My second hunt in South Africa this year was to be another bore rifle hunt. This time with a Walter Locke double 8-bore that was retailed in India approximately 1890. The rifle sports 24-inch barrels and weighs a manageable 17 pounds; which is much easier to carry than the 24-pound 4-bore of my hunt the end of June. This 8-bore is a “large” 8 with bore diameters of .875” rather than the more common true 8-bore of .845” The large 8-bore shoots a spherical ball of 1000 grains, making it a true 7-bore.
For those interested in ballistics, here is my hunting load for the Locke: 70 grains of Unique pistol powder, a 1/8” over powder wad set to 100 pounds of pressure, a few felt spacer wads, and a 1000-grain spherical ball set in place with a light crimp just ahead of the ball’s equator. Muzzle velocity is 1528 fps, muzzle energy is 5186 ft pounds, Taylor’s Knock Out value is 181 and felt recoil is 65.8 as calculated from Shooter’s Calculator.com. Projectiles are powder coated to reduce leading.
The ranch I hunted is Haakdoorn Safaris and is about an hour’s drive north of Thabazimbi; very close to the Botswana border. While the property is fenced (as is all private hunting property in South Africa) the perimeter fence is 57 kilometers or 35.5 miles and hunting there is truly “fair chase.”
There are about 160 buffalo on the ranch with about 10% being trophy bulls and over a dozen plains game species—all born on the ranch to live free and die there. Haakdoorn is owned by Basie Kuhn and he is developing his ranch into a prime hunting property. Buffalo hunting began there in 2017 and to date 28 trophy bulls have been taken. One bull, born on the ranch 12 years ago, was not allowed to be shot if seen by hunters as his genes were wanted to be spread on the ranch due to his great horn width.
During my hunt a month ago Basie and I spotted the bull and he didn’t seem right. He was out of the herd and losing weight. He may have been injured by another, younger, bull. A week after I returned home Basie asked if I wanted the bull. Bottom line: if he died on his own he was worth zero to the ranch and if a hunter took him the ranch would get some income. I agreed and bought a ticket.
The week before I arrived the bull was not seen. We looked for a couple of days until we saw him on the grassy plain, feeding with another bull. The wind was right and we moved in a straight line concealed by a large bush (or small tree). As the bull moved closer I set my rifle on sticks to the left of the bush. Seeing this, the bull changed direction to his left and I did so, also. My first shot tore through his heart and he bucked like a saddle bronc. He turned to ran and I shot again hitting him high on the left side but behind the shoulder and through the top of his lungs.
As he turned in our direction to run my camera man (PH Johan Nel) dropped his camera and grabbed his rifle. This was not necessary as the bull turned and ran parallel to us and stopped. Reloading, I aimed for a side on shoulder shot and he immediately turned away. My shot hit his right leg at the shoulder and broke the bone and he fell. Another shot through his left shoulder I thought ended him but he raised his head and then his head dropped with the common death bellow. A final shot ended his life but was really not needed. Actually, anything after the first shot was not necessary but it is good to end it quickly.
A couple of days later we went looking for sable. We came to a water hole with fresh tracks both going in and out but no sable or another animals. We made a two hour circle of several kilometers and came back to the pan. Oh, my word! There was a huge sable leaving the pan. He didn’t see us and the wind was right so we stalked through the to within 50 yards. The bull stopped behind a clump of trees. I set the Locke 8-bore on sticks and waited for him to resume walking. When he did so, Basie whistled to get him to stop and I fired, hitting him behind the shoulder and through his lungs. He was well hit and he walked or stumbled slowly into the grass. I ran and gave him a finishing shot. He was dead but still on his feet. The second shot was not necessary but it hastened death so it was the right thing to do.
My last day we sat at a pan looking for a big warthog. A good tusker came in and as he drank a single shot quartering on ended his existence. Warthogs are the only animal I have taken sitting in a hide at a pan.
Final tally: the buffalo measured 47 7/8”, the sable the exact same at 47 7/8” (although I will call both 48"), and the pig’s tusks measured 10” out of the lip. All in, it was a great experience to take an old vintage 8-bore to the field.
For those interested in ballistics, here is my hunting load for the Locke: 70 grains of Unique pistol powder, a 1/8” over powder wad set to 100 pounds of pressure, a few felt spacer wads, and a 1000-grain spherical ball set in place with a light crimp just ahead of the ball’s equator. Muzzle velocity is 1528 fps, muzzle energy is 5186 ft pounds, Taylor’s Knock Out value is 181 and felt recoil is 65.8 as calculated from Shooter’s Calculator.com. Projectiles are powder coated to reduce leading.
The ranch I hunted is Haakdoorn Safaris and is about an hour’s drive north of Thabazimbi; very close to the Botswana border. While the property is fenced (as is all private hunting property in South Africa) the perimeter fence is 57 kilometers or 35.5 miles and hunting there is truly “fair chase.”
There are about 160 buffalo on the ranch with about 10% being trophy bulls and over a dozen plains game species—all born on the ranch to live free and die there. Haakdoorn is owned by Basie Kuhn and he is developing his ranch into a prime hunting property. Buffalo hunting began there in 2017 and to date 28 trophy bulls have been taken. One bull, born on the ranch 12 years ago, was not allowed to be shot if seen by hunters as his genes were wanted to be spread on the ranch due to his great horn width.
During my hunt a month ago Basie and I spotted the bull and he didn’t seem right. He was out of the herd and losing weight. He may have been injured by another, younger, bull. A week after I returned home Basie asked if I wanted the bull. Bottom line: if he died on his own he was worth zero to the ranch and if a hunter took him the ranch would get some income. I agreed and bought a ticket.
The week before I arrived the bull was not seen. We looked for a couple of days until we saw him on the grassy plain, feeding with another bull. The wind was right and we moved in a straight line concealed by a large bush (or small tree). As the bull moved closer I set my rifle on sticks to the left of the bush. Seeing this, the bull changed direction to his left and I did so, also. My first shot tore through his heart and he bucked like a saddle bronc. He turned to ran and I shot again hitting him high on the left side but behind the shoulder and through the top of his lungs.
As he turned in our direction to run my camera man (PH Johan Nel) dropped his camera and grabbed his rifle. This was not necessary as the bull turned and ran parallel to us and stopped. Reloading, I aimed for a side on shoulder shot and he immediately turned away. My shot hit his right leg at the shoulder and broke the bone and he fell. Another shot through his left shoulder I thought ended him but he raised his head and then his head dropped with the common death bellow. A final shot ended his life but was really not needed. Actually, anything after the first shot was not necessary but it is good to end it quickly.
A couple of days later we went looking for sable. We came to a water hole with fresh tracks both going in and out but no sable or another animals. We made a two hour circle of several kilometers and came back to the pan. Oh, my word! There was a huge sable leaving the pan. He didn’t see us and the wind was right so we stalked through the to within 50 yards. The bull stopped behind a clump of trees. I set the Locke 8-bore on sticks and waited for him to resume walking. When he did so, Basie whistled to get him to stop and I fired, hitting him behind the shoulder and through his lungs. He was well hit and he walked or stumbled slowly into the grass. I ran and gave him a finishing shot. He was dead but still on his feet. The second shot was not necessary but it hastened death so it was the right thing to do.
My last day we sat at a pan looking for a big warthog. A good tusker came in and as he drank a single shot quartering on ended his existence. Warthogs are the only animal I have taken sitting in a hide at a pan.
Final tally: the buffalo measured 47 7/8”, the sable the exact same at 47 7/8” (although I will call both 48"), and the pig’s tusks measured 10” out of the lip. All in, it was a great experience to take an old vintage 8-bore to the field.
Last edited by a moderator:
