Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2021 i Man Magnum

IN OUR May 2021 edition, we looked at the Beretta M9A3, which is the company’s replacement for the iconic M9A1 military sidearm. The 92X Performance is basically a competition handgun that can double as a defence arm, and is based on the same design with some parts being interchangeable. The differences, and there are several, are all upgrades to enhance accuracy and speed-shooting. On first hefting the pistol, the first notable change is the weight: 1 283 grams without the magazine. Beretta opted for the heavier (thicker and wider) Brigadier slide, which weighs 359 grams on my scale, and plays a major role in taming recoil. The new Vertec steel frame that is used is a slimmer version of the normal 92 pistol frame and features a slightly different grip…

AIRGUNS are evolving and advancing, arguably faster than any other form of rifle, thanks to new developments in valving technology and a shift from traditional Diabolo pellet shapes to sleeker, more aerodynamic slugs. While centrefires and rimfires have more-orless reached a performance plateau after centuries of development and massive cash injections through lucrative military contracts and sporting events, airguns are only now going through their ‘industrial revolution’, and that is largely thanks to the introduction of new global shooting events which have driven the industry to strong competition in a bid to take home the silverware. No shooting discipline better sums up this intense drive for airgun evolution than 100 Yard Benchrest. The first event was held in 2012 in the USA after manufacturer FX Airguns and retailer Airguns of…

PART 1 of this article ended with Steve camped beside the Sanyati River, 40km from where it enters Lake Kariba, waiting to rendezvous with ‘Tom’. Prior to this, Tom had accompanied Steve down the Umfuli to its confluence with the Sanyati, but then left his canoe and gear with a road-gang near the Umfuli-Sanyati confluence and returned home to appear in court. Steve had gone on to canoe the difficult and dangerous Sanyati alone, Tom having promised to motor back with replacement provisions, pick up his canoe and bring it by road to meet Steve at the lower Sanyati bridge. Together they would then canoe to Kariba and on down the Zambezi through Rhodesia and Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. Steve’s food had run out, and, without his fishing tackle…

WE were barely set up when the ram made its appearance. He stuck his neck out on the flat, 150m to the left and below us. Hawkishly we waited on a ridge above him. Chris snuggled the fore-end of his Remington .308 over the tripod shooting sticks, with both elbows anchored on his upper legs, but the shot did not come. The ram presented himself twice before disappearing beneath a cluster of thorn trees. I gave Chris an icy look. “Why did you not take the shot?” I hissed. From my viewpoint where I sat a few metres above Chris, there were clear shooting lanes to where the ram had stood, but not so for Chris. Trees on the slope below us prevented him from taking the shot. We were…

SOME sound advice extracted from the beginning and end of this article by long-time Magnum contributor Bruce Truter. The full article contains guidance on what to do if the animal is hit in the wrong place, second shots taken at the wrong animal, following-up a wounded animal, what action to take should the animal go down on the spot or within sight, managing the people in the hunting party after the shot, how to quickly kill a downed animal, how not to get injured by a downed animal… all in a practical, down-to-earth way. After the Shot By Bruce Truter Illustrations by Alan Walker Published: August 1993 I was taking a walk in the bush one time, just for the sake of taking a walk, when I spied a bushbuck…

THESE small knives were designed by Alan Folts of Melbourne, Florida, USA. Folts is a designer and custom knife instructor with over 20 years’ experience in the industry. With the Minimalist range he has managed to create small, fixedblade knives which pack a lot of utility into their compact designs and they are easy to carry. Available in plain-edge Wharncliffe, tanto and Bowie style blades, and offered in various finishes, they perform a variety of cutting tasks more efficiently than most knives of comparable size. Specialized blades, the cleaver and Keramin, are also available. The Keramin looks like a karambit and was designed for defensive purposes. I bought the Minimalist Bowie (left image) a while back. Apart from their blade shape, all these knives are of the same basic design.…

Robin Barkes’s Wish List I always enjoy Robin Barkes’s articles and I share his enthusiasm for firearms of the 19th century. If Robin should ever be in the vicinity of Ficksburg, in the Eastern Free State, I could help him to tick off a couple of firearms from his June 2021 article, “10 Great Guns …still on my wish list”. I have a Remington Rolling Block circa 1878 in 12-bore shotgun and a .44 Starr revolver which he is welcome to come and shoot. While he’s at it, he is also welcome to try out a number of other “wild west” firearms in my collection. It is always more enjoyable shooting with another enthusiast than on one’s own and some of my firearms are long overdue some action. – Morgan…

JUST as the legendry Kentucky rifle helped shape American history, and the famous British Brown Bess musket was heard around the world, so the big-bore gun of the trek Boers has its place in South African history. Although all three of these historical designs employed the flintlock mechanism, each had its own distinctive look. The early Boer gun with its heavy bobbejaanboud butt-stock and gaping muzzle would stand out in any collection. The Boers were a rugged breed who lived a rugged life and wanted a gun that could survive years of hard use. Most importantly their guns had to be capable of killing elephants for ivory, rhino for making rawhide sjambokke, hippo for fat and buffalo for leather and biltong. They also shot giraffe for their skins which provided…

FOR AS long as I can remember, my ultimate dream was to hunt Africa’s Black Death. When I was at primary school my father bought a VHS tape called Black Death by Mark Sullivan and I can still remember how we watched it over and over again, the images fueling my passion and desire to pursue an old dagga boy in thick cover. It was my father’s dream as well, one which he sadly took to his grave. Unfortunately the price of such pursuits was beyond my budget for quite some time. Ruark might have said, “A buffalo looks at you like you owe him money,” but with the price a buffalo hunt fetches these days, it might in fact be the other way around. So when a friend called…

DURING the final stages of a stalk on game it often happens that you get stuck due to a lack of cover or because the presence of other animals close by can blow your cover. Unfavourable substrate (loose rocks or pebbles) can also prevent a quiet approach, and birds, monkeys, baboons, etc. can give you away. Game animals are blessed with an array of senses far superior to that of humans therefore, hunting by hoping for the best and blundering towards your potential quarry disregarding wind direction (smell), cover (sight) or noisy ground conditions (hearing), is mostly futile. Those specializing in shooting game at long distances of 500m or more are not influenced in the same way as hunters who prefer, and love, the stalk. Although the aforementioned group might…

WHEN it comes to African game animals, the warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) is an anomaly. It is ugly to the point of being beautiful. Its head seems to be too big for its body and the hair covering its body is sparse. At night warthogs sleep underground and they always reverse into the abandoned aardvark holes they usually use for that purpose. They have enormous upper and lower incisors or tusks – the upper ones are used for digging when foraging and the lower ones for self-defence when fighting. And, when warthogs take off running, their tails are held upright like aerials. Warthog boars stand 70 to 76cm high at the shoulder and can weigh up to 100kg on the hoof but the average weight is 65 to 80kg. Mature sows…

Get 8 printed issues of MAN MAGNUM to an address in SA for only R420 International rates on request OR Get digital issues of MAN MAGNUM for only R390 Why subscribe? 1. You’ll never miss an issue2. You’ll be able to maintain your collection3. You’ll never miss out on our great competitions Subscribe to the Printed Magazine To take out a NEW subscription or to RENEW a subscription: • Email: subs@media24.com or• Call 087-353-1300 (for international subscription rates call +27-21-065-0033) or• WhatsApp 087-353-1333 or • SMS ‘MAGNUMSUBS’ to 32361 with your details and one of our agents will contact you (R1.50 per SMS) Subscribe to the Digital Magazine To read MAGNUM on a device of your choice, subscribe through ZINIO or Magzter. Go to www.zinio.com/za/man-magnum-m6928 or www.magzter.com/ZA/Media24/Man-Magnum/Fishing--Hunting/ and follow the prompts. ZINIO…

I WAS up in the Drakensberg, once again sharing a fire with my good friend Royce Buckle, an ex-Tanganyika ‘white hunter’ from the ‘golden era’ of African safaris. Inevitably, our conversation turned to professional hunting during that era. “Not everyone was cut out for it,” said Royce, “no matter how badly they wanted it.” “Oh?” I said, “I would have thought someone wanting it badly enough would accept the downside and make it work.” “No,” said Royce, smiling. “Some were influenced by the writings of Hemingway and Ruark, or Hollywood safari movies made in the 1940s and ’50s. They wanted the perceived heroism and romance of the profession, but in some cases it took only one bad experience to change their minds.” Royce’s grin told me he had an example…

HAVE you ever experienced a blocked ear with that infamous ‘tweeeeeeeeeeet’ sound in your ear right after a gunshot? The blocked ear opens up a few days later and you feel a sense of relief that you ‘dodged a bullet’ there but the problem is, that the damage has already been done. We all know that the loudness of a gunshot can cause permanent hearing damage, but do we really understand the extent of this damage? The innermost part of the ear contains the hearing organ, the cochlea. This hearing organ is a complex structure and amongst other structures, contains hair cells. The human ear contains around 3 500 inner hair cells and 12 000 outer hair cells in this hearing organ which is around the size of a pea.…

SIGHTRON’S top of the range SV 10-50x60 ED with second focal plane reticle is designed solely for long-range target shooting. It has a 34mm tube, ED glass and 70 and 60MOA adjustment for elevation and windage. Immediately noticeable is its size: 419mm (16.5 inches) long; the sunshade adds a further 75mm and the massive 60mm objective lens has an external diameter of 69mm. Remember this when selecting scope rings. Weight is 1.21kg. The turrets, which must be lifted to adjust, are large and have knurled knobs facilitating a firm grip. I tested the scope on an extremely cold morning after a night when the temperature dropped to -9 degrees, and was able to use thick gloves with ease. Clicks are audible and tactile. Pushing the turrets down locks them in…

So, you couldn’t resist shooting the big ram with the trophy horns, and now have no decent table meat. Well, all is not lost. You can ‘rescue’ a boud of such venison with pot-roasting and really good gravy. Age the meat in a closed glass or porcelain bowl in a refrigerator for up to two weeks. Use a cast iron pot; stainless steel will also do, but preferably not aluminium. INGREDIENTS: One hind-leg (springbuck/reedbuck/impala size). Do NOT debone, as this conduces dryness. Bone provides gelatine as a gravy thickener and flavourer. If too long for your pot, separate the shank. Optional: fat for larding. Vegetable quantities should be appropriate to pot size. Sliced longitudinally into very slender ‘julienne’ strips, laid side-by-side, these must form a ‘mat’ roughly 10mm thick covering…

ONE Saturday afternoon we were having a braai at my parent’s house when my Dad’s phone started ringing. His neighbour has a little camp of about ten hectares where he breeds nyala. The problem was that he had six ewes and two bulls. The big bull was starting to terrorize the other bull who was younger, but now maturing and turning into competition for the female’s affection. There had also been a couple of incidents where some offspring had broken their legs, and unfortunately, the mature bull was blamed. To make matters worse, this bull had jumped the fence and was now on an open 3 000ha farm. Confidently I headed over, still wearing shorts and a blue shirt, to take care of the problem. We started walking near the…