A Double Barrel Rifle, A Gaur & A Very Unpleasant Surprise

Another enjoyable article of yesteryear.
 
Nevertheless , l still do not picture an over-under shot-gun or a magnum.458 Winchester calibre rifle , when l think of a visiting English Hunter. But , perhaps many of my brother sportsmen feel differently

Dear Sir,
Thank you so much, for your reflections of era gone by.

This last of your notes, is similar to what I can imagine, and it really reflects the time.

I am of younger generation, and I have never participated in high volume, high class bird shooting, standing on the peg - as my bird hunts are all - rough shooting, walking in the field after the dogs.

But what I have read and noticed in various hunting historical texts, by British authors, is that until not so long ago, in many of the high class bird shooting, using an over-under shotgun, was not considered within etiquette of the time.
Thus a proper gentleman of higher class will always use side by side, and preferably of smaller bore then 12 GA, although not necessarily.

This is possibly due to few ergonomic advantages that O/U shotgun have when compared to standard S/S shotgun, not to give a sportsman an advantage to another gentleman at shooting peg.

However this part of shooting etiquette, today is somewhat blurred. Modern times, I believe..

Once again, dear mr Rahman, I do hope you will keep sharing your experiences with us!
 
Dear Sir,
Thank you so much, for your reflections of era gone by.

This last of your notes, is similar to what I can imagine, and it really reflects the time.

I am of younger generation, and I have never participated in high volume, high class bird shooting, standing on the peg - as my bird hunts are all - rough shooting, walking in the field after the dogs.

But what I have read and noticed in various hunting historical texts, by British authors, is that until not so long ago, in many of the high class bird shooting, using an over-under shotgun, was not considered within etiquette of the time.
Thus a proper gentleman of higher class will always use side by side, and preferably of smaller bore then 12 GA, although not necessarily.

This is possibly due to few ergonomic advantages that O/U shotgun have when compared to standard S/S shotgun, not to give a sportsman an advantage to another gentleman at shooting peg.

However this part of shooting etiquette, today is somewhat blurred. Modern times, I believe..

Once again, dear mr Rahman, I do hope you will keep sharing your experiences with us!
Mark Hunter
Thank you so much for always explaining these things to me which l do not understand During my time , the traditional English shot-gun was a side by side of 12 bore with 67 millimeter chambers , bored quarter choke and half choke respectively , in the barrels.
The first over- under guns to be imported into Bangladesh were in the early 1980s decade . I believe that they were Japanese pieces. I personally enjoy shooting both side by side and over-under. However , my new students who start shooting, generally find over-under more easy and convenient. I believe that the " Over -under is a science , but the side by side is an art " .
 
Kawshik,
Another great personal account of your many hunting adventures! Great photos also! I was just curious if the shotgun cases used were made of cardboard? When I started reloading in the early ‘70s, most of my 12 gauge cases were cardboard. I would seal the top crimps with candle wax. I reloaded both those and the newer plastic cases. Thanks
CEH
 
Kawshik,
Another great personal account of your many hunting adventures! Great photos also! I was just curious if the shotgun cases used were made of cardboard? When I started reloading in the early ‘70s, most of my 12 gauge cases were cardboard. I would seal the top crimps with candle wax. I reloaded both those and the newer plastic cases. Thanks
CEH
Co Elk Hunter
That is correct.
We all had paper shot-gun cartridges back in those days. The first time l saw a plastic shot-gun cartridge was in 1966 and it was from the firm , Remington.
 
Mr. Rahman, thank you for sharing another riveting story. I really appreciate your frank and forthright writing style.

Please keep the stories coming!
 
Mr. Rahman, thank you for sharing another riveting story. I really appreciate your frank and forthright writing style.

Please keep the stories coming!
rinehart0050
I am deeply touched by your appreciation. I have a few more . I think you will enjoy those too , in the following days
 
Dear Sir,
Thank you so much, for your reflections of era gone by.

This last of your notes, is similar to what I can imagine, and it really reflects the time.

I am of younger generation, and I have never participated in high volume, high class bird shooting, standing on the peg - as my bird hunts are all - rough shooting, walking in the field after the dogs.

But what I have read and noticed in various hunting historical texts, by British authors, is that until not so long ago, in many of the high class bird shooting, using an over-under shotgun, was not considered within etiquette of the time.
Thus a proper gentleman of higher class will always use side by side, and preferably of smaller bore then 12 GA, although not necessarily.

This is possibly due to few ergonomic advantages that O/U shotgun have when compared to standard S/S shotgun, not to give a sportsman an advantage to another gentleman at shooting peg.

However this part of shooting etiquette, today is somewhat blurred. Modern times, I believe..

Once again, dear mr Rahman, I do hope you will keep sharing your experiences with us!

You are on point.
As others have mentioned Boss&Co. is arguably the finest of English guns and rifles.
You could trade this pair of O/U for a new Ferrari....maybe 2, depending on model.
Boss-28g-Over-under-Pair-671x1024.jpg

There's a famous quote when England's King George VI was asked why he didn't shoot a Boss; "A Boss gun, a Boss gun, bloody beautiful, but too bloody expensive!”
Having spent a good amount of time "on the peg", I can tell you driven shooting is steeped in tradition. Boss created the Over/Under in 1909 but you'd still get some looks and folks would want to discuss the novelty of your gun if you had one on driven grouse.
But, as with everything, there are those on the cutting edge - breech loaded guns, guns without exposed hammers, over unders, and (gasp) pump or auto loaders.
 
What a wonderfully written story. I have always thought a tiger to be the most beautiful of animals, Thanks for sharing.
 
I know that l have said that Royal Bengal tigers are not scavengers , but this Royal Bengal tiger was certainly an odd one. He had clawed and bitten the dead Gaur in several places. Our client’s hard earned trophy was desecrated. The next day , we gave this news to Sundar Raj sir and our client. Sundar Raj sir was furious at us for leaving the cookies unattended . He said “ Tora ki ato boro opodartho je tora coolie derke eka rekhe jabi ? “ ( Are you incompetent buffoons so stupid that you will leave the coolies alone ? All they had to do , was kill a Royal Bengal tiger and they could not even do that ) . He immediately told our client that the percentage of his payment which comprised Karim and my fees , would be forfeited and returned to him. Karim and l hung our heads down , in shame. However , our client felt for us and gave a new proposition. Karim and l could keep our fees. He wanted to shoot the Royal Bengal tiger which had damaged his Gaur trophy. Since we now saw a possibility of keeping or fees , Karim and l had immediately agreed. Sundar Raj sir would obviously need to handle some formality with the Nilgiri Wild Life Association , to allow our client to have his Shikar license amended to allow a Royal Bengal tiger. But that was his work , not Karim’s or mine. Our work was to guide our client to hunt that Royal Bengal Tiger.
So , after two days, a massive macchan was erected on top of a dead tree , to allow our client to safely shoot the Royal Bengal Tiger from above. This was done with the assistance of our coolies and our redoubtable Garo trackers who were able to narrow down the area where the Royal Bengal tiger would frequent Karim and l were to wait in a nearby tree with our Ishapore shot-guns , loaded with SG in each barrel . We made Rishi purchase a goat and tie it to a tree , as live bait . Everything was arranged . We were all ready . It was a very long and quite night . Occasionally , we would quietly call out to the macchan to see if our client was alright. However , he was a perfectly accommodating gentleman , no stranger to the sport. His magnum .458 double barrel rifle was loaded with 510 grain soft nose cartridges. It was at 1:30 at night that the goat began bleating more and more intensely. I have often read that animals have a sixth sense. I do not know how true that is , but experience certainly seems to indicate so. We knew that the Royal Bengal tiger was nearby . Rishi had a very powerful torch light in his hand. It was a big model. It was a moonless night and our client was relying on us , to illuminate the tiger long enough for him to shoot it. Rishi was , perhaps the best accustomed out of all of us to seeing in the dark. He pointed at a figure in the foliage slowly creeping towards the goat . It was the tiger. What happened next , occurred in maybe three seconds , but was unforgettable.
Rishi suddenly turned the light on and the destroyer of our client’s beautiful Gaur was visible. In the fraction of a second , our client let off a quick right and left , at the great cat. It was over. Those two 510 grain soft nose bullets completely made short work of the creature . What is more remarkable was that he had hit the animal in the base of the chest between it’s two fore legs, penetrating it’s heart.
View attachment 308715
Happy client with 486 pound Royal Bengal tiger



And thus , comes the conclusion of this account of a most eventful two weeks of 1966. Our client came to India , looking for a Gaur and went back with a fine Royal Bengal tiger. Karim and l got to keep our fees and l was able to see what an over-under can do. Nevertheless , l still do not picture an over-under shot-gun or a magnum.458 Winchester calibre rifle , when l think of a visiting English Hunter. But , perhaps many of my brother sportsmen feel differently
Friend Kawshick
Another truly engaging storyline. Your client was lucky to get both tiger and guar. He sounds like a a generous and caring client with great respect for you. It is a pity some clients are the opposite nowadays. It was indeed sad to see the demise of those fine English double rifles. Fortunately they can once again be used because of the ammunition companies loading for them.
Please keep writing my friend.
Cheers
Bob Nelson
 

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