CRAIG BODDINGTON VIRTUAL CONVENTION 2021

2021 CBEO Convention Press Release

Craig Boddington Virtual Convention Helps Save Conservation Efforts Around the World

Contact: Conrad Evarts 406-475-4994 conrad@craigboddington.com

Helena, MT. — (January 5th, 2021) — The 2021 Craig Boddington Virtual Convention is open. This convention is Col. Boddington’s third annual online hunters convention and is important to conservation efforts worldwide. With the response to COVID restricting travel and ending brick and mortar conventions for the foreseeable future, outfitters urgently needed to connect with clients in a new way. Boddington saw a need for a simple and effective online convention to facilitate a comeback for outfitting in 2021. The continuation of hunting is a life and death situation for conservation; farms and concessions that support wildlife, antipoaching teams and rural communities worldwide rely on hunting to survive. These are good people doing good things for wildlife and Craig’s hand selected a group of carefully vetted outfitters that are committed to ethics and conservation.

Exhibitors at this virtual convention are exclusively members of Craig Boddington’s Endorsed Outfitters. ““I created this online convention to help hunters find trusted outfitters in a season of canceled conventions. Each outfitter was vetted with at least one visit and thorough research of their history. Clients can book with complete confidence. What about the personal interaction? We covered it. On each booth you’ll see a button to SCHEDULE SKYPE. Click on the button and to have a face- to-face discussion scheduled in no time. The money saved in travel can go to all kinds of efforts from anti-poaching, conservation projects, local schools and facilities. It’s a win not only for the outfitters but for wildlife and hunters.” said Boddington.

Attendees can register to win a trip to join Boddington on a salmon “HUNTING” trip during the Black Gold Lodge Craig Boddington 11th Annual Salmon Fishing Tournament, a safari for two to South Africa or series of prizes from African Sporting Creations.

Live seminars? They will occur via ZOOM. Starting with a live but virtual cocktail party at 6:30 CST on January 22nd, 2021 then moving on to a Q&A with Donna at the same time on January 23rd, a chat with Jim Morando and a seminar on filming hunts and gearing up for North America in 2021. Each night during the seminar week, a sweepstakes winner will be announced.

It’s important to visit the virtual show floor. It’s never been more important to fulfill your hunting dreams. All the outfitters are prepared to have one on-one conversations. Visit CraigBoddington.com to book a hunt with the best outfitters on Earth. Sign up for the newsletter to enter to win the sweepstakes.
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About Craig Boddington: Hunter — Journalist — Author — Adventurer
Craig Boddington is one of today’s most respected outdoor journalists. He spent the past forty years exploring our natural world as a hunter and sharing his knowledge and experiences in dozens of books and through thousands of published articles and essays. He’s a decorated Marine, an award-winning author, and continues to be a
leading voice for conservation and ethical hunting around the world.

Gordon Marsh: Hunting in Mozambique

Mozambique was colonized by European explorers–in this case, Portuguese explorers–in the late 15th Century. It gained its independence in 1975, but suffered through a civil war until 1992. Throughout the wartime period, poachers destroyed much of the country’s varied wildlife population, but today, the government works with several organizations on wildlife restoration and conservation efforts.

I was recently privileged to share a hunting camp with Craig Boddington in Mozambique through Zambeze Delta Safaris. ZDS has maintained a vast hunting area for the past 24 years, and its anti-poaching efforts have restored much of the wildlife. (On our trip, for example, we learned that they’re in the process of reintroducing more than two dozen lions to the area.)

Myself and Craig Boddington with one of the buffalos taken during the trip.

Craig and I were there to hunt buffalo and plains game. We went in late October, which is supposed to be at the end of the dry and cool season. However, it was unseasonably hot this year—temperatures ran as high as 115 degrees in the shade during the day and in the 90s at night. Thankfully, the last few days of our hunt cooled down considerably, and we enjoyed some comfortable days and cool nights. Below, you’ll get a day-by-day report of what we did on our safari and our experiences with Zambeze Delta Safaris.

Continue reading “Gordon Marsh: Hunting in Mozambique”

Reloading .32 S&W Top-Break Revolvers

Part of the fun of reloading is bringing hundred-year-old guns back to life, like 32 S&W top-break revolver. These revolvers can be very inexpensive—running around $200 or less for one in excellent condition—and ammunition and reloading supplies are also inexpensive. Loading and shooting this round offer some challenges, though, so below I offer my personal experience loading and shooting this round.

Buying Reloading Brass

A few companies do sell loaded ammunition for the .32 S&W top-break revolver; likewise, Starline and Magtech both offer unprimed brass at a low price. You should cast pure lead bullets and not worry about sizing them. Lee offers an inexpensive (around $19) 98 grain bullet mold that can cast an 88 grain bullet that’s .311” in diameter.

Choosing the Right Die

Now comes the difficult part. No one currently makes dedicated .32 S&W dies, but you have a few options that will work. Dies made for 32 S&W Long, 32 H&R Mag and .327 Federal magnum will all work to some degree. Even dies for 32 ACP will work.

The sizing die is the same for these options, but the expanding die and seating/crimp die can cause problems. The 32 ACP dies will size and expand the neck just fine and the seating die will seat the bullet well, but the 32 ACP uses a tapered crimp, which means you won’t have a nice factory roll crimp. Depending on the powder you use, this may not be a problem. Personally, I prefer a modest roll crimp to get a better powder burn and to burn the powder fast enough so the case expands to the chamber and creates a good seal. A faster burn also lessens the stress on the gun itself and prevents the chamber from getting dirty.

I use the Lee .32 S&W Long Die set because it comes with the correct shell holder at no extra cost. You can disassemble the Lee expanding die and insert a filler plug to make the expander plug extend down enough to properly expand the neck.

Now we have to address the seating die and crimp. One option is to simply screw the seating plug down enough to seat the bullet and the die will close the flared case, but that isn’t ideal. Fortunately, I have a small lathe in my workshop that enables me to chuck the factory die, shorten it by 3/16”, and recut the internal bevel so it accepts a flared case. This worked like a charm—I have a perfect roll crimp and I can still use the dies in the original calibers they were designed for.

Picking Your Powder

When it comes to loading, nobody can tell you exactly what’s safe for your antique revolver. However, I can tell you what works best for my 32. My 32 S&W is an H&R top-break made between 1895 and 1905 that is in excellent condition. I tried a few powders like Red Dot, Win 231 and Unique before finding that 1.6 grains of Tin Star was perfect. It filled the case to the base of the bullet, just as it was designed to do with old Black Powder cartridges. Tin Star burns very clean, though it does require at least a modest roll crimp. Using Tin Star, I can record a velocity of about 600 FPS. To my surprise, the soft lead cast bullet easily penetrated a pressure-treated 2×4.

At Wholesale Hunter, we can help you find the right supplies so you can load your favorite antique top-break revolver. Contact us with questions–we’d love to hear from you.