I used to get to shoot a Rodda of Calcutta converted P53 Enfield rifle that had been made into a single-shot howdah pistol sometime in the 1870's. It used the usual 2.5 dram charge of Fg and the 535gr Minie bullet, and was very interesting to let loose. Surprisingly accurate too, for a five pound handgun.
The idea, talking to my local post-office wallah, whose family of Sirdars used to assist in tiger hunts in the last days of the Raj, was to stick to muzzle in the open mouth of the tiger as it crawled up the elephant to get to you, NOT to shoot it on the ground - that was held to be the mark of a coward, and any hunter showing such a pathetic display of sportsmanship and lack of guts would find that he had few, if any, further invitations to go a'huntin'.
tac
