Fareastdriver,
Nice to know that the Gurkhas had only kind intentions towards their booty from Indonesia, and glad they would be going to a good home, but it is always dicey returning a pet animal to the wild.
I admire your ingenuity with the cartridge-conversions - yes, a Prophet is never honoured in his own country ! I solved my camp-bed problem in Burma with my air-transportable Charpoy, but
AFAIK no one else took up the idea, though it was simple and easy (you just
can't help some people, can you ?) I once took up the slack in a worn throttle spindle with a bit of kitchen foil wrapped round. Worked well for quite a while.
A 44 gal drum at 100 yards is good indeed. (I don't think a .38 would
carry 100yds). We were told that the only way to be sure of a result was to stick the muzzle into your chap's guts and fire.
Happy Days. Danny.