Does anybody know what scopes Robert Ruark used on his safari in 1951, as reported in Part Two of Use Enough Gun?

Despite his writing like Hemingway on steroids, I recall him saying that before that trip the only things he'd shot had been side-show ducks at a carnival. Even so, it seems he shot well at the African game until "...the business of the scopes all going out at once."

Then, between pp110 and 113 (in my NAL edition) he relates of missing several critters because the scope on his Remington .30-06 repeatedly shot a foot or two off, despite being resighted between each failure.

I don't know how they removed so much error but to bring the shots down 14 inches "We moved a couple of graticules, and now she was accurate again."

Finally, however, he "unscrewed the telescopic sight and threw it way", leaving the "damned traitorous scope ... to rust in the long yellow grass."

Though he doesn't seem to explain what happened to the scope on his .375 magnum, he does say one of Selby's staff removed it, too, in one of the stories, so it would seem this was no hard task.

The photo caption doesn't say which rifle it is but a picture of him with foot on a lion, shows the base of a sidemount, which makes sense to me.

The scopes of those days may not have been waterproof but my 'research' suggests they were much more robust mechanically than much made since. However, the mounts were often high and/or fragile-looking. The worst example I can think of was the 1946 M84 scope made for the M1 (Garand) rifle. The scope itself was built like a tank but the mount was a wee thing held on apparently just with a thumb screw.

Therefore, I suspect the problem was not with Ruark's scopes but their mounts.

Anyone, anyone?

Well first it’s obvious you don’t like Ruark much. Second he shot far more birds in his life than “side-show ducks at a carnival. But you you would have to read the first chapter in Use Enough Gun first to get that.

No scopes were not as durable then as today. Failure back then was far from rare but yes it could have been the mounts.

No he never mentioned in his books which scope he was using but he was more into the story of the hunt then brand names of his gear.

This from Harry Selby in the article he wrote about the last safari he had with Robert Ruark in 1962;

"Besides my .416 Rigby and Bob’s
.400/450 Jeffery (August 2009. p. 83)
we decided to pack only one other
center-fire rifle on our final leg of the
safari. It was a Winchester .375 Holland
& Holland Mag. fitted with a detachable
scope, which had been given to me in
1950 as a gift from a father and son with
whom I’d been on a three-month safari.
We planned to use the .375 H&H Mag.
for procuring camp meat, and although
unnecessarily powerful for that purpose,
it would also act as a substitute should
either of our heavy rifles be rendered
unusable. We carried 270-gr. expanding
bullets for collecting camp meat, and 300-
gr. solids for heavy-duty work in case the
.375 was called upon in an emergency.
This particular .375 rifle had seen
a lot of use since it came into my
possession, as hunters in those days
often brought along a .30-’06 Sprg. or
some other light rifle and hired a heavy
double rifle from the outfitter. I generally
encouraged a hunter unless he
had previous experience in handling a
heavy double to use my .375 instead,
as it takes a lot of practice to shoot an
iron-sighted heavy double well.
Many took my advice and benefited
from the increased accuracy and additional
effective range the .375 H&H provided,
resulting in a noticeable reduction
in wounded animal follow-ups. I
must emphasize that in my opinion the
.375 H&H is possibly the greatest and
most versatile cartridge ever invented.
It has adequate power, good accuracy,
and the recoil is very manageable.
Today, with such a vast range of fine
premium bullets available for the .375
H&H, in the hands of a good marksman,
it’s suitable for just about any big-game
hunting situation. I’ve always advised
visiting hunters, who will be assisted by
a professional hunter with a heavy caliber,
back-up rifle, to choose a good
.375 H&H rifle fitted with a 1.5-5X riflescope
with good-quality quick detachable
mounts. Hunting clients generally
shoot more accurately with such a rifle,
more so than with a powerful, heavy recoiling
double rifle."

The 375 rifle Ruark speaks about in his account of their 1951 safari may well have been Harry's 375 rifle which he had acquired the year earlier. Harry makes no mention of having scope problems with his rifle and because he talks of a 1.5-5x being what he would advise hunters to have on a 375 rifle, perhaps he is talking from experience of such a scope on his rifle (if such variable scopes were available pre 1951).

Thanks Cougarz and Eagle,
Yes, Cougarz, I'm less a fan of Ruark than Hemingway, though they were both enormous egos. I did read the first chapter but can't recall what it said about R's shooting rifles, as distinct from his shotguns, before he went to Africa.

Looking through the photos again, I see a picture of him "sighting the gun", gripping at the receiver what appears to be a Mauser with butter-knife bolt-handle. Unless he was sitting and with his left elbow well propped, I'd wonder how definitive the results could be.

Maybe there was some sense in gripping the fore end so far back, as a vertical line at the Nock's form may indicate it was a take-down model.

The scope mounts on that rifle were of the high, two-piece variety (possibly see-through) and may show a QD lever on the back one. I can't really pick the scope but it might be a Unertl Falcon 2.75x, which was in production by then and, I imagine, reliable enough.


Thanks for that Selby dissertation, Eagle. Hopefully, you were able to copy and paste rather than type it out.

I'm now scratching my head trying to think who made 1.5-5× scopes in the 1950s and early '60s - it seems like a range more common later.

Eagle,
Yes that’s what Selby wrote about Ruarks last Safari which was a horseback and camel expedition for elephant. I’ve read it too. But the scopes going bad referred to Ruarks first Safari. It’s was written up in Horn of the Hunter and reprised in Use Enough Gun.

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:
Eagle,
Yes that’s what Selby wrote about Ruarks last Safari which was a horseback and camel expedition for elephant. I’ve read it too. But the scopes going bad referred to Ruarks first Safari. It’s was written up in Horn of the Hunter and reprised in Use Enough Gun.

I guess my point I was making in my post that from Selby's article on the last 'horseback' safari he made with Ruark was that in 1951, the year of the first safari with Ruark, Selby had a scoped 375.

The fact that Ruark doesn't explain what happened to the scope on the 375 Magnum (if anything did happen) they had on safari (his or Selby's?) and that one of Selby's staff removed the scope, I thought maybe lends credence to the scoped 375 being Selby's. One might expect Selby to take his scoped 375 on that safari, at least as a backup rifle as he did for their last safari in '62.

Maybe Ruark didn't trust scopes after the issue he had with the one on his 30.06. I haven't read Ruarks "Horn of the Hunter" or "Use Enough Gun" so don't know the context of his writing in respect of the guns being used.

Either way whether it was Ruarks own scoped 375 or Selby's scope 375 nothing in any of their writings helps identify the scopes. Perhaps some research on Selby's guns may identify what scope was on his 375 that he did have at the time of their '51 safari.

I remember Finn Aagard once saying, "Some folks think it's a good idea to scope a 375. Once." Myself, I've never had a problem, but I know what he means.

Thanks guys,
Scopes back then tended to be of one of two main reticle-movement designs. The cheaper ones used a flat spring to hold a little reticle cell against the turret screws, possibly with no abutment to stop the brass ring moving 'forward' under recoil inertia. That might not sound very secure but much the same kind of spring as used now only needed to hold one-fifth to one-tenth the mass.

The dearer scopes held the reticle cell in dovetails or mortices, sometimes threadedly attached to the turret screws. I would have no hesitation in putting one of those on a .375 or even a 505 Gibbs, as long as the mounts were strong and low.

Strong mounts are the modern trump card, of course, and those with no windage adjustments should be even stronger. Trouble is that means modern scopes and putting all your trust in the four-inch mini-me, something I'm loathe to do while good, old Hensoldts and Nickels abide.

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:
Eagle,
Yes that’s what Selby wrote about Ruarks last Safari which was a horseback and camel expedition for elephant. I’ve read it too. But the scopes going bad referred to Ruarks first Safari. It’s was written up in Horn of the Hunter and reprised in Use Enough Gun.

I guess my point I was making in my post that from Selby's article on the last 'horseback' safari he made with Ruark was that in 1951, the year of the first safari with Ruark, Selby had a scoped 375.

The fact that Ruark doesn't explain what happened to the scope on the 375 Magnum (if anything did happen) they had on safari (his or Selby's?) and that one of Selby's staff removed the scope, I thought maybe lends credence to the scoped 375 being Selby's. One might expect Selby to take his scoped 375 on that safari, at least as a backup rifle as he did for their last safari in '62.

Maybe Ruark didn't trust scopes after the issue he had with the one on his 30.06. I haven't read Ruarks "Horn of the Hunter" or "Use Enough Gun" so don't know the context of his writing in respect of the guns being used.

Either way whether it was Ruarks own scoped 375 or Selby's scope 375 nothing in any of their writings helps identify the scopes. Perhaps some research on Selby's guns may identify what scope was on his 375 that he did have at the time of their '51 safari.

Sorry to correct again but Ruarks first Safari in 1951 is where he used his own rifles, a scoped Remington .30-06 and a scoped Winchester in .375 H&H. He explained it pretty clearly in Horn of the Hunter. The scope was removed for his lion hunts with the .375 then put back on for other animals. Toward the end of the hunt both scopes had problems.

On his last horseback elephant hunt with Selby in 1962 Ruark used a Jeffery 450/400 that originally belonged to Karamojo Bell. He bought the rifle for Mark Selby his god son. Harry Selby had a Winchester .375 that was given to him by some past client and used it as a spare in case either Ruarks Jeffery or Shelby’s Rigby failed plus as a meat gun.

I recently reread Use Enough Gun and have a copy of the last Kwaheri (elephant) Safari. It was published in American Rifleman.

Thanks again, Roger.

I have several other Ruarks in the book case but have not got into to them, yet.

I did start Uhuru but the stuff about garotting cooled my enthusiasm. (I like to read before sleeping.)