Fair Game

wood stocks
Stocked by James Flynn of Alexandria, Louisiana, this Dakota No. 10 is a .250-3000. The walnut blank originated somewhere in the Himalayas, and Dowtin purchased it in a street market somewhere in the ‘Stans. Wonderful wood is where you find it. Bill called it the most extraordinary blank he’d ever seen, and we pondered long and hard where to use it.

The Devil Dwells in Wood

I dote on wood stocks. A really fine hunk of walnut is something that nature…
professional hunter
Botswana professional hunter Chris Dandridge, wearing the world-weary expression of the PH experienced beyond his years.

A PH’s Lot Is Not A Happy One*

I grew up watching safari movies in which African professional hunters were portrayed by Clark…
Sometimes, you don’t shoot simply because packing it out is more than you can do. This Alaska bull was spared because there was too much of him to carry, and too far to carry it. That, and the fact that he would go no more than 49¾ inches in a management unit with a 50-inch minimum. The thought of carrying all that meat and going to jail to boot…

Do Any Good?

The title of this post is a question I’ve heard only in the South. It’s…
Granite Mountain .505 and Blaser R8 chambered for the equally fearsome .500 Jeffery. Both have short, heavy barrels — the Blaser’s is 24 inches, but it saves length on the action — which are exactly what the doctor ordered for such bruisers. They weigh an identical 10.4 pounds.

Weight a Minute

What follows was triggered (so to speak) by my learning that the Army’s new rifle,…
Ultra Light Arms catalogue, 1996.

Lord Melvin, Appreciated

Melvin Forbes, of Granville, West Virginia, departed this earth on June 5th at the age…
A partial stack—eight volumes, to be precise—of anthologies of Gene Hill’s peerless work. Find it, buy it, read it. Then read it again. You’ll thank us.

Remembering Mr. Hill

I was going to begin by saying I knew Gene Hill from 1970 until 1997,…
Student and instructor at the Holland & Holland shooting ground near London. The instructor wears ear muffs, because he is around shooting all the time. The student is using plugs because many young people find it difficult to wear large muffs. The people at Holland & Holland, sticklers for safety, feel the plugs are sufficient under the circumstances. The best combination: High quality muffs (with or without an electronic sound-enhancing system) and soft rubber “finned” plugs properly (i.e., deeply) inserted. Absolutely essential for shooting indoors or with heavy rifles, handguns, or anything with a muzzle brake.

Turning a Deaf Ear

 A gunsmith friend of mine who specializes in tactical and competition rifles says that applications…
Warren Page’s Mashburn custom rifles were auctioned by his widow, Martha, at the sixth GameCoin convention in San Antonio in 1977. All three were purchased by Arthur McGreevy, shown with Page’s Mannlicher-stocked bear rifle.

O’Connor versus Page; the Clash of the Gun-Writing Titans

The greatest rivalry in the odd world of gun writing was between Warren Page of…
tsetse fly
The tsetse fly, a.k.a. glossina palpalis, a.k.a., Africa’s finest game warden. This one a female, although she does not look very feminine. Or maybe she does. They’re not quite this big in real life, but they feel like it.

The Worst Bug in the World

I’m willing to bet everyone who reads this post that they can’t recollect a bug…
A Troika Pursued by Wolves, Adolf Schreyer (1828-1899). Man versus wolf has been a favorite Russian theme for centuries.
A Troika Pursued by Wolves, Adolf Schreyer (1828-1899). Man versus wolf has been a favorite Russian theme for centuries.

Should You Be Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

The most polarizing beast on four legs is very likely Canis lupus, the grey wolf.…
Terry Wieland’s custom Mauser 98 in .450 Ackley has a steel-tube Swarovski scope in a German claw mount, instantly detachable, and a set of highly customized iron sights that fit Petzal’s description of those on a professional hunter’s rifle. It has not accounted for as many animals as Warren Page’s rifle, but it includes two Cape buffalo inside of five minutes.

Put Some Iron on Your Rifle

Back when everyone knew who Arthur Godfrey was, you couldn’t sell a big-game rifle without…
Through the 1940s and ‘50s, Eddie Bauer of Seattle was America’s premier expedition outfitter. Jay Mellon, hunting sheep in the high Himalayas, wore Eddie Bauer’s finest. He also had the best guides. And he’s still alive.

Sometimes, It’s Better to Stay Home

In my October 2nd post, titled “How Not to Get Killed While Big Game Hunting,”…