Indian Diaspora Hunting tales from Africa

[Sakobav]

I stumbled on to few websites detailing Indian diaspora in Africa some of the memories here are related to Tsavo Lions, Kenyan anecdotes from Dannish author farm / Movie " Out of Africa" one below is about officer who was shooting different caliber bullets out of 303 and hunting lions

"The splendid Sikh had served with the Railway Police from the very beginning of construction work on the railway, and for the past two years had been in full charge of Nairobi's police station. He was a great 'shikari', a brave man and worthy of the highest traditions of the gallant Sikh units in the Indian Army in which he served with honour before transferring to the Indian Police and then coming to British East Africa. Besant Singh had killed twenty-four lions during the advance of the railway to Nairobi, making a habit of hunting them with a .303-rifle, for which he possessed only .256 calibre ammunition. To make these cartridges fit his rifle, he wrapped them around with paper. This intrepid Sikh sportsman was a first-class shot, but there are not many who would have dared tackle lions with ammunition that did not fit the rifle. Certainly I would not. ." Copied from followingn website

http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/heritage ... Africa.htm

Added in 1 minute 22 seconds:
Bali Mauladad Famous PE hunter from Kenya

https://balimauladad.com/

Added in 1 minute 9 seconds:
Ikram Hassan another famous hunter from Africa by gone days

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/ik ... nter.3349/

Added in 1 minute 25 seconds:
https://books.google.com/books?id=Ja3cA ... am&f=false

[mundaire]

Interesting find Navi, I'd read about paper patching bullets, never thought you could wrap an entire cartridge in paper and shoot it!! Really wonder how in the world he was managing any kind of accuracy? What about safety?

The page on Bali Mauladad has really nice old photos and the content makes for some great reading.

Thanks again for sharing

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[TwoRivers]

That .256 was most likely the 6.5x53R Mannlicher, which has a case close to the .303, though with less taper. It should not chamber, unless the .303 rifle has a very generous chamber, which most of the military rifles had. Also, British cartridge manufacturers tended to keep their cases on the small side, so it may have worked. Though I can't imagine how the paper wrapping could have stayed on the bullet when fired,or even when the cartridge was being chambered. But as an aside, British gunmakers also used the Lee action for sporting rifles in .256 Mannlicher, which was a good fit for the Lee action, better than the .315.

[huntergill]

Harpreet Brar of Rungwa safaris, Tanzania is gathering fame and good repute in hunting circles here in US.

[marksman]

Ha..ha..ha.. haven't you heard of paper patched bullets Two River? If you ever visit Bhopal even today,You are likely to come across some left over relics who use this technic. I am sure sardar Besantsingh belonged to that region. Paper patched bullet as well the shell.
The idea is to insert the bullet of a loaded cartridge from the muzzle end and if it fitted loosely or snug then rest is a piece of cake. Seen it being done and 303 happens to be the most favorite rifle as it'd take anything from .25 to .32 bore.

Marksman

[TwoRivers]

Marksman: Ha..hah.ha..indeed I have, and I still patch bullets on a regular basis for some of my blackpowder rifles that originally were loaded with paper patched bullet. It also works with jacketed bullets, we used paper-patched 7mm bullets in the 7.35mm Carcano rifles before bullets of proper diameter became available. And yes, you could even use a paper patch around the case to fire it in a chamber too large for the case. However, to get any accuracy the patch has to be of the proper thickness, and the bullet is prepared before it is seated in the case. The patch has to cover the base of the bullet as well.

Also, you seem to have missed the point, that while the 6.5 Mannlicher case is very close to the .303 case in base diameter, it has less taper and will jam in a .303 chamber before the bolt will fully close. For the record, the cartridge will not allow the bolt to close in a 1915 No.3, a Savage Mk.4, a Lithgow, a P14 Enfield, and a jungle carbine. Even the 1905 and 1919 Ross, supposedly having very loose chambers, will not close the bolt on a 6.5 Mannlicher cartridge. Knowledge is one thing, comprehension is an other.