Innehållsförteckning för Jan/Feb 2025 från SA Hunter/Jagter

HISTORY OF W.J. JEFFERY & CO. At the age of 30, William Jackman Jeffery was employed by Webley in 1887 to manage their new showroom at 60 Queen Victoria Street, London. However, this venture eventually floundered, and Webley decided to close the shop. Jeffery then bought the premises together with an early business partner named Davies and established the firm Jeffery & Davies in 1890. This venture also only lasted a few months. In 1891, Jeffery decided to restart the company, now called W.J. Jeffery & Co. and still located in Queen Victoria Street. After a few years of growth, the company moved to the more well-known address of 13 King Street in St. James in 1898. There, the Jeffery company rose from relative obscurity to become a highly successful,…

In November 2015, Leslie van der Merwe published the first book on the hunting, cleaning, preparation and cooking of South African game birds. At last, “our own” cookery book on South African game birds! This book made a great impression on our wing-shooting community; up until then, we had all used recipes from American publications, English game cooks or European traditional recipes, all of which were based upon their various bird species, traditions, marinating and climatic conditions. That first edition has been a very successful publication and a great addition to the wing-shooter’s arsenal. We are privileged to now have that edition, updated and added to in 2024. I write this review from the perspective of being an avid wingshooter with experiences spanning some 50-plus years over many parts of…

MY EERSTE ELAND Die elandkoei se agterstewe verdwyn om ’n draai in die voetpaadjie en ek versnel my pas. Die amper splinternuwe .300 Winchester Magnum in my regterhand het nog net twee koe-does op sy kerfstok; vandag hoop ek om ’n eland by te voeg. Die tweepootskietstok in my linkerhand, saamgeflans uit bamboes en binneband, haak aan ’n boomtak vas en ek laat die stokke val; ek sal ’n ander plan moet maak. Tien minute gelede hét ek ’n plan gehad – die perfekte hinderlaag vir die halfdosyn elande wat nou voor my draf. Een van die koeie het my egter opgemerk en my plan het nié gewerk nie. Dan is daar ’n reguit stuk in die kronkelpaadjie en die agterste koei is minder as 50 treë voor my. Die…

SKRYF VIR ONS! Dis vir ons by SA Jagter/Hunter-tydskrif altyd lekker om van ons lesers te hoor. Ons waardeer dit egter selfs meer wanneer ons lesers hul tegniese kennis, jagondervindinge of opinies oor jagverwante onderwerpe met ons deel. As julle dus al lankal pen op papier wou sit, moenie huiwer nie! Ons hoor graag van julle en wie weet, in die proses ontdek ons dalk die volgende Hemingway of Ruark en verskyn jou naam eersdaags in ons tydskrif! Ons nooi julle om jul bydraes vir ons te e-pos na johan@sahunter.org. Artikels oor tegniese en geweerverwante aspekte, herlaai, ammunisie, jag of selfs geskiedkundige jagters en jagtogte uit vergange se dae is almal welkom. ONS SIEN UIT NA JUL EERSTE BYDRAES! CONSERVATION THE FASCINATING LAKE TURKANA Lake Turkana (formerly Lake Rudolf), located…

The rifle depicted here must surely rank as the ultimate Jeffery 24"-barrelled double rifle. Chambered for the formidable .600 NE cartridge (one of the legendary cartridges of all time developed by Jeffery), it is a stunning reminder of what an “elephant rifle” of the 1910s looked like – big, heavy, brutal and fearsome, but at the same time perfectly functionally refined for its intended purpose. It is something few men alive have seen and fewer still have fired. John Taylor used a rifle exactly like this one, and in discussing the .600 NE cartridge, he writes: “I was very fond of my little Jeffery.” He describes how, after killing a big bull elephant with a frontal brain shot using the 600 NE, he measured the depth of penetration by inserting…

Chances are excellent that if you entered a gun shop anywhere in the world, approached the shotgun rack blindfolded and stuck out your hand, the gun you grabbed would be of Italian manufacture. Granted, the Brits still turn out excellent guns, as do the Belgians, Germans and other European manufacturers, but almost all at staggering prices. The Japanese also produce excellent copies of John Browning’s over-and-under, and American-made guns tend to favour the American market. The Spanish also churn out shotguns of a wide variety and quality. Those originating down the order from some other countries always seem to lack quality, particularly their steel, and some are therefore not very hard-wearing. It would be true to say that the Italians dominate the market in over-and-unders. However, we need to delve…

Of the Big Five, the leopard is by far the most difficult and dangerous to hunt. It is elusive and secretive and hunts mainly at night. Its acute senses of sight, hearing and smell make it almost impossible to stalk. It is also a solitary animal and fiercely territorial. A leopard’s territory is roughly circular and ranges from 4-10 km2, depending on the availability of prey. This cat regularly patrols the perimeter of its territory, marking it by urinating on trees and other plants. This serves two purposes: to warn other leopards to stay out of its territory and to advertise its presence to receptive females. Planning a leopard hunt? The first thing you should do is obtain the necessary permits. Then you must determine whether there is a leopard…

The ballistic coefficient (BC) of a bullet is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the world of hunting ballistics. I have come to believe that since we do not understand the BC concept, we all understand it. Sic! The first point I would like to make is to explain the complexity and fluidity (dynamic nature) of BC. Let us look at the accompanying BC and trajectory comparison table for the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge zeroed at 100 yards with different 140-grain bullets, each with its own BC (see table). Competent African hunters take more than ±90% of antelope at ranges short of 200 yards, regardless of the terrain. At that distance, the difference in trajectory between the flat-base (FB) Hornady InterLock and the boat-tail (BT) Hornady SST is a mere…

“Wil jy regtig 1 200 km agter ’n rooibok aanry?” vra my swaer. Dit is meer as net ’n rooibok, verduidelik ek. Dis die Bosveld, die kampvuur met vriende en familie. En moenie ’n rooibok vlak kyk nie! Rooibokke is die stapelvoedsel vir biltongjagters in die noorde van Suid-Afrika en dikwels die eerste Afrika-bok wat buitelandse jagters skiet. Die Kruger Nasionale Park alleen het volgens Internetbronne rondom 150 000 rooibokke. Miskien het een van julle ’n meer akkurate getal. Ek is seker SA Jagter/Hunter sal dit waar-deer om van julle te hoor. Wanneer jy vir Bosveldjagters voor ’n jag vra wat hulle wil skiet, sal jy dikwels die volgende hoor: “Ag, sommer net ’n rooibok.” Ek het al voorheen genoem dat ons in Suid-Afrika bederf is met die verskeidenheid en…

These days, I have settled on just two filler materials: foam and Dacron/kapok. Just a word of caution here – if a load is developed without a filler and you decide to add one at a later stage, then that load needs to be reworked. Start a few grains lower and then work up again. The filler-aided load will invariably be slightly less than a no-filler load. FOAM The first useful material is foam. Foam has a number of advantages. Firstly, it is very light and adds little to the weight of the load. Secondly, it is easy to handle, holds its shape and fills up all the airspace. Bottleneck cases are no problem; the foam just compresses around the shoulder area of the case. Lastly, the foam is totally…

Leupold & Stevens (L&S) is onder beide jag- en skietentoesiaste seker die heel laaste naam wat enige bekendstelling nodig het. Leupold se suksesverhaal het in 1907 begin met die goeie vrien-de (en later swaers) Fred Leupold en Adam Volpel wat opmetingstoerusting begin vervaar-dig het. Fred se belofte van destyds, naamlik dat elke kliënt op ’n regverdige transaksie geregtig is, word vandag nog toegepas. J.C. Stevens, met sy ontwerp van ’n watervlakopnemer, asook Marcus Leupold (Fred se seun, ’n buitelugentoesias) en Robert Stevens het in 1914 en 1939 onderskeidelik deel van die maatskappy geword. Tydens ’n jagtog in die 1940’s het Marcus ’n skoot op ’n bok gemis as gevolg van ’n teleskoop wat vog aan die binnekant tus-sen die lense gekry het en sy sig beïnvloed het. Marcus het daar…