Double Rifles

At the Big Game Rifle Club shoot in Darwin on July 20 I had the pleasure of seeing many fine rifles and meeting their owners. Below, is a pair of .600s at the shoot. The lower rifle is my .600 Wilkes and the other is a Holland and Holland Royal ejector. Both rifles are proofed for the 110-grain charge of cordite. The Holland has 24-inch barrels and my Wilkes has 26-inch tubes.

While in Australia in July of 2013 I had the pleasure of meeting many fine folks--both old friends and new friends. I spent three days in the small town of Katherine which is about a three-hour drive south of Darwin. I had the honor of being the guest of Mark Paterson, aka Patow. We spent some time in the bush as well as seeing Patow's fine collection of firearms.

Below are seven double rifles of Mark. Above each rifle is a brief description. The first pair of photos below is a Raick Feris double in .450-400 3 1/4-inch. Made in Leige, Belgium, it sports 26-inch extractor barrels and some gold work that is very well done. (I state this as I have seen a few double from India with gold work that looks like the engraver had his kids do the work).

Here are a pair of photos of Patow's second Feris double. This one sports 25-inch barrels, ejectors, and in the great caliber .375 flanged.

A true work of art is this John Blanch double in .450 3 1/4. 26-inch barrels, ejector and a back action sidelock.

Below is a Cogswell and Harrison in the fairly rare .475 straight 3 1/4". 25-inch barrels, sidelock, non ejector. Another fine rifle in the city of Katherine.

A .256 with 25-inch barrels and a 1.5-4x German scope is on this Cogswell and Harrison double.

Below is an Army and Navy .450 3 1/4 nitro express with ejectors and 26-inch barrels. Patow has killed some nice buffalo with this beauty.

E. Paton and Son certainly made a fine double rifle in this .450 3 1/4" bpe. John Moore sent the pics from New Zealand. The bottom photo shows a good illustration of Henry's rifling. The barrels are engraved: London Perth Inverness.

Below is the mother of all .600 doubles. The FIRST Jeffery double .600! Lever Over Guard and regulated for the 120-grain charge. An amazing and historical rifle.

A gent in a far off land send these two photos of his Dickson 4-bore. I don't have any additional info and no permission to use his name. However, this is ONE double that must be shared.

A mate whom I will be hunting in South Africa with in a couple of weeks sent in these pics of a .450 3 1/4" Army and Navy nitro express. 28" barrels and extractors with a new refinish, new case (old case if for photos), and has a history of African use: stopping a charging elephant, three buffalo, and a lioness, by the current owner. This rifle is for sale for about 15K.

Below are three pics of a Perrins 8-bore with 11-groove rifling, a unique 20-inch barrel, and a weight of 19 pounds.

Size matters! A rising bite Rigby and a 4-bore Rodda. Owned by a gent across the pond.

Below are six photos from the double rifle shoot in Alaska on May 4th. Typical Alaska spring day: 35 degrees, rain, spitting snow. Great burgers, chips, pop, fine double rifles, and friends. A few machine guns showed up to add to the show. Below are:

Clive Rew of the UK sent these pics of his new treasure. An outstanding Cogswell and Harrison .450 cordite double that was completed on October 24, 1906. A heavy rifle at 13 pounds and 11 ounces and proved for a 440-grail bullet and 65 grains of cordite. I hope she shoots as well as she looks, Clive. Thanks.

A gent from the lower 48 just purchased this Westley Richards 318. Absolutely stunning wood and craftsmanship as only the fine folks at Westley can do it. While so many of us are caught up in the mania of dangerous game calibers and the romance that goes with them, a .318 is the perfect caliber for hunting in the lower 48 and for Alaska if a big brownie is not on the docket. And, 90+% of African critters, too. My friend would like to remain anonymous but agreed for me to feature his fine double rifle. My thanks. In the bottom photo, with the .318, is a Chapuis .450-400 3-inch.

Bob Woodfill ordered a copy of my bore rifle book and today sent me a photo of his bore rifle: "I only have one Bore-Rifle, a H&H 12-bore, fully rifled double, slow twist, made in 1876. The action is marked “Charge 6 Drams, Case 2 5/8” Inches” as shown on the attached somewhat blurred picture. I have got the gun to regulate at 50 yards with 164 grains (6 drams) of Goex 3Fg, 0.735” diameter RB cast pure lead, in a Federal paper case with lubricating wads. 6-shot groups are 2-3” across, so the old gun definitely regulates with a RB at 1471 fps by my chronograph." Thanks, Bob, for permission to use the photo. You have a great rifle and I wish it was in the book.

A friend from Zimbabwe sent these photos for my evaluation. This .470 Bentley and Playfair looks to have had the receiver nickel plated (note the nickel plating in the doll's head recess) and been worked over quite a bit. In 1991 an appraisal in the UK valued this rifle then at 16,000 pounds! It is for sale now at 20K USD.

Below is a Lancaster oval bore .500 express muzzle loading double rifle from the late 1850s. In fine shape and quite unique as this rifle dates to just after the oval bore was patented. Owner is anonymous.

If you want the biggest on the block, Colin Stolzer will be pleased to make you a 2-bore double!! The 2-bore, as a shoulder-held rifle, is a modern invention as no 2-bores existed in the vintage years except as punt guns anchored into a boat to kill flocks of ducks. The specs from Colin's website are: 44 pounds, 1.326" bore, 700 grains of FFg, and a 3500 grain ball. You can see the details and a video at: http://www.stolzergunsmithing.com/2boredoublerifle.htm

The five photos below are of a Lyon & Lyon .470 boxlock extractor with 24-inch barrels. A super rifle owned by a friend.

Terry Buffum is a gent I became acquainted with via my website when he purchased my bore rifle book. He was kind enough to send this photo of his fine Holland and Holland 16-bore Paradox as featured in Lake's book. Steve Helsley took the photo, John Millar made the tools, Ray Sterck the case, Keith Kearcher worked on the metal, and James Tucker the wood. An amazing piece of history here. Thanks, Terry.

Below are seven photos sent in by Abhijeet Deshmukh of India. He has a nice collection of doubles. They are: top photo is a Bland .470, the next three are of a Heym .375, and the lower three are also a .375 but by A. Courdy. Thanks for the photos, Abhijeet.

Christian Klueter from Australia send in the three photos below of his fabulous Dougall Lok Fast 12-bore double rifle. I wish I had this one in my book! I've seen Lok Fasts in shotguns prior but this is the first double rifle I've seen with the unique Lok Fast system. It's really an amazing invention and can't shoot loose. You can see in the top photo how the barrels slide back to lock over the protrusions on the face. Other features are 2 1/2" chambers, a weight of 11 pounds, a charge of 4 drams (110 grains) and a 750-grain conical bullet. Thanks, Christian.

This is a Kodiak Mk IV deluxe rifle in 45/70 with 12 ga barrels. It was made in 1988 by Pedersoli. I bought it from the original owner who bought it years ago at an SCI booth. The Trail Guns Armory listed on the box is no longer around. The old Colonel must have passed away as I've had no luck tracking him down.

Pedersoli claims they never made 12 ga barrels. All of their literature I've seen says this thing was made on their 20 ga frame and you could order a set of 20 ga barrels as an option. I've recently sent them pics of the markings on the barrel flats to see if they help them research it. They are 27.75" long with 2.75" chambers and full/extra full chokes. The 45/70 barrels are 24" with fairly short throats. They will chamber the flat nose bullets used in lever guns, and the long, pointed 500-grain cast bullets from my Lee mold. But they will not chamber 450- or 500-grain round nose cast bullets from my Lee molds.

I've shot it at 50 yards and every load I tried went under 3" for both barrels. When I get the load data from you, I intend to review that, then go back to the range and shoot some more. The groups are centering about 8" low, so I'm going to have to do something about the sights. The rear sight is a fixed blade with 3 flip up blades in front of it. The unit is set into a dovetail, so I can move it for windage. But the front sight is already pretty short, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do to bring the poi up.

Pieter Pasques of South Africa has a new toy--a Sabatti .500 nitro express!! It won't be long 'til Pieter field tests this beauty on big game as he comes from a hunting family.

Joe Ehlinger of Michigan builds flintlock bore rifles and, from the photo, does an excellent job! Below the rifle is the target and Joe stated to me the other day when he called to order the bore rifle book he has no problems in regulation. Perhaps he knows something the double rifle makers don't.

Rolland Huff of Arizona sent this pair of photos of a 12-bore rifle he built on a Sauer 12-gauge shotgun frame. Regulation is in process as I write this. Looks like a nice job and I trust it will shoot as good as she looks.

Andrew Hepner sent this photo sequence of Tony Kelly and his 4-bore. While not a double, any great 4-bore needs to be shown. Recoil of a 4 is stiff in a double, more so in a lighter single shot. Tony shoots 150 grains of shotgun powder and a 2080-grain bullet! "It's a bit of a mother" Tony understates.

Does it get any better than this? Eliot Lee sent this photo of his E.M. Reilly 12-bore in its case with all accessories. Beautiful rifle!

A fine group of gents from down under, all armed with .500 rifles, some bolt and some double. Photo from Andrew Hepner. The lineup is as follows:

From Left to Right.
Geoff McDonald ( Mr. Woodleigh Bullets) .500 N W & C Scott
John Marozzi (Woodleigh Hydro's)   .500 N Sabatti
Andrew Hepner   .500 N William Evans
Robert Christopher   .500 N Blaser
Misosh Kracklejack   .500 Jeffery Custom
Tony Kelly (4 Bore owner)   .500 N I. Hollis
Mario Blasco   .500 Jeffery Custom
Neil Hibble (BGRC Vic. Pres.)   .500 Jeffery Custom
Michael Gibbs   .500 Jeffery Custom
Mark Hibbet (QLD>)   .505 Gibbs Custom
Adam Smeibert   Sharing above rifle
Bill Poymton.   .500 Jeffery Custom/ also
uses .500 N Holland & Holland SLE Royal with extra finish in Gold.
Clive Haug   .500 N Charles Boswell

I just added this nice EM Rielly to my gun safe the other day. A gent in Texas had it for sale. 28-inch barrels, hammers are non rebounding, perfect bores, nicely engraved on the action, rib, and sight leaves, Jones under lever and heel and toe plates. Should be fun to shoot and not too difficult to come up with an accurate load.

Unver Shafi Khan of Pakistan emailed me these photos of his outstanding Osborne double. The caliber is .500 x 3 black powder express. A second set of barrels is chambered for 12-bore. And, most interesting, is a .22 caliber insert for one of the shotgun barrels. Note the rear single folding sight leaf on the shotgun barrels. It is amazing what is out there! Thanks, Unver.

Below are three photos o Unver's .32-40--a unique caliber for a double rifle. The workmanship is outstanding but the maker's name has been scratched off and replaced with Holland and Holland! It would not take much to undo this and what a nice light rifle for small game.

Below is a fine over and under double good friend gave me for my birthday (August 24). I normally shoot and collect side by sides but this O/U may change my way of thinking. Note the large bottle neck cartridges.

It's always good to hear from gents who appreciate fine double rifles. Gaurav Sondhi is from India and he is the proud owner of two outstanding doubles. Pictured below are his .470 Rigby and .375 Holland and Holland. Thanks for the pics, Gaurav.

Tony Orr (r) and Cal compare two John Wilkes doubles. Tony's is a .470 and Cal's is the mighty .600. Both fine rifles are nearly identical except for size. While England's finest makers are Holland, Purdey, Westley Richards, and maybe Jeffery, there are others that take a back seat to no one: Alex Henry, Joseph Lang, and (of course) John Wilkes. A friend owns another .600 by Wilkes and I used to own a fine .475 no2. The quality is outstanding. Tony, how about you and I hitting the bush in 2014 for buffalo?

Steve Ahrenberg is a gent and mate from Arizona whom visited my cabin two years ago. We hunted in Australia with another Arizonian, Scott Kendrix, last week. Steve used his Armeria de Madrid .500 NE back action sidelock (below) and Scott used Steve's Charles Osborne .450-400 # 1/4" from 1892. Here are the rifles and you can see their buffalo on the trophies page. Great hunt, guys. It was a pleasure.

Below are a few photos from the doubles shoot at my cabin on the 12th. From top:

a selection of .600, 4-bore, 8-bore, and .450 no2 ammo

a Bland single 4- and double 8-bore with a Lang .450 no2, and an Army and Navy .450 NE

Paul Ard and the .600 Wilkes

Rob Seymour and his 4-bore Bland

Brett Barringer and the .600 Jeffery single

Jim and the Thompson

Bob Zwyna and the Thompson

Steve Newman with Jim's .450 Army and navy

Dennis Bromley felt the recoil of a .600 single shot Jeffery

Cal with a Thompson from 1927

Nathan Hickman ready with the Wilkes .600

Nathan, again, but in recoil

Bottom photo are several of Cal's rifles the fellas shot. The bottom rifle is an Alex Henry 8-bore and it is for sale.

Gordon Courtney sent these photos of his Thomas Bland .577-500 no2 express. When refinished a bit, it will be a head-turner.

Tomas Lahi just added this beauty to his gun safe and will take her to Zimbabwe in April of 2012 for a tusker. A Charles Lancaster .450-400 3 1/4".

A new addition to the gun safe of Cal Pappas: John Graham (Scotland) .450 black powder express, ok bores, 28" barrels, lever forend, sling, Jones underlever, peninsula locks, horn butt plate. The rifle has been used but not abused and the best feature of all is accuracy--1 1/2" groups at 40 yards.

Paul Smith, a viewer from Alabama, just purchased a fine .500 Jeffery from George Caswell at Champlin Arms. Here is the description to go with the two photos below:#15380, W.J. Jeffery & Co., 13 King Street, St. James's St. London S. W.: A Heavy Duty 500 3" Nitro Express, It was built around a Large Toplever Action with Rebounding Hammers, It is with 24" extractor chopper lump barrels with rib extension crossbolt, 1/4 rib with 1 standing & 4 folding express sights, Original Nitro Proof at 80 cordite & 570 grain bullet, Bushed strikers, Percussion style fences, Anson forend release, Steel grip cap, Sling eyes, No cheekpiece, 14 1/2" LOP over a checkered butt with steel heel & toe plates, The proper and correct 500 Nitro Big Bore weight of 12 lbs. 10 oz., No engraving, The barrels have been reblacked & now are at 98%, No case colors as the frame & lockplates were wire brushed, The trigger guard & tang were reblacked as well, Very solid wood that remains stout both fore and aft, The wood was reoiled and the checkering sharpened up, The good news on this piece is the bores as they are excellent with square rifling the entire way and totally free of any pits. This is a solid working hammer 500 nitro with proper weight to go the distance.

Tomas Lahi sent this photo of a BRNO .375 sidelock over and under double belonging to a friend.

Dennis Jones of Oregon sent in photos of a pair of fine doubles he owns. Top photo is a Cogswell and Harrison .577 2 3/4" bpe double completed on 11-16-1882. Captain J. Ewing did not pick up the rifle as planned so it sat for a few years until purchased by a surgeon, E.H. Fenn, who paid 28 guineas. Below the .577 is a Thomas Turner .500-450. This rifle came out of India with shot-out barrels so Dennis made up an identical set of barrels. Two beautiful rifles. Thanks, Dennis.

John Shirley, at Unit 7 Gunsmith House, Price Street, Birmingham, B4 6TZ is a maker of fine double rifles. Here is a photo of some of his work in progress.

David Antanitus (Rear Admiral USN, Ret.) send in a couple of photos of his .470 Searcy. Dave's is one of only two that Butch Searcy personally signed! No doubt, Butch produces a fine rifle!

Patrick Tinsley sent in these photos of his Thomas Bland .500 black powder express. The rifle has 28-inch barrels and weighs 12 pounds--a bit heavier than the standard .500 bpe. I appreciate all contributions and would like a thousand double on this page if possible. Thanks, Pat.

John Hipwell sent in these photos of a pin fire 8-bore. What a treasure but I don't have any info on this masterpiece.

John Hipwell of Canada is a double rifle man with six African safaris under his belt. The photos below show John's Manton 8 bore and some unique tools made by John Millar (also of Canada) to allow John to reload ammunition whilst on safari in Africa. Look to the trophies page of the site to see the elephant, buffalo, and hippo taken by John with this wonderful 8.

A viewer from Argentina, Guillermo Amestoy, send these photos of a new-production .450 no2 double built on a shotgun frame. This rifle here lives in Canada and Guillermo is building a like rifle for his own use. He has hunted internationally and will soon be going to Arizona for yet another hunt. When he begins bagging critters with a double I will post his photos here as well as his rifle.

Ron Ashabraner sent these three photos of his new Baker 12-bore double rifle. Ron will be hand loading for this beauty soon and I hope he sends in data and accuracy reports. Thanks for the pics, Ron!

Ron Klier was kind enough to send in these four photos of a unique Josef Winkler double rifle from 1962. This very nice rifle is unique in the caliber: .348 Winchester. Other than the maker, year, and caliber I don't have any information on this rifle.

On Sunday, May 1, a few of the Alaska double rifle guys came to my cabin for a shoot and lunch at the local lodge. The three photos below will give an idea of the quality of rifles we were shooting. The top photo is a Westley Richards droplock .577 nitro express. Belonging to Dave Peterson, MD, this rifle is a pre-WWI gem that is in far better condition than Hemingway's .577 that sold at auction a short while ago. Next is the .577 and my Joseph Lang .450 no2 that dates from 1904. Made for a retired officer in the Boer War who went to Kenya to begin a hog farm, he became a White Hunter. The bottom photo is Ron Williams' E.M. Reilly .500 black powder express, 3-inch case. An outstanding example of a fine pre-1900 express rifle--and accurate, too! Brett Barringer was also with us and took the photos. Brett's .500-450 can be seen a bit farther down on this page.

Todd Kilby, MD, is shooting his 1889 Holland and Holland 8-bore smooth bore ball gun at the rifle range in Anchorage, Alaska. 8 drams (220 grains) of FFg GOEX and an 835-grain round ball sized to .830" produced a super target. Greener wrote in book, "The Gun and its Development" that smooth bore guns shoot as accurately to 60 yards as their rifled counterparts but bore rifles shoot accurately to 120 yards (page 644). I have had a couple and can attest to this. Todd's Holland is accurate enough for any big game at bore-gun distances!

Derek Brink is having Westley Richards make a .577 double for his hunting in Botswana. Looks like it is taking shape! WR takes a backseat to no maker!

The four photos below were sent by a viewer of my site whose name I do not have permission to use but the Holland and Holland .300 from 1980 is just too beautiful to keep to myself. The rifle was for sale (this is why I was contacted--if I knew of a buyer) but just then an offer was accepted. Not a vintage rifle, I know, but enjoy. Any H&H is a true treasure!

Below are a pair of photos of a George Gibbs .450-300 3 1/4 nitro express double rifle. It is beauty and I hope more photos will follow. The owner wishes to remain anonymous.

Rich Sanfilippo has this beautiful 12-bore double rifle flintlock. This is the first flintlock to be added to the site. I believe the barrels are 25 1/2 inches and the weight is about 11 pounds. It should be interesting getting a double flintlock to regulate. I know nothing about regulating a muzzle loading rifle and look forward to Rich educating me!

They don't get any better than this Dan'l Fraser .475 nitro! Heine van Niekerk from South Africa was kind enough to send photos of his new rifle. The work on this Scottish double is outstanding and is equal to the best London rifle. If you scroll down a bit you will see a .450-400 Fraser owned by a friend here in Alaska.

While I was on the site I though I'd add my .450-400 Harrison and Hussey boxlock ejector. The scope is a Swarovski 1.25-4x 30mm with claw mounts. I've shot more game with this rifle than all of my other doubles and former singles combined! A rather plain rifle with near mint bores she really gets the job done.

Here are two photos of the new .750 nitro express. If you scroll down a bit on this page there are two additional photos. The rifle is quite a work of art both in metal and the quality of the wood. I wonder when someone will build an .800? Or, take the .50 BMG case, put a rim on it, and fit it to a double? Or, make smokeless modern-day versions of an 8-bore (.840), a 7- bore (.875), a 4-bore (.970), or a true 4-bore at 1.052. There is just no end to the fun! Enjoy the pics.

A friend from Texas emailed these two photos of a Sabatti double rifle. I don't know much about them but they are nice to look at.

No doubt about it, one of the nicest rifles I ever had had the pleasure to handle and appraise is this Fraser belonging to a new friend from Alaska, Matt Moore. This beauty is chambered for the .450-400 3 1/4" cartridge and is a nitro rifle with a 55-grain regulation. The barrels are 27 1/4", weight of 10 pounds, automatic safe and ejectors. Most Impressive in the condition--98%+. A true gem!

A friend and viewer in the lower 48 has this Wilkes .475 no 2 that dates from 1928. I have a few more photos but they are upside down when I place them here so I must learn to correct that and then I will post them. This rifle may be for sale. Update May 8. The rifle WAS for sale and I bought it. 26-inch barrels, 10 pounds and 8 ounces, 3 leaf rear sight, non automatic safety, best quality engraving, ejectors. Bullets, brass, and dies are on the way. The rifle has complete documentation of its history including going on safari with Patrick Hemingway (yes, son of Ernest) were she took the big five including five elephants. I will try to scan the three photos of that 1955 safari and put them on the double rifle trophy page.

Brett Barringer with his first double rifle--an A. Hollis .500-450 regulated for the tropical charge of cordite: 70 grains with the 480-grain bullet. Note the unique sights on the rifle--a claw mount, folding leaves, and a ladder to 1000 yards! Brett has spend some time at my cabin shooting a bit and I suggested the load to use and as you can see from the bottom photograph the rifle dialed right in. Bullets used were Woodleigh and 102.5 grains of IMR 4831. Next, we'll try Woodleigh solids at 98 and 100 grains. Then, we'll see if the rifle will regulate with both 500-grain Hornady (should be easy) and the 350-grain Hornady (may be possible--may not be). Note in the third photo the quality of Brett's footwear--kind of takes away from looking at the sights!

Mike Brooks, an Alaska double rifle man, just received this Searcy in .450 3 1/4" nitro express. A lovely rifle with a piece of wood that would be right at home on a Holland and Holland Royal.

An interesting series of photos of Cal shooting Rob Seymour's 4-bore Bland single. Yes, I am wearing a pad as 14+ drams of FFg and a 2150-grain slug in a 16-pound rifles made for quite a kick. When shooting black powder photos such as this show how much stuff comes out of the bore. This sequence is the same shot as the video above.

A viewer of my site from Genoa, Italy, Marco Scaiola, sent these two photos of his .750 nitro express.

Below are the two pages from my new book on the .600 nitro express on Barnes banded solids. This is for viewers of Nitroexpress.com to put in my two cents. Remember, I am not a technical writer nor a flowery writer--just practical facts for every day shooting. There is a great deal of chatter about OSR but this is actual shooting from an owner of an original vintage .600 nitro.

Shooting the 4-bore is not soon forgotten! The maximum load was: a full ounce of powder (440 grains), a 1743-grain bullet, for a muzzle velocity of 1492 fps! Above: full recoil just before stepping back a step to keep my balance. Below: the smoke is still in the air as I break the action. Next is the first target I shot with the 4- bore and FFg. I put two target side-by-side and aimed at the bottom center. The holes you see are a bit high (notice how they came down with increased velocity) but are fine vertically.

Top Above: Great shot of the smoke cloud and the recoil of the big 4. No wonder the hunters of old had a concern of not being able to see if the quarry was dead, running away or charging. Above: close up of the Hughes' action. Below: a selection of 4-bore projectiles from a 1400-grain ball to a 2160-grain Paradox bullet. A .22 long rifle and a .30-30 are shown to compare size.