APPROPRIATE ARMAMENTS FOR TIGER HUNTING
The hunting of creatures as heavy and dangerous as man eating Royal Bengal tigers demands very particular discussion of the right tools for this application. Out of the 3 man eaters which I have shot, I used a 12 bore Pakistani single barreled Sikdender shotgun (loaded with a British plastic cased Eley Alphamax L.G cartridge which contained 8 hardened lead pellets of .36 caliber) to take the first 2 in 1981 and 1988. I shot the final man eater in 1989, with a 7x57mm Mauser Pakistani bolt action Churchill Gunmakers model Deluxe rifle (loaded with American Winchester Super-X 175 grain copper jacketed soft nosed cartridges). While each of the 3 animals were felled with a single shot, none of them were killed outright. The first man eater succumbed to his gunshot wound 7 hours upon getting shot. The second man eater succumbed to his gunshot wound 4 hours after getting shot. The final man eater succumbed to his gunshot wound an entire day after getting shot.
Based upon my personal experience, I would not recommend anybody to attempt to shoot a tiger with a shotgun (and certainly not one with a faulty extraction problem like my old Pakistani Sikender shotgun). Even when using L.G (the largest pellet size which shotgun cartridges are commercially loaded with), it is simply not possible to kill a large male tiger outright. And the animals remain mobile for lengthy periods of time. To put matters into perspective: My first man eater (upon getting shot) had made multiple attempts to attack me and Mustapha for the next 7 hours, before he finally gave out (due to blood loss causing him to eventually hemorrhage). This was even though all 8 L.G pellets had struck the animal’s body at 20 yards range-Because not a single one of those 8 pellets had managed to penetrate into his heart. Death was only (eventually) brought about by 2 of the L.G pellets rupturing the creature’s throat and damaging one of the major blood vessels within. My second man eater (upon getting shot) succumbed to his gunshot wound no less than 4 hours after I had shot him, despite (similar to his predecessor) all 8 L.G pellets striking the creature’s body. The 7 L.G pellets which had struck the tiger in the frontal chestal region, had all flattened out like clay putty inside the great cat’srock hard chest muscles. Death was only (eventually) brought about due to a single L.G pellet which had managed to (by some miraculous stroke of good fortune) sever the jugular vein of the man eater… thus, eventually causing the animal to hemorrhage out of prolonged blood loss.
The shotgun DOES possess ONE advantage over a rifle, though. 8 L.G pellets permits for a greater margin of error than a single rifle bullet, which is definitely a plus point when shooting in low visibility situations (such as when shooting at night over torchlight). But (to me, anyway) the disadvantages of the inability to kill a male Royal Bengal tiger outright and the inability to render him incapable of attacking the hunter, far outweigh this advantage.
A large caliber rifle on the other hand, will deliver a crushing blow to a Royal Bengal tiger as long as ANY REASONABLE SHOT is made to the vital organs. Even if the tiger is not killed on the spot, it will retreat rather than attempt to attack the hunter. When I shot the man eater of Atharobeki in 1989, I was quite pleasantly surprised to see the terminal ballistic effects which the 175 grain copper jacketed soft nosed bullet had on the animal. Upon receiving the shot, the animal was clearly in no position to even attempt to charge at me. And this was even though I had made a desperate broadside shoulder shot at the Royal Bengal tiger, which ended up rupturing only one of his lungs. While I have never personally shot a Royal Bengal tiger with a rifle at night, I know of at least a few documented cases where this has been successfully done. Practice is essential.
We now come to the discussion of the most suitable caliber of rifle for the purposes of hunting Royal Bengal tigers. Even though I personally used a 7x57mm Mauser for hunting the final man eater (and am quite an ardent admirer of Paul Mauser’s magnificent little cartridge in general), I do not ever recommend such a light caliber for the purposes of tiger hunting. The only reason why I shot the man eater of Atharobeki with a 7x57mm Mauser, was because of sheer unavailability of any heavier caliber rifles to me at the time. The 7x57mm Mauser was the heaviest caliber for which I could acquire a reliable rifle and a stock of fresh cartridges at the time. I am of the view that no caliber smaller than .338 Winchester Magnum, employing a bullet of 250 grains weight should ever be employed for hunting Royal Bengal tigers.
Other hunters of Royal Bengal tigers inhabiting the Sundarbans have thus (very sensibly) opted for heavier calibers of rifles when pursuing these great cats. The Pakistani journalist, Mr. Tahawar Ali Khan (who dispatched 1 man eating Royal Bengal tigress and 4 man eating Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans in 1957, 1958, 1966, 1967 and 1970) favored (to the exclusion of all other firearms) a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum caliber pre 64 Winchester Model 70 Super Grade rifle with a heavy barrel. He used 300 grain Winchester Silver Tip soft nosed cartridges exclusively for his Royal Bengal tiger hunting purposes, whenever he used to travel to the Sundarbans during his visits to East Pakistan. IGF Yusuf Salauddin Ahmad (the first Asian to become the Inspector General of Forests for the British Imperial Forest Service during the Colonial era and the first Inspector General of Forests of both East Pakistan and West Pakistan) preferred a .400/450 3 Inch Nitro Express caliber William Evans boxlock ejector double barrel rifle (loaded with British Kynoch 400 grain soft nosed cartridges) for hunting man eating Royal Bengal tigers during the British colonial era (he downed 9 of these creatures between 1927 and 1947). When Pakistani politician (and son of President Marshall Ayub Khan), Mr. Gohar Ayub Khan hunted 2 man eating Royal Bengal tigers in Nil Kamal Khal and Gol-Khali in 1958 and 1961, he used a 1938 made .470 Nitro Express John Rigby & Co. double barreled boxlock ejector rifle (loaded with Kynoch 500 grain soft nosed cartridges) which his father had presented him.
Royal Bengal tigers (just like all other members of the great cat family) have a highly developed central nervous system that is extremely susceptible to hydrostatic shock. A slightly smaller caliber bullet travelling at a higher velocity has visibly more impressive ballistic terminal effects on a tiger than a larger caliber bullet travelling at a slower velocity (all other factors being equal). For instance: For body shots on tigers, a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum (with velocities actually chronographing at 2530 feet per second or thereabouts with 300 grain bullets) has noticeably more terminal effect than a freshly loaded .458 Winchester Magnum (with velocities actually chronographing at the desired 2130 feet per second or thereabouts with 500 grain bullets)- Assuming of course, that all other factors are equal.
The choice of whether to use a bolt action rifle or a lever action rifle or a double barreled rifle is a matter of individual preference. The former 2 permit the loading of anywhere between 3-6 cartridges in the magazine (depending on the rifle’s caliber), while the latter must be reloaded after every 2 shots. But the advantage of the double barreled rifle is that it permits the taking of a second shot, within a fraction of a second… simply by pulling the second trigger (as opposed to bolt action or lever action rifles which must have their bolts or levers manipulated in between shots). Learning to quickly cycle the bolt on a bolt action rifle requires a great deal of practice, especially if the operator is a left hander (since most commercially manufactured bolt action rifles have the bolt on the right side of the receiver). Lever action rifles (on principle of their design) do not lend themselves to the use of high velocity calibers. Double barreled rifles are very particular about the kind of ammunition to be used in them. Any slight variation in cartridge brand, velocity or bullet weight from what the manufacturer originally regulated the rifle for… will result in a noticeable fluctuation in accuracy.
Generally speaking, I personally favored the bolt action platform over both the lever action platform and the double barrel platform for a long time, because the bolt action rifle is inherently more accurate out to longer ranges than the other 2 platforms. I also have more experience with bolt action rifles, due to my wartime service in the East Bengal Regiment in 1971 (where I was initially issued a bolt action .303 caliber Lee Enfield rifle before later switching to an automatic .308 Winchester Fabrique Nationale FAL rifle) and due to using rented bolt action rifles more during my African safaris.
But in recent years, as I look back & reflect upon my previous assessment… I have slowly come to realize that double rifles definitely hold the greater edge for hunting Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans (especially when the hunter runs a risk of facing a charge from a wounded and/or infuriated animal). The dense mangrove foliage of the Sundarbans denotes an almost guaranteed probability that most shots on Royal Bengal tigers will be taken in low visibility situations and at close range (barring of course, Royal Bengal tigers which were shot during random encounters from passing launches or boats when they come to drink water at the river banks or canal mouths). Indeed, in several of the forest ranges… the hunter will not even clearly be able see what lies 100 yards away from him. Most shots on Royal Bengal tigers are thus, taken at ranges under 60 yards. And during a charge scenario, a Royal Bengal tiger will be attacking the hunter from distances as close as 30 feet. In such situations, the double rifle’s inherent ability to get off an instant second shot by merely pulling the second trigger could essentially be the deciding factor between life and death for the hunter.
In a tragically ironical set of circumstances, just 23 years after hunting Royal Bengal tigers became outlawed in our part of the world… Kreighoff developed the perfect caliber for hunting the great cats- The .500/416 Nitro Express. Pushing 400 grain bullets at 2330 feet per second, this rimmed cartridge is the ideal double rifle caliber for hunting Royal Bengal tigers. Were I completely unburdened by any sort of constraint in regards to cost or availability… then my ideal rifle for hunting Royal Bengal tigers would hands down have to be a Heym Model 89B boxlock ejector in .500/416 Nitro Express with 26 inch barrels and a non-automatic safety.
While the modern notion is that most hunting rifles should be fitted with the best high tech telescopic sights, I personally find that (for hunting Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans, at least) nothing surpasses the old fashioned traditional iron sight. Wide “V” back-sights and an uncovered ivory bead fore-sight are my preferred setup for tiger shooting in the dense mangrove forests of the Sundarbans. They are very quick and instinctive to use. And they do not go out of setting if bumped (unlike a telescopic sight). In the Sundarbans, the vegetation is so dense that the hunter is unlikely to spot a Royal Bengal tiger from any great distance which necessitates a telescopic sight on his rifle. When the Royal Bengal tiger is spotted, it will invariably be at ranges below 80 yards. And they will only offer a chance for a very quick, instinctive shot to be taken. This is where open iron sights really come into their own. They are far easier to quickly line up and aim instinctively with, than even the most modern telescopic sight.
In regards to the most appropriate choice of rifle ammunition to employ for Royal Bengal tigers, it is imperative that only the best quality soft nosed cartridges (i.e those loaded with premium grade lead cored expanding bullets) be used. Royal Bengal tigers are classified as soft skinned animals and a bullet which expands in diameter while still holding together, will provide the largest wound cavities while also offering optimum penetration. I shot the man eater of Atharobeki with the (now unfortunately discontinued) Winchester Super-X 175 grain soft nosed cartridge for the 7x57mm Mauser caliber. Loaded with a charge of powder large enough to propel a 175 grain copper jacketed bullet at 2440 feet per second, this cartridge absolutely hammered the Royal Bengal tiger (breaking clean through the scapula/shoulder bone and tearing into a lung) with enough striking force to dissuade him from attacking me.
Based on my field experiences in hunting African lions & leopards, I would have to say that the finest bullets for hunting Royal Bengal tigers (in recent years) is the classic Nosler Partition. A 400 grain Nosler Partition bullet traveling at 2330 feet per second (fired from a .500/416 Nitro Express) is an absolutely unrivaled medicine for Royal Bengal tigers. Any reasonable hit to the creature’s vital organs is guaranteed to prove fatal (even if the tiger may not be killed outright).
Unfortunately (at this time of writing), Nosler has not been manufacturing Partition bullets for the last 4 years (constantly keeping on listing them as “Out of Stock” on their website). Based upon the bullets which are currently being manufactured and are available on the market today… my choice would have to be for the DGX (Dangerous Game eXpanding) Bonded bullets which Hornady has begun to manufacture since 2018. Fortunately, these are currently available in .416 caliber weighing 400 grains.
I am strongly opposed to using the trendy modern monometal bullets (such as Barnes TSX all-copper hollow points) for hunting Royal Bengal tigers. These monometal bullets need to be pushed to rather high speeds in order to expand rapidly/reliably and they will frequently fail to expand properly on the great cats(especially one that is shot over bait or feeding at a kill).
The Author With The Man Eater Of Chand-Pai, Killed With A 12 Bore Shotgun (1988)
The Author With The Man Eater Of Atharobeki, Killed With A 7x57mm Mauser Rifle (1989)
The Firearms Employed By The Author To Hunt His 3 Man Eating Royal Bengal Tigers: The Pakistani 12 Bore Single Barreled Sikender Shotgun (Bottom) Was Used To Down The Man Eater Of Mohesshoripur (1981) & The Man Eater Of Chand Pai (1988) & The English Made Pakistani Assembled 7x57mm Mauser Caliber Churchill Gunmakers Model Deluxe Bolt Action Rifle (Top) Was Used To Down The Man Eater Of Atharobeki (1989)
12 Bore Eley Alphamax L.G Cartridges (Left) Of The Type Used By The Author To Dispatch The Man Eater Of Mohesshoripur (1981) & The Man Eater Of Chand Pai (1988)
7x57mm Mauser Winchester Super-X 175 Grain Soft Nosed Cartridges Of The Type Used By The Author To Dispatch The Man Eater Of Atharobeki (1989)
300 Grain .375 Caliber Nosler Partition Bullets Extremely Well Suited For Hunting Any Member of The Great Cat Family.
