The Accurate Reloading Forums
Capstick s` .375
01 July 2006, 21:29
mr rigbyCapstick s` .375
I have all the films and i have 5 of his books , and the thing i wondered on is tha .373 he used after the buffalo and others , that lokked like a Zastava custom mauser if iam not wrong, but the Musgrave was a fine rifle that he had, and is Musgrave operating yet?
Do anyone know how much his rifle sold for on the S.C.I. auction a few years ago?
How has the Winchester sivertip round worked out for you guys, since he used them very much and by careful prying of the silvertip away, it was a fine leopard bullet that gave instant expansion.
01 July 2006, 22:46
Karl SHi mr rigby
I do not know what rifle capstick used, but can tell you that Musgrave (the division of Denel) closed shop in about 1996/7. The "original" Musgrave (in later years Ben Musgrave and son), closed last year, after Ben died, and his son could not continue due to licencing problems.
Karl Stumpfe
Ndumo Hunting Safaris
www.huntingsafaris.netkarl@huntingsafaris.net
P.O. Box 1667, Katima Mulilo, Namibia
Cell: +264 81 1285 416
Fax: +264 61 254 328
Sat. phone: +88 163 166 9264
01 July 2006, 23:00
vapodogI know exactly the mauser rifle you speaking of.....and I thought it looked impressive....the barrel was very long IIRC.
I've always wondered where it went and what it actually was....I was somehow under the impression it was a Whitworth.
He also had a pre-64 M-70 in .375 H&H and that rifle was a gift to him by Dean Witter IIRC...that rifle had a very unique history to it as well.....where is that one I wonder?
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"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
Winston Churchill
01 July 2006, 23:52
mr rigbyit was the one that was made in 42/42 ,one of the few under the war, and the one who had it gave it to african ph, but what he got back was a bill for customs and so ,so he kept it , and that was a fine rifle but the Musgrave thats a nice custom piece, to bad they dont are in business anymore
02 July 2006, 00:04
blackbearhunterI dont know which rifle , it was maybe a double rifle?But i think his home was burglerized and he lost a few favorites.anyone ever hear this one?I think it was/happened at his home in florida,USA.?Surely someone knows this story.I wonder how many rifles & calibers he used thru the years?Capstick has always been one of my favorites for sure!Good post!

02 July 2006, 00:09
vapodogquote:
I dont know which rifle , it was maybe a double rifle?
Capstick owned a Champlin-Thumbhorst 470NE double and that was among the rifles stolen from his Florida home.
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"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
Winston Churchill
02 July 2006, 07:39
vapodogAlf,
As always you have the world's most impressive array of Mausers...
However it was my memory that Capstick's 375 had a post war FN style of shroud and not the M-98 style pictured in these rifles.
Anyone got comments?
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"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
Winston Churchill
02 July 2006, 11:13
Fritz KrautNice rifles and interesting readings.

BTW - there was another South African rifle manufacturer, Vector. Is it still active?
Fritz
The true and only Fritz Kraut
02 July 2006, 15:47
Arild IversenBeautifull rifles Alf. I wonder if Bill Ruger had a look see at the 404 when they designed their Magnum rifle ?
Quite a lot of the Vektor actions have been sold to a Norwegian gun smith as rumors tell.
I guess some will end up as locally produced custom rifles and the rest will probably be offered on the open marked in a while.
Arild Iversen.
02 July 2006, 17:02
mr rigbyThere is a site here that has pictures of the Capstick .375,
i ll try to find it , but its around here. Zastava made a custom series that a Norwegian importer had, but theire sold off, that was custom rifles that had been made for tha communist big bosses and VIPs, and they were fine , thay cost ca 3000 us and it wasnt a single rifle that was similar, but they sold like hotcakes.
Fine rifles allright, wonder what the m-98 i have will resemble when iam finished building it.
02 July 2006, 19:37
Karl Slets see if I can get a pic up... (might be slightly off topic?)
Both are "African Mausers" (build in Africa), the one on the left was build on a Vektor copy of the double square bridge magnum Mauser.
Karl Stumpfe
Ndumo Hunting Safaris
www.huntingsafaris.netkarl@huntingsafaris.net
P.O. Box 1667, Katima Mulilo, Namibia
Cell: +264 81 1285 416
Fax: +264 61 254 328
Sat. phone: +88 163 166 9264
In some of his books, Capstick indicated at one time he had a Continental Arms (?) .375 with a drop magazine and several other goodies. Does anyone know about these rifles?
Telly
03 July 2006, 21:07
congomikeI think it was an Army Navy .470 double that was stolen in Florida. If you get a chance, watch the tape where he hunts Cape Buffalo..I think that is the tape where he gives a description of the .375 Mauser in question.
03 July 2006, 22:31
adrookquote:
Originally posted by mr rigby:
There is a site here that has pictures of the Capstick .375,
Here a link to the thread with pictures of PHC's Musgrave .375.
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/.../r/14510232#1451023203 July 2006, 22:37
mr rigbyok, thanks for that adrook, its always good to see rifles that has belonged to the men who has inspired others.
12 July 2006, 02:02
Rich ElliottWasn't there a Capstick rifle auctioned off at the Dallas Safari Club convention a few years back?
RIch Elliott
Rich Elliott
Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris
12 July 2006, 04:56
400 Nitro ExpressVapodog & Congomike:
The double stolen from Peter's Florida home was his William Evans .470. The .470 that he bought later, and which was pictured in his later books, was a Champlin-Famars that he got from Champlin. I looked at that rifle just before he bought it.
I'm pretty sure the rifle auctioned at DSC was the Musgrave .375. I'm remember looking at a .375 of his and remember the PHC-1 serial number and I'm pretty sure that it was on that occasion.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."
12 July 2006, 05:10
nainitalWhat 400 Nitro said. I remember well the story about the stolen Evans and the new Famars. He wrote about it in "Sands of Silence", the book about hunting in the Kalahari I think with Vollker Grellmann.
12 July 2006, 19:34
kayakerquote:
From my own experience with them of the most accurate off the shelf rifles I have ever shot were plain Musgrave rifles.
I agree, most plain Musgraves (both 98's and 90's) were good working rifles and very accurate. I lament selling my bog standard k98 .30-06
All I did was install and Timney trigger, cut the barrel from 24" to 22" and glass bed the action. It was a tack driver, even with PMP 180gr factory fodder. With my favourite loads it would keep 3 shots sub MOA on most days. Very good for a 'cheap' rifle!

12 July 2006, 23:07
Mike DavisCapstick's Musgrave .375 was auctioned at Dallas Safari Club January 2003.
Mike
Mike Davis
DRSS