Guns Illustrated 2011. Dan ShidelerЧитать онлайн книгу.
the fixed barrel. The second, adjustable, barrel shot this heavy bullet 3-inches high.
Another difficulty was that the gun sometimes doubled with this load. This meant that I could only shoot one barrel before opening the gun and priming the second barrel. My plan was to fire the top barrel first and carry a priming tool in my left hand to slap a primer into the lower barrel when needed. The result was that I was carrying two single-shots rather than achieving the rapid left-right shots offered by a double gun.
The hunt offered additional difficul-ties. Earnst Dyason, of Spear Safari, could fit me in for a South African hunt the first week in April. This was at the end of the rainy season on a property that was very thickly vegetated.
On the third day of the hunt we cut fresh tracks of a lone “Dugga Boy.” After tracking through sometimes head-high brush and weeds we found him at about 20 yards. We waited until he offered the clearest possible shot at its shoulder. I aimed as low as I could see and fired. The bullet penetrated the near-side shoulder, passed through the ribs and broke the off-side leg. Despite this injury, the buffalo ran. After multiple encounters, the buffalo charged and Dyason stopped it with a brain shot at 4-5 yards.
When the buffalo was butchered, the bullet had performed well, but hit too high in the chest cavity to intersect the lungs. I now know more about shooting Cape buffalo than I did, and I mentally replayed my shot on every other buffalo that I saw.
Close up of action and ghost sights Gibbs .72 caliber Hunter.
Petersoli AN IX police pistol.
Dyason and I also stalked ostrich. I used the same 150-grain charge, but with the .444-grain PowerBelt bullet. The huge bird took over 2,000 pounds of muzzle energy and stayed on its feet. Another shot was needed to kill it. The bullets expanded to about .70-caliber and remained in the animal. This copper plated lead bullet would have been too soft to offer suffi cient penetration on Cape buffalo. This experience confirmed PowerBelt’s Michael McMichael’s observation that these bullets did not offer deep penetration on buffalo-sized animals.
GOOD OLD BOY HUNT
An adjunct to my buffalo hunt was a hunt in the Cape Province that was arranged by WhiteSmoke Forum (www.whitesmoke.co.za) moderator Willem O’Kelly. A few days before my arrival the first shipment of Bobbiejanbutts (baboon butt) smoothbores had been received from India’s Delhi Gun Works, and forum members were eager to try them out.
These guns were replicas of the long-barreled flintlock smoothbores that the Dutch settlers used in South Africa from the late 1600s-1870s and most resemble America’s Hudson River Fowlers. With the assistance of many individuals, I was hosted on a farm owned by Johan von Rensburg and participated in some “buckskinning” Afrikaans style. Although no big game was taken by the smoothbores on this trip, they did gather some springhairs and rabbits with their new guns using loads of pink Sannadex power, a South African-made black-powder substitute.
Pedersoli maple stocked engraved shotgun
Exposed ignition in Thompson Centers NorthWest Explorer.
South African hunters in period dress with their replica smoothbores.
New Guns
CVA
Almost every gun in the CVA line received an upgrade for 2010. The Apex, Accura, and Optima are now all stainless steel guns. They, along with the other drop-barrel guns in the line, are now fitted with the new QRBP (Quick Release Breech Plug), to allow easer than ever cleaning and unloading.
The bolt-action Elkhorn Pro has an exposed nipple for musket and #11 caps for use in those states that require exposed ignition while the least expensive gun in the line, the Buckhorn at under $200, has 209-ignition in a simple striker-fired gun. CVA’s best-selling gun, the Wolf break-action, is still priced at under $250 and also comes with the new QDBP system.
DAVIDE PEDERSOLI
This Italian gunmakers’ muzzleloading and black-powder cartridge guns are marketed through various outlets, including Cabela’s, Dixie Gun Works, Traditions and others. Three new guns attracted my attention. These were a maple-stocked 12-gauge “Old English” muzzleloading double shotgun with engraving and browned barrels ($1,718); the commemorative Gendarme AN IX flintlock pistol in 15.2mm caliber ($694); and a half-magazine round-barreled 1886 Winchester lever action. The ’86 will be available in June for about $1,600.
Other new guns included the White Hawk, which is a falling-barrel “parlor rifle” that shoots lead BBs or .177 pellets powered by 209 primers ($300) and a Derringer Guardian which also uses 209 primers ($220). One model of the Guardian also fires .177-size projectiles. Another new pistol is an elegant replica of a .45-caliber smoothbore fl intlock pistol made by Nicholas-Noel Boutet, who was gunmaker to Napoleon and had his workshop at Versailles ($1,180).
Additional models were also offered of the company’s replica Sharps and Winchester single-shot cartridge guns. Expanded offerings were also made in the Mississippi Hunter rolling block which is now chambered in .22LR ($754), .357 Magnum, .38-55, .45 Colt and .45-70 ($888). This year the company also launched an on-line magazine, “Pedersoli No. 1,” which will feature articles about muzzleloading events, guns and hunting – including some by the author. Free subscriptions are available at www.davidepedersoli.com.
DIXIE GUN WORKS
Two new muzzleloaders are being offered by Dixie. The most unusual is the Gibbs African Hunter rifle with a .72-caliber rifled barrel, ghost-ring adjustable sights with a 1:75 round-ball twist that will sell for about $1,640. The recommended load for this gun is a 100-grain charge of FFg black powder and a patched round ball and bullet (Pedersoli mold U309-720). I prefer to use about 150 grains of FFg and a hard-lead 12-gauge ball for African plains game and larger bores for bigger animals.
The African Hunter does not come with a ramrod, which detracts from its utility as a hunting gun. Installing a heavy steel ramrod would improve this gun’s over-all usefulness and the added weight would enhance the user’s ability to more comfortably shoot heavier loads.
Dixie also introduced a .69-caliber Spanish Musket for reenactors who wanted a gun that resembled those used in Spanish-America about the time of the Revolutionary War. This gun uses a 1-inch fl int and a .680 patched round ball. It has a recommended retail price of $1,400.
Traditions Vortek Rifle with easy remove breech plug.
Traditions new Vortek 50-caliber pistol.
THOMPSON/CENTER ARMS
A new design of break-action muzzle-loader, the Impact, was introduced by Thompson/Center Arms. With a competitive price of $249 for the blued-finished model, this gun will appeal to many hunters. The barrel is closed by a manually retracted barrel shroud, reminding me of the locking mechanism used by Remington and Valmet, among others. The gun is polymer stocked and at 6.5 pounds is very light.
The gun also has an adjustable buttstock and uses the same trigger as the more-expensive Omega ($330-$550) and Triumph ($430-$650). The Impact would be an ideal beginner’s Rifle. Initially, loads as low as 55 grains of