A. Francotte Mauser 10.75x68

Sure, it does not matter which case a bullet is fired from, the most important thing is the velocity which it reaches the target. That is but the weak point with cartridges like the 10,75x68, where it is far from certain whether the necessary muzzle velocity will be reached. Theoretically a lot is possible, but in practice it often looks different, especially in older rifles caliber 10,75x68. Moreover, it is not just about velocity, the rifle also has to shoot accurate with a maximum load. There is a lot of theoretical discussion and writing about the cartridge 10,75x68.
 
Theory screws with a lot of things. But what isn’t theory is the fact that in a Mauser bolt action rifle, 2200fps is not the top end of velocity with a 350gr. bullet from that case. History seams to be the nemesis of this cartridge today.
 
The lever latch floor plate release system is a dead giveaway that your rifle was made pre 2nd World War.

I have seen dozens of these Auguste Francotte 10.75x68mm Mauser rifles in the former Belgian Congo. They were exported there in bulk, as affordable bush veldt rifles for farmers and non professional hunters.

The low case capacity combined with the anaemic sectional density make it a poor performer on dangerous game. Modern bullets and propellant powders have made things somewhat better, but enough to warrant it is a serious dangerous game rifle.

It’s not a suitable caliber for Cape buffalo. And you can absolutely forget about using it on elephant. It’s okay for lion and leopard. Great for warthogs, bush pigs and most plains game.
View attachment 519905
Sean Flynn (son of actor, Errol Flynn) brought a 10.75x68mm Mauser (made by F.N Browning) to hunt a Royal Bengal tiger in the Sundarban mangrove forests in 1966. He was using I.C.I Kynoch 347Gr soft points (which were being loaded with Norma components at the time). He wounded the animal with a shot from a macchan (by sitting up over a natural Axis deer kill which the tiger had returned to for completing feeding), but it got away and eventually was killed by a gun trap set by the Gazi brothers 2 days later. A postmortem showed that the 347Gr soft point bullet had been found lodged in the very shoulder bone which Mr. Flynn had fired at. It had broken but failed to penetrate the scapula.

View attachment 519906
In Kenya (1974), a resident hunter I befriended was using an original Mauser Oberndorf in this caliber with quite successful results against livestock killing leopards. He also used it successfully on loads of plains game, although he recounts losing most of the bull elands which he shot with it. At the time, he was using an old stock of I.C.I Kynoch 347Gr split point ammunition in the rifle. I shot a bush pig with it and also fired it for target practice. I found the trajectory to be somewhat high.

Today, bullets may be acquired from C.E.B (Cutting Edge Bullets). They make a 325Gr Raptor hollow point and a 350Gr Safari Solid (both monometal).
I came across this blog which speaks of his life and mystery , aswell as his memorabilia on the wall . In his apartment in Paris on his wall was a hide which the 10,75 accounted for .


 

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Hi,
About 10,75x68 actual performance on african dangerous game, Pierre van der Walt in his monumental and most updated book on this, says this in part of the 10,75x68 chapter:

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I came across this blog which speaks of his life and mystery , aswell as his memorabilia on the wall . In his apartment in Paris on his wall was a hide which the 10,75 accounted for .


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