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Frederick Selous was born in England in the year of 1851, his father was the Chairman of the London Stock Exchange. At the age of 19 he left England for Africa in the hope of being a professional big game hunter. Selous took with him 400 GB Sterling and by the age of 25 was regarded as one of the finest ever ivory hunters. Selous was famed for using 4 bore black powder muzzleloaders, between 1874 and 1876 he shot 78 elephant with his 4 bore, he eventually gave up on his rifle after a double discharge !!!, this was caused by a miss fire and then another bullet and primer being placed over a non fired off charge. Selous complained of the problematic recoil under normal firing. Selous preferred just two calibres in time, and after field testing many Best gun makers "gifts" he declared that the .256 was most favoured for smaller game and the .450 for larger and dangerous game, his most favoured makers were Gibbs of Bristol and Holland & Holland of London. Selous was a personal friend of President Teddy Roosevelt, both Selous and Roosevelt went on safari to East Africa in the
year of 1909 -1910. Selous went into battle during the First World War, he was an avid collector and documenter who carried a butterfly net during battle, it was in the year of 1917 and the 4th of January when on patrol in Tanzania along the banks of the Rufiji River he was shot and killed by a German sniper, the following year his son was also killed in action. Selous left a colossal legacy of his hunting and conservation exploits around the globe, he visited three continents to include America and Canada. From these exploits came 524 mammals to include 19 lions and over 5,000 other plant and animal specimens. These specimens are housed in the Natural History Museum in London, England. As a tribute to this great man the Museum unveiled a bronze statue for his efforts, this statue greets visitors in the main entrance hall as you enter. Selous is pictured here with a Holland & Holland (Woodward patented) .256 falling block rifle. Compiled by Adam J. Lane.
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Re: Selous H&,H Falling block .256 1899
