The Ghost and The Darkness (GOT THE BOOK!)

Whatever I need, the first thing I do is check eBay.... LOL

If anyone is interested, there are a few paperback copies (2005) for $5.10 "Buy it now", item number 290194082377 and there is an original hardcover book (1926) at $61.00 with a bit more than a day bidding, item number 330199614006.
In between, there are a bunch of 1986 copies for $17.57, item number 110202675270.
Good luck.
 
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Gibbs505 said:
The Man-Eaters of Tsavo.

By Lt. Colonel J. H. Patterson, D.S.O


ISBN: 0 671 00306 2

Now go and find it!:D
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Thanks Gibbs I'm on it. Wow! this thread all started because my daughter asked me what I wanted for Christmas, a movie or something she said... and being a gun nutz I like movies with guns, hunting etc. So I told her to get me this one. Well I only wanted to get to see this speed lee. Now I want the rifle the original book, man. Christmas is expensive....:)
 
jimmyjazz said:
SpeedLeeAction.jpg
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That's a classy rifle IMHO. :)

jimmyjazz said:
It shoots 3" groups at 100 with open sights, I'm pretty happy with that.....best I can do.
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If you don't all ready, I'm sure groups will improve if you reload for it. :)
 
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i have been saving a long lee i have that has been butchered many years ago, to do exactly this with. it has a beutiful bore, but whats left of the wood sucks.
 
That would look nice as many surplus arms were sporterised after useful service life ended. It wont be the sporting rifle that was made in the trade but it will be almost impossible to tell if done well.
 
This has been bugging me for awhile. Looking at the movie it looks like a Lee Speed at first glance but look closer at the cocking piece. Totally different. Looks like a SMLE bolt with a dust cover. Weird. Anyone else notice this?
 
Calum said:
If you don't all ready, I'm sure groups will improve if you reload for it. :)
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I don't shoot it enough for that, a couple of times a year at the range and thats it.
I don't want to bastardize it and drill it for a scope so it is strictly a range rifle...hopefully I can get to Africa some day, then I will work up some loads for plains game.

JJ
 
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Gard said:
This has been bugging me for awhile. Looking at the movie it looks like a Lee Speed at first glance but look closer at the cocking piece. Totally different. Looks like a SMLE bolt with a dust cover. Weird. Anyone else notice this?
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Now I'm going to have to get the film!:runaway:
 
Interesting link Calum. Everytime I see that gun I want to turn my bubba'd Lee Metford into something like that but it would be sacrilage. Having been in my family for four generations, my great-great Uncle was likely the one who hacked the stock off. It still has a 30" barrel but from what I have gathered the barrel relied on the full wood to support it and shoot straight. this one hits16" to the left at 100yds. Sights are both fixed. :-(

Also for the safety, IIRC the Long Lee had the safety on the bolt. There was a Metford bolt on the EE not long ago and it did not have the safety there. My Metford has a mismatched Long Lee bolt with the bolt mounted safety.
Not proper but it looks better than the No.1 MKIII it had before!
 
K98ACTION said:
Thanks Gibbs I'm on it. Wow! this thread all started because my daughter asked me what I wanted for Christmas, a movie or something she said... and being a gun nutz I like movies with guns, hunting etc. So I told her to get me this one. Well I only wanted to get to see this speed lee. Now I want the rifle the original book, man. Christmas is expensive....:)
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You are welcome, and I agree!
 
Got The Book

Gibbs505 said:
The Man-Eaters of Tsavo.

By Lt. Colonel J. H. Patterson, D.S.O


ISBN: 0 671 00306 2

Now go and find it!:D
Click to expand...


Ok, Gibbs505 your lead has produced results, here is the fruit of my recent labor, an original 1926 reprint (I think the first print was 1907?) anyhow it came all the way from Tasmania down under...The gent who sold it to me say it's a great Yarn! lol. Anyhow the hunt also found me a nice book called African Rifles and Cartridges by John (Pondoro) Taylor.. another nice book, I actually got two of them and ended up selling one to Noel another nutz on this forum...

So, I guess I am going to have to find a .500 Jeffery now so I can brag up my smaller case getting more power than your .505 G... eh! what give on that anyway?

ebay_again_militaria071-1.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/k98action/ebay_again_militaria072-1.jpg
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/k98action/ebay_again_militaria073-1.jpg
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/k98action/ebay_again_militaria074-1.jpg
 
Interessting thread. I have a copy of the book as well. I found it in a book shop marked with a $5.00 price tag. It was the second printing. I also walked away from a Lee Speed rifle at a local gun shop recently. It looked much like the one in the movie. I have already asked...it has been sold. Dave
 
The lions ended up in the Field Museum in Chicago - I had an opportunity to visit there about a year after i had seen the movie (a classic). They certainly would have scared the $hit out of me if the were running towards me! Somewhere I have a picture of my (then small) kids in front of the display - I will look for them.

Here is the museum link:

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/maneaters.html
 
K98ACTION said:
Ok, Gibbs505 your lead has produced results, here is the fruit of my recent labor, an original 1926 reprint (I think the first print was 1907?) anyhow it came all the way from Tasmania down under...The gent who sold it to me say it's a great Yarn! lol. Anyhow the hunt also found me a nice book called African Rifles and Cartridges by John (Pondoro) Taylor.. another nice book, I actually got two of them and ended up selling one to Noel another nutz on this forum...

So, I guess I am going to have to find a .500 Jeffery now so I can brag up my smaller case getting more power than your .505 G... eh! what give on that anyway?

ebay_again_militaria071-1.jpg


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/k98action/ebay_again_militaria072-1.jpg
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/k98action/ebay_again_militaria073-1.jpg
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/k98action/ebay_again_militaria074-1.jpg
Click to expand...

You are welcome, I am glad to have been of some help!:)
 
Chas said:
The lions ended up in the Field Museum in Chicago - I had an opportunity to visit there about a year after i had seen the movie (a classic). They certainly would have scared the $hit out of me if the were running towards me! Somewhere I have a picture of my (then small) kids in front of the display - I will look for them.

Here is the museum link:

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/maneaters.html
Click to expand...

Yeah, and apparently those two bad asses had to be made quite a bit smaller that actual size as their skins were originally cut into rugs which were in Patterson's home back in the UK for about 20 years before he agreed to sell them to the Museum in Chicago, which reportedly paid him ERROR, SOLD FOR $5000 Sorry$5000 dollars for them, quite a tidy sum back then. But the rug making process resulted in quite of bit of the hide being trimmed off which ment the scale of a full mount had to be way smaller. So in reality they were said to be overly big lions and those full mounts do not accurately show that, so if they looked big and scary in the Mus,, imagin in real life, as one of them is dragging your from your tent in the middle of the night and your nothing but a rag doll soon going to be a midnight snack....
 
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