Lion charge stopped with my Verney Carron 500 Nitro

[Baz 500]

I really enjoyed that. Lions scare the crap out of me, but I would live to hunt one.

 

[Stefan Fouche]

Whatever happens, the double rifle should be reloaded as quick as possible.

To do so, you have to be trained, prepared and willing to do so.

Our Lion charge stopper completely relied an the abilities of his professional hunters.

Can be done, I would not.


HWL

Just to clarify, our Lion Charge stopper completely relied on his own ability to shoot a double rifle extremely well. He achieved this by using this rifle extensively over the last four years spending countless hours carrying this exact same rifle on dangerous game as well as plains game hunts. That being said, the PH was there every step of the way and would have been in the perfect position, should the hunter have failed in stopping the charge himself.

If you look carefully and study the slow motion you will see that it is indeed the hunter himself stopping the charge with the PH and the other hunter shooting a split second later, both shooting over the already dead lion digging its nose into Mother Earth's soft Kalahari sand.

There is no substitute for a double rifle in dangerous situations. That lion was stopped at 9 paces. The big discussion around the campfire that evening was if Ronald (hunter) would have had time to take the second shot if the first one missed, seeing that a lion covers eleven paces within one second. Bolt action, in that situation you only have one shot.

My humble opinion...

 

[johnnyblues]

Wow, that was exciting. Makes me want to hunt one.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Seun (PH) was very good at backing me when I hunted with him. He never had to fire a shot, but was very ready with both my lion and lioness. Both of mine ran after the first shot and Seun held his fire. We tracked each and I had a final shot on each while Seun was ready, but didn’t fire a backup. I appreciated his preparedness though.
He has hunted many lions with clients and seems to have that second sense about a charge. Either that or he’s just hoping for a close encounter with that .500 double of his!

 

[Kopskoot]

Gee, when I posted this video on a hunting site, I certainly didn't think that I would learn so much, from fellow ,like-minded hunters.

Thank you for every ones input.

I have to state a few facts though,based on the questions/statements that arose.

This video is obviously edited,for obvious reasons, like running time,boring detail etc.

I own 8 double rifles ranging from 450-400 to 600 Nitro and shoot them regularly. I also hunt with them quite often. Dangerous animals in particular
I also own a number of bolt action dangerous game cartridges and even though I have my preferences, I'm not prepared to get into a debate about them,since it is a fruitless debate.Each to his own!

Getting to the remarks about reloading the double..... well, let me just say, that I would be totally stupid to put my own life at risk,won't I? Don''t worry,I didn't

After the initial first shot,the lion spun around in the thicket and sped off. I fired a second shot at him, but could see him running off for at least 300-400- meters, and therefore there was absolutely no reason for me to reload as fast as I possibly can. I therefore held my hand in front of the bridge (unlike what I would in a danger situation) so the ejectors wouldn't spit the brass flying into the bushes. They then fell back into the barrels and hence my pulling them out with my fingers and placing them into my pocket, and only then reloaded.

After the kill shot on the charge, I waited to see the lion's reaction, realized he was down for good,but still put another shot into it's chest. Again,there was no reason to reload as quick as possible, since I was
9 paces from the animal and could clearly see his eyes rolling over and where the shot had landed.

I also had Stefan and Seun with me,perfectly capable and with their rifles pointing at the lion.

Now HWL stated,that I completely relied on the abilities of my ph. Well HWL, if you were there, I believe you would've felt differently, and if I did, I would rather have sat in front of my key-board

Hope this explains a little. Thanks for those of you who took time to say something positive. I t most certainly was one helava experience, one that I won't easily dream of experiencing again

Regards

 

[Forrest Halley]

The fastest way to reload a double is to shoot it like the Cowboy Action Shooters shoot a double shotgun and reload the way that they do. The trigger hand never leaves the stock. Shuck the cases clear in a fluid motion and then lower the gun just enough to see the shells in from the left hand. Two at a time and at the same time driven home by the thumb. I just don't think there are that many folks who can afford a double by margin enough to truly perfect the technique with all the practice required. It is prohibitively expensive and makes me shudder thinking about running a work of art that way.

The cartridge carriers are not optimized for speed loading at all. Luxury and retention. There needs to be more case available to the hand for grabbing and a wider space between pairs of shells.

All that said I would love to try to shoot a .375 double for speed some day.

 

[norfolk shooter]

Seun is a top PH and now friend I remember him talking to me about this project in May. I loved that episode cant wait for the second half

 

[norfolk shooter]

Just to clarify, our Lion Charge stopper completely relied on his own ability to shoot a double rifle extremely well. He achieved this by using this rifle extensively over the last four years spending countless hours carrying this exact same rifle on dangerous game as well as plains game hunts. That being said, the PH was there every step of the way and would have been in the perfect position, should the hunter have failed in stopping the charge himself.

If you look carefully and study the slow motion you will see that it is indeed the hunter himself stopping the charge with the PH and the other hunter shooting a split second later, both shooting over the already dead lion digging its nose into Mother Earth's soft Kalahari sand.

There is no substitute for a double rifle in dangerous situations. That lion was stopped at 9 paces. The big discussion around the campfire that evening was if Ronald (hunter) would have had time to take the second shot if the first one missed, seeing that a lion covers eleven paces within one second. Bolt action, in that situation you only have one shot.

My humble opinion...

Stefan, me and Seun discussed this at some length around the fire and we both came to the conclusion that when hunting DG in thick kak you will only have time for the two shots anyway. After that what ever it is will be on you and you will be in the kak. I have raced a chap with snap caps in the London Holland & Holland store. Bolt vs double. Me on the bolt as I have been trained to cycle a bolt rather fast. he was done 1 sec before me but the third shot was mine.

 

[Rum Runner]

On the reloads: it seemed to me that the hunters were more concerned with getting their brass clean in their pockets, than with getting the rifles ready to shoot.

I have a bolt action CZ 550 in .416...factory loads are around $10.00 a pop...so I hand load. In a recent safari, I managed to collect only two of my spent brass. The brass is valuable, but ALL my attention was on getting that next cartridge in the chamber!

Cool video!

 

[Tra3]

The fastest way to reload a double is to shoot it like the Cowboy Action Shooters shoot a double shotgun and reload the way that they do. The trigger hand never leaves the stock. Shuck the cases clear in a fluid motion and then lower the gun just enough to see the shells in from the left hand. Two at a time and at the same time driven home by the thumb. I just don't think there are that many folks who can afford a double by margin enough to truly perfect the technique with all the practice required. It is prohibitively expensive and makes me shudder thinking about running a work of art that way.

The cartridge carriers are not optimized for speed loading at all. Luxury and retention. There needs to be more case available to the hand for grabbing and a wider space between pairs of shells.

All that said I would love to try to shoot a .375 double for speed some day.

A big part of the joy of hunting is getting to practice. I am of the opinion that hundreds of rounds should be shot in practice prior to a safari. The ammo is only a small percentage of the trip cost. (And a lot cheaper than a miss)

I’d love to watch a video of (accurately) speed shooting a double.

 

[Frederik]

Nice going Ronald and a good lion to end it all.
Guys Ronald (Kopskoot) is serious about hunting and rifles/guns its easy to discuss and discect a video when you haven't been there. This is not Ronald's first lion either if you can learn from the video to make you a better hunter kudos to you.
But it seems that everyone who hunts always knows beter instead of standing together.

If I was going to post a video of a hunt I would really think twice about it in case it goes South.

No one got hurt except the lion and those who havnt faced those yellows eyes yet come and try it, its addicted.

 

[Forrest Halley]

A big part of the joy of hunting is getting to practice. I am of the opinion that hundreds of rounds should be shot in practice prior to a safari. The ammo is only a small percentage of the trip cost. (And a lot cheaper than a miss)

I’d love to watch a video of (accurately) speed shooting a double.

I believe in this too.

A video where no excuses are made, no poor to marginal gun handlers, just someone who is smooth and practiced going for speed.

 

[Art Lambart II]

Great video, and I really liked the posts from the folks on the hunt.

 

[HWL]

Now HWL stated,that I completely relied on the abilities of my ph. Well HWL, if you were there, I believe you would've felt differently, and if I did, I would rather have sat in front of my key-board

Hope this explains a little. Thanks for those of you who took time to say something positive......

Regards

To wound (or even miss,... who knows in that moment?) a lion at this short distance with two shots, and NOT to reload the double as quick as possible makes you a hero....

You were just lucky, that the lion run away and did not charge......

Just my two cents, in front of my key-board


HWL

 

[swoobie]

Old thread, but thanks for posting the video!

 

[Baz 500]

That's what I call a hunt, congratulations to all involved.

 

[rinehart0050]

Great hunt and great video. I hunted my first lion with a bolt action rifle borrowed from the outfitter. Now that I have a double, I hope to be back to africa soon so that I can put it to good use in the field.