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Lt. Col. John George, in his epic "Shots Fired in Anger" rated the .45 ACP as an inappropriate cartridge for fighting in the jungle conditions he encountered in Guadalcanal and Burma in World War II, primarily because of the .45's inability to penetrate either heavy undergrowth, dirt field fortifications, and Japanese body armor and helmets. He preferred the M1 carbine to the Thompson submachine gun for that reason, citing its ability to deal with all of the material which the.45 ACP was unable to penetrate. He wrote that the Thompson was inferior to the M1 carbine as a combat weapon in jungle conditions. I interpret this finding as an endorsement of lighter weight, higher velocity handgun bullets over slower, heavier bullets as far as penetration is concerned, since the M1 carbine cartridge is essentially a very powerful handgun cartridge.

There is another consideration to be taken into account in any discussion of the use of a handgun as weapon of last resort when hunting dangerous game.

On my last trip to Africa, I was accompanied by a friend and college classmate who was a fanatic on the subject of heavy handguns. He asked me if handgun hunting was allowed in Kenya, and I told him emphatically "no". Nonetheless, he wrote Ker, Downey and Selby, asking them the same question. Ker, Downey's manager at the time was a retired British officer, Lt. Col Unwin, who tried to be diplomatic. He told him the handguns would only be allowed in camp for target shooting purposes.

My friend took this statement as a veiled hint as to how he could get his beloved .44 Magnum into the country, so he proceeded to ship it, along with an impressive number of maximum hand loads, with his rifles. When we arrived in Kenya, however, it turned out that both his and my firearms were held up in customs, obviously because of the handgun.

The PH took my friend to see the chief customs official, who patiently examined my friend's deputy sheriff's commission (before the days of carry permits) and listened to his protestations about "only intended for target shooting." Finally he suggested, "Let's have a look at this "target pistol". One look at the 8" barreled S&W Model 29 and the vicious looking hand loads was all it took to conclude that his suspicions were confirmed. He agreed to release the rifles, but insisted that the pistol remain behind with him, to be released when we returned to the States.

I am reasonably sure that a similar attempt to take a handgun on safari today would meet with the same or similar reception, making speculation as to which hand gun is more appropriate purely hypothetical.