Previously unpublished:

http://www.nrahq.org/publications/tar/bonus.asp

Great article, John. Thanks for providing the link. Kind of makes it look like Ann's going to over gunned with a 45-70 when she goes after her buffalo.

My only question is why did they think the 10.75 was a poor penetrator? The 404 Jeffery shoots the same size bullet (albiet 50 grains heavier)at the same velocity and no one has ever questioned its penetration.

The best line in the whole article:

"Even today, as it always has been and ever will be, it is not the rifle or its cartridge that matters so much, but rather the skill and knowledge of the hunter who is using it."

-------- Finn Aagaard

Ann,

Then why was he shooting a 458? Maybe he ran out of 22's?

/

I think the 10.75x68 suffered from a combination of factors. Lesser velocity, lesser sectional density for the bullet and the 347 gr bullets construction all contributed.

And the users of it learned from direct experience such as Harry Manners.

Doesn't mean it couldn't be improved with modern components I think.

Will,

You'd have to ask Finn, he wrote it! I just liked what he said.

A good friend of mine used to build some rifles for Finn. In fact he has a couple of them as well as a number of dies that were given to him by Finn's wife after Finn passed away. Finn was a fine gentleman and I am glad that you brought this article to my attention.

Ann,

Just kidding; not trying to start an argument. I think most of the settlers' rifles were chosen on the basis of cost and not on their particular effectiveness.

Most of the old literature (books) are filled with hair-raising stories of near escapes. There must have been magnitudes of other hunters that didn't escape..."old so-and-so was reported having been killed by an elephnat."

Bell and others proved that any critter could be killed with a 7mm but it really doesn't prove anything else!

Very good John. I wish we had more stuff like this.

I know you weren't being troublesome! I was though! My subtil way of stirring the pot now and then.

And you are right, that was the basis of the article, they used what they had.

Now, as I prepare with the .45-70......

GA Hunter,
With early Africa, as with any early day settlers a gun was a tool of the trade, availability, circumstances, and availability of ammo were all prime concerns over its balistic qualities except with the precious few who hunted for a living....

The 10.75x68 is a grand cartridge that suffered from poorly constructed bullets and bullets too light for caliber for the most part...

Today you can push a premium 400 gr. bullet to 2200 FPS and a 350gr. Barnes X to 2375 FPS, now thats is an awsome rifle in a 8.5 lb. gun that has plenty of room in a standard Mauser 98 action...

Again the Germans and the English were so far ahead of there time that it makes one wonder...Today the 10.75 x 68 would fill a slot and be one of the all time great DGR's. given the opertunity...Literally a 416 Taylor on a near 06 size case without a belt..

What little I have played with that one gave me a world of respect for its capabilities..and with the insurgence of Horneber brass from Huntington, I may have to have another one.

The 10.75 Mauser (also called the 10.75X68) actually had only one short coming (but a major one at that).

Only one manufacturer supplied loaded cartridges, and the bullets of those cartridges had thin jackets that literally disintegrated on impact with thick skinned game.

Harold Wolf did an excellent write up of this in the next to the last issue of "Hatari Times".

I am not promoting his writing (there are some criticisms of him out there), but he did something very interesting:

He took old (pre WWII) 10.75 Mauser cartridges apart, and reloaded them to the original velocities with Woodleigh bullets (347 grain...just like the orginal bullet's weight).
He also reloaded a few of the original bullets (including steel jacketed solids meant for dangerous game)...these original bullets were meant for testing only...not hunting.

He then took them to Australia on a buffalo and banteng hunt.

The 10.75 performed admirably, with solids exiting the buffalo crosswise.
However, he inadvertenly mixed in one of the original, Mauser "solids", and shot a wounded buff with it. Nothing. He threw another round in the animal and it went down.
On disecting the animal the bullet had bent, and had barely penetrated.
The modern (Woodleigh) bullets...soft point and solids...had done well.

He acknowledges in the article that those in the know in Africa had been correct in their assesment of the 10.75 Mauser due to the bullet construction.

With the Woodleighs, the cartridge had been terrific.

BTW, I am not personallly praising the Woodleighs....I shoot Hawk bullets in my 404 Jeffery.
The Woodleighs are very good of course, but I can get the Hawk bullets at a better price, and I like how they perform on game.
For solids I shoot the Barnes.

Garrett

John Frazer

Great article. Aaagard is a great reading


/ JOHAN

/

From what I have read about the old German bigbores, is that bullet construction was inferior but that the British bigbores "had a leg up" in that they were provided with well constructed bullets. But the 9.3x62 was a winner in that it had good bullets.

The only problem with the 9.3x64 was they used the same bullets designed for 9.3x62..and they came apart at the higher velocity...Given modern day bullets the 9.3x64 is probably the best all around caliber in existence, taking that crown away from the great 375 H&H....

As to Hawk bullets, my experience is that they are the worst game bullets that I have ever used on game, I have a box full of failures..I posted these in the past...I couldn't even get the .o65 jacketed bullet to hold its integrity on buffalo. Some folks like them I guess and that's sure there perogitive, but be forewarned..I have found they work pretty well in the old Winchester cartridges like the 45-90 and such slow velocity rounds.

This article is chapter three of Finn Aagaard's book: Aagaard's Africa, a Hunter Remembers

Published in 1991 by the NRA, it is a good read. Anything Finn wrote was. Here are the chapter titles from that book, a tribute to The Man:

Ch. 1 Kenya Hunter
Ch. 2 Kenya, Land of my Birth
Ch. 3 Guns of the Settlers
Ch. 4 Yatta, a Ranch to Grow up On
Ch. 5 Buffalo and Wild Honey
Ch. 6 Berit
Ch. 7 The Elephant that Vanished
Ch. 8 Rifles and Cartridges
Ch. 9 Camels and a Leopard
Ch. 10 Elephant Hunting as it Used to Be
Ch. 11 Africa's Elephant
Ch. 12 The Gray Ghost
Ch. 13 Buffalo Encounters
Ch. 14 Hunting with His Majesty
Ch. 15 Rhino
Ch. 16 Happy Safari
Ch. 17 Barsalinga Buffalo
Ch. 18 Homecoming

ISBN 0-935998-62-4

[ 07-04-2003, 23:05: Message edited by: DagaRon ]

Wasn't Kenya a part of German East Africa before WWI? He says he didn't come across very many 8x57s. It must have been because they were pretty much all rechambered to the 8x60 inorder to get ammo being that the 8x57 ammo would have been most likely outlawed after WWI. The 8x57 should surely have been common pre-WWI.

Ray,

I am interested in the failures you had with the Hawk bullets.

I haven't shot a lot of game with them...one moose, one eland, one kudu, but I like how they performed, and I especially liked the accuracy of the bullets.

I like the Nosler partition better, but I can't get that in .423 caliber (404 Jeffery).

What happened?

Garrett

Alf,

Regarding the 10.75 Mauser, I am refering to pre-WWII ammo only.

Mauser didn't actually make the cartridges, but imported them under their marque. (I believe RWS was making them for them).

There may have been more than one manufacturer, but from the articles I read, only one make/brand was available IN Africa.

Even in the 1930's importers and exporters could have a virtual monopoly.

I am told this is a very scarce cartridge for collectors, and virtually all pre-WWII are either RWS or Mauser headstamp.

Garrett

Hey Leo,

Kenya was a British colony until "independence" sometime in the 1960's. Tanganyika was the German colony next door, which is now know as Tanzania, after it merged with Zanzibar.

That's why they didn't have many 8x57's, but they did have truckloads of Enfield .303's. Hope this helps.

Alan

/

A bit of history on Kenya.

Early in the 16th century, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama stopped at Mombasa on his way to India. The Portuguese built Fort Jesus in Mombasa in 1593; this soon became the headquarters of Portuguese officials and the main port of call for Portuguese vessels, but the fort was captured by Omani Arabs in 1698. In the 18th century, the Arabs made several attempts to penetrate the interior of the region in efforts to take over control of the slave trade then dominated by the Kamba. These attempts were repelled; only in the beginning of the 19th century were the Arabs able to take over the internal slave trade. One consequence of the Arab incursion was the consolidation of the politics of the Luo and the Luhya. When Europeans began to penetrate the area in the 19th century, the coastal areas were ruled by the Sultan of Zanzibar.[2]

The first Europeans to reach the interior of the area were the Reverend Johann Krapf and the Reverend Johannes Rebmann, both agents of the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS). In 1849 Krapf reached Mount Kenya. In 1883 the British traveler Joseph Thompson became the first European to traverse Maasai territory. Britain and Germany competed for control of Maasailand, leading to their 1890 agreement to divide the hinterland between them. Under the agreement, Britain took possession of the area north of the mouth of the Umba river, which is now located in modern Kenya and Uganda. The British Government gave the administration of the area to the Imperial British East Africa Company, which had been granted a royal charter to operate in East Africa. The administration of the country was taken over by the British Foreign Office in July, 1885, when it was declared a British protectorate. The protectorate was administered from Zanzibar, the residence of the first Commissioner, Sir Arthur Harding. From the beginning, the indigenous peoples strongly resisted the imposition of foreign rule. In particular, the Nandi in the interior of the country were distinguished resisters of the empire's incursion. A series of British military expeditions in 1896, 1897 and 1905 eventually forced the Nandi to capitulate, with great loss of life on the Nandi side. British rule led to far-reaching social and economic changes. Since East Africa attracted many British immigrants, Kenya had a substantial British community until independence. As mentioned earlier, the Highlands were largely owned by British farmers.

Regards,

Terry

Don't argue with Alf. He is an encyclopaedia on legs.

The best line in the article is the by-line. Once you know it is by Finn, you know it will be well written, informative, possibly controversial (though totally factual), and entirely based on FIRST HAND experience. In other words, the goal of all gun writing.

Safe Hunting

Clint