Howdy Howdah

If you're going to get one of Pedersoli's 'Howdah' pistols, you may as well go whole hog adn do it up right! :wink:

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This little combo was especially made by Paul Edwards Gun Restorations. You never know when a big kitty's going to try to jump on up! Oh, you'll have about three seconds to get cocked and locked! :shocked2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4t0aeTX954

Loved the video!!!!!!! :applause:

You better be ready...that kitty can be there before you can fill your pants! :rotf:

Interesting !!

That grass wasn't that tall and the tiger just seemed to come out of nowhere. :shocked2:

That's the amazing part...it's just like "Voila...instant predator!!" Know now why the old boys always talked about having Howdahs at the ready...big kitty wants to play 'repel boarders' and it's skid-mark time! :shocked2: :rotf: If he hadn't had that set of claws aimed at the driver (or whatever you call the guy up front) old Tony could have been up on the Howdah itself , had there been one.

Howdah you do?? :rotf:

I wondered "what the Heck is that sling swivel doing on the left side of the barrels," until the pictures showing the detachable shoulder stock.

Gus

Were the barrels cut down in length?

chainshot09 said:

Were the barrels cut down in length?

Click to expand...

To my knowledge, no. It's a standard Pedersoli Howdah Hunter pistol that's been reworked with a Pedersoli detachable shoulder stock added, plus the side located, front swivel mounted...of course heavily engraved and refinished.
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The tiger's capacity for sudden and deadly destruction only deepens my respect and awe for what the great Jim Corbett accomplished early in the last century.

Zonie said:

Interesting !!

That grass wasn't that tall and the tiger just seemed to come out of nowhere. :shocked2:

Click to expand...

Understatement. Even though it is a vid it gave me a pucker moment and sweat. Wow! I think I'll pass on that trip to India idea. :wink:
BTW, the pistol is a beauty.

Hence the term "cat like reflexes."

I just started watching THE STORY OF INDIA on Amazon Prime. I saw parts of it years ago when it was on PBS, but, missed most of it. I am very curious to see if the show mentions man eating tigers or not. I suspect they may mention Gentleman Jim Corbett referencing the National Park named after him. Having red a number of Mr. Corbett's books I can only wonder just how much excitement he needed to keep life interesting in India? I never have read a total of the man eating cat's he dispatched.

The link below will take you to the Jim Corbett National Park website.

Link

As I'm sure that we are all aware, Gentleman Jim Corbett was a professional boxer who knocked out John L. Sullivan in 21 rounds at New Orleans in 1892.

Edward James (Jim) Corbett, the hunter, conservationist and naturalist, is whom the park is named after.

I have heard both referred to as Gentleman Jim, although looking down the barrels of a double rifle it might be a bit contentious. As much as an upper cut might be.

At the risk of thread drift, I would highly recommend Peter Capstick's book, Death in the Silent Places. In this book he tells of Corbett's hunting exploits in a far more colorful manner than Corbett, or other hunter's of his time, did. They wrote in a rather dry Victorian style, and what Corbett or Patterson might describe as a frightening night spent in a tree, is far more interesting and enlightening in Capstick's words. I think you will all find it good reading.

Or read "The Maneaters of Kumoan" in Corbett's own words. A tiger leaves a small pile -- of clothes and hair.

About 8 months ago a friend's widow brought over a couple of bags of his books on big game hunting and the Capstick book you mention is in one of the bags, although I have yet to read it. F.C.Selous: A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS IN AFRICA was interesting and really showed how tough those guys were. The extended time without water is rather impressive. My friend & I built a replica of Selous' 4 gauge musket elephant gun. We used 1" i.d. seamless stainless steel tubing with 1/4" wall and we blew up a photograph a number of times to copy the stock design and used an old CVA caplock for ignition. The projectiles were from a 4 ounce spherical lead sinker mould that we would cut the loop off from. We proof tested the barrel with 1/2 pound of 2fg powder and 1/2 pound of #8 lead shot. The barrel was lashed down to a red elm 2" plank that was lashed down to concrete blocks in the dead of winter then lit the cannon fuse and ran like hell to the other side of the barn. When it was finished we shot it loading 4 ounces of powder and one 4 ounce lead ball with a patch. I have shot many rounds of trap and a 12 gauge shotgun is no where near the recoil of the 4 gauge elephant gun. Brutal would be a good word to describe it. It would have knocked me to the ground if my friend had not caught me. And this is from a 23 pound firearm!

In 1980, when he got out of law school he went to Africa with a take-down Model 1895 Winchester in .405. The PH said no one had been hunting big game in Africa with a lever gun in 65 years. He brought back everything from elephant to zebra to cats to cape buffalo. Needless to say he had a great time. I suspect it is his trip to Africa that got me started reading about Africa and India.

I have that book as well as The Temple Tiger and have read them both. There is a certain matter of factness in the writing. But that was a different time. Can you imagine the headlines and stories if CNN was reporting it?

Hairy, Selous often said the beating he took from firing that old Dutch 4-bore affected his nerves for the rest of his life.
Another great read is "Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of Southern Africa," by Roualeyn Gordon Cumming. These men were indeed cut from a different bolt of cloth.