The legendary Lee Speed Sporter, if I'm not mistaken. Would he have been using Mk. VII ball?
I read a few excerpts and it appears that Patterson used three guns in his lion hunting: a falling block action, perhaps a Martini-Henry, a .303 British, most likely tye Lee-Medford (the forerunner of the Lee-Enfield) and a double barreled 12 gauge shotgun perhaps loaded with slugs.
The legendary Lee Speed Sporter, if I'm not mistaken. Would he have been using Mk VII ball?
Probably not circa 1898, more likely the Mk II loading that preceeded it, though possibly using a heavier bullet than the the issue 215-grain roundnose. The *Cartridge, S.A. ball .303 inch Cordite Mk III* notoriously known for the production facility at DumDum arsenal in India was in service by 1897 [until 1903] but may or may not have been available in all the other corners of the farflung British empire, and there's also the question as to whether a 215-grain hollowpoint bullet would have had the best- and quickest- effect on large cats.
It wasn't until 1910 that the sharply pointed 174-grain bullet at 2440 FPS was pattern-sealed for production as the Mark VII loading, so it was more likely the Mk I or MkII cordite loading- or the even earlier original black powder loads for the Enfield- that solved the problem. But whether with factory-loaded military projectiles, ammunition produced by another source, or that modified or reloaded to suit the particular hunter, target or rifle, remains an open question.
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