Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa HARRY SELBY ON THE 416 RIGBY

I hope it was ok to pirate the paragraph below from our friends over on AR, but below in Harry Selby's own words, on the wonders of subject cartridge and of course why I carry one (my current torrid affair with the 405 WCF notwithstanding ). I've also added a link to the entire thread over on AR forums:

And now Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Harry Selby....
link to whole thread



"I was on Safari in the Ikoma area of North Western Tanganyika in 1950/51. We were hunting with three clients from the United States� Chuck Steele Snr. and his son Chuck Jnr. the third clients name was Bob Wentzel. The Professional hunters were Donald Ker Chris Aschan and myself.

We were camped beside the lower reaches of the Grummetti river which forms the
Western boundary of the Serengetti National Park. We were after a general bag of trophies, including Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, and Rhino, all found in the Ikoma area, although rhino were not numerous.

The Safari was going very well, and after a few weeks we were literally coasting with plenty of time on our hands. We hunted in those days, mostly in the early mornings and evenings, game being very plentiful, it was unnecessary to stay out all day.

One evening found Chuck Jnr. and myself together with gunbearers Kidogo and Matheke cruising upriver in the hunting car, just outside the riverine bush.
We spotted a Buffalo about half a mile out in a swath of tall grass, only its back was visible, but �bull� was written all over what we could see. We decided to go take a look, as we had four Buffalo on the license, and we both loved hunting them anyway.

We soon discovered there was a shallow marsh between ourselves and the Buffalo, we waded it without a problem, and then crept up on the lone bull, who was totally oblivious to our presence. The stalk was ridiculously easy due to the long grass, and when he lifted his head he looked pretty good with a spread of well over forty inches.
Chuck was using a .470 hired from the company. His first shot hit the bull high in the shoulder dropping him in his tracks.. a second shot finished him off.
We sent Kidogo back for the car, he would have to bring it by a circuitous route to avoid the marsh, and that would take a while We had no four wheel drives in those days.

There were no trees for a considerable distance from where the Buffalo fell, and there being nothing on which to lean the rifles, we laid them down in the grass, in order to assist Matheke in the removal of the head and cape.
We figured that we would be finished long before the car arrived, and would be holding the rifles ready to put them back in the gun racks when it did.

I was at that time the proud owner of a first grade double Rigby .470, in mint condition, Jack Block, Managing Director of Ker & Downey Safaris had arranged for me to buy it from a friend of his for one hundred pounds about 270 US$. Seems crazy now doesn�t it.

As we were finishing with the skinning, I heard a vehicle, but paid no attention thinking it was my car approaching, no problem, Kidogo knew the rifles were in the grass. However I realized after a while that the sound was coming from a different direction from that I expected my car to appear. I looked up and saw Donald Ker's Power-Wagon approaching us, and already quite close. Donald and Chuck Snr. had obviously seen vultures and were coming over to investigate what was going on.

Donald drove up and stopped. In a flash I remembered the rifles, but it was too late, one of his front wheels had driven directly on to the barrels of my Rigby.470. Horrified I retrieved the rifle as Donald reversed and immediately realized the worst. The barells were badly bent. Who was to blame? Nobody! We did not expect Donald to come along when we put the rifles in the grass, and he did not know that the rifles were there. It was a tragic accident.

However I was devastated, and to make matters worse, I was now without a heavy rifle and I had another three month Safari starting as soon as the Steele Safari was over.
I had with me a very nice .375 Winchester Model 70 which I used for the remainder of the trip, but I could not start a new Safari with a .375 as my heavy rifle. That would be unthinkable, at a time when great store was laid on large bores and heavy bullets.

On arrival back in Nairobi a couple of weeks later, I immediately began making enquiries for a replacement, but time was short and there appeared to be nothing in the line of heavy double rifles available.
The only heavy rifle I could find was a Rigby .416 at a dealer by the name of May & Co. It had been ordered by Don Bousfield, a game ranger, and for some reason, Don and the .416 had not bonded. It was �as new� and for sale for one hundred pounds . I had no option. I bought it. Little knowing then that decision was one of the most important I would make throughout my hunting career.

So began a lifelong love affair between myself, the .416 caliber, and the Rigby rifle.
.
I very soon realized that this rifle and cartridge combination was for me far superior to any double. The inherent accuracy of a bolt action was apparent from the very first shot, the phenomenal penetration was to make itself evident as time went by.
I also appreciated the four round magazine, and on several occasions was glad that those four rounds were ready and waiting.


Suffice to say that after about two Safaris I would not have gone back to a double under any circumstances. In the Rigby .416 I had found the perfect Professional Hunters rifle,
A beautifully balanced, fast handling weapon propelling a four hundred grain bullet fast enough to enable it to reach out up to three hundred yards if need be, when trying to bring down a wounded animal, and yet perform with devastating effect on large dangerous game at close range. I was impressed!!!.

I have to say that this rifle never gave the slightest trouble, it did however, give the most satisfactory service anyone could ask for, it never let me down, ever!!. I think my Wakamba gun bearers were even more devoted to it than I was. Maybe they thought it had some kind of �dawa.�{medicine}. They called it �Skitini� the closest they could get to four sixteen, and I do believe they were convinced it did most of the shooting by itself. I merely pointed it in the right direction. They regarded it as the one thing that stood between themselves and a possible messy follow up.

Over the years as a Professional Hunter I carried the .416 from the Sudan in the North to Botswana in the South. There have been some rather tricky situations, and it was largely due to the qualities of the Rigby rifle and the performance of the 416 cartridge that everyone involved came through unscathed."

JORGE

A living link to a bygone era. Just think of it, Harry was initiated by Phillip Percival. Oh, how I wish he would write a book! A book about HIS life. Tales of growing up in Kenya, the post war years when he got started, his contemporaries, the Mau Mau years, Uhuru, his business ventures, his ambitions, about Botswana, his kids, his staff, and his guns. The people he knew, loved and loathed.

I wish he would do it like Finn Aagaard, and sit with a recorder and tell stories around the campfire. Sadly, I've had a publisher of such books say Harry will never do it. Perhaps I'll post it where he can see it. There is so much he has shared with a few, that many of the rest of us would enjoy.

Heck of a recommendation for a rifle. I'd read a shorter version of the story about how Selby came to use the .416 bolt gun, this one has more detail.

Hatari - I'd love it if Selby's daughter or someone would put together a book of his hunting stories... That could truly be a magnificent read.

Guy

Maybe the ghost of Paul Harvey (or someone) will provide "The Rest of the Story"?

Be sure to visit Gail Selby Wentink's website:

http://gabrimaun.tripod.com/



from "Harry Selby - An African Legend" by Joe Coogan
"Like Harry, his children Mark and Gail grew up in the shadow of acacia trees and within the sound of roaring lions. At the age of 14, Gail hunted an elephant with her father taking a bull with 50-pound tusks. On that hunt she used a Rigby .275 originally belonging to the legendary elephant hunter Karamoja Bell, and which had been given to her brother Mark by his godfather, Robert Ruark."





Gail Selby with her father Harry Selby

Cheers!
-Bob F.

Bob, with your talent for ferreting out old pictures and stories, maybe you can keep looking for cool pics like the ones above and post them. Another legend that was (is) a 416 Rigby man is Tony Sanchez Arino. I was fortunate to meet him at the convention a few years ago and since we both spoke Spanish we hit it off then as it turned out, we were on the same plane ride back to the east coast and I had a great time listening to his stories. Also he was gracious enough to autograph all of his books for me that I have here at home.

Jeff, if you follow the link over to AR, maybe you can post your thoughts over there and Harry is sure to read them. jorge

Tony Sanchez Ari�o is a great guy. Sings arias in the field. Has a twinkle in his eye even at a mature age. If his bunk could talk, I imagine that a list of all the women that have gotten smitten by his good looks and charm would be long enough to make Cassanova blush. The idea that women love him and men want to be him - "the most interesting man in the world" could be Tony's title. Loved talking to him in Reno when I went regularly.

"Lions tremble at his approach. Elephants have their tusks extracted and leave them at his tent. Women consider his camps 'clothing optional'. He is.......the most interesting man in the world!"

I'll post over at AR.

His wife is a babe too. Reminds me of the princess Hey wait a second, I thought *I* was the most interesting man in the world (not good looking mind you)! Besides, Tony doesn't have any "traps"

Do you drink Dos Equis?

Of course! My kids get it for me and laugh XX

I concur on the 40 calibers..I suspect today the same folks might opt for a 416 Rem. or Ruger as they can be built into smaller actions and are slimmer and lighter, but who knows, the Rigby still has a large following but I don't seem them in the field much these days..

I believe the 416 Rem or Ruger to be the best of all African cartridges for an all around gun. They move the great and wonderful .375 H&H to second place if you stop and think about it and put nostalgia and recoil aside ( I know thats not easy ) but a 300 gr. bullet at 2700 FPS or more, or a 400 gr. bullet at 2400 FPS or more is doable and about covers all the bases for Africa any way you cut it..Just my personal opinnion btw and cetainly argueable...

Harry Selby and Mark Selby are great folks, and that was an interesting read, I read it long ago, but its still a good read today..Mark Selby is also a 40 caliber person, he aused to shoot a double in 450-400 that Robert Ruark gave him as I recall, I am guessing he still does??. The 450-400 is my all time choice of a double rifle caliber, relitively mild recoil, and a deadly killer of big stuff,including elephant, again just my opine and again argueable as many believe elephant cartridges begin with the .45 bores, in which case I always like the 450-3.25.

Bottom line is its all good campfire conversation, without the hunt would never be the same.

Nope his Rigby was in 470 if you read the post up there. The 416 Rem is a great round but it wasn't around then.

"I was at that time the proud owner of a first grade double Rigby .470, in mint condition, Jack Block, Managing Director of Ker & Downey Safaris had arranged for me to buy it from a friend of his for one hundred pounds about 270 US$. Seems crazy now doesn�t it.

Nice round the 450/400 but it ain't in the same league as the 416 Rigby.

Jorge,

I believe Ray was talking about Mark Selby using a 450/400. That's a different rifle from the one Harry started out with (and the truck ran over which led him to acquire the .416 Rigby).

Cheers!
-Bob F.

Well then, how about some more photos of the 275 Rigby rifle that Gail used to hunt her elephant?
(Refer to the photo and caption I posted above.)

Now, talk about a rifle with some real history!!!














[img]http://www.bunduki.com/bob/selby/275-7-large.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.bunduki.com/bob/selby/275-8-large.jpg[/img]



Back in 2007, the new owner of this rifle and I corresponded a little about the rifle. He knew I was a big Ruark fan from seeing some of my posts on another forum website. He very graciously sent these photos, that he took, to me. The rifle now resides in his home in West Virginia. He's a rather serious collector so this rifle is in very good hands.

I may have posted these pics before on the Fire but, quite frankly, I can't remember right now if I did or not.

Cheers! [img]http://www.bunduki.com/bob/emoticons/beer2.gif[/img]
-Bob F.

Bob,

I recall seeing Marks double for sale within the last handful of years. I can't confirm that now, but when I read about it I was incredulous that the Ruark rifle would ever leave his hands.

Here's a great read about that rifle by Harry

http://www.americanrifleman.org/Webcontent/pdf/2009-7/200971484642-kwaherisafari.pdf

COOL!! Thanks for that article! That's one I hadn't seen before. I'm going read it Saturday morning as I'm sipping my morning coffee.

BTW, I really like your avatar. That's one of my favorite movies!

Thanks again!

Cheers!
-Bob F.

Cool pics and articles! sorry I mis-spoke Ray, you were correct, MARK Selby used the 450/400. jorge

Bob, that is Veddy cool

Thanks for posting...that rifle has a BUNCH of History....


Ingwe

I probably have posted this before, but I got to shoot the Selby .416 a few years ago--as have about half the gun writers in America. It's now owned by a guy in Arkansas, who for a while hosted groups of gun writers on his big rice planation, where they shot ducks (sometimes out of a blind Nash Buckingham hunted from), culled whitetails and got to whack away with the Selby Rigby.

It's of course a very nice rifle, but the thing that amazed me as how well-balanced it is, despite weighing 9-1/4 pounds. In fact it inspired me to acquire a .416 Rigby like it, done by modifying the stock on a CZ 550 Magnum so that the weight and balance is just about identical to the Selby rifle.

Of course, these days many of the more avid American safari hunters don't consider the .416 Rigby to be truly powerful enough for SERIOUS hunting of the bigger African game. I wonder what Harry Selby thinks of that....