All round gun for Africa-1870

[mickbr]

So this is alittle off topic for leverguns but I was reading some of the exploits of the safari fellas in the 1800's. They had their heavy bore guns for thickskinned game( 4 and 8 bores etc) and the all rounder was the 450 black powder express. This was the 308 or 30-06 of its day. Seems everyone had one, good for general game and big game in a pinch. I was looking at the ballistics and thinking thats pretty close to 45-70 factory loads or a 454 lever action. Several 270-350gn loads at 1750-1900fps. No surprise I guess, loads that work in one century work in another.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.450_Black_Powder_Express

[jeepnik]

If you are interested in a good book series about Africa in the 1860's take a look at Flight Of The Falcon by Wilbur Smith.

[.45colt]

Looks like it's close to the 45-120 Sharps . There is a lot of interesting reading about that .45 Express round on the internet especially since We had a dusting of snow last night and it's 29* . .

[mickbr]

Looks like it's close to the 45-120 Sharps . There is a lot of interesting reading about that .45 Express round on the internet especially since We had a dusting of snow last night and it's 29* . .

Good point, I didnt think about the 45-120 comparison.

[mickbr]

If you are interested in a good book series about Africa in the 1860's take a look at Flight Of The Falcon by Wilbur Smith.

Thanks Jeepnik, I ordered it. Was due to find a new book to check out.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Interesting those ballistics have always been useful.

[Bill in Oregon]

One of the best discussions of firearms and cartridges for Africa is Sir Samuel Baker's "Wild Beasts and Their Ways," first published in 1890 at the dawn of the smokeless era.
Baker was a firearms enthusiast and experimenter who hunted widely in Ceylon, Africa and even North America. Some know of him because of the 21-pound 2-bore rifle he used that took a half-pound ball and 16 drams (437 grains) of black powder. He nicknamed it "Baby," and it spun him around when he shot it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Baker

[mickbr]

Thanks Bill, yes I read about that fella over on another gun forum. Funnily enough they said that gun which he called "Baby" wasnt a two bore, it was a 4 bore. The half pound explosive projectile was a long conical shell, not a ball. a lot of folks believed it a 2 bore because the half pound weight, but Baker never mentions 'ball' in connection to it, just shell. They apparently tracked the gun down in England too , its currently in the Royal Geographic society. Has some kinda animal hide repair on its stock. Half pound shell..good heavens, he musta been punch drunk after a career of that