Ghosts in the dark

It is a great flick for sure. I don't believe they mention the caliber but it didn't look too big if memory serves. Maybe 470 NE??????

The one I like is the Enfield 303. I saw one just like it a couple years ago but it had the usual inflated gun show price affixed so I just gave it a hug and walked away.
 
Noel said:
It is a great flick for sure. I don't believe they mention the caliber but it didn't look too big if memory serves. Maybe 470 NE??????

The one I like is the Enfield 303. I saw one just like it a couple years ago but it had the usual inflated gun show price affixed so I just gave it a hug and walked away.
No it is not, at least if they kept to the origional timeline. The actual lions where shot in 1899, well before the ban on .450 cal bullets in the Sudan and in India.
The Micheal Douglas character did bot exist in real life.
 
The large male lion they used in the film was called Bongo. He came from the Orono zoo in Ontario. He died of cancer but left behind a litter of cubs.So we may have a new Bongo. Ray.
 
the_big_mike said:
99% sure its a nitro express SXS "rifle"
If it was, it was a 450 or a 500. I don't think that it was a 577, and the 600 did not exist then.

Darn it, I will have to watch the movie again!!:D
 
The Maneaters of Tsavo

I spent some time in Kenya in 1989 and travelled the Kenya RR from Nairobi to Mombassa and return.I had read The Maneaters of Tsavo and paid close attention when the train crossed the Tsavo River-no lions seen.I did see quite a few on the Masai Mara where I picked up some interesting trivia on the young Masai herdsmen.They tend their cattle armed with nothing more than a spear and wear what I called "lion repellant" in their hair-a mixture of henna and dried cow dung amongst other things.I imagine it helps to keep the birthrate down too.Another good read on this topic is The Lunatic Express.
 
This might be of some interest.

When I hunted with Mark Sullivan, he told me he hunted lion near Tsavo on the Tanzanian side of the border. He maintains that lions of Tsavo have manes like male lions everywhere, and that had the lions been maneless, they were simply immature lions, rather than being an unusual subspecies.

This theory raises many possibilities, one of which is that lion's mother may have died before being able to teach the cubs to hunt natural game, and humans were easy. Another possibility was that the railroad workers were consuming all the plains game in the area, leaving nothing for the lions but them.
 
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well I enjoyed it

I enjoyed the movie regardless of the accuracy. The lions did a good job on the workers for sure..I remember hearing about this from hunting years ago..of course in Africa the real danger is in the Hippo, Cape buffalo and the ever present Croc...any hunting stories on them?? and is it hard to get hold of a sxs nitro?
 
night sky said:
I enjoyed the movie regardless of the accuracy. The lions did a good job on the workers for sure..I remember hearing about this from hunting years ago..of course in Africa the real danger is in the Hippo, Cape buffalo and the ever present Croc...any hunting stories on them?? and is it hard to get hold of a sxs nitro?

There is apparently a brisk trade in turn of the century double rifles chambered for nitro cartridges large and small. All it takes is tens of thousands of US $'s. The one I carried in Tanzania had a price tag of $40K attached to it, and as far as I was concerned it was a club. Google the NitroExpress forum for lots of good information.
 
"...is it hard to get hold of a sxs nitro?..." Not if you have enough money. There are several double rifle manufacturers and several 'Nitro' cartridges. The rifles start around 10 grand USD and go well into 6 figures. The ammo starts at 360 NE and goes up to 700 NE. The ammo starts at about $10US each.
Shooting Nitro Express rifles is one of those things that if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.
 
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