Last weekend I was in Vanvouver BC where I had a lovely conversation with an old ex-Rhodesian national, a truly English gentleman that witnessed the end of the mythical African hunting era.
He showed me so many pictures and I was fascinated by his stories... sleeping at night under the incredible African sky, the utmost respect for the nature that old African hunters had, etc.. (sorry, he despises the typical modern canned hunt)
Obviously we were talking about firearms and cartridges and, not surprise here, the guy has a very evident bias towards the British firearm tradition.
His favourite long range plains game cartridge was the 300 H&H Magnum, "God's lightning", he recalled.
He was not a big fan of ultra fast cartridges "too unpredictable bullet behaviour" he said.
One of his least favourite English cartridge was the 244 H&H Flanged "lot of poor sods got in trouble with that one"
He mentioned so many obscure or almost obscure (to me) cartridges...Westley Richards, Purdey, Capstick, Jeffrey, Snider, Gibbs, Rigby etc...
When it comes to the "thick skinned big 4" (Rhino, Hippo Buffalo, Elephant) his favourite rounds were, obviously, the Nitro Express, he personally still own a double 470 NE and a beautiful 600 NE.
He told me that he personally witnessed more than one Dumbo charge..."in those situations you feel undergunned even with an howitzer"
One guy he knew was paralized by a buffalo charge that broke his spine...very sad.
Obviously he absolutely loved the 375 H&H, great versatility (one rifle for everything in all 6 continents), decent long range performance...he owns two of them.
He liked a lot the Mannlicher-Schoneaur rounds and the 8x57 JS
One of the cartridges he had more respect for (what a surprise!!) was the glorious 303 British, "the round of the British empire" he called it.
In particular way, the 215 gr. Kynoch 303 round was "a merciless killer" for plains game and big cats, in his words.
The 303 British and the sporterized rifles based on the Lee Enfield design (for example the BSA Lee-Speed Sporter) were very popular among non professional hunters that cound not afford expensive double rifles.
The 215 gr. pill loaded at about 2200 fps was incredibly effective at medium-short range, reliable and considerable expansion, they drilled like "arrows in butter", they just kept going.
Complete pass-through in plains game was common even at respectable distances.
For wildlife defense many used the 174 gr. Mark 7 bullet which, upon impact, yaw and deform violently causing horrendous wounds...he said that he saw quite few cats flipping over upon being hit by the Mark 7....."that was a really wicked round"...even better than the big guys to stop a vicious charge.
When more distance was required, the 174-180 gr. soft point 303 did fit the bill adequately but, obviously, it was no match for the 300 H&H.
He loved the sporterized Enfield....light and handy...only fools, he said, would use the 303 for the thick skinned fellows, even if quite few were taken with 303 solids.
But for anything else, the 215 gr. Kynoch did put down anything with authority...he personally stopped a Lion charge at no more than 20 yards with one 215 gr. pill through the chest..."it went through bones and musle like nothing and made jelly of the cat's heart".
Anybody here used this Kynoch round??
Regards
He showed me so many pictures and I was fascinated by his stories... sleeping at night under the incredible African sky, the utmost respect for the nature that old African hunters had, etc.. (sorry, he despises the typical modern canned hunt)
Obviously we were talking about firearms and cartridges and, not surprise here, the guy has a very evident bias towards the British firearm tradition.
His favourite long range plains game cartridge was the 300 H&H Magnum, "God's lightning", he recalled.
He was not a big fan of ultra fast cartridges "too unpredictable bullet behaviour" he said.
One of his least favourite English cartridge was the 244 H&H Flanged "lot of poor sods got in trouble with that one"
He mentioned so many obscure or almost obscure (to me) cartridges...Westley Richards, Purdey, Capstick, Jeffrey, Snider, Gibbs, Rigby etc...
When it comes to the "thick skinned big 4" (Rhino, Hippo Buffalo, Elephant) his favourite rounds were, obviously, the Nitro Express, he personally still own a double 470 NE and a beautiful 600 NE.
He told me that he personally witnessed more than one Dumbo charge..."in those situations you feel undergunned even with an howitzer"
One guy he knew was paralized by a buffalo charge that broke his spine...very sad.
Obviously he absolutely loved the 375 H&H, great versatility (one rifle for everything in all 6 continents), decent long range performance...he owns two of them.
He liked a lot the Mannlicher-Schoneaur rounds and the 8x57 JS
One of the cartridges he had more respect for (what a surprise!!) was the glorious 303 British, "the round of the British empire" he called it.
In particular way, the 215 gr. Kynoch 303 round was "a merciless killer" for plains game and big cats, in his words.
The 303 British and the sporterized rifles based on the Lee Enfield design (for example the BSA Lee-Speed Sporter) were very popular among non professional hunters that cound not afford expensive double rifles.
The 215 gr. pill loaded at about 2200 fps was incredibly effective at medium-short range, reliable and considerable expansion, they drilled like "arrows in butter", they just kept going.
Complete pass-through in plains game was common even at respectable distances.
For wildlife defense many used the 174 gr. Mark 7 bullet which, upon impact, yaw and deform violently causing horrendous wounds...he said that he saw quite few cats flipping over upon being hit by the Mark 7....."that was a really wicked round"...even better than the big guys to stop a vicious charge.
When more distance was required, the 174-180 gr. soft point 303 did fit the bill adequately but, obviously, it was no match for the 300 H&H.
He loved the sporterized Enfield....light and handy...only fools, he said, would use the 303 for the thick skinned fellows, even if quite few were taken with 303 solids.
But for anything else, the 215 gr. Kynoch did put down anything with authority...he personally stopped a Lion charge at no more than 20 yards with one 215 gr. pill through the chest..."it went through bones and musle like nothing and made jelly of the cat's heart".
Anybody here used this Kynoch round??
Regards
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