Man Magnum Jan/Feb 2024

IN A RECENT discussion at the range, the topic evolved to handgun training as needed to survive a violent encounter. My opinion has for a long time been that although handgun training is very important, it is equally important to actively learn how to avoid any potentially dangerous encounters. This is not just restricted to situations where you are attacked by armed robbers, but true for most any situation during a normal day, for example driving in (dangerous) traffic to work, or checking the inside of the shop at the local garage through the window before walking in. However, one of the participants of the discussion pointed out that most people he knows are oblivious of their surroundings a lot of the time thanks to their cellphones. Giving it some…

“Gun Jargon” I have just received my September/October ‘23 copy of Magnum and the two pieces by Gregor Woods, “Trail Talk” to do with “Gun Jargon” and the article titled “125 Years of the Mauser” were read by me with interest. My understanding of bolt action nomenclature is as follows: The front part into which the barrel is screwed is the “Receiver Ring”. The rear part of the action is the “Bridge”. The opening in between these, for housing the cartridges, is called the “Magazine Slot” as far as I know. I own an original circa 1924 .416 Rigby built on an Oberndorf Mauser Magnum action. The receiver ring up front is rounded at the top and engraved. At the back, the bridge has a square top. This top is…

THE night was cold on the Impendle farm where I was visiting my brother, who’d arranged a reedbuck hunt for me. Building up the fire, we sipped neat Scotch and chatted. Barry was seven years older than I, and has since passed on. While my lifelong passion has been hunting, his was fishing, but he followed my escapades in Magnum. “I read about your experience with the buffalo cow that gave you some trouble in Zim,” said Barry. “But nothing compared to your earlier story about a wounded buff that charged from 12 paces and fell to the last round in your mag, literally at your feet. That must have shaken you up.” “Well, I did feel a pang when he launched his charge, but after that, there was no…

THE S&W FPC, which was introduced late last year on the local market, has a rather unique design. Instead of having a folding stock, the barrel has a release catch and swings to the left and clips to the charging handle to keep it in place against the pistol grip and stock. This means that the carbine, with its 16¼-inch barrel and overall length of 30⅜ inches, can be folded into a compact unit measuring only 16⅜ inches, while not interfering with the optics. To get the carbine into action, the charging handle is depressed slightly (it acts as a latch to lock the barrel in place), the barrel swings out and is locked in place, then it’s simply a case of racking the bolt and deactivating the safety to…

WHILE on a safari in 1994, an over excited client fired his .375H&H when standing about a foot to my left. The rifle had a muzzle-brake which was directly opposite my left ear when he fired, and the resulting concussion wave felled me to my knees. Aside from the extremely loud zinging noise in that ear, it was excruciatingly painful, and if I closed my mouth, blocked my nose and made as if to blow, air came out of my ear. Simply put, I’d suffered a perforated eardrum. Annoyingly, the client had fired before I’d given him the go-ahead, as I was still glassing a warthog. To add insult to injury, he missed, though this was just as well, as it was a very mediocre warthog. In anger, pain, and…

I HAVE certain reservations regarding the latest technological advances, one example being AI and the effects it will have on society. Technological instruments are beneficial in many ways, but can be misused and abused. In hunting, a scope helps the hunter to see better and aim more precisely, which is good, but if he uses it to take shots which are beyond his or his rifle’s practicability, or which introduce potential long-range risks such as sudden animal movement or wind deflection, this amounts to mis-use. Thus the ethics of the matter do not lie with the device itself, but the use to which it is put. In August, 2023 I was fortunate to join a hunting party in the northern reaches of KZN as arranged by Wayne Scrooby with some…