Finally got time to write a bigger and more comprehensive reply.
Peter had a five firearm battery :
- A .275 Rigby
- A .375 Holland & Holland Magnum
- A .470 Nitro Express Boxlock Ejector
- A 12 Gauge
- A handgun
We don’t know if the .275 Rigby was really made by John Rigby & Co. or if it was a generic 7x57 mm Mauser .
His first .375 Holland & Holland Magnum was built by Continental Arms in New York, on an early (pre ‘62) control round feed FN Mauser action. Magazine capacity was five rounds. The extractor wasn’t beveled, because Peter couldn’t load a round directly into the chamber ( by snapping the extractor over the rim ) without risking breaking the ejector. In 1989, he bought a second .375 from the Musgrave factory in South Africa which was built on a military surplus Mauser 98 action , with an octagonal barrel and a Timney adjustable trigger. It had Peter’s personal serial number ( PHC-1 ) engraved on the action in gold.
His first .470 Nitro Express was a William Evans Boxlock Ejector, which was stolen from his Florida home in 1974. His second .470 Nitro Express was bought from George Caswell ( of Champlin Arms ) at an SCI convention at Las Vegas , while he was signing leather bound copies of “ Death In The Long Grass “. This one was an Italian Champlin-Famars Boxlock Ejector ( serial number 763 ).
His first shotgun was a Beretta 12 Gauge 2 3/4” Silver Snipe Over & Under , which was also stolen from his Florida home in 1974. After that , he shifted to a 12 Gauge 2 3/4” Winchester Model 1200 with the Win-Choke interchangeable tubes.
His handgun of choice was initially a 9x19 mm Browning Hi Power semi automatic . Later, he switched to a .38 Special Ruger revolver .
Until 1984 , Peter preferred 300 Gr Winchester Silver Tip soft points and 300 Gr Remington round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids for his .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. He eventually switched to A Square ammunition for his .375 Holland & Holland Magnum In 1989.
For his .470 Nitro Express, he initially preferred using old stock ICI Kynoch 500 Gr soft points and round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids, which were loaded with 150 grains of cordite. After BELL Brass began to produce factory loaded .470 Nitro Express ammunition in 1983, this is what he began to use until 1989 ( when BELL Brass closed down ).
For following up wounded leopards, he initially used British brass cased SSG shotgun shells ( SSG is # 3 Buckshot with a 6.8 mm pellet diameter). He later shifted to # 1 Buckshot (or Spec. SG), after conducting some ballistics tests in 1976 . These were local South African paper cased Swartklip shells. He used the same brand for wingshooting, preferring the following shot sizes:
#9 for doves
#8 for rock pigeons
#6 for waterfowl
Even though he didn’t personally own it, Peter also used a Game Department issued Winchester Model 70 in .458 Winchester Magnum for elephant cropping work ( no mention is made as to whether it was a pre ‘64 control round feed action or a post 64 push feed action ). For this, he used Game Department issued Winchester Super Speed 500 Gr round nosed FMJ solids ( most likely gilding metal jacketed , which was what Winchester was using during the 1970s until they began to use Hornady round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids from 1983 ).
Early in his career, he also used a W.J. Jeffery boxlock ejector in .475 Nitro Express (along with old stock 480Gr I.C.I Kynoch ammunition) which used to belong to the outfitter whom he apprenticed under.
