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I cannot upload the relevant video here, am sending it to members' personal emails because there is much to be learned from it.
A group consisting of a senior PH, a client hunter, a junior PH, a tracker, a still camera operator and a video camera operator is in the group. They approach an unseen objective (maybe a bait?). The senior PH is seen guiding the client's hold on his rifle towards the objective. Then the junior PH says calmly in Afrikaans "Hier kom hy" (he's coming). One second later an object is seen about 60 yards away and two seconds later the lion is on them. The speed of the attack is incredible.
The charge is not in a straight line at them, but the lion takes a straight avenue through the trees which effectively shields him from the shooters and at the last moment swings left into them. It appears as if the angled, crossing shots into the trees all missed.
The video camera operator can be excused for some self preservation moves. From what can be gathered was that the senior PH went into the charge and fired one shot which was fatal but the lion still rammed him and took hold of his left shoulder. The junior PH is seen struggling to extract a very tightened empty case, which leaves some logical questions. All the time I see the lion's tensed out legs in the video and want to shout: "He is going to get up, shoot him again!", and then the junior PH asks somebody (maybe the client) and two shots shakes the lion. The junior PH radios the property owner asking him to make contact.
I see and hear shock but nobody loses it in panicky flight. The senior PH feels no pain yet, answering the junior PH who asks where the lion had bitten him.
There is a great deal to be learned about pre-emptive and in situ hazards and their associated risks identification and mitigation in this hunting incident, most of which are valid no matter where or what you hunt. Please view the video a number of times and share your thoughts here in this post.
I wonder if that "flap" of rubber is a plug. The hole appears very symmetrical. Regarding the stuck bolt my speculation is an ammunition problem of some sort - but this of course is a side issue and unrelated to the other PH getting bitten.
I have never been charged by a lion - have been close (20 yards) to a devilish amount of fury but we were let off. This tangential attack is educational. At that high relative crossing speed and trees in the way a sure shot is impossible - you simply have to quickstep into the attack to kill it.
On carrying a shotgun on a lion hunt - a (double?) rifle is better - better penetration due to better velocity. Accuracy at 2-7 yards is the same. DG hunting is mostly a walk in the park. When things do go wrong there is nothing like a European made double big bore rifle.
I'm not sure but I think there is a flap of rubber from the recoil pad right by the hole.
I was not aware of the Ruger action being cast instead of milled. Again, very interesting. If I were to ever buy a rifle meant for African hunting, I think I would take your advice and just order a Musgrave, or even perhaps just buy one off the rack if there were one to fit me in the caliber I wanted (most likely a 375 H&H).
Sorry to hear that the action on that new Hawkeye is gritty. Quite unlike any Ruger I ever owned or shot, but unfortunately, those who control the bottom-line profit usually win out now days, and let quality suffer.
In re-watching the video, if the bolt moved any to the rear, the rearward movement was very minimal, if any at all.
The blemish on the Ruger's butt pad looks like a neatly shaped hole:
Steve is 100% sure the rifle is a Ruger 77 Safari in .375 Ruger with the over moulded Hogue type stock. I have not had any extraction issues with the 3 M77s I have and the two others I shoot. However the action on the brand new Hawkeye in .280 Rem is very gritty to lift the bolt handle and has some hesitancy when pulling the bolt back. I have done about 10 hrs work on it but it still needs lots more.
You can see the PH has no issue to lift the bolt handle but struggles to pull it back which may or may not indicate an ammunition issue. I am still trying to identify the number of shots that PH fired.
The issues Steve had with his M77s were that the fairly sharp front edge of the angled ejector blade which fits tightly in the 7 o'clock slot in the bolt hit the surface when the bolt was yanked open and bent. He flared the entrance angles of the slot and then never had the problem again. One needs to view the efforts frame by frame to see if the bolt failure to move back was immediate on lifting the bolt handle, or after a way towards the rear where the ejector blade would meet.
The damage to the recoil pad was immediately evident and I carefully followed the actions of the PH before handing his rifle to the tracker he had it with him all the time. I see no dirt on that cavity.
The handgun is for last ditch emergency - there were other rifles around so I can understand not using it - in fact I would be very loathe to make my immediate presence known to the beast for a secure brain shot. Also there are many of us who are never unarmed ever- 24/7.
About Rugers: Apart from the Marlin JM in 30-30 the M77 is the only brand I will ever own in the US. In Africa? No. Only a true Mauser action or its European or local derivatives, or a Musgrave. Not that Rugers have any issues in non DG rifles - but their actions are still cast and not milled from a steel billet. There just never is any kind of problem with a European or South African designed or built action.
It may or may not be relevant to this incident: I neck resize for all calibres below 9.3 mm. Above that never. Full length resizing every time.
I agree with you as to the pistol. Carrying one while hunting is for me a last ditch effort to survive should things go wrong (like my rifle jamming, lol- of course, I can laugh about this in the safety of my home sitting behind this keyboard), or for delivering a mercy shot to end misery or pain of an animal. It for certain would not have been my first choice of weapon to use on that cat, or any dangerous game, but only in the event of something horrendous such as a rifle that won't extract. In reality, once the cat is down on the ground, if it is in close proximity to me, I would prefer to hand my rifle off to the tracker and have a reliable 12-ga shotgun in my hands.
Thank you for posting these photos of that rifle. My first impulse upon viewing this film was that it did look like a Ruger, just from the shape of the sights, the butt-stock, the inlaid symbol in the pistol grip (can't actually identify it) and the general profile. Even with this, I have never experienced any failure such as this while using a Model 77 action rifle. As I'm sure you know, these Rugers use a slightly modified Mauser 98 action, made with good, modern steel. I have long been a fan of the Mauser 98 action (and its offspring) because of its utter reliability in all kinds of environments. They were designed to be dragged through the dirt, water and mud and then to still function reliably, unlike some of the finely made custom rifles out there that can be locked-up with a mere grain or two of sand. I rather suspect, if this is indeed a Ruger 77 rifle, that it was a problem with the ammunition, although I have run a lot of very hot 308W hand-loads through some Rugers that never needed more than a firm hit with the palm of my hand to open the bolt and extract the spent case. Of course, I have never had the pleasure of shooting a DG cartridge in a Ruger, and that might change the scenario if one particular cartridge had an accidental over-charge of fast powder. On a side note, I have read of some Remingtons (and even some Winchesters) that got so stuck that the hunter had to use a rock or a stout stick to "hammer" the bolt open, and actually broke off the bolt handle.
Anyway, no matter what brand the rifle or action, if I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was definitely the fault of the ammunition, I might be tempted to again try this rifle, but not on dangerous game again unless I had a chance to prove it totally reliable over quite a long period of time. And, at my age, I might still not have enough left in my lifetime to prove it to myself to be comfortable for any use beyond a camp rifle.
So, what was the opinion of your expert as to why, if it is a Ruger, that it wouldn't extract if it was not a stuck case? This is most interesting!
Did you notice at 1:21 of the video that there looks to be a chunk of the recoil pad missing from the bottom corner of the recoil-pad? I wonder if this rifle got dropped or even thrown in the excitement?
Here are some frozen frame shots of the rifle that had the stuck case. Is it indeed a Ruger M77 stainless steel, composite stock Africa model? If it is, our rifle actions expert Steve Puyear from experience has an idea of the reason for the inability of the bolt to retract and it has nothing to do with a stuck case. Let us first identify the rifle:
Valid observations Tim. Too many people. The tripod worries me a lot - that should never have been there - not even shooting sticks - they forever are a bind and I have yet to experience a situation where I would have been comfortable carrying and setting them up, no matter what I hunted.
The PH on the right had earlier been uncomfortable about something as he says in Afrikaans before he finds out about the stuck case in his rifle: "I told you guys these lions were not (f*****g) easy" - which makes me think that he is the ranch PH as he also clearly leads the group in onto their objective while the PH who got bitten was in charge of the group around him. Just recently I had to set out our rules for a client who had sub contracted part of his hunt with us to another PH and his clients: only we shall make the rules and the sub contracted PH will be considered as a visiting hunter under our control - just my old military tactical background: their can only be one leader.
Can anybody identify the make of the rifle that suffered the stuck case? Had he fired more than one shot? Immediate reloading is so instinctive that it happens instinctively, no matter what you hunt.
Added: The handgun the PH was carrying would have required a close up, perfect brain shot and the evident life in the lion warns against doing that.
I am glad the PH stayed calm even after the bite, and showed exemplary guide behavior in stepping over to the side, directly into the charge, to make the straight-on shot. It seems to me that the area was rather crowded, with not only the tracker but also having two camera-people. To top it all off, this cat appeared to be very smart in charging from an angle and using the trees for cover. I'm no lion expert, but I suppose this goes along with their basic hunting skills, using angles and cover. The hunter who was using the tripod was very limited in his ability to stay on a crossing target with an extremely fast moving animal, but the possibility of a charge may never have entered his mind. He was very likely planning on one of those picture-perfect standing broadside shots from a safe distance. I've only seen videos of lions (and even tigers) charging, and their speed never ceases to amaze me. Their ability to quickly close the gap between themselves and their target is truly incredible, but again, this is how they hunt and survive.
The added problem of a dangerous game rifle that won't extract a spent shell is very scary. If you're using a single shot rifle, then you only expect to get one shot; however, with a bolt action, when you expect to be able to run that bolt for follow-up shots, but it won't let you? Yes, very scary. I wonder if it was the ammo or the rifle, or possible even both. I don't know that I could ever trust either that rifle or the ammo again. I also noticed that this poor fellow trying to get another shell into the chamber was also carrying what looks to be a semi-auto pistol. If my rifle was that incurably jammed, I would hope I have the presence of mind to empty the magazine of my pistol into the cat's brain-pan, especially since he had to tell others several times to do a coup-de-gras.
So here are the observed facts as seen on the video:
6 people in a loosely bunched group advance along a clear shooting lane: the videographer close behind the black tracker, who is close behind a man with a still camera, who is close behind the hunter, with what must be the controlling PH close at his left side and behind. A second PH is to the right.
At the same time the tracker goes down the PH to the right says: "He's coming" and the tracker hastily retreats to the rear. The senior PH assists the hunter to get his rifle onto the lion and then goes left into the line of the charge and hunkers down and the junior PH goes right for clearance and goes down and appears to shoot first when the lion is for a split second through a clearing at about 60 yards.
The client appears to shoot with his rifle still on the tripod when the lion flashes through another clearing. The senior PH has gone further left by about three yards into the line of the attack no doubt to get a secure shot.
When the lion is on them the client lifts his rifle from the tripod and one hears two shots close together and then a third, and a fourth. There are exclamations in a strange foreign language. From first sighting at about 70 yards to the PH being attacked is about three seconds.
The second PH is at the scene of the attack and clearly torn between attending to the injured PH and minding the lion which still shows being able and ready to get up again. He wants to reload but the bolt handle is stuck and then the case is difficult to extract. He asks someone (likely the client hunter) first in Afrikaans and then switching to English to shoot the lion again while attending to the injured PH, asking him where the bite was and the answer is a calm "my shoulder", and the injured PH starts giving instructions to get a medical helicopter out. Septicaemia is the killer from lion teeth. Later he asks why there is so much blood and the ranch PH gets on the two way radio asking the landowner to respond.
Added: Having studied the interpersonal dynamics and spoken words in Afrikaans again, and having experience of such situations I see the following:
What I called the "junior PH" appears to be the ranch resident PH, and what I called the
"senior PH" on all accounts appears to be the PH contracted by the clients (the shooter and two cameramen), and who had come to this ranch after lion. Even the flight footed tracker appears to be part of the visiting group.