Double Rifles

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.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cal Pappas shoots a 4-bore Thomas Bland with 14 drams, 385 grains of FFg GOEX powder, 2150-grain bullet at his shooting range in Willow, Alaska.

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 photos of the rifles of a good friend in Alaska, Rob Seymour. Top photo shows a Bland 4-bore single, a Bland 8-bore top lever double, and a Tolley 10-bore double. Below that is a photo of the Bland 4, then a Jeffery 8 double, the Tolley 10, and at the bottom is a Howdah .577.

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.