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You definitely have a point, although I think that the book still has a certain value and is worth reading. I wouldn't call it a definitive work by any stretch, but I read it in the context of what I already knew and had read before, and as such thought it provided a good overview for newcomers and didn't have any problem reading it cover to cover. I much prefer Gregor Woods "Rifles for Africa", but then I had been waiting for Woods to produce a book for years, as I had very much enjoyed his articles in Magnum. I always tell people to read this and Taylor. I didn't really take much away from Boddington's American or Safari rifle books.

Wieland's best book IMHO is Search for the Spiral Horn (I haven't read Boddington's version to compare). I thought that it was thoroughly researched and very well written (the use of language was first class). Wieland does also produce some very good articles, such as the DG bullet test and the safari rifle battery, which are reworked in the DG rifle book. However, it is a very big subject and inevitably there are areas that were only lightly covered (especially the coverage of M98 variants, notably the Heym Express). As such it is a great general introduction, but perhaps not a book for experts, but its a bit harsh to say that it sends you to sleep (I did enjoy it)! Unfortunately, I felt that in the end, the book only had 2 main conclusions - that his NEW Rigby 500NE is the best DR around and that in bolt rifles he likes the Mauser 98 - one that I disagree with and another that isn't exactly earthy shattering! I agree that the M96 destruction test wasn't scientific and could have been covered in more detail. I also didn't really see the point (given that he already states that the M98 is the definitive DG bolt action) and would have preferred a test between the M98 and the Winchester pre-64 M70 actions, for example, or even old and new M98 actions.

I did enjoy Boddington's Buffalo book, but it does feel like a re-working of Doctari's Nyati (much as his Perfect Shot NA steals Doctari's Perfect Shot Africa idea) and overall, Doctari's book Africa's Most Dangerous is arguably better. I think that Boddington has become rather repetitive and doesn't have anything new to say any more. He seems to write to a formula (largely because he writes too many articles), although he does occasionally still manage to pull interesting and well written articles out of the bag - such as the one on the crocodile in Zimbabwe with the .375 in Rifle Shooter, but then he went and re-hashed it a few times and it lost its edge. Nevertheless, I still admire the guy and would rather read his articles than watch the crap that passes for TV most days!

I think that the biggest problem is that magazine editors feel that they cannot produce an issue without the obligatory article by Boddington, Wieland or others. When they have nothing to say, they should find someone else who does.

Edited by JabaliHunter (21/12/07 07:12 AM)

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