I'm not much of a fan of the "hunting shows" on TV for the most part.

I do, however, always record, and enjoy the show "Dangerous Game", and will watch most any show dealing with African hunting.

I have noticed on a number of occasions that the hunting party, when on the trail of game, usually consists of the hunter, the Pro hunter, and two or more trackers. One tracker generally carries the shooting sticks, and, in many cases, one of the other trackers is carrying an AK.

I can't help but wonder if the AK is so common in Africa that the natives will aquire it for hunting(well-stocked gun shops are mighty sparse there I suspect!), or, given the state of political affairs over there, if the AK is along to bolster the firepower in the event any "unsavory" types are encountered??????

The tracker carrying the AK isn't a tracker. He or she is the Government employed game scout.

Chances are in some countries the AK holder is a Govt official. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Edit: Ya just beat me to it Shakari.

One good thing about those AK's is that it is very easy for other people to see if the safety is on or not. I believe I would be checking for this quite often.

quote:

Originally posted by Grafton:
One good thing about those AK's is that it is very easy for other people to see if the safety is on or not. I believe I would be checking for this quite often.

Typically, at least in my experience, the PH prohibits the game scout from chambering a round the rifle for tracking, etc... The game scout is the last one in line too, behind you and the PH and everyone else so an empty chamber is a good thing. But when an elephant gets aggressive or whatever, hearing that AK chamber behind you ussually produces more concern than whats in front of you. You're armed and facing front afterall.

Some game scouts are experienced and good shots, safe, etc. But some get way to itchy around elephants or when an elephant is paying attention to the team.

JPK

Some game scouts/rangers are good and contribute to the hunt. Some are simply there and a few are problematic, worthless and nothing but trouble. Had one in camp in Zambia who smoked marijuana 24/7.

I have never seen them shoot, but I question anyones ability to accurately shoot a machine gun without extensive practice and experience, something I doubt these folks have (spray 'n pray). Most of their AKs are rusty and dirty. But AKs are known to fire in almost any condition. JPK is right to be nervous.

I had a Game Scout in the Selous for 21 days who was armed with a .375H&H, and he kept it clean but only had a few rounds for it. He was very helpful, had his own assistant in camp who shined his boots every night. He used a GPS to note the location of animals taken.

BTW, 12 years ago you could buy an AK with a loaded 30 round mag for $50 in JNB.

quote:

But when an elephant gets aggressive or whatever, hearing that AK chamber behind you ussually produces more concern than whats in front of you. You're armed and facing front afterall.

Some game scouts are experienced and good shots, safe, etc. But some get way to itchy around elephants or when an elephant is paying attention to the team.

JPK

I have to agree with this.

If the Game Scout makes a follow up shot with his AK on a wounded animal, do you have to tip him?

In Zim, if you get a game scout carrying an F.N you know you have one of the old school who is a real asset on the hunt and usually worth a fair chunk of your tip at the end of the day.

It takes a modicum of care to keep an F.N. working, so if he carry's one...it speaks volumes- Like an officer who knows the value of a patch of green lawn in front of the office and his house.

Have been known to give game scouts some "extra" AK ammo- complete with dud primer and no ammo, and make sure they put it on top in the mag- that way I know I will not be shot from behind again! (One of my own game scouts shot me in the leg with an AK- I was running towards a gang of poachers and he was running away Firing his AK over his shoulder )

quote:

Have been known to give game scouts some "extra" AK ammo- complete with dud primer and no ammo, and make sure they put it on top in the mag- that way I know I will not be shot from behind again! (One of my own game scouts shot me in the leg with an AK- I was running towards a gang of poachers and he was running away Firing his AK over his shoulder )

You would know better than most!!!!

I got to witness some of that "Afro-marksmanship" recently as well....The old "Spray and Pray" method - confidence inspiring indeed!!!

I was once traveling at night on Lake Kariba when the boat's engine died. We were in sight of the camp on the shore and the P.H. told the game scout to fire his AK to get the attention of the staff awaiting our return so they could launch another boat to tow us in.

The scout racked the bolt and fired one shot. The P.H. directed him to fire again. The scout sheepishly told us that he had fired his only round.

Pretty funny... and an AK makes a great boat paddle, too.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
The tracker carrying the AK isn't a tracker. He or she is the Government employed game scout.

I'm curious as to when an offical game scout became part of professional safaris?

In many of the accounts of safaris for the 50's-70's they are not mentioned, but they are quite the fixture now.

.

quote:

Originally posted by LionHunter:

I have never seen them shoot, but I question anyones ability to accurately shoot a machine gun without extensive practice and experience, something I doubt these folks have (spray 'n pray).

AK's have a slective fire feature, allowing the rifle to be a "single shot" semi auto - one shot per trigger pull. Most that I have seen also have creditable apperture sights, so accurate fire is a real possiblity.

The PH's I ahve hunted with tell me that there is great veriability in game scout shooting ability.

The game scouts I have hunted with have carried AK's for the most part, but one carried an FN, another carried what I thought was a Chineese made, older semi auto, with a five or seven round clip.

One game scout I hunted with was with the Selous Scouts. He carried an AK, it was in fine nick. He also told me and Buzz Charlton to shoot to kill some poachers we encountered. We pretended not to see them in the brush. He was a fine fellow and quite a fine hunter.

JPK

The biggest problem with selective fire weapons is convincing the trainee that things go better when the weapon is in the semi-auto position. For most trainees, it takes hundreds or thousands of rounds to develop a degree of proficiency with a fully automatic weapon. This training usually goes south as soon as it's time to employ the weapon in a hostile environment. Thus the term "spray 'n pray".

Machine guns I've employed include the M2 Browning .50, M60 7.62mm, M3A1 .45 (none of which were selective fire), M14 7.62mm, M16A1 5.56mm and my personal favorite, the MP5Navy 9mm. IMO only the M3A1 and the MP5Navy are really controllable - read accurate - on full auto without a bipod or tripod.

I just have to seriously doubt that any Game Scout has ever been adequately trained nor fired enough rounds to be truely proficient with an AK47. That's not to say that some don't have extensive experience using one in combat during one of the many wars on the African continent in recent history.

To quote BATFE: Once a machine gun, always a machine gun.

One difference is the AK and most Combloc weapons, the first position of the selector switch after safe is full auto, whereas ours go from safe to semi-auto. Regards the m3ai, if you are refering to the old grease gun, your trigger finger is the select fire switch.

Hey Bryan, I used to win money off of company grade officers who believed it impossible to fire a single shot from a one hand (pistol) hold with the M3A1. They knew it was a strictly automatic weapon, right? What they didn't know was that the cyclic rate of fire is so slow that with a little practice a shooter can actually fire single shots merely by using trigger control. Earned a lot of beer money that way!

quote:

Most that I have seen also have creditable apperture sights, so accurate fire is a real possiblity.

95% of AK 47, AKM's and AK-74 have sourdough rear sight. Only apeture I have seen are on Finish/Israeli (Valmet/Galil) AK's or Yugoslav RPK's. These do not have accurate return to zero as they are on top cover rather than receiver.

My game guard had 5 rounds in his FN, and kept round in chamber. A decent fellow except for round in chamber.

Andy

Interesting stuff, I thank you all!

Villager manufactures guns

From Vincent Gono in Masvingo
Sunday News

In a rare display of ingenuity, a villager from Chiredzi in Masvingo province, is manufacturing assault rifles that have a shooting range of more than 500 metres and can effectively aim and kill at a 300-metre range, Sunday News has learnt

According to experts his rifles are as lethal as an AK 47.
The man, Tavaviri Gocheki, age not given, is not assembling the guns from remains of old rifles, but from local materials at his disposal at his rural home.
Police in Masvingo, however, arrested the man last week for manufacturing the dangerous guns and ammunition without an industrial licence and confiscated 11 assault rifles and eight live rounds of ammunition.
Gocheki is now in police custody for manufacturing the lethal weapons without a licence, in direct contravention of the Firearms Act.
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Phibion Nyambo, said police in Chiredzi arrested Gocheki after he was found in possession of the firearms and rounds of ammunition he manufactured.
“I can confirm the arrest of Tavaviri Gocheki for manufacturing firearms and ammunition without a licence. Although Gocheki is a known machinist, this time around police are keen to get to the bottom of his intentions with the firearms project,’’ he said.
Gocheki resides at Number 403, Section 24, Hippo Valley Estates, Chiredzi and is not employed.
He has no military background and has never worked in an environment where he handled firearms.
Information made available to the Sunday News is that Gocheki was once employed by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture from 2005 to January 2007 as a temporary teacher.
He did not renew his contract when it expired, but embarked on a gun-manufacturing project using available resources, a scenario that has shocked villagers and police officers.
He referred to his project as just a model of gun manufacturing but his products — guns — were proven to be very lethal to people and animals.
After manufacturing the firearms, Gocheki did not end there, but went a step further and produced live rounds of ammunition to complete the project, using brass plates, mild steel, sulphuric acid and potassium nitrate. Sources said a combination of such products could explode violently if exposed to heat.
Gocheki ended his project last month after manufacturing 11 firearms with a firing range of 500 metres and an effective range of 300 metres, which is equivalent to that of the AK 47 rifle.
Sources in Masvingo said police officers who have for long been underestimating Gocheki’s gun project were shocked by the strength of his weapons and immediately ordered his arrest for manufacturing rifles without a licence. It is hoped that none of his guns fell into wrong hands.
Reports, however, say that Gocheki always told the police of the stages he would have reached in his gun-manufacturing project, but no one seemed to care because they did not expect a villager to assemble guns from scratch.
It was only until recently that police acted on the information and picked him up and confiscated his products after proving that there were lethal weapons that could shoot to kill target victims.
As if coming from a formal gun-manufacturing industry, some of the firearms had serial numbers such as CBN 14-6Q, CBN 14-5X, CNB 14-3L, CBN 14-7V and according to Gocheki the initials (CBN) meant clipping bent needle.
Insp Nyambo told the Sunday News that the firearms would be taken to their ballistic section in Harare together with the rounds of ammunition. He said police would want to know his exact intentions for embarking on a firearm-manufacturing project.
However, sources close to Gocheki revealed that the man was no stranger to such projects as he once manufactured a sugarcane planter and a harvester that he exhibited sometime ago at the Chiredzi Agricultural Show.
Zimbabwe is one of a few countries in the world that is strict on the use of firearms. All people before acquiring guns are required by the law to show cause why they need the weapons and after that they receive a licence allowing them to operate the firearm from the Government.
In view of reported cases of individuals bent on destabilising Zimbabwe, the Government is called upon to be strict on the origins of all firearms emanating from private sources.

Sounds to me like this guy could be the next Kalashnikov, Colt or Browning. Somebody should bail him and get him into a working design and manufacturing set-up.

When there is a will there is a way. It really dose not take much to make a gun, the hard part would be the ammo, anybody who is moderately handy with some shop and machine tools could fashion a firearm with out much problem. How do you think they made them when they were invented? A guy in a room with his hands. Guns as we know them to be, have been around for 700 years. And learning how to make them and make better guns, we made the modern world.

Most of the male population in the Omo Valley and the Danakil carry an AK. Ammo is finally getting short again. Mengistu passed out gobs of it when he thought he tribes there might be of some use during the cival war in the late 80's early 90's. I always thought it would be neat to load up a bunch of ammo full of ,say, 2400, and leave them laying around to be found. Tee Hee!
Rich Elliott