I am reading Martin Johnson's book, SAFARI, A SAGA OF THE AFRICAN BLUE.
He mentioned had packed over 250 boxes, each containing 60 pounds of his equipment.

These are the guns e had too.

3 470 doubles
3 Winchester 405
2 404 Jeffries bolt action
1 275 mannlicher
1 Springfield 303
1 505 Rigby
1 Winchester 32
1 12 gauge , repeating shotgun
1 12 gauge double
1 20 gauge double
1 20 gauge riot shotgun
1 38 Colt revolver
1 45 Colt revolver.

He also had 21 cameras.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I am reading Martin Johnson's book, SAFARI, A SAGA OF THE AFRICAN BLUE.
He mentioned had packed over 250 boxes, each containing 60 pounds of his equipment.

These are the guns e had too.

3 470 doubles
3 Winchester 405
2 404 Jeffries bolt action
1 275 mannlicher
1 Springfield 303
1 505 Rigby
1 Winchester 32
1 12 gauge , repeating shotgun
1 12 gauge double
1 20 gauge double
1 20 gauge riot shotgun
1 38 Colt revolver
1 45 Colt revolver.

Sounds like he simply wanted to shoot something with every gun he owned! I pity the poor porters who had to carry all that crap!

My choice of his battery would have been two of the 470NE double rifles,in case of a breakdown, and one of the 404 Jeffries. The 12 ga repeating shotgun might have come in handy as well. Plenty of ammo for them!

Funny enough, he mentioned having to get hunting license, just in case, as he really did not want to shoot many animals.

The purpose of the trip was to photograph and video.

Apparently there was no limit on lion, leopards hyaena and zebra.

That's quite a list! I've read that book as well as the books written by his wife, Osa. She was the hunter of the family. Their books are a great read.

The sheer variety of ammo necessary makes the above list ridiculous. What the heck did he need the .505 for?!? List could have been cut to...

2 470s
2 9,3x62s
2 12 guage doubles
2 .45 colt revolvers


For both he and Osa!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Funny enough, he mentioned having to get hunting license, just in case, as he really did not want to shoot many animals.

The purpose of the trip was to photograph and video.

Say WHAT??? What would he have packed if he was planning on hunting?

Wouldn't there have been a lot of ration shooting, even on a photographic safari?

quote:

Originally posted by Jefffive:
Wouldn't there have been a lot of ration shooting, even on a photographic safari?

I was a bit surprised with what he wrote.

He only mentioned that he might need to defend himself and his party. There was no mention of shooting for rations.

And I thought my wife packed heavy,

But didn't Teddy Roosevelt also pack like that for his Safari earlier in the century? And what about Robert Ruark and some of the others in the late forties/early fifties? Their ideas of Safari and needs were a lot different than ours are today. By the way, how long was his Safari?

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Jefffive:
Wouldn't there have been a lot of ration shooting, even on a photographic safari?

I was a bit surprised with what he wrote.

He only mentioned that he might need to defend himself and his party. There was no mention of shooting for rations.

Was probably considered too routine to be worthy of mention. With 250 porter loads there's no way they could carry enough food to feed everybody. Would take several animals a day just to keep them in meat.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
But didn't Teddy Roosevelt also pack like that for his Safari earlier in the century? And what about Robert Ruark and some of the others in the late forties/early fifties? Their ideas of Safari and needs were a lot different than ours are today. By the way, how long was his Safari?

Roosevelt would have had the massive string of porters, and the mountain of equipment, but Ruark got in on the first of the motorized safaris, where trucks replaced porters.

I've read somewhere that it was traditional, particularly amongst the english in those days to take one firearm for each specific member of game. eg An elephant rifle, a Buffalo rifle etc.. I'm sure with rudimentary gunsmithing a spare was almost a necessity.

The Johnson's Safari's were photographic, sponsored by Eastman (?) as someone mentioned. Osa starred in her own movie made post these photographic safari's.

I know, when I return in my next life (Early 1900s) I WILL be hunting Kenya with a 6.5x54, 9.3x62, 12Ga and a 450NE.

Saeed,
I have read a couple of their books on the various trips they made. They were absolutely a fascinating couple. From what I can infer from the books, they attempted a number of photos and movies of charges. They induced the charges by getting real close to elephants, lions, buff and hippo. Osa was the star with Martin behind the camera. She shot a number of animals in full charge that were caught on film.

In their day, they would take these photos and movies on a tour of the US and Europe to discuss deepest darkest Africa. They did the same thing in Asia.

It made them a good living but put a dent in the local animal populations.

One funny/tragic story was of Osa's pet orangutan (or some other Asian primate) that traveled with them. In Nairobi (I think) the ape got loose, went on the roof of the building they were in and was electrocuted by loose wiring in front of a large crowd that cheered. Osa was devastated.

One of her rifles was up for auction in the past couple of years as well.

Not just interesting what was taken on safari in the way of rifles and shotguns, the game logs are fascinating too. At the end of Roosevelt's African Game Trails there is a log of what he and Kermit shot on safari. I do not have the book in front of me, but the big game bag was over 500 animals if I recall correctly.

I would have just carried .404 Jeff's or .375 H&H bolt actions, .275 Rigby and a couple of shotguns with one sidearm.

Carrying too many different guns just for the sake of back up is foolish. If the gun breaks down beyond repair, its ammo is nothing more than dead weight.

1 Springfield 303

What exactly is that?

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Richards:
1 Springfield 303

What exactly is that?

I noticed that also, but just assumed it was a typo! Infield 303 If the springfield is wrong, or springfield 30-03. if the 303 is wrong. The Springfield 30-03, a fore runner to the 30-06, is what TR took on his safari.

I didn't see any gin, scotch, or bourbon. Hmmm.

TR and his son Kermit took 164 different specimens, totalling 512 animals.

Saeed:

Martin Johnson was infamous for setting up situations where a rhino or lion or some other dangerous animal would charge his camera and be killed at very close range by his little wife. Talk about hypocrisy. She killed a great number of animals just to get such photos and film during their time there, and then she went on speaking tours and condemned hunting.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
Saeed:

Martin Johnson was infamous for setting up situations where a rhino or lion or some other dangerous animal would charge his camera and be killed at very close range by his little wife. Talk about hypocrisy. She killed a great number of animals just to get such photos and film during their time there, and then she went on speaking tours and condemned hunting.

Bill Quimby

Very true Bill.

I have seen quite a few clips of their acts, that is why I was quite suprised with his comments.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
TR and his son Kermit took 164 different specimens, totalling 512 animals.

I guess conservation wasn't high on his list of major interests.

Ah, the life of the idle rich.

Then again, at least he was a shooter, which is more than can be said for his latter day replacement.

I think we might be forgetting that in those times reality was a lot different than today.

Many of the rare animals we have today were considered vermin, and one could shoot as many as one wish.

Lion is a perfect example.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
He mentioned had packed over 250 boxes, each containing 60 pounds of his equipment.

These are the guns e had too.

3 470 doubles
3 Winchester 405
2 404 Jeffries bolt action
1 275 mannlicher
1 Springfield 303
1 505 Rigby
1 Winchester 32
1 12 gauge , repeating shotgun
1 12 gauge double
1 20 gauge double
1 20 gauge riot shotgun
1 38 Colt revolver
1 45 Colt revolver.

He also had 21 cameras.

To fight off the savage native hordes?

Most of the gear would have been for the camera and filming work and sundry camp supplies.

I guess they didn't have to worry about a 5KG limit on ammo!

Most everybody here was probably born 100+ years too late and deep down really wishes you could go on safari like TR did!

As I understand it, TR and his son Kermit were collecting specimens for the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. And actually TR was a conservationist, as he established the world's first national park, Yellowstone.