Quote Originally Posted by Thumbcocker View Post
Riding through Pretoria and Johannesburg was eye opening and scary.

I'm not sure what the laws are on reloading but one PH told me it is pretty common. Our PH was just getting started loading .308.
I lived in Johannesburg in 82 and 83 when SA was a safe and nice place to live. Even then getting a handgun was a little bit of a hassle the first time. There was no limit on ammo and I shot IPSC and was going through 200+ rounds a week. Compared to here the reloading was expensive but cheaper than loaded ammo.
I brought in some guns and sold them through a local dealer and doubled my money on them and he did as well. At the time you could have paid for a hunt by bringing in the right firearms to sell after the hunt was over.
I loved the country at the time but it isn't a particularly safe place to be right now. Most of the folks that I knew down there have moved to England, Australia or new Zealand and some came here.
I was just getting some good contacts for hunting down there when my time was up. At a going away party Gerry Gore told me he needed 6 guys to fill a cull Buffalo hunt. All I had to do was come up with a rifle big enough to fill the bill. Even then a Buff hunt was 6K.
When I accepted the job down there the South African Rand was $1.17 US. Last price I heard was about R9 to the dollar. SA was extremely rich in natural resources but the country's economy in is the dumper.