Jay Cassell - Shooters Bible

Wayne Van Zwoll L egendary hunters tumbled Africas biggest beasts with doubles and bolt rifles. Which is best? Bumping into an elephant in the dark holds even less appeal now than it did 30 years ago, when I lay in the long grass, listening. Id come upon the herd at dusk. The crack of branches, the flap of ears, the gurglings of throat and gut floated above thick bush. In the small vlei a few elephants loafed at the water. Impatient to skirt these behemoths in the fading light, I erred.

A handful of cows blocked my most direct route; creeping upwind, I gave them my scent to shoo them off. The effect was electric. Instead of moving away, they came. I read their intent clearly, dropped to my knees and scurried as fast as I could crosswind. Thick thorn stopped me. Pressed to the earth, I heard grass hiss against their legs, felt their black hulks block the red horizon.

At 20 steps they stopped, trunks up. Evening held my fate in its breath. The breeze did not change. Long minutes later, the animals ghosted off. Ive since shot elephants, and endured bluff charges to let young bulls grow bigger. Never have I been so frightened as in that grass.

Yes, I did have a rifle. But a .30 magnum with softnose bullets would hardly have saved me. THIS BUFFALO FELL TO WOODLEIGH BULLETS FROM A .500 NITRO EXPRESS, BUILT IN 1910 BY WEBLEY & SCOTT. THE AUTHOR FOUND MIKE SMITHS HEYM .470 DOUBLE FAST TO POINT IN KUDU THICKETS. TOO MUCH POWER? NAH. MAUSERS LATEST RIFLES ARE SLEEKER THAN ORIGINAL 98S, BUT THEY STILL CHAMBER BIG CARTRIDGES. HERE: A .404. Rifles and ammunition certain to stop five-ton beasts date back centuries, since the first hunters from Europe penetrated Africa's interior.

The Dutch settled the Cape of Good Hope beginning in 1648. First hunters used big-bores. A 4-bore with 4-ounce (1,750 grains) silk-patched lead bullet in front of 16 drams (437 grains) black powder fueled Sir Samuel Bakers rifle, commissioned from George Gibbs in 1840, when Baker was 19. The rifle had two-groove rifling in a 36-inch barrel. It weighed 21 pounds. In 1869 Baker ordered a 3-bore from H&H.

It fired a 5-ounce bullet (2,187 grains). Baker died in 1893, age 72. His fame helped tobacconist Harris Holland build a firearms business with his nephew Henry Holland. Baker patronized their shop, founded in 1837. Holland & Holland would become a premier name in the gun trade. Explorers and professional hunters depended on its big-bore doubles and magazine rifles.

Game rangers still use them to cull more heavy game in weeks than busloads of sportsmen would claim in a lifetime.

Rifles with barrels the size of sewer pipe would be dismissed later by W.D.M. Karamojo Bell, whose predilection for lightweight, smallbore magazine rifles is well documented. Bell found the 7x57 and .303 British, with 173- and 215-grain bullets, adequate for elephants. His careful study of elephant anatomy showed him exactly where to place those heavy full-patch (solid) bullets. Their blunt noses and long shanks, with modest velocity, contributed to deep, straight paths through bone.

A practiced rifleman, Bell was also reportedly cool in crisis. He lived a long life. Professional hunters seeking dangerous game these days carry much more potent rifles. Call them stopping rifles, because stopping sometimes trumps killing. A small-bore bullet that would kill with a shot to the brain might not turn an animal or stop a charge if it misses that mark. A bullet striking with enough force to stun the beast might change its intent or at least give it pause.

Ivan Carter, known for his artfully rendered hunting videos, uses a double rifle in .600 Nitro Express. Its 900-grain bullet exits at a modest 1,950 fps but carries 7,600 ft.-lbs. of energy. The .600 Nitro is a storied, if not typical double-rifle cartridge. It arrived in 1901, on the heels of a shift from black to smokeless powders. The nitrocellulose propellant used in safari rifles of that day was Cordite, so named for its spaghetti-like form.

Later, granular powder delivered more efficient burn and a range of burning rates, with lower pressure variation due to temperature. For hunters like Bell, who used early smokeless military rounds, the new fuel hiked velocity and energy with bullets that would have been much less effective driven by black powder. THIS RUGER HAWKEYE IN .375 RUGER IS A LITHE, PRACTICAL RIFLE FOR ALL-AROUND HUNTING IN AFRICA. The .500 NE was among British rounds that made the leap from black to smokeless powder. The original .500 (3-inch) launched bullets of 380 to 440 grains at under 1,900 fps. When Cordite replaced black powder, the .500 became a giant-killer, hurling 570-grain bullets at 2,150 fps. (Rifles designed for the black powder load should not be fired with modern full-Nitro ammo!) Double rifles and cartridges had teethed on black powder.

In 1856, five years after Lefaucheux unveiled a pinfire hinged-breech shotgun at the London Exposition, James Purdey produced rifles in .450 and .500 Black Powder Express (BPE). Around 1880 the .450/400 BPE (2 -inch) appeared. Based on an early .450 necked to .400 (reverse the American tradition of naming the bore first, parent case next), this round made the transition to smokeless and was for a time quite popular. With a 270-grain bullet at just 1,650 fps, it was not very frisky. It appeared mostly in single-shot rifles. THIS 98 MAUSER IN .458 WINCHESTER DELIVERS A HAYMAKER BLOW FROM A STANDARD BOLT ACTION. THIS 98 MAUSER IN .458 WINCHESTER DELIVERS A HAYMAKER BLOW FROM A STANDARD BOLT ACTION.

NOTE APERTURE. Another, more powerful .450/400 appeared in the 1880s. The .450/400 Magnum Nitro Express (3 -inch) graduated to Cordite with a 400-grain bullet at 2,150 fps. In 1896 Jeffery introduced the .450/400 Nitro Express (3-inch). A smokeless round, it hurled a 400-grain bullet at 2,100 fps. Among its many fans was famed tiger hunter and author Jim Corbett. At the same time, British gun firms fielded the .500/450 NE (3 -inch) with 480-grain bullets at 2,175, the .500 NE (3-inch) with 570-grain bullets at 2,150 and the .577 (3-inch) with 750-grain bullets at 2,050.

The .450 NE (3 -inch) debuted in 1898, launching 480-grain bullets at 2,150. Following the .600 NE came the .450 No. 2 NE (3 -inch). It matched .450 NE (3 -inch) performance. THE AUTHOR USED THIS MODEL 70 .375 ON HIS FIRST SAFARI. NOTE RECEIVER SIGHT, MAUSER EXTRACTOR FOR CONTROLLED FEED.