Peter Hathaway Capstick was a man who was instrumental in encouraging a young generation into safari hunting in Africa. His books fired the imaginations of many and the resulted in safari hunting becoming popular, something which made the way for greatly improved conservation of natural habitats and the wildlife that depends on them.
Fast Facts
- Peter Hathaway Capstick began his professional life as a stock-broker but decided that was simply not what he wanted to do with his once only life.
- Capstick was a keen big game hunter and so he set about becoming involved in big game hunting in South and Central America before discovering Africa.
- Capstick was an author and professional hunter and his books served to ingnite a passion for big game hunting in a new young generation.
- Peter Capstick’s contribution to safari hunting in South Africa and the resultant conservation made possible by that was recognized in 1989 when he was presented with a custom 375 Holland & Holland rifle made for him by South African rifle maker Musgrave.
- This rifle is coming up for sale by Rock Island Auction on December 5th, 2025.
Peter Hathaway Capstick was a hunter and writer: a man who loved the wild places of the world, and especially Africa’s wild places.
Peter Capstick was an American, born in New Jersey in 1940: his initial career path took him into the Wall Street world of finance but he found that did not suit his vision for his life, he was passionate about big game hunting and before he turned thirty years of age he determined to embark on a lifelong journey to make that his full time occupation.
Capstick’s hunting career began in Central and South America, where he engaged in hunting, fishing, mastering Spanish, and surveying for opportunities and the necessary connections to establish a business organizing hunting and fishing trips for clients from the United States.
In all that time however Peter Capstick heard the siren song of Africa and it would be a land he fell in love with, a land he described as his “source of inspiration“: and it was indeed the source of inspiration of his life, and of his books.
Peter Capstick was a hunter and a writer – he’s sometimes likened to Ernest Hemmingway although his books are very different to Hemmingway’s.
Capstick became a professional hunter and lived life to the full – paying the price for such an adventurous career. He listed his injuries – souvenirs of a life well lived.
Peter Capstick was almost killed seven times; twice in light aircraft flying over largely uncharted landscapes, he had a very close call with a lion, and another perhaps even worse with a leopard in the long grass, he finished up with 410 stitches in his left leg, most of the tendons in his left foot were wired up with silver wire, five broken vertebrae courtesy of a rather grumpy buffalo, and another two from another “life experience“, not to mention more than one concussion and a few lacerations thrown in for good measure.
His life choices left him with a few scars, but, as Alfred E. Pease says in his 1914 novel “The Book of the Lion” “Without fear, there is no bravery“.
Capstick’s efforts, both in leading clients on African safari, and in writing and publishing a number of books, produced the effect of building safari hunting as a business for many who profitably used land that might otherwise have been cleared for farming to generate income.
This ensured that Africa’s wild bush and the animals that depended on that habitat were conserved and managed. It was a cooperative balance between causing the natural land and its wild species to prosper, and to cause the native human population to prosper by providing employment and business opportunities.
These employment and business opportunities served to bring much needed foreign currency into the African “emerging states” and ultimately became a multi-million dollar injection into the economies of the African states who benefited from this.
Peter Hathaway Capstick’s Musgrave – DWM custom rifle.
South Africa’s Musgrave rifle making business began as a family affair beginning in 1950 by Ben Musgrave. The business began with a focus on target rifles, initially doing accuracy work on the service rifles used in rifle competition in South Africa before moving up into making complete rifles – both target and hunting.
The company’s sporting rifles were often based on the Santa Barbara M1898 action with Musgrave made barrels and stock. Musgrave also designed and made their own actions, especially for their target rifles.
The rifle made by Musgrave for Peter Hathaway Capstick was built on a German made DWM (Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken) action – DWM were famous for the quality of their engineering and made both the Luger pistol and Mauser M1898 rifles, military and sporting.
The Musgrave company has been through a couple of changes of ownership and are currently manufacturing both traditional hunting rifles and military style rifles.
You will find the current Musgrave website if you click here.
Peter Hathaway Capstick’s Musgrave rifle was custom built to order by him in 1989. Peter placed his order on a visit to Musgrave where he was met by Lt-General Denis Earp – who was at that time Chief of the South African Air Force – Peter was measured up so that the rifle would be a bespoke fit for him: just like visiting Saville Row in London and having a bespoke suit made.
The year after that meeting Peter returned to Musgrave to collect and pay for his new rifle. He went to the factory in the company of General Earp and was met by the company management and the press. He was informed that there would be no charge for the rifle. It was to be a gift to him.
Peter was told that his books had contributed so much to the resurgence of interest in safari hunting in South Africa that they wanted to present him the rifle as a gesture of gratitude.
Suffice to say Peter was deeply touched by this recognition and generosity.
Peter Capstick took that rifle on his hunt in 1989 when he visited what was then South West Africa (now called Namibia). Peter took the last elephant taken in South West Africa before the name change and he had a rifle cover made using skin from that elephant.
This rifle was used by Peter Hathaway Capstick on his last hunt which he did a mere five months prior to his passing away in 1996 at the age of fifty-six, having lived life to the full.
The beauty of this rifle can be appreciated from the photographs, but not only that, the intelligent design and fitting stand out. The stock is of a rather lovely and understated piece of walnut. The octagon barrel is engraved with Peter Hathaway Capstick’s name and has a full length rib with integrated beaded blade front sight with flip-up moon bead, fixed notch rear sight, front sling eye on the underside, and attractive light floral scroll at the breech.
The barrel has CAL. 375 H&H” at the right of the breech, and the serial number “Nr. PHC-1” at the left of the breech, all of which are inlaid in fine silver: “PHC” standing for Peter Hathaway Capstick.
The rifle-scope Peter chose is a Schmidt & Bender 1.5-6×42 – the perfect optic for this rifle, and the mounts look to be by EAW, again a perfect choice.
The EAW mounts allow for easy removal and replacement of the rifle-scope. I’ve had them on a couple of my rifles over the years and found them to be quite marvelous.
The rifle is beautifully blued with restrained engraving, and features a trapdoor pistol grip cap.
This unique and historically significant rifle is coming up for sale by Rock Island Auction at their Bedford, Texas sale and will be offered on December 5th, 2025.
You will find the sale page for this rifle if you click here.
Peter Hathaway Capstick was greatly respected and in 1990 Col. Arthur B Alphin from A-Square named their new 470 caliber cartridge the 470 Capstick.
The 470 Capstick delivers a 570 grain .475″ bullet at a respectable 2,400 fps (730 m/s). Suffice to say that when you press the trigger on a 470 Capstick rifle it lets you know in no uncertain terms that it does indeed pack a punch.
This is a respected cartridge with good reason and was one of the first chamberings used in Joseph Szecsei’s bolt action double rifle made by Fuchs Fine Guns.
There are some good videos on YouTube about Peter Hathaway Capstick and his adventures:-
- Iconic Big Game Hunter Peter Capstick and His Love of Africa – Now I’ve Heard Everything
- Capstick-Botswana Safari VHS – Dr. Rip VHS
- A Lapful of Leopard – Catholic Men’s Podcast
- Gored by an Elephant – Catholic Men’s Podcast
- The Killer Baboons of Vlackfontein – Catholic Men’s Podcast
You can find some of Capstick’s books on Amazon if you click here. (Note: we get a small commission on the sale if you purchase from them).
And you will also find some of his books on Goodreads.com.
Picture Credits: All pictures courtesy Rock Island Auction.
There is another of Peter Hathaway Capstick’s guns coming up for sale by Rock Island Auction.
It is his Winchester Model 1200 Slide Action Shotgun and you can find the sale page for it if you click here.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
