A PH told me this story, and I repeat it here.

The PH and the staff were performing maintenance on the vehicles and the subject of how cartridges work came up. The PH explained that the firing pin hits the primer, which ignites gunpowder, which forces a bullet down the barrel. One of the camp staff did not believe this explanation. The African thought that the gun made the loud boom, and the cartridge was only an accessory. When the PH said it was possible to make a cartridge fire without a rifle, the African strongly denied the possibility.

So the PH handed the African a cartridge (I think it was a .270), a hammer, and a screwdriver and told him that if he put the right kind of dent in the primer, the cartridge would make a boom without the rifle. The African went to work, and in a minute or so he got his boom. The owner of the safari company came running over asking what the hell was going on and saw the African standing there holding his hand with blood dripping on the ground.

Doesn't sound like the kind of PH I'd want to hunt with or otherwise associate with.

He probably thought it was funny too.

Taking the story at face value, and without benefit of the "other side of the story", I can only assume the PH was:

a) an idiot, or
b) a sick, twisted, sadistic m-f-ker.

Either way, I am as unimpressed and disgusted as possible. Big thumbs down.

Canuck

If I were to guess, I would say that the ph did not give him a hammer, screwdriver and a live round.

He probably just told the guy that if the primer was properly dented, the round would explode. The guy probably went off to see if it would do just that!

No one get your panties in a wad, stories have a way of changing. See how I just changed this one?

I don't think so Wendell. That story has the ring of truth to me. I have heard and seen similiar things before.

I at least had the sense to remove the bullet and the cordite before trying that experiment - lived another 56 years and still going .. :-)

cheers edi

If true, this story is a sad comentary on the PH's ethics, and concern for his fellow man! I have to throw my bacon in the pan with Windell's. I have seen some strange things where Camp staff are concerened. I had one of them watch with great interest, my use of the video camera while showing him the strip we had just filmed. To my dismay, he found my camera unattended, and wanted to see the strip again!!!!
You guessed it, he recorded over about ten minutes of my film, turning the camera around to show his own face two or three times. Nobody told him to do this, he just misunderstood the workings, and made a mistake, a mistake where nobody drew blood, though I felt like shooting him, I said nothing to him except not to touch it again! If I had told the PH he would have been fired. I saw no need for that, he simply was curious, and meant no harm. I have some very close vedio of this guy's right eye, though!

[ 06-21-2003, 23:55: Message edited by: MacD37 ]

Good on em.

Combative ignorance should have a price. Cheap lesson.

You want that guy as your gunbearer?????

s

[ 06-23-2003, 05:13: Message edited by: Socrates ]

Did the guy banging on the live round happen to have been named Axel?

jeffe