Innehållsförteckning för Mar/April 2022 från Man Magnum

THE Centurion is Beretta’s version of a compact pistol (similar in size to the Glock 19) with a 15-round magazine capacity. Apart from the Centurion and a full-size pistol, Beretta also has an APX Compact which has the same slide as the Centurion but a shorter grip with a 13-round mag capacity. In the March 2019 edition of Magnum, Paul Scarlata introduced us to the then new Beretta APX pistols – Beretta’s attempt to win the US Army’s Modular Handgun System competition. The APX is a chassis-based design with a focus on modular features such as interchangeable grips and ambidextrous controls. Another article on the full-size pistol and the Compact appeared in the May 2020 edition. I’m not going to recap any of the technical information available in the previous…

GAZING up the steep slope, which was overgrown and littered with gravel and large boulders, I realized that reaching the crest undetected and without injury would be challenging. My host, Dirk van Heerden, had dropped me at Apeldoorn’s main gate shortly after first light. While Dirk tended to his sheep at his remote Veepos, I would have a few hours to hunt kudu. Although I’d previously hunted springbuck and blesbuck on Dirk’s farm in the Bethulie district, I was a novice in Apeldoorn’s mountainous terrain. A massive cold front had moved in the night before and Dirk was convinced that the kudu would take shelter on the small plateau on the leeward side of the mountain, to sun themselves after the freezing night. Carefully navigating my way up the incline,…

Hunting Preparation Thank you for the article on hunting preparation. I am new to hunting and found the basic suggestions very informative. From them, I have started a check-list for my hunting trips which I am sure will expand sas I learn more. I look forward to reading the second part in your next edition. – Tim Marais, Gauteng Causes of Gun Blow-Ups Dave Westerhout’s piece in the Nov/Dec Magnum concerning the causes of blow-ups refers. While I agree with much of what Dave says, there are a couple of points to be made which might clarify some of the issues he raises. I agree with Dave’s instinct about shooting oversized lead bullets. Using 0.313" dia lead bullets in a .308" bore should not make that much difference. As an…

THE eland’s scientific name used to be taurotragus oryx but zoologists recently changed it to tragelaphus oryx after evidence of hybridization with the greater kudu. These hybrids are called kulands (koeland in Afrikaans). Eland is the Dutch word for elk or moose and our African eland is referred to as the eland antelope to distinguish it from the moose found in the northern boreal forests. Africa has two eland species: the common and the giant or Lord Derby’s eland. Three subspecies of the common eland are recognized: the East African eland, the Livingstone’s eland and the Cape eland. All three subspecies have thin white vertical body stripes at birth but the Cape eland loses these with maturity. I will concentrate here on the Cape eland. Eland are found throughout Southern…

THE bushbuck is my favourite animal to hunt and to admire. When he steps out of the bush he looks a real dandy with his smart black coat and sparkling white markings but, make no mistake, a bushbuck ram is no gentleman. Do not be deceived by his silent, aloof attitude. He has rapier sharp horns and, being a forest and thick bush dweller, has superb hearing and sense of smell. A lone hunter attempting to shoot a bushbuck using the walk-and-stalk method will only succeed if he has all the elements in his favour – or a great deal of good luck! In my younger days I took part in many traditional East Cape social hunts where the guns were set out in a rough line and beaters and…

THE oldest family-owned firearms company in the USA is O.F. Mossberg & Sons who commenced production in March 1919. Their Varmint and Predator rifles (MVP) began as hunting rifles and evolved into a range of precision rifles in several configurations, namely a Varmint model, Scout rifle, Patrol, the Light Chassis (LC), and the Long Range (LR) which is now available on the local market. The MVP-LC (Light Chassis), with a tan-finished aluminium MDT chassis and Magpul CTR adjustable stock, was featured in our August 2018 edition. The LR (Long Range) is basically the same barrelled action with a longer barrel and a synthetic stock. Mossberg’s standard bolt action has two locking lugs and a fluted bolt. This design feeds from standard AR-10 style (LR308/SR25) magazines. A 10-shot P-Mag magazine comes…

A N OVERHEATED barrel can adversely affect group sizes and results in a shift in impact. This is not an issue when hunting where a single shot or, at most a short string of shots, is fired. However, for competitive sport shooters it can certainly be a problem to cool down a barrel between long strings. When working up a hand-load, the ideal is to fire all shots at the same barrel temperature, which means that waiting periods between shots are mandatory to ensure accurate data is gathered. To ensure a faster cooling time for a barrel, various barrel cooling devices can be bought. All work on the principal that air is blown through the barrel to lower the temperature. The Barrel Breeze is such a device and is locally…

ALLE ouers ken die ‘ek sal self’ stadium van hul peuters en kleuters. ‘Ek self eet’ of ‘ek self skoen aantrek’, ens. Dit is ’n moeilike maar ook noodsaaklike stadium van ontwikkeling tot volwassenheid. Indien dit reg bestuur word kan dit ontwikkel in ’n bevredigende lewe, maar in gevalle kan dit lei tot ’n lewe van selfsugtige eiebelang en om ten alle koste te wen, iets wat ongelukkig ook in die jagveld gebeur. Uit verhale in jagtydskrifte kom dit voor asof hierdie beginsel van dinge self te doen nog voorkom. Van die skrywers vertel dat hulle graag self die dier wat gejag word wil opspoor en nie deur ’n gids vergesel wil word nie. Om deur ’n gids begelei te word beteken eintlik dat die jagter net die skietwerk gedoen…

DURBAN EASTER KNIFE SHOW The Durban Easter Knife Show (DEKS) has been a feature of the annual calendar in Durban for more than 30 years. The show draws exhibitors from across the country and in previous years buyers have come from as far afield as Germany and the USA. The 2022 show will be held at the aha GATEWAY HOTEL (Corner Centenary Blvd & Twilight Dr, Umhlanga Ridge) from 10am to 6pm on Friday 15 April and from 9am to 4pm on Saturday 16 April. Many types of hand-made blades will be on display – from hunting and fighting knives to kitchen and carving knives; from small “gentlemen’s folders” to Japanese swords. DEKS will feature the craftwork of both experienced and new knife makers. You will be able to see…

MY YOUNG grandson, Jimmie, was camping with me in the Mpumalanga Lowveld. One afternoon, I was preparing the campfire when he came running up in a state of excited bewilderment. “Grandpa! I saw a big spider catch a bug and then just disappear!” “Disappear?” “Yah! Like magic!” “Well, could you find the spot again?” Pointing, he said, “I was sitting on that stump over there.” I followed him to the fallen tree. “I saw a big spider chasing an insect over there. I went to stamp on him, but before I got there he caught the insect and ran back and then… then he was just gone! I thought he’d gone down a hole but there’s no hole – look!” Certainly, no hole was visible in the vicinity. I bent…

IN THE previous edition I discussed requirements that can be considered pretty much essential for a serious hunting trip. Here I’ll discuss equipment that is non-essential but is useful to have, and the all-important physical and mental preparation. For starters, a GPS is very useful. In flat, featureless terrain this can make getting back to your vehicle, campsite or downed animal much easier. However, if you can’t afford one or, like me, you’re reluctant to learn how to use new technological goodies, some common sense can replace it. As an alternative, a very handy and cheap piece of equipment for getting back to your animal for recovery purposes, or even your vehicle/campsite, is a flashing (normally red) light as used by cyclists. It is so small and light that it…

THE Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 gave rise to some curious quirks of fate both during its time and afterwards. One such incident that I found interesting occurred half a century later and was mentioned by Emanuel Lee in his book, To the Bitter End: A Photographic History of the Boer War 1899-1902. As a young medical student at the time he was involved in attending to the trauma that ensued. The story relates that on the 9th of May 1953, a schoolboy at Crosby Afrikaans Medium School in Johannesburg brought to class an object he had apparently found on a nearby koppie. This was later described by those who saw it as a rusty cylindrical thing, six to eight inches long, and about two inches in diameter. The teacher looked…

THE woodshed smelled of fresh cut pine. With planks and sawdust everywhere, and tables full of tools, it had that warm and intimate atmosphere only found in a carpenter’s workshop. All around were sanders and saws and drills, rasps and chisels and block hammers and screwdrivers. Outside, stacked layers of huge logs waited to be cut. The old man had built the shed himself. There’d been nothing here when they first came out, just bush and a lot of hard work. He cleared the bush, felled the trees, hauled the logs out and cut the timber all by himself. He built a log cabin on the edge of the forest that had a magnificent view down the valley and over the mountains. He was a modern day pioneer that lived…