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Alan

The film was "The Ghost and the Darkness" - a bastardised version of "The Man-eaters of Tsavo" by Lieu.-Col. J.H. Patterson an Engineer engaged on the construction of a bridge over the Tsavo River for the Uganda Railway in 1898. It was an account of his efforts to despatch man-eating Lions that were predating on the mainly Indian workforce and holding up construction.

Somehow the central character metamorphosed into an American (played by Michael Douglas) in the movie!!!

Patterson did indeed use a .303 but I don't recall from the book that it was a Rigby; he did acknowledge it's inadequacy for Lions, and it was referred to as a "popgun" by one of his collegues who refuse to go out after Lion when Patterson took his .303! Apart from "nailing" Lions, he also put it to good use using solids to drill holes in the steel rails of his trap to to allow attachment of the door with wire!

A couple of footnotes which other members might find of interest. A friend of mine Euan Farquhar, is a descendent of the Superindent of Police who assisted Patterson, and is a keen shooter and collector of Double Rifles. He is a active member of the Big Game Rifle Club in Melbourne. Euan has some interesting family accounts of the affair which differ somewhat from the book.

Patterson later took up guiding in Kenya and authored another book "In the Grip of the Niyika", which was an apologia for his role in the death of one of his clients on Safari. According to some, a love triangle was supposed to have developed and the client ended up in a bush grave! Soon after, Patterson disappeared, never to be heard of again!

The story was retold by Ernest Hemingway as "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and later made into the movie as "The Macomber Affair' starring Gregory Peck.

BTW - Rigby's used a separate Serial number range for "single barrel" rifles, and the first Magazine rifle carried number 1000, and by 1989 the numbers had reached 6600. Paul Roberts, the former owner of Rigby's reports that the first 1000 or so we an assortment of reworked Lee Speeds, Manlichers and Mausers. He estimates that they made about 4500 true Rigby Magazine rifles made. Falling Block rifles appear in the same number range as their doubles.

My impression is that after they aquired the Mauser agency, they made few .303's on Lee Speeds, prefering to make them up on 98 Mausers with slant-box magazines. I know of one such Rigby (a .275) that lacked the safety firing pin which was introduced about the turn of the century; so Rigby's were "early adopters" of the 98 action.

Accordingly, Rigby Lee Speeds are IMO, a rarity. Certainly much more so than Rigby Mauser .303's. I for one have never seen one in the flesh.

But if anyone out there has a surplus of them, maybe I could help you cull them out too???

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