Old School Cool (page three)
Uberti’s Model 1885 High Wall retains all the classic lines and solid performance that made this design great.
By Mark Keefe, AR Editor-in-Chief
Going Cowboy … In Africa?
In the Okavango, some areas are thick as one might expect, and it is there that the impala of the area thrive. We tried a few stalks without much success through the terrain, which is wooded yet open in some patches. Then we tried another stalk with a pile of dead limbs between us and a fine impala ram. The wind was with us, and there was enough underbrush and downed trees to cover our approach. Professional hunter Jeff Rann, an old Botswana hand who’s operated out of the Okavango for the past 25 years, set the sticks as I rested the buffalo gun (okay, bison numbers were abysmal by 1885) with its Malcolm scope atop it on the sticks, cocked the hammer and settled in with a 300-grain Fusion bonded hollow-point in the chamber. Designed for white-tailed deer, the factory ballistics for the Fusion have it moving out at 1850 fps from the muzzle, delivering 2,820 ft.-lbs. of energy. I settled the crosshair on its shoulder, let out half a breath and squeezed. The rifle bucked on the sticks and I was rewarded with a resounding thump as the impala darted to my right. We found it about 20 yards away with a perfect hole just behind its shoulder, and an even larger one out the off side as the bullet showed excellent expansion, having passed through the vitals of the antelope.
From the waters and grasses of the Okavango Delta, we moved south to hunt gemsbok. After quite a lot of jostling to my scope mount, I switched to the factory sights. Using the 1885 with open sights provided a challenge in Botswana’s Kalahari. Just in case you think your hunt needs more adversity, I highly recommend using an iron-sighted .45-70 Gov’t with 40-something eyes and asking someone to follow you about with a large high-definition camera on a tripod. No matter how good your camera man is, and mine, Randy Wemberg, was excellent, it’s still just that much more scent, movement and noise. After a few blown stalks, professional hunter Murray Hibbs told me, “Mark, we need a plan. We need to get close.”
Literally moments later, we spotted a mature male gemsbok, feeding, and we had the drop on it. We used the wind and the cover of the thick brush to circle around the bull. We came within 80 to 90 yards, but there was too much brush in the way. The oryx was moving slowly, head down, feeding as we moved parallel and closer to him. We set up on the shooting sticks three times before both hunter and cameraman had the shot they wanted. Capturing a hunt on film is different, as not only do you have to be ready, but the cameraman has to be on the animal—the right animal—and ready as well.
We had closed to within 60 yards, were set, and that’s when the bull turned about and started moving back toward us. I could see its entire body and had the front sight planted firmly on the shoulder. All I could see inside the buckhorn was gemsbok hide. He was just slightly below us and there was the dry grass of the Kalahari covering his heart. I eased the front sight up a little to clear it, and began the trigger squeeze. The bullet impacted exactly where I was aiming, and passed completely though. It never took another step.
If there is a cooler “old-school” configuration of replica rifle and scope, I’m not sure what it would be. Merely walking down the hall of the offices with the Uberti on my shoulder created quite a stir. Hunting with it in Botswana linked me with the unlikely posse of Thomas G. Bennett, John Moses Browning, NRA’s founders at Creedmoor, Harry Selby, Robert Ruark and Aldo Uberti. That’s a lot to ask of one rifle, but the 1885 High Wall passed with flying colors, case-colors that is.
Manufacturer: A. Uberti S.p.a.
Importer: A. Uberti; (301) 283-6981; www.uberti.com
Caliber: .45-70 Gov’t (tested), .45-90, .45-120
Action: falling block, center-fire single-shot
Receiver: case-colored steel
Barrel: 32" octagonal, blued steel
Rifling: cut rifling, six-groove, 1:20" RH twist
Sights: windage- and elevation-adjustable open buckhorn rear, windage adjustable front blade
Trigger Pull: single-stage; 3 lbs., 5 ozs.
Stock: European walnut with steel crescent buttplate; length of pull, 141⁄16"; drop at heel, 2¼"; drop at comb, 19⁄16"
Overall Length: 471⁄8"
Weight: 9 lbs., 9 ozs. (10 lbs. 9 ozs. with scope & mounts)
Accessories: owner’s manual,
Suggested Retail Price: $1,179
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