What about a double appeals to you most?

[Kevin Peacocke]

I had the double rifle bug years back but was able to get over. I got really busy with my Tournament bass Fishing, it pretty much made me forget anything else but tournament fishing.

English doubles are what its about no doubt.

Thats young man! I am 67, took a buff two years ago, will do another soon. I also took a red stag in Scotland last year, right on the top of a mountain, the climb was the toughest hunt I have ever done, makes Africa look like a billiard table.

For me it was the history and tradition of classic big game hunting in Africa and the photos and movies of hunters carrying big bore doubles on safari in Africa. I took a Model 70 on my first trip to Africa in 1987 and shot plains game. Didn't get back until 2018 and made the decision to get a double. It's so much fun to hunt with and I've used it on two hunts in Limpopo. There's just something about the look and feel of a double rifle that speaks Africa.
I used it in 2019 in thick bush stalking a nice nyala. First shot knocked him down, but apparently hit him just a bit high and went right through the hump of fat at his shoulders. After tracking for a bit we found him again and I hit him with another shot and he turned to run and I instantly fired the second barrel and he went down. My PH immediately said, "That's why I love double rifles!"
Mine's a Chapuis 375 H&H and I really enjoy hunting with it.

Any extractor ptoblems Chashardy?

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I was bitten very hard by the SxS shotgun bug in the late seventies while stationed in Germany. I have used them and a few OU's almost exclusively since. I am sure I have owned over a hundred over the years representing American, British, and continental makers. They consolidated into around twenty that have not changed in a decade. Most are pre-war, but I have Rizzini and Lucchini that represent really fine modern Italian gun making (particularly the Lucchini). My favorite is a WWI era James MacNaughton round body in superb condition.

I got into combination guns around the same time, and have always owned a drilling or bockbuchsflinte (OU rifle shotgun) since. My favorite is a rare pre-war double rifle drilling in 9.3x74R/9.3x74R/16. It belonged to a good friend who took a pair of buffalo and lion with it about fifteen years ago. Regrettably, I have only rolled hogs with it since it came into my care - though I shot them very elegantly indeed.

Another favorite, and another WWI era design, is my William Evans 12 bore Paradox. The last six-inches of each barrel are lightly rifled. Ross Seyfried worked up the "rifle" loads for it. It is simply amazing. Both barrels shoot perfect light modified patterns of 1 1/8 ounces of No. 6 shot, and four of the 740 gr bullets will make a sub-three-inch group at 100 meters. That's right - 100 meters over the open sights. As Ross said, the beautiful thing is "more accurate than either of us." One afternoon in Namibia, I rolled two warthog for leopard bait and created an impressive pile of sand grouse from the same waterhole.

Various double rifles passed through my hands over those decades, and at the cost of a very expensive education, I discovered there were few real bargains. Cheap guns tended to be cheap guns. Good guns at cheap prices seemed to almost always have very expensive problems.

Then about a decade ago, I was offered a Blaser S2 with .375 barrels. I had read Terry Wieland's condemnation of the design, and so with few real positive expectations, I took it home. I was amazed. In short order it also had 30-06 and 500-416 barrels, and it had traveled with me to Africa where it took buffalo and a lot of plains game. I quickly concluded, that at least on this subject, Terry was clueless.

The rifle is indeed different. It is designed to take game well out beyond 250 meters when scoped (it is indeed that accurate), and the scope dismounts quickly to provide access to excellent open sights if a follow-up is required.

There is a .470 and a couple of more in 9.3x74R in the gunroom. Even a massive Austrian flintlock in beautiful condition. But I suspect I am likely done. Just can't seem to improve on the S2 (or the Paradox!).

That is a fabulous gun room! Are you a trophy person Red Leg?

 

[Pondoro]

For me it is a combination of classic historical hunting and the fact that the british got it so right..

Now you may argue that the germans also developed and used them for their driven hunts, but the developement and use of the double rifle for hunting DG is really the story of the British Empire and its vast hunting grounds..

Kevin..being nostalgic as you are....I think you are in for perhaps 3 options..

1. Locate and buy a prewar british boxlock in anything from .450/400 and up
2. Go for the Heym 89, wich is more or less a copy of the above
3. Buy a Krieghoff Big Five and relish in the cock/decock feature, a leap ahead in safety..

Me, I have ended up with option 1 and 3.. I stumbled over a prewar brit with 2 sets of barrels, in .475NE (Straight) and .280 Flanged Nitro Express...both rather odd ducks..

I think it is made by John Wilkes for Midland Gun Co....sadly Midlands records were lost in a fire..

This is a nice example of a prewar boxlock....I took it to Africa and shot ele with it.. I got new ammo from Kynoch (Kynamco) wich regulates perfectly...

The stock cracked in the wrist (after some 100 years..) so I had it restocked in turkish walnut..

I am very happy with it...wish it could speak to me....sadly I do not know its history but it came with some ancient Kynoch solid ammo..

Option 3.....I got a bargain on a Krieghoff in .470. The reason for buying it is that the former is irreplacible...and I love the cock/decock safety feature. If lost I will just take the insurance money and buy a new one....it is very handy and shoots more or less equal with Norma/Federal/Hornady factory solids...and reloads at some 50 yards..

But that old british rifle....is something special.....I will never sell it..

Did I mention that I bought myself a pith helmet for Christmas..??

 

[Pondoro]

The Krieghoff came with a swing mount (Hebelschwenk)...soo I scoped it with a Leupold 1.25-4x20 VX-R (red dot)

 

[Red Leg]

That is a fabulous gun room! Are you a trophy person Red Leg?

What is a trophy person?

 

[Fabnosh]

I have a bust of Winston Churchill. Does that count?

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

What is a trophy person?

Keeps their animal mounts in a trophy room or wherever?

 

[Professor Mawla]

That is a fabulous gun room! Are you a trophy person Red Leg?

@Kevin Peacocke

I definitely am . But mine are no where as sophisticated as @Red Leg Sir’s .

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

@Kevin Peacocke

I definitely am . But mine are no where as sophisticated as @Red Leg Sir’s .
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Very unusual though!

 

[Red Leg]

Keeps their animal mounts in a trophy room or wherever?

So we have a guest house that serves as guest quarters, trophy room and gentlemen’s bar. But i am not really a trophy collector. It displays a few animals as pedestal or wall mounts and others as Euros. Many others are in photo albums or my memory. I think I have measured three for SCI. Our art, my library, and the old militaria that lies about are just as important, not because I collect “stuff” but because I enjoy being around such things. Art, weapons, and old books all harbor other spirits whose company I appreciate. The kids will have a hell of a yard sale someday.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Ive got the double bug quite badly, the whole concept seems so 'correct'. I also admit to being an avid trawler, checking out all the models of the different manufacturers and it is always the photograph that appeals first, only then onto all the specs and features. For me, top of the list is the form, it either appeals or, well, not so much. There is that perfect proportion that comes together perfectly like the Heym 87B. Then the action, dead simple plain steel, or adorned with detailed engraving, like the exquisite Westley Richards Forrest Rifle? Scrolls and patterns do nothing for me, animals are better, but honestly plain steel is equally appealing for it's simple clean line. Finally of course the wood, the natural art of it, no two ever identical. Here the guiding principle is taste and balance. The wood mustn't be too ornate for the double wearing it, or it just looks off. Paging through the Explora you see this exemplified perfectly, horses for courses I guess.
So what about a double makes it shine for you?

The reliability and having two shots on hand. End of. Although I certainly appreciate the engraving and the fine wood that comes on some doubles, its not for me. Currently, I shoot a Merkel in 500N.E and will be honest, I would love a Heym or Verney, but until this day have not handled one that fits me as well as mine. I'm not only referring to the LOP of the rifle, but just how it picks which I think is more important than looks.

 

[AZDAVE]

First I like the nostalgia and history of a double, especially in a DG rifle.

I grew up hunting birds with a SxS 12 ga and that always appealed to me more than a pump or semi. While I was stationed in Germany I was able to shoot a number of drillings. Years ago a friend here let me shoot his Merkel in 500 NE and once I shot those two barrels I was hooked. a number of years and a number of doubles and it is my preferred rifle to hunt with. I still hunt with bolt and single shots where a double isn't an appropriate platform.

 

[chashardy]

Thats young man! I am 67, took a buff two years ago, will do another soon. I also took a red stag in Scotland last year, right on the top of a mountain, the climb was the toughest hunt I have ever done, makes Africa look like a billiard table.

Any extractor ptoblems Chashardy?

No Kevin. Works great. Absolutely no issues with my Chapuis.

 

[Rare Breed]

I was bitten very hard by the SxS shotgun bug in the late seventies while stationed in Germany. I have used them and a few OU's almost exclusively since. I am sure I have owned over a hundred over the years representing American, British, and continental makers. They consolidated into around twenty that have not changed in a decade. Most are pre-war, but I have Rizzini and Lucchini that represent really fine modern Italian gun making (particularly the Lucchini). My favorite is a WWI era James MacNaughton round body in superb condition.

I got into combination guns around the same time, and have always owned a drilling or bockbuchsflinte (OU rifle shotgun) since. My favorite is a rare pre-war double rifle drilling in 9.3x74R/9.3x74R/16. It belonged to a good friend who took a pair of buffalo and lion with it about fifteen years ago. Regrettably, I have only rolled hogs with it since it came into my care - though I shot them very elegantly indeed.

Another favorite, and another WWI era design, is my William Evans 12 bore Paradox. The last six-inches of each barrel are lightly rifled. Ross Seyfried worked up the "rifle" loads for it. It is simply amazing. Both barrels shoot perfect light modified patterns of 1 1/8 ounces of No. 6 shot, and four of the 740 gr bullets will make a sub-three-inch group at 100 meters. That's right - 100 meters over the open sights. As Ross said, the beautiful thing is "more accurate than either of us." One afternoon in Namibia, I rolled two warthog for leopard bait and created an impressive pile of sand grouse from the same waterhole.

Various double rifles passed through my hands over those decades, and at the cost of a very expensive education, I discovered there were few real bargains. Cheap guns tended to be cheap guns. Good guns at cheap prices seemed to almost always have very expensive problems.

Then about a decade ago, I was offered a Blaser S2 with .375 barrels. I had read Terry Wieland's condemnation of the design, and so with few real positive expectations, I took it home. I was amazed. In short order it also had 30-06 and 500-416 barrels, and it had traveled with me to Africa where it took buffalo and a lot of plains game. I quickly concluded, that at least on this subject, Terry was clueless.

The rifle is indeed different. It is designed to take game well out beyond 250 meters when scoped (it is indeed that accurate), and the scope dismounts quickly to provide access to excellent open sights if a follow-up is required.

There is a .470 and a couple of more in 9.3x74R in the gunroom. Even a massive Austrian flintlock in beautiful condition. But I suspect I am likely done. Just can't seem to improve on the S2 (or the Paradox!).

Red Leg what a gun room!!!!! Impressive!!!!

 

[Rare Breed]

So we have a guest house that serves as guest quarters, trophy room and gentlemen’s bar. But i am not really a trophy collector. It displays a few animals as pedestal or wall mounts and others as Euros. Many others are in photo albums or my memory. I think I have measured three for SCI. Our art, my library, and the old militaria that lies about are just as important, not because I collect “stuff” but because I enjoy being around such things. Art, weapons, and old books all harbor other spirits whose company I appreciate. The kids will have a hell of a yard sale someday.

You are a man after my own heart; Art, Hunting Guns and Old books. I am now reading all of Jim Corbett books enjoying them very much

 

[Ray B]

To those posting photos and descriptions of the guns they own: Aren't you a little apprehensive about sending that information out on the internet for those with less than beneficial motivations with regard to private gun ownership to see?

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

To those posting photos and descriptions of the guns they own: Aren't you a little apprehensive about sending that information out on the internet for those with less than beneficial motivations with regard to private gun ownership to see?

for me at least it makes little difference, I hold a restricted license in Canada my hand guns are registered and my m1 carbine is registered. Because dads has a nurse come in daily for medical issues my gun safe has been inspected and documented by the RCMP. It’s no longer a question of weather or not I own firearms it’s now a question of the lengths I’m willing to go to protect my beliefs.

 

[expresshunt]

Pondoro, that 475NE is indeed irreplaceable, my guess is not too many made in that cartridge, by all makers. Many have a soft spot for it, because the case is just so huge...
Professor Mawla, what fine trophies sir, each a huge story I am sure. Many mountain adventures there too, Ibex are an incredible adventure, and under 10k today. A must on all hunters bucket list. Are those Markhor trophies.? And what are those Antelope... look like Reedbuck..but.?

 

[Red Leg]

To those posting photos and descriptions of the guns they own: Aren't you a little apprehensive about sending that information out on the internet for those with less than beneficial motivations with regard to private gun ownership to see?

They are welcome to try. The gun room is pretty solid construction with lots of supporting electronics and a very accommodating and responsive sheriff's department. It is also a state that respects whatever force is necessary to protect property. But should something happen, I will suggest they start by reviewing this thread.

Any concern with your postings?

Hunting Rifles

Some middle-aged Model 70s. Top to bottom: 338, 300H&H,30-06, 270, 257.

www.africahunting.com

Shotguns

Above are a few shotguns, 3 SxS and 1 OU. The stock designs on the SxSs allow for much more difference than with the trim forend of the OU. Shooting the OU is much more like shooting the splinter forend SxS than the beavertail forend SxS is to...

www.africahunting.com

 

[expresshunt]

To those posting photos and descriptions of the guns they own: Aren't you a little apprehensive about sending that information out on the internet for those with less than beneficial motivations with regard to private gun ownership to see?

No.