Back from Natal and Namibia where the DARNE 10 gauge with 2-7/8" chambers and the Gibbs-made 350 Rigby No. 2 acquitted themselves well. Pix to follow once slides are developed.

DOUBLE RIFLE

Went to Natal for Nyala and Red Duiker and did some very serious hunting for a week with Dr. Mark Sutherland. We jumped a 30-inch Nyala, amazing to see, but no prayer of a shot. I finally took a nice, reprentative beast that we surprised in the heat at 1330 as it stood under a tree. Used a scope (Leupold 4x compact) on the double rifle. The Swift a-frame 225 grain head broke the Nyala's neck as it looked back at us some 25 yards away in surprise.

Very much regret to have wounded and lost a red duiker. It was close, sharply downhill and quartering away, and I just misjudged how far back to hold for a killing shot.

After a week moved to Namibia where Byseewah Safaris Ken and Lynda Morris welcomed wife and me back for the 12th hunt. Took a fine blue wildebeeste at just under 200 yards. I had checked at the range and the bullet dropped 7 inches from my 100 yard zero. After that, decided to take the scope off and use the double "traditionally." At the range discovered that the screws holding the back sight insert down had come loose, likely from bouncing around Byseewah's 70,000 acres. This moved the point of impact seven inches to the left! We moved the insert to the right, screwed it down and double checked. I then took two gemsbok off hand, one at 60 yards with two quick shots. The first shot was too high as I failed to get the bead all the way down in the vee. The second gemsbok was hit in the heart/lung area at 70 yards and found dead ten yards away.

The Darne 10 gauge weighs 7 lbs, 2 oz. I used chambermates and WW 12 gauge 28 gram (one oz.) to hunt dove. After that box ran out, switched to handloaded cut-down Federal hulls with 1-1/8 oz of #7-1/2 over 35 grains of Longshot. Did not do well at all on doves until I pulled the IC and MOD choke tubes and screwed in MOD and FULL (Ken Eyster/Briley had done the work). Improved against sand grouse in the brief minutes of shooting before dark. No guinea fowl then or the next night at the usual place, but, on returning we stopped a rooikat (caracal) in the headlights. It slowly drifted into the bush as I dismounted, grabbed the Darne and stuffed two #6 in, loaded for guinea fowl. Tracker Naftal and I moved into the bush, using my (AR purchased thanks to Mims) Surefire U2 cranked up to high intensity. Naftal pointed out two eyes and a caracal went into the bag, to the delight of all as the critters apparently only feed freshly (like cheetah) and can take springbok and the young of most other antelope.

The next day Byseewah apprentice professional Moses Kashonga put me on a flock of guinea fowl just before dusk. I took five birds, including a right and a left. The 10-gauge shells were handloads with #6 shot of the same weight and powder charge as the 7-1/2's. Of note is that the 10 gauge shells gave a far more serious thump than the light 12 gauge had, with enough muzzle blast to cause me to use earplugs. Mo had sensibly used earplugs for all the shotgunning.

Great hunting in Natal and Namibia with excellent food and drink. I did take a small Italian-made screw together stove-top or in-the-coals expresso maker and some serious dark-roasted coffee to kick start the day. I left it with friends in Pretoria as I knew Byseewah has serious coffee capability. Best wines included a magnum of 2003 De Touren "Fusion V" a blend of various reds, bought at Carolyn's on Long St. in Cape Town to celebrate the birthday of the wife of a French hunter friend. My wife contributed three bottles of 2001 Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon that earned appreciative nods at a later meal. The gamebird pie was excellent and a great way to cook older, tough guinea fowl.

For those who hunt in shorts and wind up with legs looking like railroad tracks, I tried and can recommend Dublin Riding Chaps available at any good tack shop for about $35. The leather and elastic chaps require you to use a good shoe with a heel because it has an elastic strap that goes under the shoe to hold it in place. I wore a pair of Cabela's kangaroo shoes with Vibram soles and they mated perfectly with the riding chaps, providing just the right ankle support. A thin boot might also work, but not thick hunting boots.Note that your knees and thighs still take the thorn hits.

Regards, Tim

Tim, congratulations on the hunt. That part of Namibia is a special place. You do have a rare bird in the 350 double, but it sure did it's duty as a plains game medium bore. Is brass a challenge? Are your hosts hunting the Caprivi? If so, what did they have to say about buffalo there? I enjoyed meeting Ken and Linda at DSC this year. Let us know if you ever get down Texas way. We've got quite a community of double gun shooters here. You'd be very welcome at a DRSS weekend or any other time. Bob

Bob,
Thanks, walked my legs off and greatly enjoyed it.
Brass for the 350 Rigby No. 2 is no problem. It uses the same brass as its parent, the 400/350 Rigby that loads a 310 grain head. Bertrams makes it and I also have some old Ken Stewart South African-made brass with proper headstamps. Now, when I got it in the 80s, had to make brass from 9.3x74 shells: lots of neck reaming and the like that was no fun for this neophyte.

Ken was British dyspeptic about my using a double with a scope and at that distance, "scope on a double is like a sidecar on a bloody motorcycle..." He and Lynda are talking about DSC next year. I would much look forward to meeting you and fellow double shooters then.
Regards, Tim