Harry Dresden
Adamantium Member
- Dec 15, 2008
- 94,400
- 27,253
did this old Lion kill anyone?....Ok, I'll play along and pretend this story isn't another MSM hoax.
Earlier I posted a link to the book "The Lions of Tsavo". I've read it. Great book.
Here's the thing. Colonel Patterson used a .303 Enfield using the new smokeless powder load for the .303, a 215 grain soft nosed cartridge. Excellent man stopper. Good for medium game too. Superlative cartridge for the time.
It also turned out to be a terrible lion stopper. No better than the spears the Africans use or the bow and arrow "Palmer" used.
Anyone here have any objections to the spears Africans use for hunting lions?
I wouldn't go up against a (wild ) male African lion with anything less then a grenade launcher set for full auto.
Colonel Patterson shot a few other lions other than the two lions that ate 135 railway workers. I think the book said he had to use 16 .303 cartridges on one of them. It was at night though. He probably wasn't able to shoot straight.
16 shots means he had to reload 3-4 times ...IN THE DARK too. With a pissed off lion circling him.