Dogs and Doubles

Tag Archive for 'safari'

See if you could handle Hemingway’s elephant gun…

by Gregg

*THE IMMORTAL ERNEST HEMINGWAY’S WESTLEY RICHARDS BEST QUALITY HAND DETACHABLE SINGLE TRIGGER EJECTOR DOUBLE RIFLE W/ORIGINAL CASE.

THE IMMORTAL ERNEST HEMINGWAY’S WESTLEY RICHARDS BEST QUALITY HAND DETACHABLE SINGLE TRIGGER EJECTOR DOUBLE RIFLE W/ORIGINAL CASE.
THE IMMORTAL ERNEST HEMINGWAY’S WESTLEY RICHARDS BEST QUALITY HAND DETACHABLE SINGLE TRIGGER EJECTOR DOUBLE RIFLE W/ORIGINAL CASE.

Way back in the early 20th century, Ernest Hemingway was the man and, in a lot of ways, THE MAN.

A literary icon by 27 (wow, that makes me feel like a chump), Hemingway was famous for his to-the-point, English-Pointer lean sentences and simple dialogue.

He was also famous for he-man exploits like African safaris.

Hemingway went to Africa in 1933 and 1954. On his second trip, the .577 Nitro Express Westley Richards you see here and in the video above was the gun he carried.

*THE IMMORTAL ERNEST HEMINGWAY’S WESTLEY RICHARDS BEST QUALITY HAND DETACHABLE SINGLE TRIGGER EJECTOR DOUBLE RIFLE W/ORIGINAL CASE.
*THE IMMORTAL ERNEST HEMINGWAY’S WESTLEY RICHARDS BEST QUALITY HAND DETACHABLE SINGLE TRIGGER EJECTOR DOUBLE RIFLE W/ORIGINAL CASE.

The .577 Nitro Express is one of the most bad-ass hunting rounds of all time. Hemingway’s rifle fired a 750 gr. bullet, and generated a crushing 7,010 ft⋅lbf. By comparison, a .30-06 Springfield shooting a 220-gr bullet generates a wimpy 2,981 ft⋅lbf.

Famous Africa hunter John “Pondoro” Taylor wrote that the .577 Nitro Express was “a magnificent killer – it literally crumbles up an elephant”. Unfortunately, it could have the same impact on the man shooting it.

Shooting Ernest Hemingway’s .577 Nitro Express
Shooting Ernest Hemingway’s .577 Nitro Express

See for youself: 4-bore stopping rifles, about & shooting….

by Gregg
See for youself: 4-bore stopping rifles, about & shooting....
Shooting a 4-bore stopping rifle: Go to 20:06 in the video to see what it’s like. 

Go to 20:06 to see Ian shoot a 4-bore

Big-bores shotguns and rifles have always fascinated me: From 8-gauge shotguns like the one I wrote about here to the 4-bore rifles Ian features in this video: An Overview of 4-Bore Stopping Rifles.

Check out Ian’s video to learn more about the rifles and learn how — and why — people used them.

Boom! Hunting buffs with a .700 Nitro Express double rifle ….

by Gregg
Hunting Cape Buffalo with a SAFARI IMPERIAL 700 NE boxlock made by Verney-Carron
Hunting Cape Buffalo with a SAFARI IMPERIAL 700 NE boxlock made by Verney-Carron

Here’s a cool look at hunting Cape Buffalo with a SAFARI IMPERIAL .700 Nitro Express boxlock side-by-side double rifle made by the gunmaker Verney-Carron.

The 700 Nitro Express was created by Holland & Holland in 1988. It shoots a 1,000 gr (65 g) bullet at 2,000 ft/s (610 m/s) and with about 8,900 foot-pounds of muzzle energy . In an 18-pound rifle, this load pushes back with 160 ft·lbf —  10X more recoil than most .308s. Ouch.