The Hunter And The Drainpipe

For over 50 years, Danny McCallum walked with lions, stared down buffalo, and tracked elephant through Africa’s wildest frontiers. But his greatest legacy? Helping protect the Selous and Maasailand—millions of acres that still roar today.

He had some interesting scrapes, including a nasty firefight with poachers, as recounted in Vintage Guns Magazine:

They began firing at us, with AK47s, as our Land Cruiser approached. I was hit in the knee and the client took a bullet in the teeth, which lodged in the skin behind his neck. His lady companion was also hit in the face. Now, I can’t remember any of this, but apparently, apparently, I pulled the lady out of the Land Cruiser and pushed her underneath it. However, I do remember looking at her face, all covered in blood, and at my knee, which was in a bad way; and that’s when I lost my sense of humour.

I told my driver to pass me my 7mm. Then I took a few shots”.

He famously wielded a .450 No.2 Watson Bros. double, which was named Drainpipe. Lookit that beauty… its patina sings of days afield…

Westley Richards calls our attention to the single express sight. Drainpipe was a close-range hammer; a closer bringing the heat in the bottom of the ninth inning with the game on the line.

The rifle was sent to Westley Richards for refurbishment, and McCallum wrote of its lineage:

My .450 No2 Watson Bros ( apologies that it was not a Westley, but not my fault) was owned by my Father Owen McCallum which he acquired just after the 2nd war in 1946. Where he got it is unknown to me. It was known amongst the hunting fraternity in those days as the “drainpipe.”

When my Father died in 1964 all his possessions were sold in order to pay towards school fees and debts. Tony France a White Hunter bought my Fathers drainpipe. I was 15 years old at the time, and Tony said to me, that if I was intending to follow my Fathers and Grandfathers careers, that I could have the drainpipe once I got my unrestricted hunters license.

I left school at the age of 16 and came back to do my apprenticeship with Glen Cottar in 1965. I finally qualified and was issued an unrestricted hunting license in 1967. I immediately contacted Tony France and he told me that if I bought a .458 Brno for him, I could have the drainpipe. I managed to borrow 60 pounds (as I was only earning 5 pounds a month) and pay for a new .458 Brno bolt action rifle which I delivered to Tony and he gave me the old drainpipe and you can imagine how proud I was to be able to own my Dad’s old rifle.

The old drainpipe has looked after me these past 53 or so years. I am not the best shot in the profession by any means, but she managed to keep me out of trouble. We have had quite a few incidences together and fairly close encounters with rhino, elephant, lion, leopard and especially buffalo but she managed to point in the right direction and deal with the problem.

One particular case was about three years ago when we (trackers and myself) had been following a wounded buffalo the afternoon before until dark. Went back the next morning and picked up his track again. Followed him until midday when he went down into an overgrown gully covered in incredibly thick green foliage. Lerotet was beside me on my left and Eli the other tracker was beside him. We could not see more than 4 feet in front of us. Any how the buff heard us and gave one snort and came. I did not see him until his head broke cover in front of us and I fired. He dropped right there by our feet and so I gave him the second barrel just to make sure that he would stay down. The front of my shirt was covered in blood spatter from the beast. My trackers were still in place and had not moved. The old drainpipe lived up to her reputation.

Enough of that BS for now, until we meet around the camp fire up in Northern Kenya.

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Note in the margin: I love that hat McCallum is wearing. For some reason it makes me think of Samwise Gamgee from The Fellowship of the Ring:

Presently Sam appeared, trotting quickly and breathing hard; his heavy pack was hoisted high on his shoulders, and he had put on his head a tall shapeless felt bag, which he called a hat. In the gloom he looked very much like a dwarf.

Yes, dammit, Sam wore a hat.

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Speaking of safari, there is a new YouTube Channel that looks like it is gonna hit the x-ring — Safari Classics TV. Dig the caper:

We’re excited to launch this brand-new series that takes you beyond the lens and deep into the heart of Africa’s wildest hunts. Each week, host Dave Fulson sits down with Professional Hunters, cameramen, and others who’ve faced charging buffalo, last-light stalks, and the kind of close calls you don’t forget! These are the stories you didn’t see on camera—raw, unscripted, and straight from the frontlines of safari adventure.

A deadly serious Cape buffalo charge in Zimbabwe ends in blood, dust and white knuckles with the bull still coming at just two feet! In this premiere episode, Safari Classics TV host Dave Fulson breaks down this heart-stopping charge with cameraman Andy MacDonald, who became the final target of a wounded Cape buffalo. This bull literally comes back to life and decides to even the score in the thick stuff where nightmares live. This is dangerous game hunting at its most intense—where adrenaline surges, shots matter, and one wrong move could mean death.