SA Hunter

Starting with a quote from one of the articles:

After two hours I heard two flat, sharp cracks from the .416 Rigby fairly close to camp but there was no noise of bullet slap, so he had missed. When they returned Martiens did not exude his normal aura of overconfidence. "Mister Andries, I am flinching, this is a very strong rifle. I missed two shots at a warthog at seventy yards". "Yes, the .416 is a strong rifle", I said. "We are planning to get a 30-06 for camp meat". He was glad to hear that and said: "Last year we had a hunter here from South Africa and he shot everything with a 30-06, and I even shot a hartebeest with it. It shoots very much easier"...

The story is about a waterbuck hunt, tying in with the "Species of the Month" feature.

Few people outside South Africa know that a rather pleasing and affordable rifle scope is designed and manufactured here. In the June issue of this magazine there is a test report by editor Koos Barnard on the newest models of the South African designed and built Lynx rifle scope. This company is known for its willingness to adopt the user features demanded by local hunters. Particularly are the reticle designs the direct result of inputs by South African hunters. The clear optics of these scopes are a pleasure to behold.

The new Lynx models tested by Koos were the LX3 series in the "SA Hunter" and "Tactical" models, the first being a 2.5-15x50 and the latter a 3-12x56. I am forever wary of the term tactical - but the reason for this title is because this scope has highly readable, uncapped adjustment turrets, a range finding, floating reticle and range finding bars below the centre dot. All scopes have illuminated reticles.

The x56mm model has a fixed parallax setting of 150 metres (165 yards) and the x50 models an adjustable parallax ability from 35 metres to infinity. The tactical model left turret is an integrated parallax adjuster-illuminating intensity switch, while the left turret on the Hunter model is only a variable intensity illuminator switch.

As is their style - each month's front page is dedicated to a particular antelope and this time it is the waterbuck. The main article is a detailed description of its features, habitat and habits. The magazine contents also feature a rather roundabout article of a waterbuck hunt in the far northern wilderness of Mozambique written by one Andries Marais. The top quote is from that article.

A very interesting article of a lion hunt in Zambia kept my attention - mostly because the side-on photo of one of the lion that was shot shows the impressive size of these animals.

The Reloading section by Kassie Kasselman explained the chemistry behind muzzle flash and how to mitigate that. In time, with his permission I shall repeat his educational missive about the fact that the flash is not at all from unburned propellant as is so often presented.

There also are photos of very big eland carcasses hanging in the cool room and the stories behind them. In this instance two friends who took their similar .404 Jeffery rifles on a hunt told the story. Also a number of Rowland Ward kudu bulls with their hunters are shown. South Africa seems to be moving into another cycle of large horns and tusks - elephant, Cape buffalo, kudu and sable indicate that. The witholding of hunting the really large horned and tusked specimens by property owners the past 15 years or so has allowed nature to build a better balance in the good gene banking account.

As always the magazine editor wrote an informative piece on the role of hunting in the South Africa game conservation success story. Good information for every hunter who at times must endure illogical anti-hunt diatribe.

All in all a very pleasing read - with not a single reference to any combat style rifle. The magazine style is about traditional hunting and traditional hunting rifles. Koos Barnard is good at choosing and compiling those.

April 2017 Issue showing a Kalahari Red dune and an H&H Royal .375