by Member-Deleted » 07 Sep 2017, 9:35 am
Quite true about the 303 accounting for more Buffalo ( and crocs) than any other calibre, but to be fair, there was not much else available to choose from until "proper" hunting rifles became affordable; now we are spoiled for choice, but unfortunately very much restricted by rules and regulations. One of my old reloading manuals, either Speer or Sierra, stated that the 303 has killed more game in Africa than any other calibre, but also wounded more. This is largely in part to the use of ex-mil FMJ army ammo, but exponents like" Karamojo" Bell used the 303 successfully on elephants; once again its bullet placement ( and an enormous amount of fearlessness!)
Not sure if it was Nick Harvey or Colin Shadbolt, a couple of the more famous names in hunting back in the 70's, who said that the old time Buff hunters admitted it took 7 or 8 shots to kill a buff with a 303, but to me that is just plain poor marksmanship and the used of ex army ammo once again. My best shots were all taken with a 303, although I used half a dozen other calibres ( the 7x57 mauser being a favourite) and my longest shot was just shy of 600 paces using my stock issue full wood P14 and battle sights. For those of you not familiar with hunting in the territory, the flood plains extend quite some distance until you hit the tree line, and there is no cover to hide behind to take a shot. At that distance, the front blade totally obscured the bulls head, and he dropped like a stone. Of course I used a tree trunk for a rest, and waited until he stopped moving.....my handloads duplicated military spec velocities ( 2, 500 fps out of the P14 with a 180 gn Hornady soft point. ) Hornady projectiles are the best in the 303 as they mushroom at lower velocities than the others.
One of my mates had access to Aboriginal land, and we were able to hunt right up to Coburg peninsular, where I bagged a couple of young Bantang Bulls, but that was like shooting domestic cattle, as they stood there and looked at me, and dropped with a bullet between the eyes. We did spot some Rusa stags, but we left them for the trophy hunters. From what I read, the Coburg peninsular seems to be a big dollar game hunting area now.
Still, that was forty years ago, times have changed, and living in Tasmania restricts me to 3 fallow deer a year, if I can find a property that won't charge me $100.00 a day to wander around their paddocks, Thats after paying for my deer licence, making sure my rifle is locked away securely with the bolt removed while not actively hunting and having to abide with their anal transportation of game and firearms rules. Not to mention these cowboys who think a 300 magnum is the minimum to use......