Why was it called a “modified cordite rifle” was it first a black powder gun? And I wander what make it was? In The Temple Tiger he mentions it being an underlever, with hammers I think.
The only book of his I’m missing is Tree Tops
Sorry , l had to give such a short answer , Wyatt. I was at work. Let me tell you all about Corbett's .500 Modified cordite double rifle .
To start with. Here is a picture of the .450/400 Double barrelled Jeffery which eventually replaced the .500 Double modified cordite rifle . In regards to The .500 Modified Cordite rifle , l just checked my copy of " Man Eaters of Kumaon " .
Mr. Corbett mentions that he only carried 3 cartridges for the .500, one in each barrel and the third for an emergency. He hit the tigress with two shots but did not kill her, but missed with his first shot. Then , he used a 12 gauge Double barrel side by side shotgun loaded with Kynoch Lethal Ball to finish it off. This wasn't his personal gun but was borrowed.
In regards to Modified Cordite , that is a term for Cordite MD . Cordite MD was a type of Cordite which contained a lower percentage of nitroglycerine and a higher percentage of nitro cellulose than standard Mark I cordite. So his rifle was a .500 Double barrelled rifle loaded with modified cordite. Modified Cordite was popular among hand loaders at the time , or as the English called it " men who liked to roll their own " . Unfortunately , it wasn't to last , because soon it got realized that modified Cordite didn't reach the desirable velocities of your standard MK I Cordite . Another reference to Modified cordite .500 Double Rifles can be read in the Auto biography of the Maharaja of Kooch Bihar . If l dare say so , l would speculate that the reason Corbett's . 500 Double rifle failed to kill that tigress was due to the inferiority of Cordite MD.
Finally , here is a list of all of Jim Corbett's guns , in a chronological order ( or as close to a chronological order as possible ) :
1) His first gun was a battered double barrelled exposed hammer shotgun , with the left barrel burst , held together by copper wire and a cracked stock which was nailed together .
2) A Martini Henry .577/450 . He used this weapon for dispatching goats.
3) A Westley Richards 7 × 57 MM Mauser with two stage trigger ( double set triggers ) and a 5 shot capacity loaded by a " clip '
4) A Rigby .275 ( 7 × 57 mm ) Mauser , best grade . This would be his favorite gun to replace the previous Westley Richards 7mm ( which he actually bungled a shot with , due to the " complicated " two stage trigger mechanism )
5) A .500 Cordite MD double rifle which he used on a tiger to wound it with two shots .
6) The pictured .450 / 400 Double Barrelled Jeffery which ultimately replaced the .500 Cordite MD double rifle .
He also used a borrowed 12 gauge side by side shotgun loaded with Kynoch Lethal Ball to dispatch the tigress which he had wounded with the .500 Cordite MD rifle. But this was a borrowed gun , not a personal weapon.
And the reason Corbett only had 3 cartridges for the cordite MD rifle ( .500 ) was because Modified Cordite stopped being produced by then already. They were , without a doubt , the last 3 cartridges he had for the gun .
Hope this helps
If you need any other info , hesitate not to ask .
Hoss Delgado
