500,

I still don't know what caused it. But it was sure jammed in there. It must have been really high pressure to jam it in there, tapered case as it is. I'm meticulous about my reloading procedures. I measure each charge, only have on set of components on the table at a time, etc...

My load is 69.0 grains of R15, CCI 250 LRM primers. So getting a double charge or a secondary detonation is unlikely.

I'm still leaning towards some sort of mild barrel obstruction. I spent a lot of time crawling and could have picked up something.

It really shot high so I�d bet that the bullet was really cooking. If you look in the night sky, you might see it in a North-South orbit.

-Steve

What caused the stuck case?

Steve - congrats on the great hunt. I wouldn't worry about what the hollier than holy people think about you shooting from the truck. You had a great hunt and that is what is important.

Great pictures


Graylake

Hi Steve:

Great report and pics. Now all you have to do is pay the shipping cost back home for your trophies and your Taxidermist bill..

I brought along a 375 H&H on my Safari as a backup, shooting 270 grain Swift Aframes @ about 2600 FPS. I never even fired a shot with it. Took all my game with my 300 RUM.

Thanks for sharing you hunt...

Regards... Jim P.

Enjoyed the story and the photos were fantastic. Very nice trophies!

Great pictures and stories. Took me back, I hunted on Moketsi in 2003 with S & S. Wake up to lions roaring 20 yards from the door. The owner Edwin ? had a couple of lion cubs in the kitchen while I was there. They had to keep them seperated from the muire cats as the little cats would attack the lion cubs. I took my Nyala near one of those earthen dams. Thanks for the memories.

Art,

I'm glad you enjoyed the reminiscences. I also heard about those lion cub you mentioned. They apparently learned well from the meercats. The cubs were put into one of the lion compounds after they killed the two black swans.

Riaan told me how the owner (Edwin?) got his fortune. Started a refrigerated trucking firm after the transportation system was deregulated, Hestony. Apparently up until the fall of apartheid, all bulk goods transportation was required to move by rail. The rail system is owned by the state.

Edwin has apparently bought a bunch more property, increasing it to 35K acres. The workers were busy removing fences, while we were there. Quite the spread.

-Steve

Kimberly Big Hole:


Moketsi Lodge

It was quite a spread with all of the bricks for all of the buildings being mined on the property, I was told that each mason could only make 3 bricks a day. I took a picture of the hand hewn stone sinks, wow! Did you see bonte bucks across the road, they are real beauties. I took my first two animals last year on the 4th of July, what a celebration. Kinda cool at night.

Art,

They were adding a new addition onto the main lodge while we were there. It was interesting to watch. I could believe that it would take a while to carve out those stones. Watching them made my think how long and how many it took to build the pyramids.

Apparently Edwin (or Antwon) needed a new wing for his North American trophies.

It's funny that you mentioned the sinks. I sat there and looked at those things for several minutes. They were amazing. I wonder how much they would cost in the U.S.

I didn't have the oportunity to get over to the section across the road. All I saw on that section were the Hartman's Mountain Zebra and they looked like they'd be a hoot to hunt. I was told that they needed to keep the bontebok away from the blesbok as they will interbreed. Doesn't suprise me.

Take Care,

-Steve

Steve,

Thanks for taking the time to give us a full report with pictures. My post safari depression is in full swing! Congratulations on the great trophies.

Ski+3