My Second Man Eating Royal Bengal Tiger

[Bapu]

Namashkaar, my friend. Haven’t heard from you in a while. Were you later able to find good optics for your Winchester Model 70 ?

I take this opportunity to invite you to my home if you ever visit India. Do let me know. Or as a matter of fact any AH members visiting India are always welcome.

 

[Sideshow]

Thanks, Wheels

After the ‘88 incident, I finally learnt my lesson after decided that there’s a good reason why buckshot is called “Buckshot” and not “Tigershot”. That’s why I eventually bought my 7mm Mauser (with which I shot the last man eater in ‘89). But even he lived for no less than 3 hours after I shot him.

In my opinion, the best medicine for a fully grown male Sundarban tiger would have to be a .500/416 Nitro Express double rifle (as made by Kreighoff) with 26” barrels and a non automatic safety. Regulated for Nosler’s 400Gr Partition soft point factory load.

Between the 12 gauge and the 7x57mm Mauser, I‘ll take 7x57mm Mauser anyday.

A small snippet from the chapter about the tiger hunt in ‘89:

”I instructed my boatman to stealthily drive the speedboat towards the edge of the riverbank and moor it against the riverbank in such a way, so that the speedboat would be 70-80 yards away from where the man eater was crouched. As he did so, I flipped off the safety catch on my 7x57mm Mauser and sat down on the deck of the speedboat. As the speedboat got moored against the edge of the riverbank, I raised the rifle to my shoulder. Right at that moment, something went wrong.

My boatman had turned off the motor of our speedboat, and all suddenly went quiet. The man eater immediately became alerted by the sudden silence. He turned and spotted the speedboat. By seeing us, the tiger attempted to dash off into the depths of the forest. As he turned to run off, his broadside was exposed towards me and I seized my only chance. Hurriedly lining up the rifle’s front sight and rear sight, I made a desperate shot at the at the animal’s ribcage behind his shoulder. Upon receiving the shot, the animal leapt up in pain and fell tumbling down onto the green forest floor. He stood back up again, but it was clear that the 175 grain Winchester Super x soft nosed bullet had hammered him very badly. I had previously shot 2 man eating Royal Bengal tigers with a shotgun and L.G cartridges, but never did I ever observe either of them to react so visibly to their gunshot wound. Clearly, a 7x57mm Mauser caliber rifle superseded a 12 bore shotgun for hunting the great cats any day.

The tiger was now slowly growing at us while retreating into the depths of the forest. His entire broadside was wet with warm blood, copious amounts of which were dripping onto the ground. The man eater was violently coughing blood, while I cycled the bolt of my 7x57mm Mauser in order to extract the expended cartridge case and get the next cartridge from the magazine into the rifle’s breech. But before I could raise the rifle to my shoulder and give the man eater a finishing shot, the resilient tiger bounded off into the depths of the forest. I regretted not giving him a second shot sooner, as it would have allowed me to drop the man eater then and there… killing him outright.”
View attachment 521706

Thanks.

At that time, I was working a government job in a forest department of a third world country which was only 10 years into it's independence. We used what we had.

I bought that Pakistani shotgun from a government warehouse (where all the confiscated firearms of criminals are stored) for the equivalent of 50 Cents (U.S money) in 1975. I was given a choice of buying any shotgun from there. And I really wanted a nice side by side. But when the shotguns lying around in the warehouse were all examined, I learnt that most were either:
A) In very poor condition (being holdovers from the British colonial era prior to 1947)
Or
B) Proofed for black power or 2 1/2" shells
Or
C) Had been locally repaired.

That Pakistani single barrel shotgun was just about the only shotgun there which was practically in mint condition. And was actually capable of handling modern shotgun shells. It was actually a very strong shooting piece. It's fully choked barrel could put all 8 pellets from an Eley Alphamax L.G shell into a 12" circle at 20 yards. But the ejectors of these shotguns are not very well made. Also the firing pin was prone to frequently breaking off and needed replacing.

I bought the Pakistani 7x57mm Mauser Churchill Gun Makers Model Deluxe rifle in 1989, with the intention of using it against the final man eater. I picked that caliber, because 7x57mm Mauser was the only center fire rifle caliber for which fresh ammunition had been imported after 1971. Due to lack of demand, only firearms and ammunition in 12 gauge, .22 caliber (L.R, W.M.R & Hornet) and .32 caliber (S&W Long & A.C.P) were imported. Waterfowl hunting, upland hunting and small game hunting was/is very popular here amongst locals. Relatively few people hunt(ed) big game (predominantly Axis deer, Muntjac deer, wild boar & the odd Sambar, Nilgai or Serow). And those who did/do, mostly prefer(red) shotguns as a general purpose firearm which could be used for both birds and big game (as well as for home defense).

T.C.B (Trading Corporation Bengal) had imported 20,000 rounds of Winchester Super X 175Gr soft point factory loads for the 7x57mm Mauser in 1985. When I bought that 7x57mm Mauser rifle from a local gun store in 1989, the owner could only manage 12 cartridges with it for me at the time. Fortunately, I only needed one shot to bag that final man eater.

I selected the Churchill Gun Makers brand of 7x57mm Mauser, because it was the only available brand of 7x57mm Mauser which was available in gun stores at the time. 50 of them had been imported into the country by East Pakistan Rifle Club in 1967.

I eventually gifted the Pakistani shotgun to the son of one of my old family servants, since he was (and still is) an extremely avid waterfowl hunter. He still works for my family and lives quite near my house. In 1990, I bought a brand new 12 gauge 3" Magnum Beretta Model 626E boxlock ejector side by side shotgun with a single selective trigger and 30" barrels (left barrel is fully choked and right barrel is half choked). And I love that Italian shotgun so much that I never sold it (and I never will, hopefully). I still use it for most of my hunting purposes. I've even taken it to Africa several times over the years for hunting Guinea fowl, sand grouse, rock pigeon, Egyptian geese and Spurwing geese.

I've retained the Pakistani made 7x57mm Mauser, as well. It's an extremely accurate and reliable rifle, built on a 1942 made military surplus Mauser Oberndorf action. And I mainly use it for hunting Sambar, Nilgai & Serow. I've also taken it to Africa several times over the years, for hunting plains game. These days, whenever I go to the U.S (at least once every year)... I always bring back 100 rounds as part of my personal luggage. Since Winchester no longer makes 175Gr ammunition for the 7x57mm Mauser, I use a custom American loading company called "Hendershots". They load good quality ammunition for me, by using Winchester cases and 175Gr Hornady Interlock bullets.

That warehouse sounds exactly like the Livingstone police station in Zambia.
When I was working as an overland driver back in 2000 through to 2003 I had to call in there.
Elephant V taxi which one of my passengers happened to be in.
All lived to tell the tail. Not so much the taxi. That poor Toyota corolla was rapped around a tree like dough. The Taxi driver, very drunk had run into the rear of Mrs Ellie causing her to sit down.
(like when some one pushes you in the back of the knees).
She squealed and then about faced and charged the car. Lucky everyone had exited by then and was running back to the boarder crossing.
Anyway Mr Taxi driver then tried to blame it all on my passenger.
Which is how I ended up spending an afternoon looking around the Zambian Police station. The Chief Inspector and I first discussed my passengers case and having both agreed that since he was not driving and nor was he in control of the elephant then there was nothing further to see here. He then made a comment about safaris and poaching and I mentioned that back in NZ I was a keen hunter. He said well come with me you might be interested in having a look at this and took me to what I can only guess was the evidence locker.
Man oh man did they have some cool old stuff in there. Every thing from double rifles to cap and ball muskets as well as a fare few old home made stuff. Would have loved to have had a proper sift through, but you really dont want to hang around African police stations for to long......you can end up being a permanent fixture.
Anyway love the stories do publish if you can and good luck.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I take this opportunity to invite you to my home if you ever visit India. Do let me know. Or as a matter of fact any AH members visiting India are always welcome.

Why, thank you so much, Bapu. I last visited India (Kuch Bihar) in 1977. During the 1960s, I frequently travelled to Calcutta with my parents because my aunt (father’s sister) used to live there at the time. There used to be an old gun store back then in Calcutta, called “D.B. Biswas”. They used to have a lovely assortment of secondhand English firearms over there. Including a very beautiful James Purdey & Sons 12 gauge sidelock ejector side by side. I frequently used to visit it. Also a gun store called “N.C. DAW”.

Many of my Indian friends (who legally cull Nilgai and wild boar there) have been inviting me to come visit them for a Nilgai and wild boar shoot. If I ever do come, I’ll absolutely be honored to meet you. I’ll most probably take up lodging in the Tollyganj club in Calcutta.

A book about my tiger hunts is ”In the works”… so to speak. But I’m still completely undecided.

Regarding, Winchester Silver Tips… Do you use the ones marked “Super-X“ or “Super Speed” ? I really liked the old “Super Speed” ones. These had the jacket material made from a mixture of copper, nickel & zinc. And they worked absolutely beautiful for lion and leopard in Africa (I never used them on Royal Bengal tiger, but heard that they used to excellent). The later “Super-x” ones had the jacket material changed to aluminum by 1974. Then, thry started performing erratically.

And never apologize to me for anything. We all stay busy.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Wow, what a wonderful story, felt like I was there with you. Keep them coming.

Thanks, PARA45. Really glad you found it to be any good.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

That's a great read!! Thank you for sharing it and I am of the opinion that you need to publish this and whatever else you can get down on paper. I wouldn't want it to be a forgotten piece of history . Thank you!!
I've had similar experiences with buckshot, (on deer, nothing dangerous) it doesn't penetrate. Definitely handy for shooting at night with little light though. Thanks again!!

Thanks, R.M.C. I totally agree. I use buckshot for Muntjac deer, Axis deer and wild boars. Anything larger, and I prefer using my 7mm Mauser or whatever center fire rifle I have around me.

I recently ran some newly manufactured Federal (PremiumCopper Plated) and Remington (Express) 3 Inch Magnum 0.0.0 Buck shells through the chronograph. Both had an advertised velocity of 1225fps. Well… the Remington only consistently achieved 1169fps, while the Federal only consistently achieved 1104fps. Not something that really raises your confidence in today‘s factory loaded buckshot offerings much, does it?

 

[Bapu]

Why, thank you so much, Bapu. I last visited India (Kuch Bihar) in 1977. During the 1960s, I frequently travelled to Calcutta with my parents because my aunt (father’s sister) used to live there at the time. There used to be an old gun store back then in Calcutta, called “D.B. Biswas”. They used to have a lovely assortment of secondhand English firearms over there. Including a very beautiful James Purdey & Sons 12 gauge sidelock ejector side by side. I frequently used to visit it. Also a gun store called “N.C. DAW”.

Many of my Indian friends (who legally cull Nilgai and wild boar there) have been inviting me to come visit them for a Nilgai and wild boar shoot. If I ever do come, I’ll absolutely be honored to meet you. I’ll most probably take up lodging in the Tollyganj club in Calcutta.

A book about my tiger hunts is ”In the works”… so to speak. But I’m still completely undecided.

Regarding, Winchester Silver Tips… Do you use the ones marked “Super-X“ or “Super Speed” ? I really liked the old “Super Speed” ones. These had the jacket material made from a mixture of copper, nickel & zinc. And they worked absolutely beautiful for lion and leopard in Africa (I never used them on Royal Bengal tiger, but heard that they used to excellent). The later “Super-x” ones had the jacket material changed to aluminum by 1974. Then, thry started performing erratically.

And never apologize to me for anything. We all stay busy.

View attachment 521884View attachment 521885View attachment 521886

I have the Winchester western super x.

 

[R.M.C.]

Hahaha that's about as good as it gets for buckshot. I sometimes wonder where and how the factory comes up with velocity. Thank you again for sharing your tales!

 

[Daisy]

Hunter,

Thanks for your stories. Your gentlemanly manner is a lesson for us all.

 

[deewayne2003]

@Hunter-Habib

If you could select any rifle for hunting man eating royal bengal tigers, what would your choice be?

I define “any rifle” as if you could pick any rifle on earth with no concern of legality, ammunition availability or cost.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Hunter,

Thanks for your stories. Your gentlemanly manner is a lesson for us all.

Why thank you, madame.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

@Hunter-Habib

If you could select any rifle for hunting man eating royal bengal tigers, what would your choice be?

I define “any rifle” as if you could pick any rifle on earth with no concern of legality, ammunition availability or cost.

@deewayne2003
In my opinion, the best medicine for a fully grown male Sundarban tiger would have to be a .500/416 Nitro Express double rifle (as made by Kreighoff) with 26” barrels and a non automatic safety. Regulated for Nosler’s 400Gr Partition soft point factory load with a velocity of 2330 fps.

 

[CarsonG]

Incredible story Habib!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Great stories. Similar to what we would read from stories of

100 years ago

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Incredible story Habib!

Why thank you, Carson.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Great stories. Similar to what we would read from stories of View attachment 557353100 years ago

Why thank you, Altitude. I wonder what double rifle he used.

 

[Rare Breed]

I view @Hunter-Habib as a true legend with us given how many of us have hunted man eating tigers and other DG animals as vast as him. I too so appreciate his posts and friendship!!!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I view @Hunter-Habib as a true legend with us given how many of us have hunted man eating tigers and other DG animals as vast as him. I too so appreciate his posts and friendship!!!

You hunted a very impressive 378 LB lion this time, Rare Breed. And I know that your leopard hunt will be even more successful.

As for me, I assure you. I’m hardly a legend. I just make a few very lucky shots, now & then.

 

[0002S]

@Hunter-Habib

Thank you for the stories. You truly had a unique opportunity and made the best of it.

Your 7X57 reminds me of a 1895 Loewe I acquired years ago. I probably should not have purchased at the time and have been amazed at how well it preforms ever since. A truly underrated cartridge in the modern day race for speed. It's been a while and I need to take it out and 'do the business'.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

@Hunter-Habib

Thank you for the stories. You truly had a unique opportunity and made the best of it.

Your 7X57 reminds me of a 1895 Loewe I acquired years ago. I probably should not have purchased at the time and have been amazed at how well it preforms ever since. A truly underrated cartridge in the modern day race for speed. It's been a while and I need to take it out and 'do the business'.

View attachment 557585

That’s real beautiful 7x57mm Mauser Model 1985, 0002S. Imagine a 130 year old caliber which has successfully been used to down everything from Muntjac deer to elephants. Truly mindblowing.

 

[PerH]

And with the Freudians lead scare , the 7x57 is quite simple to feed with that sub .30 cal levels of it . With less pressure, stress and good performance .