Indholdsfortegnelse for July/Aug 2024 i Man Magnum

AS A RULE Magnum usually tests fire-arms individually but we’ve received numerous enquiries regarding Turkish-made Canik pistols – mostly whether they are good enough for daily carry and how they compare to Glock pistols. So, we decided to compare the two brand’s optics-ready pistols in 9mmP, the Glock 19 Gen 5 MOS and the Canik Mete SF, in a simple test. Both the G19 MOS and Canik SF are categorized as compact sized pistols; the Canik’s slide is a few millimetres longer, though the pistols have the same overall length. To ensure I achieved balanced test results, I invited a die-hard Glock user, Jaco Erasmus, to help with the shooting. Jaco has been using Glocks for decades as carry guns and for competition shooting. His job also requires that…

TURKISH-made ATA shotguns have been available locally for some time now and have developed a reputation as reliable working guns at a reasonable price. The ATA model SP over-and-under guns are offered with either a standard steel or, a lightweight aluminium alloy receiver. They have single selective trigger mechanisms and automatic ejectors. The alloy action has a steel insert in the breech face to add strength. This results in a gun that weighs only 2.8kg, making it comfortable to carry on long walks. The shotgun with steel receiver weighs 3.2kg and is a good option for sport shooting or high-volume dove or pigeon shoots where the additional weight will help with reducing recoil. The test model, a steel-framed gun, has a Turkish walnut stock and fore-end, but the wood has…

DIE winter van 2022 bevind ek my soos die afgelope aantal jare, saam met ou vriende by Jaco du Toit op die plaas Roodewal in die Jagersfontein omgewing in die Vrystaat. Een keer per jaar kom ons hier bymekaar vir ’n voorsitjag. As jy eenkeer daar was mis jy dit vir geen geld nie en, omdat die meeste in ons groep al lank reeds by 60 verby is, weet Jaco om die pas so bietjie te makeer sodat almal kan bybly. Die kamp waar ons jag, De Syferen, is groot met randte en koppies, en minstens agt jagters is nodig om goeie sukses met voorsitjag te verseker. Die meeste voorsitplekke is elke jaar op dieselfde plekke en met die verloop van tyd, wil elke jagter graag elke jaar op sy…

Query on “You’ve Missed!” In the Magnum Hunting and Shooting Guide 2024, Koos Barnard talks of setting up a 10cm target to be shot at 100m from a field position. This is perfectly feasible. He then goes on to state that you should increase the distance to 250m. This results that, in terms of minutes of angle, you reduce the target size from 3.6 minutes to 1.44 minutes and seems to be unrealistic. I therefore presume that as he increases the range, he increases the target size to maintain the same ratio in terms of minute of angle. Please confirm that this is the intention, he implies this when using the full size animal targets, but does not make this clear when using the bull’s eye target. – Steve Berkemeyer,…

MOST of us have heard or read the oft-repeated descriptions of Cape buffalo: “they look at you like you owe them money” (Ruark) and that they have “attitude”, and so on. Perhaps the title of this article should read, “All bovines are tough”. I have been fortunate to take ten in all, if I count two feral water buffalo hunted in Northern Australia. Those two bovines were bigger than any of the Cape buffalo I have been privileged to hunt and they took multiple shots with a .416 calibre rifle to put down. In both cases, however, things terminated fairly quickly and neither attempted a charge. The toughness of the Cape buffalo is legendary, and it is said that more armed hunters have been killed by this animal than by…

WHO CAN remember what life was like in 1954? Probably only those who were born before 1944! The rest of us need to delve into the history books if we want to try and get an impression of daily life and a feel for how the sport of Clay Pigeon Shooting was organised and enjoyed. In South Africa, the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association was inaugurated in 1954 and so, in 2024, we celebrate 70 years of being the governing body for Clay Target Shooting (as it is now called). Why is history so important? One theory is that if we ignore history, we are doomed to repeat it. For the more nostalgic among us though, we like to take a peek at our own history to see how much we…

I RECALL, some 50-odd years ago, the Okavango Delta of Botswana being described as “Africa’s last wilderness frontier”. In1972, I was in the village of Maun, which is on the edge of the Okavango swamps, and there wasn’t much there. The accompanying photo of ‘downtown Maun’ shows the main street with the old Riley’s building and garage in the background. The village appears deceptively bleak due to overcast weather and the white streets which prompted me to take the photo. All of Maun’s streets comprised nothing but fine, powdery white sand. I stayed at Riley’s Hotel, and was amused to see a guest enter the dining room carrying a hunting rifle which he propped against a chair while he lunched. No one turned a hair. At that time, commercial hunting…

A SUCCESSFUL HuntEx 2024 took place from 26 to 28 April at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. Magnum had a stand in Hall 2 and our team was able to chat to readers and loyal advertisers, promote the magazine and establish contact with various role players in the industry which we hope will result in some interesting magazine content in the months to come. Total attendance at HuntEx 2024 was a massive 30 996. This was divided as follows: Friday 5 960, Saturday 13 995, Sunday 11 041. Walk-ins were 2 827 on Friday, 7 181 on Saturday and 6 637 on Sunday. Online ticket sales were 3 133 for Friday, 6 814 for Saturday and 4 404 for Sunday. In all there were 403 exhibitors – the most ever. Growth…

RONNIE KAYS, the early Botswana hunter, was 73 when we shared a fire in Maun in 2002. The conversation got around to some of his many narrow escapes when hunting dangerous game. “Ronnie,” I asked, “which member of the big five gave you the most excitement during your hunting career?” “Definitely buffalo. They also gave my clients the best stories to take home.” “Tell me,” I said. “Well, I had one 75-year-old client on safari with his 45-year-old girlfriend. He wasn’t too steady and couldn’t do much walking. He wounded his buffalo, which took off into the mopane belt above the Kwai Lodge. I had a Land Rover that was built up as a hunting car with big wheels and open doors, and the lady was sitting beside me in…

THE .22LR, dating back to 1887, has always been very popular. Its low noise and absence of recoil make it ideal for beginners – a mild cartridge makes it easier to teach proper marksmanship techniques. Although .22LR ammunition is by no means cheap in South Africa anymore, it is still far more affordable than any centrefire ammo. Also, not all ranges can accommodate the long distances needed for centrefire rifles. Rimfires are more user-friendly at indoor ranges and their barrels last forever – our current licensing system makes replacing a worn barrel very difficult. In recent years the .22LR’s popularity has risen another notch or two. When I was a kid, we only had ‘Bisley’ target shooting and hunting, but now a variety of .22LR sporting disciplines exist. Silhouette…

FOR ME, the word ‘safari’ conjures up scenes of African dawns and sunsets, the aroma of freshly made coffee and woodsmoke on chilly mornings, of heat and dust, of dense bushveld and close encounters with its wild inhabitants. This single word stirs my soul and makes me long to be out there. I am therefore delighted that Rudi Fischer of Randburg, who started making his excellent bullets in 2021, branded them ‘Safari’. Being a traditionalist at heart, Rudi used a semi-spitzer design and his bullets, made of red copper, have solid shanks and small bonded cores. Currently there is a strong push for mono-metal bullets and boat-tail spitzers with high ballistic coefficient factors. However, Rudi feels there are enough of those on the market and many of us agree. In…

WITH Mamma Mia all the rage in Cape Town, the womenfolk were away and I decided it was time for a bit of Mama Mi-alone. There is a dammetjie that’s always been good to me, and is just the place for a bit of introspective quiet time. With all the surrounding pans now dry, it could even be quite profitable. This was one of the first places I got to grips with shooting geese in the Western Cape. It felt right for a trip down memory lane, just to sit there and think. To reminisce. (How I hate the old buggers always reminiscing about their youth, a sure sign of getting old!) I pondered the good times when Polka was still alive. Oh well, I still have old Kaspaas whose…