Man Magnum

IN THE July 2005 edition of Magnum, I wrote an article titled “Short Magnum Syndrome” challenging some of the claims being made for the various ‘short magnum’ cartridges launched since the start of the new millennium and which had become all the rage in the American gun magazines. I also pointed out some disadvantages and potential problems of such cartridges and rifles chambered for them. Browsing the Internet recently, I learned that Remington no longer offer rifles chambered for their .300 Short Action Ultra Magnum (SAUM), their 7mm Ultra Mag (RUM) or their 7mm SAUM cartridges. Furthermore, Winchester no longer chamber rifles for their 7mm Winchester Short Magnum (WSM), their .243 Winchester Super Short Magnum (WSSM) or their .223 WSSM. They still offer rifles in .300 WSM, but Internet sites…

Astute Leopard Interesting article “Shy Leopards” by John Herbst. I had a similar experience in the Hoedspruit area when doing a plains game hunt with three teachers from Missouri, USA. The camp we stayed at was not far from the Kruger National Park boundary and there were some of the big five on the property. Lions and elephant that appeared in the area from time to time were mostly itinerant and didn’t hang around for long. The hunt went well with good kudu, wildebeest, impala and other plains game taken. We were warned or rather… made aware, that there was a big male leopard that hung about the edges of camp. He did not seem dangerous to humans and on the many occasions he was spotted by camp staff, he’d…

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I WAS sitting alone at my campfire atop the Schwarzrand in southwestern Namibia, enjoying a beer and pondering the day’s hunt. I couldn’t help chuckling over an amusing experience I’d had that afternoon. The extremely flat, open terrain had prevented our getting close enough to a sharp-eyed springbuck herd to take a shot, even though the wind was in our favour. The farmer suggested I stay behind cover while he took a very long, semi-circular walk to get on the far side of the herd so that they scented him and, hopefully, moved in my direction. In for a long wait, I got behind a clump of bushes and sat down on a rock. After about half an hour, I became thirsty, so I took an orange from my pack…

TISAS is a Turkish company, established in 1993, and one of the official firearms suppliers to the Turkish armed forces. Today, however, more than 80% of their firearms are exported. We’ve tested some of their pistols before and found them good value for money. Recently we received two of their latest models for testing: the PX-9 Carry, a modern striker-fired design, and the Carry 9 DS FF, based on a 1911 platform. Both pistols in 9mmP with doublestack magazines. Making assumptions just based on the name PX-9 Carry, the objective was probably to produce a pistol small enough for daily concealed carry, but with ergonomics and design features still allowing maximum control and reliability. The PX-9 definitely meets these criteria. It conceals well, is comfortable to shoot, and is controllable…

THE YOUNG kudu bull was steadily making his way towards the clump of sweet thorn trees directly below my ambush spot. I had sighted him about 45 minutes earlier in the dim light of dawn where he was feeding on the far side of a dry riverbed. He was with a number of cows and two younger bulls. The cows crossed the riverbed first and headed for two lone sweet thorns standing in a sea of low inkbosse (Suaeda plumosa) on the river’s flood plain about 120m from where I sat plastered against a rock on a prominent outcrop. It was January but a sudden cold front had brought total cloud cover and a strong, southerly wind to the Klein-Karoo. I was shaking, partly due to the cold but also…