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Nitro Express
The History & The Story |
Safari and Africa's big five are the heart of the Nitro Express story.
Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, are Africa's big five.
The Story. In the early years on the Dark Continent, the ultimate adventure was to hunt Africa's dangerous game, - the big five, on foot! Famous US author Earnest Hemingway went on safari to Kenya in 1933. Hemingway was one of many that followed in the footsteps of US President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1909, Roosevelt went on safari to Kenya requiring over 200 porters to carry his safari. These were the early years. Today, volumes of stories describe the dangerous encounters that often went wrong on safari. With average tracking skills, they can be tracked down to the best book shelves across the globe.
Today in 2009, sighting the big five is still the best day out on Africa's savannah. At Nitro Express, we encourage outfitting your safari with a best quality .500mm telephoto lens attached to a best quality camera. As they say when heading out armed with just a camera, good hunting, get the shot! At Nitro Express, we are passionate to keep all big five alive!
The History. 1898 is the year Nitro Express came in to being. John Rigby, a best quality London gun maker, is recognized as the founder of Nitro Express. 1898 is the year the all new smokeless gun powder was invented. John Rigby took a common .45 caliber deer hunting cartridge of the day. It was loaded with a large measure of black powder. He replaced the black powder with the new smokeless powder. In one shot, John Rigby changed for ever, all rifles with this extraordinary new powder. An explosive increase in velocity over black powder, transformed a deer hunting rifle into an elephant hunting rifle.
At the very time of Rigby's development, the British launched a sensational new steam train. So fast was this new train, it was named the Express Train. Record breaking runs made bold headlines in all the news papers. As the new smokeless powder was developed from nitroglycerine, John Rigby called his powerful new rifle, the "Nitro Express Train Rifle". A short time later, the train rifle part was dropped, leaving Nitro Express as it stands to this day.
Nitro Express is double rifles, and the big cigar size cartridges they fire.
To stay alive when charged by dangerous game, man had to have a charge stopping firearm. On safari, hunters relied totally on the charge stopping power of the big heavy cartridges. An explosive charge by any of the big five had to be met head on with an equal force. Nitro Express became that force. The British perfected the design of double rifles along with most of the famous cartridges like, .450 .470 .500 .577 during the mid 1800's on into the 1900's. Round the turn of the century, hunting in Africa was huge for those that could afford the time and money to go on a real hunting Safari.
The history of safari records many famous names including the royals. The Duke of York, who become King George V, and the Duchess of York, who became the Queen Mother, went on Safari to Kenya in 1924. Later in 1930, Edward, [the Prince of Wales to become Edward VIII,] was taken on safari by Denys Finch Hatton, featured in "Out of Africa". Prince Edward, crowned King in 1935, abdicated his throne only 325 days into his reign in order to marry Wallis Simpson. By engaging a professional tracker like Mr. Google, this history is easily tracked down in the bushveld of time.
On safari, the Nitro Express double rifle became the most reliable means to stop a charging cape buffalo, lion, elephant, or rhino. In a tight corner, hunters did not have time to reload a bolt action rifle. The double rifle gave two reliable shots requiring only trigger action to fire each barrel.
Today, we have finally learnt that man is the supreme destroyer of wild life.
Without the big five, Africa would no longer be the Dark Continent creating the romance adventure and excitement found in the early safari years.
At Nitro Express we encourage hunting the big five by camera. Not by rifle.
It is time rifles retired to gun cabinets and cases to dream of how it used to be. Today, camera safaris get the best shots of the big five.
The ultimate thrill is one of the big five on a full dusty threat charge, straight down the lens!
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