Of laudanum twenty drops in water, when in pain or purged, is a fair dose.
But with average luck no big game hunter ever gets ill until he returns to civilisation and high feeding. Then, alas! his troubles begin.
CHAPTER XIV
A FEW NOTES ON RIFLES AND AMMUNITION
By H. W. H.
Express Rifles.-These are usually made of five different calibres—viz. .360, .400, .450, .500, and .577—and are called ‘Expresses’ on account of the high velocity imparted to comparatively light bullets by the heavy charges of powder used in these rifles. Many sportsmen are under the impression that all Expresses of the same bore are practically the same—at any rate, as far as their power, velocity, &c., are concerned—and look upon, say, a .500 Express as a fixed quantity. No greater mistake could be made. Take two .500 bores, apparently alike, and the one may be a powerful and effective rifle, and the other quite uncertain, at any rate against the larger kinds of even soft-skinned animals. The reason of this is that the first is rifled and sighted for, and constructed to carry, a fairly long bullet weighing about 440 grains, and having a comparatively short hole in front (see figs. 3 and 4), while the latter fires the ordinary short bullet, which has a relatively larger hole in front, light walls and a thin base (see fig. 1), the result being that when it is fired at, say, the shoulder of a powerful tiger or bear, the whole of the bullet will probably break up into small pieces, causing a big flesh wound, but no part of the bullet has sufficient weight and momentum to penetrate through the bones or powerful muscles of the animal so as to reach any vital part. Unfortunately, the higher the velocity of the projectile, the more the bullet breaks up; consequently the short range at which such game is usually killed tells still more against this type of bullet for such sport.
The short Express bullet may be considerably improved, and greater penetration obtained, by having the hollow shorter and tapered (see fig. 2).
Fig. 1.—340 grains