The Boundary Breakers
We now come to the central fire rifle calibres , which have achieved SUCH an immense degree of international fame ... That they have EFFORTLESSLY broken all cultural boundaries and are internationally standardized for the purposes of shikar.
During the time of my career ... There were 3 such calibres : A Continental , An American and An English .
Let us 1st commence with the 7x57 mm Mauser . This particular calibre is German in origin , but it has achieved a level of popularity ... which is is rivaled only by the other 2 calibres , which I shall be mentioning afterwards . The fact that it was adapted by the Spanish military ( In the form of the Mauser Model 1893 bolt rifle ) , the Chilean military ( In the form of the Mauser Model 1895 bolt rifle ) and countless other South American military forces ... Only did more to increase it’s world wide popularity . British brand , John Rigby & Co is widely credited with introducing the bolt rifle to the English hunting community . They had entered in to a collaboration with Germany’s Mauser brand ... To use their Mauser 98 receivers as actions in their bolt rifles . And their very 1st offering ... Was chambered in 7x57 mm Mauser calibre , which they labeled the .275 Rigby ( Until they began to offer a variant in .303 British , a couple of years afterwards ) . What happened next ... Was inevitable . Scores of celebrated English sports men , such as Africa’s WDM Bell and our ( India’s ) Jim Corbett put the .275 Rigby to extremely good use . Mr. Bell used his rifle ( Loaded with 175 grain German DWM brand military surplus round nose solid metal covered cartridges ) to lay low 800 African elephants ... By making exclusive use of brain shots ( Before eventually “ Stepping Up “ to a .318 Westley Richards calibre bolt rifle , by 1913 ) . Mr. Corbett used his rifle to lay low man eating Indian forest panthers ... As well as at least 3 man eating male royal Bengal tigers ( Although he pre dominantly favored his .450/400 Nitro Express calibre side by side double barreled rifle ... For dispatching the latter brutes ) . The calibre caught on extremely quickly among American sports men , as well . In the 1950s and 1960s , American fire arms magazines would advertise 7x57 mm Mauser calibre military surplus Spanish Mauser Model 1893s and Chilean Model 1895s for very little cost ... Along with large lots of military surplus cartridges . At 1 point in time , or another .... The Winchester Model 70 , the Remington Model 700 and the Savage Model 110 have ALL been offered in a 7x57 mm Mauser calibre variant . American ammunition brands ( Including , but not limited to Winchester , Federal and Remington) all offer ( or have offered ) factory loaded cartridges for the 7x57 mm Mauser ( Whether or not these factory loaded cartridges are up to the mark ... Is a completely different matter , altogether ) . Needless to say ... The 7x57 mm Mauser is going no where .
Below , I have provided a scan of 1 of John Rigby & Co.'s earliest advertisements for the .275 Rigby calibre Mauser 98 action bolt rifles .
Below , I have provided a scan of an advertisement from a 1957 era fire arms magazine . Observe the price of the Mexican military surplus 7x57 mm Mauser calibre Mauser Model 1936 bolt rifles . They are a modest $ 49 ( Without ammunition ) and a still modest $ 57.50 ( With ammunition ) .
Below , is a photograph kindly provided by Riaz of his 7x57 mm Mauser calibre Remington Model 700 ... 1 of 8 imported into Bangladesh for sale by BSF ( Bangladesh Shooting Federation) in 1996 . Riaz has used this rifle to dispatch 2 man eating royal Bengal tigers in 1997 and 1999 , respectively ... Under orders from the Sundarban Forest Department .
Below , I have provided a photograph taken by myself of a couple of boxes of vintage Winchester Super X soft point 175 grain cartridges ( Property Of
@Kawshik Rahman ) . 16 of these cartridge boxes were imported in to Bangladesh by BSF in 1996 .
The 2nd “ Boundary Breaker “ was , without a doubt ... The .30-06 Springfield .
Need anything more be said about this magnificent cartridge? Even though it was neither a colonial era British nor colonial era German cartridge ... It has captured world wide fame . It all started when the great American President , Theodore Roosevelt went on Safari to Africa in 1909 with his son , Kermit Roosevelt and Bill Judd as his White Hunter ( As recorded in the President’s excellent work , “ African Game Trails “ ) . Both the President and his son carried ( Among other rifles & shot guns ) Springfield Model 1903 bolt rifles ... Chambered in .30-06 Springfield. These excellent military pattern bolt rifles helped the 2 gentle men successfully account for numerous head of African game . And the popularity arose from then , onwards .Perhaps no sports man ( Dead or alive ) has ever relied upon the .30-06 Springfield calibre to “ Save His Hide “ ... as much as the late C T Stoneham has . This unassuming name ... Is of a gentle man , who was the very 1st documented ( And probably ONLY ) White Hunter in ALL of African history to use a .30-06 Springfield calibre rifle for ALL of his hunting purposes ... Exclusively . Mr. Stoneham made use of a modestly priced , simple Springfield Model 1903 bolt rifle and 220 grain Winchester cartridges . Yet in his hands ... This unremarkable weapon was devastatingly efficient . Mr. Stoneham is even documented as using it against almost every species of African dangerous game ( Barring elephants ) including Cape buffaloes , rhinoceroses , hippopotamuses , lions and leopards . In more modern times , we have Mr. John Coleman ... A retired White Hunter based in the Eastern Cape of Africa . This gentle man has become quite close to 1 of our members of Dacca Rifle Club ... And the 2 frequently exchange correspondence about hunting and fire arms . During the olden days when Zimbabwe used to be called “ Rhodesia “ ... Mr. Coleman successfully used a .30-06 Springfield calibre bolt rifle to lay low countless African elephants and Cape buffaloes . His rifle was a Mauser Oberndorf bolt rifle ( originally chambered in 8x60 mm calibre ) ... Which had been re barreled to .30-06 Springfield . His ammunition of choice ... Was Winchester brand 220 grain solid metal covered cartridges . Today , the .30-06 Springfield is with out a doubt ... 1 of the most universally beloved calibres of all time . Virtually every brand who manufactures sporting rifles ... Shall offer a .30-06 Springfield variant . Literally , EVERY manufacturer of ammunition in the world ... Shall offer a selection of .30-06 Springfield calibre factory loaded cartridges . Practically shikarees of EVERY nationality across God’s Green Earth ... Have some degree of familiarity with the old American stand by - The .30-06 Springfield . And virtually all of it ... Is positive .
Below , I have provided a photograph taken from the internet of Mr. C T Stoneham ... As well as a scan from the page of his book , “ Wanderings In Wild Africa “ which details the author’s ( Well deserved ) admiration for the .30-06 Springfield .
Below , I have provided a photograph taken by old Tobin ... Of our wealthy Turkish client , who had successfully dispatched 4 royal Bengal tigers and 4 water buffaloes in less than 48 hours . His weapon of choice was a sporterized Enfield Model 1917 , chambered in .30-06 Springfield . His ammunition of choice was 220 grain Winchester Silver Tip soft point cartridges ( For use against the royal Bengal tigers ) and 220 grain Winchester solid metal covered cartridges ( For use against the water buffaloes ) .
And last , but definitely not the least ... We now come to a central fire rifle calibre , which is probably the most beloved calibre of all by big game hunters ALL ACROSS THE WORLD . In all probability , the only “ All Rounder “ central fire rifle calibre ... If such a thing ever truly exists . There is only 1 calibre on earth ... which could EVER achieve THIS level of fan following . It is the .375 Holland & Holland magnum . International sports men all across the globe ... Have a most complicated relationship with the .375 Holland & Holland magnum . Designed by the American , Colonel Jefferson Spydell for the British brand , Holland & Holland and 1st chambered in a bolt rifle built on a Mauser 98 action in 1912 ... The . 375 Holland & Holland magnum has ( What I personally like to term ) the shikar / safari standard . In 13 of India's 30 states ... The .375 Holland & Holland magnum was the minimum legally permissible calibre for the shikar of royal Bengal tigers , gaur bisons and water buffalo . Today , in most African countries ... The .375 Holland & Holland magnum remains the minimum legally permissible calibre for hunting African dangerous game species . Call it an " Industry Standard " ... If you will . Now , initially the .375 Holland & Holland magnum was quite un mention worthy . Prior to the 2nd World War ... There are no records of any documented sports men actually using a .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre rifle as their primary weapon for hunting dangerous game animals . Quite a few sports men did own 1 as a part of their battery ... But they were always restricted to the role of a “ Medium Bore “ . The .375 Holland & Holland magnum was just 1 of the countless British proprietary large game calibres in existence . Holland & Holland , then decided to make a radical decision after the 1st World War ... Which would impact sporting world history , for ever . They decided that the .375 Holland & Holland magnum would no longer remain a proprietary cartridge . The results influenced the rest of the sporting world ... In a dramatic manner . The American custom rifle makers , Griffin & Howe and Hoffman Arms Co . were the very 1st American brands to turn out .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre rifles . However , these were still expensive custom pieces ... Far out of reach for the ordinary working class sports man , on a budget . In 1937 ... The American brand , Winchester made a truly revolutionary development by offering a variant of their newly introduced Model 70 bolt rifle ... In .375 Holland & Holland magnum . And thus , history was changed ... Forever .All of a sudden , you had thousands of working class sport men ... Who could now finally own a rifle , that was chambered in a calibre fit for hunting the dangerous game of Africa & Asia . Adding to this ... Was the fact that the Winchester Western brand had begun to manufacture factory loaded 300 solid metal covered cartridges and soft point cartridges ( Which would eventually develop in to the iconic Winchester Silver Tip ) . This made the .375 Holland & Holland magnum , the very 1st British sporting calibre ... For which American brands used to manufacture factory loaded cartridges . It was 2 Mozambique based African Ivory Hunters , by the names of Harry Manners and Wally Johnson ... Who truly made the .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre Winchester Model 70 bolt rifle famous in Africa . They used it ( Along with 300 grain ICI Kynoch solid metal covered cartridges ) to successfully lay low African elephants ... By the thousands ( Although , once in while ... They both could have nearly lost their lives ... Due to not using a slightly larger calibre ) . The fact that Winchester Western was manufacturing factory loaded cartridges for the .375 Holland & Holland magnum ... Is what eventually proved to be it’s saving grace , in the end . When ICI Kynoch ceased to manufacture all central fire rifle cartridges in 1963 ... It sounded a death knell for all of the traditional British sporting calibres . That is ... All traditional BRITISH sporting calibres EXCEPT the .375 Holland & Holland magnum . Because Winchester was continuing to manufacture factory loaded cartridges for the .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre ... It died not die off . This is why , in the 1960s and 1970s ... The popularity of the .375 Holland & Holland magnum began to soar . Countless other American and European brands began to manufacture rifles , chambered in .375 Holland & Holland magnum ( Such as Remington , Schultz & Larsen , Brevex and Fabrique Nationale ) . The development of the .458 Winchester magnum calibre ... Did little to over shadow the popularity of the .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre . Once it was discovered that the .458 Winchester magnum had ( Some very obvious ) issues with case capacity ... most shikarees ( Regardless of nationality) merely opted to use their .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre rifles for ALL of their large game hunting . I personally have intimate familiarity with the .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre . Allwyn Cooper Limited’s head shikaree , the Great Rao Naidu Of Hyderabad used to own a .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre double barreled side by side rifle built by the English brand , Westley Richards . The rifle was originally regulated for ICI Kynoch 300 grain cartridges , when it originally belonged to Rao Naidu’s father . However , Rao Naidu had the rifle re regulated for 300 grain Winchester Silver Tip soft point cartridges and 300 grain Winchester solid metal covered cartridges . The very 1st client in my life , whom I had guided on a successful royal Bengal tiger shikar in 1961 ... Was an American gentle man , who was armed with a .375 Holland & Holland magnum . Roughly 80 % of all of my clients ( From all across the globe ) , who used to come to Old India for shikar ... used to bring a rifle chambered in .375 Holland & Holland magnum . And they were SMART gentle men . The .375 Holland & Holland magnum never let down any of my clients in ANY situations , whatsoever ( Although , you really had to pick your shots ... When using the .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre on our 3000 pound bull gaur bisons ) . Today , the .375 Holland & Holland magnum is recognized by all . If you intend to hunt in Africa some day , and you have never ever heard of the .375 Holland & Holland magnum ... Then you do not deserve to hunt in Africa . The bulk of the visiting sports men , coming to Africa for safaris today ... Opt for 1 of the countless excellent modern rifles , chambered in .375 Holland & Holland magnum , to secure all of the trophy game animals on their list ( From duiker to African elephant ) . For all points and purposes ... The .375 Holland & Holland magnum truly is immortal .
Below , is a photograph kindly lent to me by
@Panther Shooter of the John Rigby & Co. brand double barreled side by side rifle ( Chambered in .375 Holland & Holland magnum ) ... Which he used from 1973 - 1974 to dispatch 16 man eating forest panthers in Jolpaiguri , India . It was regulated for 300 grain Winchester Silver Tip soft point cartridges and 300 grain Winchester solid metal covered cartridges.
Below , is a photograph kindly lent to me by Panther Shooter of 1 of the 16 man eating forest panthers ... Which he had dispatched in Jolpaiguri , with the .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre double barreled side by side John Rigby & Co . rifle .
Needless to say , few central fire rifle calibres had successfully transcended cultural and national boundaries ... Like the way the 7x57 mm Mauser , .30-06 Springfield or the .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre did , by the 1960s .
Coming up next ... “ Cultures & Calibres : A Modern Perspective “ .
