The Long Road To Africa

[Rare Breed]

Here is my video from the hunt

Wonderful!!! Remember, if we are honest we all have missed even after practicing for months…but when you are still able to pick yourself up mentally and make the next opportunity successful in Africa that is a dream come true!!!

 

[Frederik]

Thanks for sharing I know exactly or very close to what you felt about the lion.
You can watch my lion video if you want on my hunt report.

 

[Slim01]

Thank you @gcbailey for taking the time to post. A really enjoyable and informative report. Good hunting, sir.

 

[gcbailey]

Thanks for sharing I know exactly or very close to what you felt about the lion.
You can watch my lion video if you want on my hunt report.

Absolutely! Going to Africa did nothing to settle my addiction. It only added fuel to the fire and I want to go back! I’d love to watch your lion hunt!

 

[gcbailey]

Thank you @gcbailey for taking the time to post. A really enjoyable and informative report. Good hunting, sir.

Thank you Slim! Hopefully someone new to Africa can glean something useful and hopefully not make some of the mistakes I did.

 

[gcbailey]

Well, somehow Gunter came through and found my sable! A client had wounded a Cape buffalo and they got a helicopter to look for it. As they were looking, they found my sable who had died an unfortunately slow death from the wound of my bullet. They measured him yesterday at just under 44 inches for each horn. I hate that it died wounded but am incredibly happy to have recovered it.

 

[rinehart0050]

Outstanding report! Thanks for taking us along on the whole adventure and for sharing the trials and triumphs of the hunt. Congratulations and well done.

 

[gcbailey]

Outstanding report! Thanks for taking us along on the whole adventure and for sharing the trials and triumphs of the hunt. Congratulations and well done.

Thank you! It was one of the greatest experiences of my life!

 

[igotit]

Congrats on your hunting. Excellent thread guy.

 

[gcbailey]

Congrats on your hunting. Excellent thread guy.

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

[AZDAVE]

So will the next title be ( the not so long road to my second safari)?

Thank you for sharing your experiences on your safari.

 

[gcbailey]

So will the next title be ( the not so long road to my second safari)?

Thank you for sharing your experiences on your safari.

Well, I certainly hope it won't be The Long(er) Road to Africa!

 

[Troubleshooter]

The Rifles​

I was stationed in Indiana in 2015. While there, I would visit Joe Montgomery, owner of 500 Guns. I used to love driving to his shop on a rainy Saturday and would spend hours looking at his lions and cape buffalo mounts and hearing his hunting stories. His store bore that scent of leather, gun oil, and canvas. It was the perfect venue to romanticize about all things Africa. Joe and I talked about various hunting books and he learned I especially liked Jim Corbett for his direct, no nonsense approach to hunting tigers. As it so happened, Joe had a handsome John Rigby and Co. rifle in .275 that had been built in 1927. I really wanted the same battery of firearms as the great Jim Corbett used and after some consideration, decided to buy the Rigby. Only a few months later, Joe again showed me another rifle he knew I would fawn over. “You already have the .275, you can finish your Corbett collection with this.” He pulled out a 1900 WJ Jeffery in 450/400. I was swooning. After we worked out the details for a layaway plan, I made incremental payments to Joe. Before I knew it, I had the Jim Corbett ensemble!
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Late to the party, I must have missed this article when you first posted it. By odd coincidence, I met Joe Montgomery at the Tulsa show in either fall 2014 or maybe spring 2015 (can't remember now). He showed me a .450/400 Jeffery double that he was selling from his personal collection. I passed on it, as it was more than I was prepared to spend at that time. Now I'm wondering whether it is the same rifle that you purchased from him?

 

[gcbailey]

Late to the party, I must have missed this article when you first posted it. By odd coincidence, I met Joe Montgomery at the Tulsa show in either fall 2014 or maybe spring 2015 (can't remember now). He showed me a .450/400 Jeffery double that he was selling from his personal collection. I passed on it, as it was more than I was prepared to spend at that time. Now I'm wondering whether it is the same rifle that you purchased from him?

Ooh! I am intrigued! Joe had two Jeffery 450/400s from his personal collection. One was a non-ejector with a lion engraved under the frame, the other was an ejector with scroll engraving. I chose the ejector. I wonder if he did show you the rifle I purchased, because when he offered me the non-ejector, he pulled it out of the back of his safe and I hadn't seen the rifle prior to that.

 

[Troubleshooter]

gcbailey: It's quite possible, as I'm almost certain the one that I looked at was an ejector model. He had three or four doubles displayed; one was the Jeffery, another was a Sabatti, and there was at least one other of English manufacture. Might have been a C&H or a Mantan, but I cannot remember. I definitely do remember the almost-magical way that the Jeffery came to my shoulder. It fit as if made just for me.

Funny; I saw your comment on the other thread about using a vintage Jeffery on safari and thought, "so why didn't he write a report on it?" Then I saw your article (this thread) and noticed the reference to this rifle. Good on you for taking it on safari where it belongs.

Rather than further derail this thread, perhaps we should continue this discussion via DM.