I did a bit of quick research on 10.75x68mm. Wikipedia says it was developed twenty years after 404J for Mauser magnum actions which doesn't make sense because the cartridge is nearly half an inch shorter than 404J. It would seem it was designed specifically for standard Mauser actions. The magazine box would not need to be lengthened and presumably the loading ramp would not need to be modified. It shot the same diameter bullet as 404J but fifty grains lighter. Apparently the 10.75x68 performed very poorly on dangerous game but was for some reason popular in Africa. Possibly because it was more cheaply produced in standard action Mausers. It is claimed the rifles were also lighter at 7 to 7.5 lbs but that might be an exageration. Even with modern bullets I think that cartridge in a 3×1 standard Mauser would be pushing the envelope for dangerous game. A banana clip detachable magazine and legs capable of Olympic sprinting might make it a more workable option.
I see your old comrade Major Khan didn't think much of that cartridge or its chief advocate, the mighty white hunter Don Anderson. The Major could be quite blunt in expressing his opinions. I hope his unsettled soul has finally found peace in the hereafter.
On the subject of the 10.75x68mm Mauser, I couldn’t agree more. It was actually designed specifically for standard length military surplus Mauser actions. It was not intended as a serious dangerous game cartridge for people who hunted for a living. Rather, it was intended as a general purpose brush caliber designed for chambering in low cost mass production rifles for sale to farmers and settlers that wanted to hunt for the pot, while also having an adequate means of defense against the odd crop raiding elephant or hippopotamus or the odd livestock killing lion or leopard. Rifles of this caliber (and also the 11.2x72mm Schuler to a lesser degree) were almost universally employed by farmers and settlers in the Belgian Congo, French Congo, Portuguese Mozambique, Spanish Gabon & (of course) the German African Colonies. They were imported through Janssen Freres in the Belgian Congo. Most of these rifles were either:
- German DWM Mauser Oberndorf Type B
- French MAS 36
- Belgian FN Commercial Mauser
In British colonial India, German DWM Mauser Oberndorf Type B rifles in 10.75x68mm Mauser were imported into the country between 1931-1939 by Manton & Co. in Calcutta.
In my personal experience, this is a very underwhelming caliber for dangerous game (barring wild boars or leopards on bait). Case capacity is unimpressive. Velocities are low. And the sectional density of a .423 caliber 347Gr bullet is poor. Many of the old timer authors seem to agree with me (Harry Manners, John Taylor, Marcus Daly, Finn Aagaard). Granted, modern heavy jacketed bonded bullets from Wim Degol (and formerly Woodleigh) and modern propellant powders have definitely improved things noticeably. But still, this is not a suitable caliber for lion, hippopotamus or Cape buffalo (and definitely not elephant) for any but the most opportune of picked shots.
I used a Belgian FN commercial Mauser in 10.75x68mm Mauser to hunt water buffalo in Australia in 1977 (with RWS 347Gr round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solid factory loads). The ammunition (with it’s thin brittle steel jacketed bullets) was absolutely beastly and I had a very difficult time in hunting those water buffalo successfully. I also saw a couple of old German rifles in this caliber in the hands of two TAWICO appointed native African white hunters in Tanzania in 1978 (when the hunting ban had just been lifted but Caucasian hunters were not allowed to guide Safaris anymore).
On the subject of Donald Anderson,I am not as vindictive towards old Don as the late Major Khan was (the Major disliked Anglo Indians, you see). But yes, I have found Don’s conduct to be quite spineless & dishonorable & cowardly. Until 1969, he was an extremely impulsive hunter (of leopard, Asian sloth bear, wild boar & gaur) with absolutely zero regard for game laws. For instance, back in those days… Bangalore used to only issue permits for one male Asian sloth bear per season. Yet, on more than one occasion… there are photographs of Don with two or more Asian sloth bears (both male & female). Don’s impulsiveness would get not one but two of his native trackers killed by wounded leopards. But after hunting got banned in India in 1972, Don suddenly became the most vocal anti hunter you could find in an attempt to curry favor with the new wave of Indian anti hunting tabloid journalists and such. Before his death, he worked with an Indian anti hunting author named Peter Joshua to publish his so called autobiography “The Last White Hunter”. In it, he basically blames every tragedy in his life (like becoming penniless due to his drinking & womanizing problems & mismanagement of his family assets) as “Karma for being a blood thirsty hunter”. He also went so far as to say “The only difference between hunting and poaching is a piece of paper”. Granted, he was living in poverty and many Indian animal rights journalists were giving him handouts for helping them sell their narrative. But as a hunter, his conduct was most spineless.
P.S: Donald Anderson’s rifle wasn’t a 10.75x68mm Mauser. It was a .404 Jeffery built by W.J Jeffery. And Donald never actually owned any firearms of his own. They were all licensed in his father, Kenneth Anderson’s name. After Kenneth Anderson passed away in 1974, Donald tried to sell the rifle to my friend, Indian PAC officer Nawab Shafath Ali Khan. In Kenneth Anderson’s own words, he never called the rifle a “10.75x68mm Mauser”. Only a “.423 Mauser”. And Peter Joshua (who wrote Donald Anderson’s autobiography) knows nothing about firearms.