Some time back, our eldest son, Keith, who is an established and well known gunmaker here in the UK, sent me some interesting photos. Interesting that is, from a South African perspective. Although perhaps an Eastern Cape, or more specifically an Addo Elephant National Park historical perspective would be a more apt description. The calibre, in .350 Rigby Magnum, is probably also of historical interest. In all my years of safari guiding I never had any clients arrive on safari carrying a .350 Rigby Magnum, and yet it is a brilliant and proven cartridge. Ideal for African conditions.
The current owner of this particular rifle was quite happy for me to write about it, although he did request for privacy purposes his name not be disclosed. I readily conceded to his wishes. Keith does gun work for him on a regular basis, and he’d asked Keith to clean up the .350 Rigby Magnum, and to check the rather antiquated original Aldis Brothers telescopic sight, as the owner was about to depart on an East African safari, and intended using the gun for his plains game.
Of interest to me, and almost as much as the calibre, was the fact this particular .350 Rigby Magnum had historically deep connections to South African soil. I’ll explain why. It was originally bought directly from Rigby’s by Harold Trollope in 1939, and imported into East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Trollope was the first game ranger appointed at South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park. Prior to that, I’m led to understand he had served as a game ranger in the Kruger National Park, under James Stevenson-Hamilton, who served from 1902 until 1946 as the first Kruger National Park warden, although at the time the national park was known as Sabi Nature Reserve. A book titled, Harold Trollope: The Man They Called ‘Vukani’ was written about him, but it is now seemingly out of print.
Harold Trollope was an extremely experienced hunter and I seem to recall having once read how during his tenure in the Sabi Nature Reserve area, he had accounted for about 400 livestock killing lions. In this day and age that kind of work would have been known as Problem Animal Control (PAC). What made Harold Trollope opt for a .350 Rigby Magnum? Probably, because in 1939 it was already a respected and bespoke Rigby cartridge, however, let’s look at it more closely.
Normally, when the Rigby name comes up amongst gun enthusiasts the first calibre which comes to mind is Rigby’s venerated .416, and rightly so, because it is a proven classic although it’s not the only calibre to bear Rigby’s name. Another proven Rigby cartridge was their .275, more commonly known as the 7x57mm Mauser, and used extensively by Col Jim Corbett in India. It was also a favourite of ‘Karamoja’ Bell in Africa. When I was still an active PH the 7x57mm Mauser was a favourite calibre of mine, and I carried one throughout most of my hunting career. It was also a popular and respected cartridge in the then Rhodesian Department of National Parks & Wildlife Management, and virtually every field station had one in their armoury.
Another venerated Rigby cartridge which is now seemingly overlooked in our modern times is the Rigby .350 Magnum, Harold Trollope’s 1939 choice of calibre. At one time it was just as popular as the .375 H&H Magnum. First released in 1908 the .350 Rigby Magnum was an entirely original Rigby cartridge and wasn’t designed from any parent cartridge as such. In other words, it was a Rigby pedigree. It predated the popular .416 Rigby by three years, and was the first of Rigby’s cartridges to feature their hallmark sharp 45-degree shoulder. The .350 Rigby Magnum case length is 2.742 inches, with an overall cartridge length 3.44 inches which makes it a comfortable fit in a magnum length receiver.
Ballistically, the 225-grain bullets have a muzzle velocity of 2,625 feet per second with muzzle energy at 3,440 foot/pounds. The sectional density value of 0.251 would be considered a bit light for some dangerous game species, although ideal for leopard and lion. During a bygone era in East Africa, it was also reputedly used to good effect on buffalo. Most experienced African PHs, however, would consider a bullet with a sectional density of 0.300 as being preferrable on species like buffalo.
At the time of the .350 Rigby Magnum being released, the cartridge was considered an all-rounder, and certainly suitable for hunting on the open plains type habitat found across much of Tanzania and Kenya. Soft-nose bullets proved adequate on various antelope species, and on the big cats. They were also acceptable on buffalo in East Africa’s open habitat, although not all hunters were that enthused about using them on buffalo. The .350 Rigby Magnum solid bullet, termed full patch back then was also said to be suitable for elephant hunting.
East African hunters of that era who sang the praises of the .350 Rigby Magnum were Denys Finch-Hatton of Out of Africa fame, and Pete Pearson. Professional ivory hunter and author, John ‘Pondoro’ Taylor, who also had experience of the .350 Rigby Magnum and hunted extensively in Mozambique, or what was still termed Portuguese East Africa also spoke, and wrote highly of the .350 Rigby Magnum. Even back then, it was considered a heavier bullet than the 225 grain may have been more suitable. Well respected East African PH Robin Hurst, also used a .350 Rigby Magnum from his youth in Kenya, when he used the calibre for culling plains game. He too, and in recent writings is full of praise for the calibre. Perhaps, if I was still an active PH in southern Africa, I would have got my son Keith to build me a .350 Rigby Magnum, just for the trip down memory lane, if nothing else.
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