Here's a hunting story:

Hunting Kudu and Steenbok with a Martini!

I have two hobbies. Guns and hunting.

The gun hobby goes through different phases; hunting rifles, combat handguns, hunting handguns, varmint rifles and blackpowder cartridge rifles. My current phase is Martini’s, that big heavy single shot that “The Soldiers of the Queen” used to continue the domination of the British Empire in the late 19th century.

My other hobby, hunting, is something I have been doing since I was a k id. I have hunted all over the U.S. I have hunted small game and large game. I grew up like most of us reading the outdoor magazines. And like most of us, I have dreamed of making a trip to Africa or Alaska to hunt.

A couple of years ago I decide to make the dream come true. I contacted long time friend and former neighbor, Dale Bigger of Houston at biggeroutdoors@aol.com about booking a guided moose hunt in Alaska. Dale told me about the moose hunts he had available but pointed out that for less money I could hunt 6 animals in Africa. I was ready; that’s spelled e-x-c-i-t-e-d! Dale set me up with Tollie Jordaan of Tollie’s African Safari’s www.safari-in-africa.com for a 10-day hunt in July 2002.

While planning my African trip, I continued with my "guns" hobby. I located a ZAR Westley Richards by Francotte Martini in 577/450 caliber from a dealer in Johannesburg. This old rifle was made for the old Boer South African Republic for use in the 2nd Boer War and it’s history is a story unto itself.

This rifle had been captured before the Boers could use it. It had been turned over to the Port Elizabeth Town Guard and they used to guard the reservoirs in the hills above the town.

Now I don’t collect hanger queens. I like to shoot. If I can’t shoot it or it won’t shoot, I am not interested. I decided if I bought this rifle one of the goals of my trip would be to take this ZAR Martini back to Africa and hunt with it. Before I could get the rifle shipped to me, the events of 9-11 overtook us. The rules on shipping guns changed. A new element was added to my trip to South Africa, to take possession of this old rifle and bring it home.

If I wanted to hunt with the rifle, I had to come up with an alternate plan. I wanted to test Hodgdon’s new black powder substitute Triple 7. www.hodgdon.com. This trip would be a perfect opportunity. With help from “The Coyote” of the Talking Old Guns internet radio program and Doug Delsemme at Hodgdon a load was developed using Triple 7. All the ammunition that I carried to Africa for the ZAR was loaded with Triple 7. I used a 460 gr. lead bullet, in a Bertram case using 85 gr. Equivalent of Triple Seven. (Coyote’s Radio load).

When I got to South Africa, Tollie teamed me up with PH, Niel Schoeman. I discussed with Tollie and Niel my desire to take a Kudu with the Martini. They were a little unsure at first. When I showed them one of the big 45 caliber cartridges and then the rifle they were a little more enthusiastic. First we had to go to the range to see if the rifle would shoot. After seeing the results on the range, the idea was reluctantly approved. Then they saw the ZAR mark of their ancestors on the side of the big gun, These two Boer Gentlemen became excited about hunting with a rifle of their ancestors.

Niel and I drove to the Kirkwood area of East Cape to hunt Kudu on the Redcliff Farms. We spent the first evening sitting in a blind. We saw lots of Kudu, but no big ones. As the sun was setting Niel pointed out a reservoir off in the distance. Niel said it was one of Port Elizabeth’s reservoirs that the Boers had wanted to destroy during the Boer War. The ZAR rifle had returned.

The next day we worked the tracks at Redcliff Farms looking for Kudu. We saw a lot of Kudu. In midafternoon we spotted a big Kudu Bull off in the bush about 140 yards away.

I took aim laying the ZAR over my crossed sticks. The Kudu was standing in the brush quartering away from me with his left side slightly towards me. Niel told me to aim just in front of the left hip like I was aiming at the far right shoulder. At the shot, there was a big cloud of smoke and a very audible THOMP! The Kudu moved off down the hill and out of sight. We circled around and down the hill below where we had last seen the Kudu, We worked our way back up the hill. We found him about 20 feet from where he had been standing when I shot. The voice of the ZAR Martini had been heard in the Hills of South Africa once more!

When dressed out we found that the bullet had hit just in front to the left hip, then traveled through the full paunch, the liver, right lung and rib cage and ended up in the right front shoulder. We measured from the point of entry to where the bullet exited the rib cage. There was 48 inches of penetration to that point. Later when the skinners finished with the animal they found the bullet had exited through the 10 to 12 inch thick shoulder. That is 5 feet of penetration by a lead bullet!

I met my goal to shot a Kudu with my ZAR Martini using Triple 7 powder!

I shot one other Kudu with the ZAR on this trip. A young 2-year-old Kudu bull got hung up between two high fences along either side of a major roadway. It had been hung up for several days. It was felt that the animal would just injure itself if an attempt were made to try to get it to the end of the fence over a mile away. I shot it right behind the shoulder. The Kudu dropped like a rock! The 577/450, a part of South African history, spoke again!

But that wasn’t my only adventure with a Martini on this trip. I also used a Martini to hunt Steenbok. A half size Martini Henry in .218 Mashburn Bee.

This little animal was very elusive on my hunt. We hunted for this animal almost every evening or morning. One morning Neil PH spotted one about 3/4 of a mile away across an old flood plain. We stalked it for about an hour and finally got with in within 60 yards. At 60 yards the front sight covered the entire body of the animal. I took a center of mass shot. At the shot the animal jumped straight up in the air and went down. The bullet hit center between the hip and front shoulder, passed forward through the liver, lungs and dead center through the right front shoulder. The bullet was a Hornady 45-gr. Hornet spitzer. The Horns measured 4 3/4 and 5 inches.

I had finally been able to realize a boyhood dream to hunt in Africa, and I got to do it with rifles that are a part of African history: the Westley Richards ZAR Martini and the Martini Henry!