Biltong

Johan,
I've been putting off replying to your last post til I had a bit more time to compose some suitable thoughts. Losing a friend is always a difficult proposition, even when you know they are very ill. I'm sorry to hear of your loss, and my prayers are with you.

On a lighter note, you neglected to mention how you shot at the match. I shoot mostly post 1900 military rifles myself, though I hope to purchase a few older ones some day. What types of rifles does one generally see in South Africa? I have a few Enfields (one South African, I believe), but I'd love to find an Orange Free State marked 1895 mauser. That would be a prime addition to any mauser collection!

Patrick
 
Patrick, thank you for your words of consolation concerning the death of one of our collector friends.

On a lighter note, I definitely did not neglect to mention how I performed on the range. Like, if you ask someone how he is, and the answer is not forthcoming, you get the idea something's wrong. In my home language we've got this foul word (same as your word "sh.."), but in Afrikaans it consists of three letters, with two letters of the same kind flanking the middle letter. So, if I was the foul-mouthed type, and someone asked me what my score was, I'd say: Fine! I shot a "K" left and right, and an "A" dead centre! :D :D

This time the moderator will probably hurl me off the forum! :eek:

Actually, I was at a bit of a disadvantage: (i) the range was not meant for muzzle-loaders, and I was competing at long distance with guys shooting pre-1902 7X57's. (ii) Also, they were firing prone, taking dead rest, and I was loading standing up and firing from the shoulder.

I don't believe you have anything there we don't see on the range here. Name it: Sharps, Zouave, Springfield, Winchester Yellowboy, Westley-Richards... There was a guy shooting .45-70 from a Martini-Henry. I personally handled a OVS (Free State) 1895 Mauser on the range. I personally owned a Winchester 1876 Centennial. I presently own a Zouave by Zoli, which maker is preferred by Civil War re-enactors in the US of A. One of my favourite revolvers is a .45 Long Colt SAA by Uberti. I also have a .44 First Model Dragoon, and stainless steel engraved 1860 Army with full fluted cylinder.

Mr. Moderator, I once read that most, if not all, khukuri afficionados also shoot..... :cool:
 
Patrick, I'm afraid your question has 10-foot pole marks all over it. My humble answer is none, but a Bowie instead.

Dan
 
What kind of khukuri would go with a 1860 colt?
Click to expand...
Don't forget, Sam Colt had a London office, and knowledgeable British officers who weren't enamored of Webleys were known to carry Colts while on duty in India
View
 
Y'know, that combo really looks good together! So glad that Berk has his stuff together (as usual!) and saved me from complete global internet embarrassment.

Thanks, Berk.

Dan
 
You guys are incredible! :eek: Howsomever, there's one thing that Berk won't be able to pull out of his box of tricks, I think, and that is to find a historical connection between khukuris and South Africa. I have never heard or read of a campaign waged in the history of South African warfare where it was shown that some parties carried khuks. :confused:
 
Johan, as General Santa Anna learned the hard way at the Battle of San Jacinto, it is never a good idea to tell a Texan he can't do something.;)
there's one thing that Berk won't be able to pull out of his box of tricks, I think, and that is to find a historical connection between khukuris and South Africa
Click to expand...
If the Times of London is to be believed, DeBeers has sent Gurkha mercenaries into Sierra Leone and Angola beginning in the 1950s until quite recently. Some of them have been airlifted back to South Africa within the last few years when things got too dicey, I believe. Not exactly a khukuri charge on South African soil, but close enough to meet the challenge, I think:) .
 
"......close enough to meet the challenge, I think..."

I don't think. :cool: Nice try, Berk, but that throw was so wide I can take a buckwaggon with a span of eighteen oxen and make a full turn in it. "South Africa" is specifically south of Namibia, Botswana and the Limpopo. The charge needs to be close enough for me to feel the wind against my neck as the khukuri blade slices past.

But this altercation brings me a bit closer to a guy who has impressed me many times over with his undoubted expertise, and that's why I've got this grin as wide as Texas itself

:D
 
Johan,
To paraphrase a former President of Los Estados Unidos del Norte, "it all depends on what a "connection"`is"
If you pay for a connection, maybe it isn't really a connection.:) Mercenaries are so commercial, after all, even if they do carry khukuris.
Berk :cool:
 
Well, Berk, I'm happy about the friendly connections I currently have in the States of the North, and I didn't even have to pay for them! None of them are French, though.

".....there are nights when you can look up at the sky, and see a Lone Star wink slowly..." (ancient Nepalese saying) ;)
 
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