IvW,
I don’t like the .458 Winchester Magnum anymore than you do, but to be fair… Richard doesn’t attribute those failures to be due to the inherent shortcomings of the .458 Winchester Magnum. Here’s what he has to say on the matter:
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”As to the view that my tracker Tsuro had to finish off elephants that I had shot, thus pushing me to get the .505 Gibbs, let’s put the story right!!! The elephant cow herds in the area I was operating in, were renowned for their extremely aggressive attitude and I relate several accounts in my autobiography (
The Hunting Imperative ) where I even found them tracking me!!! So, when tackling one of these herds, which I did frequently when tasked with eliminating all elephant and buffalo from large areas of Tsetse Fly country, shooting fast and furious , sometimes putting down 10, 15, even more, elephants in minutes with my Mannlicher Schonaeuer, inevitably I missed the brain on some and they would rise up, thus giving Tsuro a chance to back up with the .450 Rigby double that he carried. There was absolutely NO question of faulty .458 ammunition, simply a missed brain shot.
Furthermore, I only acquired the .505 after leaving the Game Department, for my safari hunting when backing up clients. What a truly magnificent cartridge that is! I used original Kynoch ammunition for some time as the rifle came with a good supply, but later handloaded with the monometal 550 gr Dzombo brass bullets and 135 grs of S385 powder ( the Somchem South African powder). This gave 2200 – 2230 fps. And heavy recoil!!!
Anyway, I continued using my .458 as a Professional Hunter most of the time as I have every confidence in it!”
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Richard later told me that he used three kinds of ammunition in his .505 Gibbs:
-Original Kynoch 525Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid factory loads (1978-1980)
- Barnes Old Pattern 600Gr round nosed copper jacketed FMJ solid hand loads (1980-2007)
- DZOMBO Mark VI 550Gr flat nosed brass monometal solid hand loads (very briefly in 2008 before he retired for only a few trials)
Another note for all interested parties. Richard exclusively used one kind of .458 Winchester Magnum ammunition for all his elephant culling. These were FRESH pre ‘69 Winchester Super Speed 500Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid factory loads (advertised velocity= 2130 FPS, chronographed velocity=2087 FPS).
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Between 1970-1978, he was backing up clients with a .500/465 Nitro Express Holland & Holland Royal sidelock ejector and old stocks of Kynoch 480Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid factory loads.
Through the course of his hunting career, he used ten sporting firearms:
a) A .22 Hi-Power Savage Model 99
b) A .303 British Lee Enfield
c) A 7x57mm Mauser BRNO ZKK600
d) A .30-06 Springfield BSA Majestic
e) A .458 Winchester Magnum BSA Majestic that originally belonged to Paul Grobler (used for most of his private dangerous game hunts until 1972)
f) The game department issued .458 Winchester Magnum Mannlicher Schoenauer
g) A .458 Winchester Magnum Flaig’s built custom FN Mauser (gifted to him by client Zachary Miller in 1972 and toted by Richard as his favorite rifle)
h) A .500/465 Nitro Express Holland & Holland Royale sidelock ejector
i) A .505 George Gibbs Mauser (made in 1927 & acquired in 1978)
j) A 12 gauge 2.5” W.J Jeffery boxlock non ejector side by side
I’d be more than happy to inbox you his WhatsApp No. as a means of verification. He’s a true treasure trove of knowledge, just like you are. A little unorthodox though, in that he prefers to use solids for follow up jobs on wounded lions.
