Big Game and Big Game Rifles [Hardcover]

John Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 1997

John Taylor was the last professional ivory hunter in East Africa. Using his experiences, he defends his choices as to which rifle is best to use on big game.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 215 pages
• Publisher: Safari Press (January 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940143879
• ISBN-13: 978-0940143876
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,141,249 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book equally excellent on hunting, riflery and ballistics., February 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Game and Big Game Rifles (Hardcover)

Taylor writes extensively and expertly on the rifles and ammuntion used throughout his life as a professional hunter and perhaps as inter-war Africa's most notorious poacher. Since many of the sporting cartridges he used are obsolete this book is a valuable reference work for the student of the big game sporting rifle. Unlike many ballistic technicians Taylor repeatedly comments on bullet performance and that a sporting rifle bullet must be used according to the designer's intent. It is the fisrt such book I have read that repeatedly and forcefully cautions against using too-powerful rifles and too-tough bullets on game because of the danger of the bullet passing through the target animal to wound one or more behind it. All the more interesting is the fact that Taylor's experiences span the black powder express days, the rise of smokeless powder express rifles and the advent of small and medium bore high velocity "magnum" sporting cartridges. He provides sad comments on dead sportsmen who placed too much faith in high velocity magnum small bore rifles. Taylor is one of the few African hunter-authors who has great experience with the famed .600 Nitro Express. His comments are enlightening, and tame the beast, so to speak. Taylor has strong opinions on rifles. He favors double rifles above all others, is fond of single shot rifles and does not like bolt-action repeaters. He speaks, of course, as one who shoots from very close range and admits that things are different in North America. He praises the excellent marksmanship of hunters from the USA who use scope-sighted, bolt action repeaters. He labels the USA as a nation of riflemen.