Foreword
Since the invention of the metallic cartridges for breech loading
rifles, a handful of cartridges have become true African classics.
Rather than any theoretical calculations, armchair discussions or
marketeering hype, the American .45-70, 30-30 Winchester .30-06
Springfield are cartridges which have earned their reputation by
putting food on the table and tusks in the warehouse.
Some cartridges just seem to get the job done with no fuss, no terse
arguments over whether they are “over-kill” or too light for some
game, and often very few pet theories as to why they are so great.
Rifles chambered for these cartridges are most likely to be found in
the hands of a man who actually needs a rifle to earn a living, protect
himself or indeed put food on the table, rather than the once a year
“sport hunter” who needs all the help (in the form of reduced recoil
or longer range or greater “killing power”) that he can get. Like the
American .30-30, some of the cartridges were “made” by the rifles
that chamber them.
The little Mannlicher carbines are still the sweetest handling bolt
actions rifles I have ever used, and this more than makes up for the
slight deficiencies or inefficiencies in the cartridges chambered in
them. Others earned their place as classics on their own merit. Some
“on paper” great cartridges were damned by the poor quality bullets
available. Principle amongst these is the .303 British. The slick
handling civilian and military carbines and “sporterised” military
rifles based on the basic Lee Enfield abounded. The rifles were very
cheap, reliable and blessed with the fastest-to-operate bolt system
ever produced (British troops armed with Lee Enfields comfortably
held their own in rapid fire and accuracy events against American
troops armed with semi-automatic Garand rifles right through the
Second World War).
In itself, the cartridge was a good design for its day, but it was
designed specifically for people-sized targets and consequently
while the .303 has killed more game than any other cartridge in
Africa, it has also wounded more (this distinction has now probably
been taken over by the Russian 7.62x39 round). Others like the .333
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