbour, was Major Dennis Sheil-Small M.C., an ex-Ghurka company commander during World War II. He had a fine collection of kukris, which come in all sizes and are not only battle-weapons, but used for various pur-
poses, including slaughtering game and livestock and chopping wood. He had me spellbound with tales of Ghurka bravery in war, but admitted to only once drawing his own army-issue kukri in anger during an operation. He was a thorough gentleman, very reserved and quintessentially English, so I suspect he understated much of the goings on. He was awarded the Military Cross (for “acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations on land”). He was an acknowledged authority on the Ghurkas, and authored a book titled, Green Shadows: A Ghurka Story. I persuaded him to write an article on this subject for Magnum, which appeared in the September 1989 edition. – Gregor Woods
To Each His Own I read with interest and thoroughly enjoyed ‘Karoo Mountain Reedbuck’ (Nov 2019) by Dave Boast. The fact that Dave was accompanied by his daughter on the Karoo hunt he described is something I strongly relate to – I have done the same with my own daughter, Kim, a non-hunter, and it certainly lent an additional dimension to the hunt. However, I do have an issue with the article. I have lost count of the many discussions I have had over the years defending hunting. In his opening paragraph, Dave makes the point of hunting only what he can eat, fair enough, and then he adds, “… if you can’t eat it, then don’t shoot it.” To each his own. Does it really matter who eats what I shoot as long as the meat is not wasted? Whether I have hunted for food or a trophy, the meat has been harvested and utilized by someone, if not by me. I have hunted and shot a number of large animals including elephant, buffalo and some absolutely huge eland bulls. There was no way on earth that my family and I could consume all that meat in my lifetime – but someone did – grateful villagers in the case of the elephant and buffalo, and the meat of all the other large animals was positively utilized by the outfitter. As a sometime trophy hunter, I think that the words used by hunters when talking about hunting should be carefully thought through. Someone once said, “Words are what we live by.” Kim has a PhD and sees things from the point of view of a scientist. “Dad,” she said, “nothing in nature gets wasted. The meat gets broken down and consumed by organisms, insects, birds and scavengers. Ultimately everything gets consumed by something, if not by we humans at the top of the food chain.” In protein-starved Africa, I prefer to see the product of the hunt go into the cooking pots of the locals. When wearing the hat of a trophy hunter, I know too, that part of the cash I spend goes to anti-poaching projects and the community. All the elephants I have hunted have been either problem animals, management elephant or tuskless. I have not one scrap of ivory to show for any of this, I regard the experiences of those hunts as my trophies. I leave the last words to a PH I have hunted with many times in Namibia. He simply said, “Tony, my vultures have to eat too.” I buy into that argument. – Tony Marsh
PEOPLE
Gunsmith of the Month: Lance Stevens Lance lives and works in Sasolburg in the Free State. He started his part-time gunsmith business in 2013 when he saw a gap in the market for precision rifle gunsmiths. Lance specialises in building competition quality firearms for disciplines such as PRS, NRL, F-Open, F-TR, TR and the Benchrest shooting community. He also makes ‘gun fanatic’ rifles including tactical hunting type rifles. “Only the very best of components are used – no compromise is allowed.” He has made guns for several SA Protea shooters and has a loyal customer base of precision rifle enthusiasts, who just want to have fun with the very best the market has on offer. Lance says due to South Africa’s import capabilities, shooters can capitalise on obtaining some well-known top performing international barrels, including Bartlein, Krieger, and Lothar Walter, and receivers like Bat, Defiance, Kelby’s and Barnard. Because he concentrates on high-end precision rifles, Lance prefers composite fibreglass, carbon fibre or aluminium stocks. He is busy with a .375 CheyTac and .300 WSM match pair made with the best components money can buy. Lance takes two well-planned hunting trips a year and does some fun shoots whenever he can.
Subscriber of the Month: Grant Scott Grant lives in the Western Cape and his preferred hunting grounds are in the Northern Cape. He enjoys hunting the Richmond area and further north near Marydale. His favourite hunting calibre is a .308 but he has recently purchased a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle. He plans to teach his wife and children to hunt with the 6.5 CM. Grant’s last hunt was for springbuck in Marydale where one of his friends manages a farm. He says his children bought him a subscription to Magnum in 2019 as a birthday present, but he has been a regular reader since arriving in South Africa in 2001.
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