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Could this be it ? The ‘ultimate’ all-round African caliber & cartridge.
by
‘Doctari’.
The older I get, the more it appears that there is a reason for everything in life. Some may call this ‘luck’ or ‘coincidence’, others ‘joss’ - but I’m not convinced. To me, its destiny - because many ‘by chance’ occurrences end up as ‘life transforming’ events - and I’m grateful for this.
My, purely-by-chance meeting of Edd Woslum and his lovely wife, Leanne, was just such an occasion. It occurred a few years ago while I was traveling down to Natal from my farm in the north-west of Zimbabwe. At the time, I was writing ‘The Perfect Shot’ and on my way to a white rhino hunt. To break my journey, I overnighted at the guesthouse of Dennis and Carol Ball, near Bandelierskop, in the far Northern Transvaal - and as it turned out, the Woslum’s and two other American couples just happened to be hunting on the property at the time. Knowing that I am also a PH, the Ball’s invited me to dine with their clients that evening, and this is how the Woslum’s and I met.
As northern Idaho ranchers, outfitters, African safari booking agents and the originators / owners of Evolution USA, a progressively thinking custom firearms manufacturing company, the Woslum’s are a most interesting couple. Edd, it turned out, is a hunting enthusiast, ‘of note’, and one of the most committed ‘gun nuts’ it has been my pleasure to meet. With more African plains game hunting experience than many locals, and a thorough knowledge of what I shall term, ‘practical field ballistics’, it was obvious that we would hit it off together, and we did.
Leanne in her own right, is quite some lady. An integral part of Evolution, she has twice been the World Practical Shooting champion, and is most definitely the type of grandmother every firearms enthusiast should have ! Sadly, my initial meeting with the Woslum’s ended far too quickly, but we exchanged addresses and have remained in contact very since.
A couple of months later, Edd contacted me with a query. The USA economy was on a roll, interest in African safaris was at an all-time high and double rifles suitable for just such adventures were once again in demand. Quite understandably, Evolution wanted to capitalize on this and were looking for advice on a suitable, ‘African’ caliber and cartridge, around which to build a rifle. The request included a couple of provisos however. Firstly, to make it easily ‘carryable’, the proposed double would not weight more than 10 pounds. And because of this, my recommendation would have to be both ‘shootable’ and ‘manageable’, recoil wise. Secondly, it would also have to be suitable for all Africa has to offer - including plains game, all the way out to 250 paces. All in all, it was an interesting request, and I enjoyed the opportunity to give it some serious thought.
After much deliberation, I recommended that Evolution look into producing a double chambered for the 3 inch version of the well known and respected .450/.400 cartridge. Nobody else, to my knowledge was offering a double chambered thus - and to back my argument, I pointed out that Pondoro Taylor had considered it one of ‘the best’, and even Craig Boddington, the current Don of American gunwriters has recently expressed his desire to one day own a .450/.400 double.
As it turned out, tooling up to produce a double chambered for this cartridge proved to be prohibitively expensive, and Evolution eventually opted to go for the more popular .470 NE - but in retrospect, the exercise was not a waste of time, simply because it got both Edd and I thinking about the ultimate, ‘all-round’ African cartridge and caliber.
‘The Perfect Shot’ was published in December 1999 and on the strength of it, I was invited by Safari Club International to give a couple of seminars - firstly to their Tri-State chapter members in New York and then at the Dallas Safari Club’s 2000 convention. SCI’s own convention was in Reno that year, and as Safari Press, my publishers wanted me to attend for book signing sessions, I planned my itinerary accordingly. With a week to kill, between Dallas and the Reno convention, I accepted the Woslum’s offer to spend it with them at Yellow Wolf, their extensive and beautiful, Idaho ranch.
Midwinter in northern Idaho is very different to anything I had previously experience - but I survived, just ! What all the snow and ice did provide however, was the perfect opportunity for us to gel our thoughts on developing the ultimate African ‘all-rounder’. Before many a roaring log fire, Edd and I got down to some serious ballistical ‘brain-storming’.
To start off, we laid out a guide-line of ‘attainable’ objectives. These were as follows.
1. To be ‘legal’ for the heavyweights, a minimum of 4000 foot pounds ( ft lbs ) of muzzle energy ( ME ), was our starting point.
2. For penetration, somewhere in the region of 120 pounds feet per second ( lb fps ) of momentum was our next objective.
[Footnote. A bullets Momentum Value ( MV ) is calculated by multiplying its weight in pounds ( grain weight divided by 7000 ) by its muzzle velocity in feet per second. ]
3. For sufficient ‘stopping punch’ and ‘knockdown’ effect, we also wanted a minimum ‘Knock Out’ value of 45 - and this necessitated a caliber greater than .375 inches.
[ Footnote. Pondoro Taylor devised his ‘Knock Out’ values by multiplying together a bullet’s weight ( in pounds ), velocity ( in fps ) and diameter ( in inches ). What is interesting to note is that for any given caliber, once an ‘optimum’ velocity, is reached, further increases in its muzzle velocity have little effect on its KO value. As an example, a 300 grain .375 H & H bullet at 2500 fps has a KO value of 40. Increasing the velocity of the same weight of bullet to 2700 fps ( .375 Rem Ultra Mag ) only increases its KO value to 43. Of all the .375 cartridges, only the .378 Weatherby attains our acceptable KO value standard of 45 - and as I’m sure everyone knows, this is a thoroughly unpleasant cartridge to shoot, and because of this, by no stretch of the imagination can it be considered an African ‘all-rounder’. This made us realize that a bullet with a diameter larger than .375 would be needed to realistically achieve a KO value of 45. ]
4. Also, for that all important penetration, plus acceptable ‘down-range’ performance, bullet sectional density was to be somewhere in the region of .310 for plains game type animals and in the .330’s for the heavyweights.
[ Footnote. When it comes to the successful hunting of the ‘pachyderms’, bullet SD is vital. Without a doubt, the two most effective bullets for these ‘heavyweights’ are the 500 grain .458, the 410 grain .416. Why, simply because they have SD’s of .341 and .338 respectively, and we recognized this fact in our deliberations.]
5. For a reasonably flat trajectory out to 250 paces, and therefore suitable for ‘plains game’, a muzzle velocity (mv) of somewhere in the region of 2300 feet per sec ( fps ) was our objective.
[ Footnote. Our acceptable standard for trajectory was if a rifle was sighted 2 inches high at 100 paces, it would not drop more than 4 inches at 200. ]
6. Maximum chamber pressure was to be in the region of 50 000 psi, hopefully less.
7. Finally, we considered theoretical recoil. From a 10 pound, bolt actioned rifle, our dream ‘all-round’ cartridge had to be both ‘shootable’ and ‘manageable’, recoil wise. Experience has taught me that provided it is fitted with a decently broad sling and is reasonably well balanced, a 10 pound rifle is easily ‘carryable’. Experience has also taught me that 50 foot pounds of recoil is about as much ‘Mr. Average’ big game hunter can handle. Any more than this, and consistently good shooting performance flies out the window. We therefore set 50 ft lbs of recoil as our absolute maximum, but hoped for less - like somewhere in the region of 45 ft lbs.
[Footnote. Theoretical recoil is a complicated science simply because it is influenced by many factors. For all our calculations however, the following formula was used.

Theoretical Recoil = ( Wb x mv + 4700 x Wp )squared
64.32 x Wr
where Wb = weight of bullet in pounds ( grain wt divided by 7000 )
Wp = weight of powder charge in pounds ( grain wt divided by 7000 )
Wr = weight of rifle in pounds
mv = muzzle velocity in feet per second.
Like ME, the units for recoil are foot pounds

[ It is also my experience that muzzle velocity has a significant part to play in perceived recoil, and this aspect is not fully covered in the above formula. Lowering a bullet’s mv, ( from 2500 fps to 2300 for example ) fractionally increases the length of time over which recoil is actually felt - and this appears to make it feel less than it actually is.]
Edd and I then thoroughly reviewed all the currently available cartridge/calibre combinations which come close to our objectives. These were the 9,3 x 62 mm ( and its rimmed equivalent the 9,3 x 74 R ), 9,3 x 64 mm, .375 H & H, the .450/.400’s, .400 Pondoro, .416 Rigby, .416 Rem Mag, .404 Jeffrey, .425 Express, .425 Westly Richards, .458 Win Mag, and here follows our thoughts on each in the light of our laid out objectives and experiences with them.
9,3 x 62 mm & 9,3 x 74 R.
Two extremely ‘shootable’ and surprisingly effective, ‘well balanced’ cartridges with delightfully low recoil. Lacking bullet frontal surface area, they are however adequate for the pachyderms, but only if shot placement is absolutely precise. In some African countries they are not ‘legal’ for these ‘heavyweights’ either, and their 286 grain bullet lacks SD ( only .305 ). Also, neither possesses enough ME, MV or KO for our standards.
9,3 x 64 mm.
Too fast, muzzle velocity wise, for our liking, and as with the other 9,3 mm’s, this calibre ( .366 inch ) and weight of bullet lacks both frontal surface area and SD. While the 9,3 x 64 mm produces enough ME, it is short on MV and KO ( a 286 grn bullet at 2600 fps produces 4300 ft lbs of ME, 106 lb fps of MV and has a KO of 39 )
.375 H & H.
An extremely popular African ‘all-rounder’, but still not ideal. Solids, when used on side-on buffalo ( and smallish elephant cows ), can be overpenerative ( as a result of too much muzzle velocity ). Also, some expanding bullet types do not perform well on angled buffalo shots. In our opinion, the .375 H & H needs a higher SD bullet ( a 300 grain, .375 bullet has a SD of .305 ) and a better MV - especially for improved terminal performance with expanding bullets.
Initially, our thoughts were along the lines of a 330 grain .375 bullet ( SD .335 ) at 2350 fps which would produce 4050 ft lbs of ME and 110 lb fps of MV and a KO of 41. Close to what we were looking for, but this caliber still lacks frontal surface area for visible KO ‘punch’. Also, in some of the lighter, 8.5 to 9 pound rifles which come chambered for this cartridge, perceived recoil with factory loaded ammo can be unpleasantly sharp, and shooting performance, consequently poor.
[ Footnote. For a number of years I have been downloading the .375 H & H, with 300 grain bullets, to a mv of 2350 fps. This load reduces perceived recoil significantly ( read that as better shot placement ) and when used on buffalo, it is my experience that 300 grain core bonded soft points ( Stewart Hi-Performers ) actually outperform ones which are shot at higher ( factory ) velocities. ]
As the .375 H & H already has, in our opinion too much muzzle velocity, the ‘hotter’ ‘375’s’ ( Weatherby, JRS, A-Square, Remington Ultra Mag and the ridiculous .378 Weatherby ) with all that recoil, muzzle blast and no significant improvement in KO values - were not even considered.
.450/.400’s
Ballistically, these two cartridges come close to what we were looking for ( 400 grain bullets at about 2125 fps for 4000 ft lbs of ME, 121 lb fps of MV and a KO value of 50. ), save for them being somewhat too slow in the muzzle velocity department. This results in a rainbow-like trajectory which hampers those longer shots. They are also rimmed cartridges, practically obsolete and their bullet diameter is confusing as it can vary from .405 to .411 of an inch in different rifles.
.400 Pondoro.
A cartridge with great potential but one which exceeds our ‘ideal’ all-rounder’s requirements. It is derived from the .375 H & H case being necked up to take a 400 grain, .411 calibre bullet ( at 2400 fps it produces 5117 ft lbs of ME, 137 lb fps of MV and a KO value of 56 ). The .400 Pondoro will also shoot similar caliber pistol bullets at pretty impressive velocities - for low recoil practice and small game. This is an excellent idea and one which adds greatly to the Pondoro’s overall appeal. In a 10 pound rifle, a 400 grain bullet ahead of 75 grains of powder ( H 4895 ) will however produce 2400 fps of mv and a hefty 54 ft lbs of recoil. This we felt is too much, as is its chamber pressure which is way too high ( over 60 000 psi ). Also, as neither Edd nor I like belted cartridge cases, we felt we could do better.
.416 Rigby.
One of the all-time greats, with just about everything, ‘ballistically’ ( a 400 grn bullet at 2350 for 4900 ft lbs of ME, 135 lb fps of MV and a KO value of 56 ). The only ‘negative’ for the .416 Rigby is its overly large case. Requiring a .590 inch bolt face handle it, puts rifles chambered for it into the super magnum class and this makes them ( except the Ruger M 77 and the mod 550 CZ ) pricey. Also, factory .416 Rigby ammo is hellish expensive out here in Africa and perceived recoil, even from an 11 pound M 77 ( around 56 ft lbs ) is just too much for many to handle both easily and competently.
.416 Remington Magnum.
This is an increasingly popular, affordable and ‘available’ cartridge - factors which make it appealing to many African PH’s. Ballistically this cartridge is identical to the .416 Rigby. It therefore has it all - save for some really unpleasant recoil. Some of the .416 Remington’s I have handled are just too light ( the Sako Hunter for example ) and boy do they kick ! Also, the .416 Rem Mag produces too much chamber pressure. ( Some Remington factory loads with 400 grn Swift A-Frames recently chronographed out at 2500 fps ! Heaven only knows what chamber pressure they produce while doing so. )
[ Footnote. Each October, at the end of the hunting season, the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters & Guides Association holds a training course for ‘learner’ PH’s and Guides, in the Rifa Safari Area of the Zambezi Valley. October is ‘Suicide Month’ here in Zimbabwe, and it gets mighty hot down in the ‘valley’ at that time. Practical, rapid fire shooting tests are an important part of the learner’s course, and they always prove to be informative in many ways. Under such conditions, I’ve witnessed on more than a few occasions, ‘frozen-solid’ bolts frantically being kicked and hammered open, once with half a brick ! Somewhat alarmingly, the .416 Rem Mag has more often than not, been the culprit. As an instructor on the course, this worries me, especially as some of the rifles chambered for this cartridge have only small, ‘finger-nail’ type extractors. From a PH’s or any dangerous game hunting situation, this is an invitation for a premature obituary notice and why Edd and I attached such importance to chamber pressure in our deliberations. ]
.404 Jeffery.
Another all-time great cartridge, but with a few shortcomings. Actual bullet diameter is .423 inch ( some sources say .421 ). This gives a 400 grain bullet of this caliber good frontal surface area but an SD of only .319. At original factory ballistics - 2150 fps at the muzzle for 4100 ft lbs of ME, 122 lb fps of MV and a KO value of 49, the .404 comes really close to our ‘ideal’. But like that of the .450/.400’s, its relatively low muzzle velocity and relatively poor long-range performance, lets it down. At 2300 fps at the muzzle ( RWS factory loading ) its far better, trajectory wise but then recoil ( from a 10 pound rifle ) gets excessive ( 52 ft lbs ). Like that of the voluminous .416 Rigby, a big plus for the .404 however, is its wonderfully low chamber pressure.
.425 Express.
This cartridge is the .300 Win Mag case necked up to take the .404’s, .423 caliber bullet. Short enough to fit into a standard length .30-06 magazine, it is never-the-less capable of pushing a 400 grain bullet at 2400 fps. Impressive ballistics indeed, which exceed our requirements but with chamber pressures and recoil way too high for our liking.
.425 Westly Richards.
A obsolete and odd looking, long necked and rebated rimless cartridge whose bullet is actually .435 inch in diameter. This gives a 410 grain bullet of this caliber a good frontal surface area but an SD of only .310. Factory loaded ballistics gave 2350 fps for 5028 ft lbs of ME, 138 lb fps of MV and a KO value of 60. From a 10 pound rifle, such a combination will produce 57 ft lbs of recoil and this is too much for most ‘inexperienced’ hunters.
.458 Win Mag./ .458 Lott / .450 Watts etc
For the sake of thoroughness we also looked at these popular ‘big game’ cartridges. A 500 grain, .458 inch bullet at 2100 fps ( achievable with judicious reloading ) gives 4900 ft lbs of ME, 150 lb fps of MV and a KO of 69. These performance figures way exceed our requirements, as does the recoil it generates. A 10 pound .458 will produce about 61 ft lbs of recoil while producing them. With a rainbow-like trajectory, the .458 Win Mag is not a ‘longish-shot’ cartridge and we passed up on it because of these factors.
[ Footnote. For Professional Guides and Hunters however, with more specialized ballistic requirements, this is definitely the cartridge of choice. ]
By the time Edd and I reached Reno, we both had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to go, ballistically with our idea. We even had a suitable cartridge case in mind - the new Remington Ultra Magnum ( which itself is based on that of the .404 Jeffery ) and our initial thought was to simply load it with a .411 calibre bullet.
Then Edd suggested we make it a true .400 calibre, so as to be able to lower the bullet weight slightly, increase the muzzle velocity and still stay within our set out parameters. Also, such a caliber would hopefully end the confusion over the various .40 calibre’s actual bullet diameters and even more confusing nomenclature. Out came the calculator again, and all of a sudden, everything started to fall into place.
A 350 grain, true .400 caliber bullet would have an SD of .312. A 375 grain one, .334.
At 2300 fps at the muzzle, the 350 grainer would produce 4112 ft lbs of ME, 115 lb fps of MV and have a KO of 46. The 375 grainer, at 2270 fps of mv would produce 4216 ft lbs of ME, 120 lb fps of MV and have a KO of 48. When we calculated that our trajectory parameters would also be met by these performance figures, as would our theoretical recoil levels, we knew we were there.
The only snag at that point, was that nobody produced either true .400 caliber bullets or barrels. Edd and I were not perturbed by this however, simply because we were at the world’s foremost gathering of hunting and firearms enthusiasts - and then fate smiled favorably upon us, in the form of a well stocked ‘watering hole’, only a few paces from Evolution’s booth !
Safari Club International’s annual convention is four days of hectic, go, go, go. I was kept busy at Safari Press’s booth for much of its duration, as was Edd at Evolution’s - but when the crowds thinned and things slowed down each evening, to the ‘waterhole’ we would gravitate. Word of what we were cooking up had gotten out and its amazing who joined us there to discuss it. One of the first was Randy Brooks of Barnes Bullets. I had met Randy previously, and as I believe the Barnes X-bullet ( in an appropriate weight and calibre ) to be ‘the’ ‘bullet for Africa’, this was a good sign. Randy is an experienced African sport hunter. He immediately understood just where we were coming from, and without too much hesitation, offered Barnes’s assistance. Suddenly things looked good. All we now needed was a .400 caliber barrel and at about that time, John Krieger found our waterhole. A renown custom barrel maker, John too was soon ‘on sides’. His, ‘not a problem’ statement meant we were just about there.
Craig Boddington had also been autographing his books from the Safari Press booth. I ran our idea past him - and immediately got both his interest and approval. His, ‘it’ll work, go for it’, was a real confidence booster - simply because it confirmed both Edd’s and my sentiments.
The convention ended and I flew home to more pressing issues - ‘war vets’, farmland invasions and illogical African politics. From then on, the rest of the .400 Tembo’s ( what we had decided to call our cartridge ) development, was left in Edd’s capable hands - and I was kept informed by his frequent e-mails.
So as to keep chamber pressures low, it was decided to use a slightly modified .404 Jeffery’s case. All the specs for our idea were given to Dave Kiff of Pacific Precision Grinding who determined its actual dimensions ( basic .404 case shortened by 110 thou, slight changes to the shoulder angle and neck length and with a final case capacity of 107 grains of water ) and made up a chamber reamer. In the meantime, Randy Brooks had his people at Barnes hand turn some sample 350 grain, true .400 caliber, X-bullets. They turned out to be 1.465 inches in length. This information was then given to John Krieger who used it, together with the bullet’s weight and the anticipated muzzle velocity of 2300 fps to calculate that a 1 in 14 inch twist was what was needed. John then he made short work of producing a 24 inch, match quality, .400 caliber barrel. All that now remained was the need for a set of reloading dies, and this aspect was swiftly and competently handled by Alen Lenz of Hornady’s Custom Die shop.
With barrel and chamber reamer on hand, Evolution’s lath and mill master, Shawn Thompson assembled the first ever .400 Tembo rifle. Based on a re-worked Winchester Model 70, Pre 64 action ( with its bolt face enlarged to .537 inches and the magazine extended ), the finished rifle, with its 24 inch barrel and when fitted with a mercury recoil reducer and a Leupold 1.5 to 5 power Vari-X III scope, weights 9.75 lbs empty and an even 10 when loaded with 3 cartridges and fitted with a decently broad sling.
To add to the Tembo’s versatility, Andy Hill, the owner / proprietor of Hawk Bullets ( Salem, New Jersey ) has also started producing a range of more conventional, jacket and lead core type expanding bullets in true .400 calibre. So as to be able to handle a variety of different animals, the jacket thickness for these bullets varies from .035 to .065 inches. These bullets, together with the planned 375 grain X-bullets and similar weight super solids ( monolithic ) from Barnes will greatly add to the Tembo’s all-round versatility.
In the meantime, Edd and some clients were planning an extensive African ‘testing ground’ safari for the Tembo - plains game in both the northern Transvaal and Beit Bridge area and buffalo in Zambia.
Developing a suitable load took place only 8 days before departure. So late because that is when 400, 350 grain X-bullets only arrived at Yellow Wolf ranch. New Norma, .404 cases were length trimmed and fire formed, and as it was to turn out, a load of 82 grains of H 4831 sort cut powder, ahead of a Federal 215 magnum primer, pushes the 350 grain X-bullets at exactly 2300 fps, without any excess pressure signs. ( Barnes will pressure test all loads in the near future. )
Right from the word go, accuracy looked to be good while the recoil was judged, even by Leanne, to be extremely ‘manageable’ - at 46 ft lbs it was calculated. After a bit of experimenting with bullet seating depths, Edd e-mailed me to say, ‘Both Leanne and I are shooting one inch, 100 yard groups - with a bloody elephant gun !’ ( see accompanying target )
In mid July of this year, I met up with Edd and his party at Digby Bristow’s 30 000 ha Sentinel Ranch near Beit Bridge, on the Zimbabwean side of the Limpopo. Two years of well above average rainfall had left normally barren Sentinel well covered with grass and over-run with plains game animal species. Digby has recently introduced both sable and Foot and Mouth free buffalo onto Sentinel. So as to preserve his precious grass for these valuable grazing animals, the numbers of their competitors needed to be reduced, and this proved an ideal opportunity to field test the Tembo. Top of the ‘test’ list was Connochaetes taurinus, the wildebeest. Also known as ‘The Poor Mans Buffalo’, these strange looking antelope are renown for being one of Africa’s toughest game animal species.
Tom Lintner was also in camp. A staff columnist for Precision Shooting and The Accurate Rifle publications, Tom was along to assist with the Tembo’s field testing. A five time USA Full Bore Rifle team captain and a past captain of the USA’s Bisley team, Tom is a long range shooting specialist, and he put his skills to good use with the new Tembo. His most impressive shot cleanly killed an old wildebeest bull, at a measured 305 paces !
As it turned out, I only got to shoot the Tembo once. But that was enough to convince me our creation works, and then some. Sentinel is mostly flat, relatively open country and the Tembo had been sighted in accordingly. ‘3 inches high at 100 yards, about a half inch high at 200, 4 inches low at 250 and 12 at 300’, was what Edd told me as we set out to look for another old Wildebeest bull. We found one soon enough and I was able to get to within what to me is still a long shot - about 200 paces I estimated. The old bull was suspicious and turned to look at me - not quite full frontal but quartering ever so slightly. Settling into a good steady rest, I placed the cross hairs on the middle of his neck, at its junction with the shoulder and squeezed off the shot. I never felt the recoil ( one rarely does in a hunting situation ) but I did hear the X-bullet hit with a distinct, ‘ripe-tomato-thrown-up-against-a-wall’ slap, and I swear that old bull was dead before he hit the ground ! He never moved again save for one hind leg giving a single spasmodic jerk, and by the time we had paced off the distance ( 198 on my long paces ) copious amounts of pink frothy blood from both nostrils indicated that my shot was perfectly placed.
Back at the skinning shed I was able to do a careful autopsy. The X-bullet has entered at the neck/shoulder junction as intended, broken the second rib as it entered the chest cavity, shredded the top of the heart, punctured the lungs, passed through the diaphragm and stopped in the rear most part of the rumen. Even though the X-bullet lost a petal somewhere along the way, its 5 or so feet of penetration looked to have been straight. The spine was untouched which surprised me as it looked as if death had been almost instantaneous. Could it have been hydrostatic shock which pulled that old bull’s plug so effectively ? I think it was. ( Despite what those more learned than I might say, I’ve seen this ‘drop to the shot’ effect too often for me not to believe that ‘shock’ can kill instantly. )
Altogether, Edd and his party shot 20 plains game species with the Tembo. An eland, 4 wildebeest, a waterbuck, 3 zebra and the rest impala, at ranges from 80 to just over 300 paces. All but one, were ‘drop to the shot’, single cartridge kills. Only bullets from the frontal or quartering frontal positions at the larger species were recovered. Even those from the longest of side-on shots, exited. That the Tembo was ‘deadly’ on these species, there was no doubt.
Edd’s Zambian buffalo hunt was suddenly, like all the hunts in that country, canceled, but he managed to find one in Zimbabwe’s Dande Safari Area. I couldn’t attend unfortunately, but here follows an extract from his post hunt e-mail.
‘The Tembo worked GREAT !!!!!!! My buff was an old Dugga boy, nice bosses. First shot, side on, slight quarter, went into the triangle. The bull did an abrupt turn and came towards us. I was above him. He had a cow stand in front of him, but I had a clear spine shot. The shot went down through the spine and into the heart and lungs. Game over. The first bullet took a piece of the close shoulder, went through the boiler room, went through the far shoulder and lodged in the skin. Remaining weight = 350 grains ( 100 % retained )
Second bullet went through the spine, through the lungs and lodged in the far shoulder. Remaining weight = 306 grains ( 87 % retained )’
Edd’s e-mail ended with, ‘This thing is great I can’t wait to do it again !’
Then there was a footnote to his message.
‘We conducted an interesting test while in the Dande. We set up an elephant scull at 80 meters. We backed the scull with 2 wet sand bags ( 60 kg ). The bullets ( 2 ) went through the skull, through the first bag and into the second. Weight remaining 85 %’
There can be no doubt, the .400 Tembo does what we intended it to do, in all aspects. Its surprisingly pleasant to shoot, wonderfully accurate, spectacularly hard hitting and even the 350 grain bullets are effective on Africa’s toughest. So have we done it - created the perfect African ‘all-rounder’ ? We think so, but only time will tell.
( Should readers be interested in the .400 Tembo, they are welcome to contact me at doctari@eastcape.net or Edd Woslum directly at lwoslum@camasnet.com )
5317 words.