Innehållsförteckning för June 2020 från Man Magnum

COVID-19 AND THE resulting worldwide lockdown have changed our lives drastically and the economic impact will be with us for years to come. Apart from the more than 200 000 deaths worldwide as I write this, a disastrous impact has been the dramatic drop in demand for fuel, which has led to the worst oil price crisis ever. Coupled with global lockdowns, this is causing losses in revenue amounting to trillions, with commensurate job losses. Newspaper reports proclaiming ‘worst jobs reports in modern history’ are now common in Canada and the USA. No one can escape the economic hardship, or the fear, which the disease has brought with it. Sadly, behind every statistical human death there is a family and friends facing the loss of a loved-one. The lockdown curbs…

IT A STARTED last July with a phone call… “Do you want to shoot some lions?” We had heard via the grapevine that two young male lions had invaded a neighbouring cattle ranch, but we knew no more than that. My son-in-law, Clinton, a workmate Carl and I arrived and met the farm manager and game scouts from the department of Wildlife who had been deployed a month deal with the marauders. They told us the lions had been killing cattle. The game scouts, armed only with shotguns, had wounded one before deciding to request assistance. We obtained the farm manager’s permission to shoot a young kudu for bait. We gutted the carcass and put the innards and blood into a drum, then dragged the entrails along the roads and…

THE FRANKFORD ARSENAL Intellidropper is an electronic powder measure that has two exciting and helpful features I haven’t seen on similar devices: a proprietary powder calibration function which affords fast and accurate powder measurements, and the Intellidropper mobile app that connects your smartphone to the dispensing unit using Blue-tooth. The app stores load data and other information useful to reloaders. On opening the box, first read the instruction manual, as this sensitive device needs to be handled with care. Ensure that you set it up correctly to avoid later frustration – a missed step could lead to imprecise and inaccurate results. The manual is easy to follow. The calibration weights and powder brush each have a place holder and the device’s base has four adjustable rubber feet and a bubble…

FEDERAL STATES that their Fusion® Safari ammunition uses an advanced process that electro-chemically fuses the jacket to the lead bullet core for consistent toughness. With enhanced aerodynamics, superior expansion and superb accuracy, Fusion Safari provides lethal performance on a variety of safari animals. Its high weight retention ensures deep penetration. The jackets are electro-chemically applied to the core through a sophisticated and refined molecular application technique, and jacket thickness and bullet construction are specifically designed for African game. The skived tip allows consistent expansion even at longer ranges where velocities have dropped. It’s designed to expand uniformly with each shot. The cores are identically created with high pressure (pressure forming) and almost no weight deviations. This adds strength and controls expansion. The bullet jackets are molecularly fused to the core…

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has resulted in a bleak economic outlook for all business sectors and those of hunting and sport shooting are no exception. The Chairperson of the Custodians of Professional Hunting and Conservation in South Africa (CPHC-SA), Stewart Dorrington, says hopes that part of the 2020 hunting season might help salvage the industry have disappeared. However, the tourism sector, under which hunting falls, is in for even harsher realities as travel remains restricted. The knock-on effect on related businesses will be severe. On a more positive note, Dorrington says the wildlife industry has a solid base, that could help it survive. He says the Covid-19 pandemic has put the industry in a situation it has never been in before, and it might well emerge in a different form as…

WITH THE NEW Night Fury suppressor, BBG Engineering has taken the success of its current dB-series suppressors a step further with increased reductions in noise and recoil. The reasons shooters and hunters fit suppressors to their rifles differ depending on what the rifles are to be used for. Ben van Dyk, a sport shooter and hunter himself, realised this long ago when he started manufacturing his dB-series of suppressors. The essence of the dB-series is that shooters can customise their suppressors with the series’ interchangeable parts and work closely with Ben to fine-tune their specific needs. The main aim of any suppressor for sport and hunting is to muffle the report of the firearm and to significantly reduce recoil to enhance accuracy. A massive reduction in recoil, especially with large…

THE ATN MARS4 384x288/7–28X thermal scope is 370mm long, 70mm wide and 65mm high at the widest points. With 30mm rings, the scope weighs 1193 grams and this increases to 1569 grams with the Auxiliary Ballistic Laser 1500 (ABL 1500) rangefinder fitted. It screws onto the scope’s objective lens, increasing total length to 447mm. The scope is powered by an internal battery, charged with a supplied type C USB charging cable that fits into any 2 Amp cellular phone charger. Charge time is about 6 hours and battery life a claimed 16 hours. The charging port is situated on the lefthand side of the cradle next to a micro SD card slot (4 to 64GB cards can be used). Both ports are covered with a rubber cap that is easily…

THE RECENT ARTICLES by Gregor Woods on knives and his request in the Feb 2020 edition for readers to share reports on authentic, traditional African knives of different eras and designs prompted me to share some information on a few knives in my collection that might interest. While travelling beyond our borders, I have made it a quest, whenever possible to obtain a traditional knife from the countries I was visiting. My ideal was to obtain the real McCoy from a local wearing it, rather than to buy from tourist shops. From Ethiopia I brought back a gile or jile, also called qolxad or toorey in Somali. With its long, oddly curved blade, it is the region’s most famous dagger and unique to the Horn of Africa countries. Apparently these…

Gerrie moved to Bloemfontein in the Free State in 1989 to study gunsmithing at the former Musgrave factory, starting his apprenticeship after he left the army. Gerrie’s field of interest is building classic hunting rifles. He also refurbishes production rifles doing hand-cut classic chequering and oil finishing. In addition, Gerrie builds match rifles for all disciplines. He has crafted rifles for many well-known PHs and big game hunters in calibres including .450 Rigby, .404 Jeffery, .416 Rigby, .500 Jeffery, .400 H&H, .505 Gibbs, .425 Westley Richards and various smaller calibres. Gerrie has no favourite barrel choice for hunting rifles and says that most modern barrel manufacturers’ products are very accurate. He considers actions from Barnard, BAT, Defiance, Surgeon or Atlas as the best for precision rifles. For hunting rifles, he…

David lives in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. For game, quail and other feathered gamebirds he favours hunting on his home ground in the Eastern Cape. He has also had very enjoyable hunting trips to the Eastern Free State. For the last 40 years, David has used his Steyr Mannlicher Model L in .308 calibre for hunting. For wing-shooting, he uses an SKB 12-bore shotgun. His last hunt was in the Makhanda (Grahamstown) area where he was after kudu, mountain reedbuck and impala. David has written about some of his hunts for Magnum and we’re looking forward to more hunting stories from him. He has been a Magnum subscriber since 1983.…