Ok - here's an interesting rifle, and if I wasn't so constricted by the UK's highly restrictive firearms laws, I'd display a bit more interest in it. There was someone recently looking for a 450/ 400 - the current
belle de jour - but here is a Jeffrey double rifle in .450 No. 2.
Ian Nyschens, in
Months of the Sun, had a double rifle in this calibre made by Rigby. He describes it thus (p.52):
It was a handy stopper. The big brass cases were 3 1/2 inches long with low chamber pressures and, when one considers how all heavy-calibre rifles pound one's shoulders, this rifle for comfort and effect was the best for me. He subsequently lost it in a boating accident (p.221).
Pierre van der Walt, in
African Dangerous Game Cartridges, says:
One of the great elephant hunters of our time, the late Ian Nyschens, always insisted to me that the .450 No. 2 was the best .458" calibre nitro express cartridge. I am inclined to agree. (p.321)
Actually, with the bullet added to the end of the cartridge, the whole affair comes in at 4.3". I believe that I am right in saying that this is the longest length of any big game cartridge, which is handy for Germans, who like boasting about such things -
Ja, I haf der grosser cartridge! - and Frenchmen, who are deficient in the willy department. The rest of us can just pose with these monstrous cartridges like Stewart Grainger and bask in the admiration of our womenfolk. If we are lucky, we can bask in the admiration of other people's womenfolk as well.
You will see that the engraving looks like it has been done by someone with cataracts and who was using their feet instead of their hands, and the rifle has seen better days. It looks like the vendor has made an effort to polish up the woodwork, and much of the blacking has worn away. On the other hand the screws are all timed and look not to be stripped or scuffed. It comes with its original case. One needs to get a proper condition report before going much further - the condition of the bores and the tightness of the action are important - but it looks an interesting option to me at an estimate of £3 - 5,000, plus Mr. Holt's outrageous and larcenous 30% commission.
https://auctions.holtsauctioneers.c...sp?salelot=A0322+++1257+&refno=178387&image=0
