Double Rifles and Hunting Trophies

Tom Van Diepen hunted Zimbabwe in March of 2011 with a Searcy .500 nitro express double. He hunted with Sengwe Safaris with Nixon Dzingai as his PH. The elephant's tusks weighted 55 pounds each and was taken on day 14 of a 15-day hunt. The buffalo was taken on the last day. Great hunt, Tom!

A couple of days after the Dallas Safari Club convention I drove south to a friend's ranch close to the border. Using my .450-400 3-inch Harrison and Hussey boxlock double I took a pig and javelina. The pig was so-so but the javelina had great teeth! A great experience and thanks to Lester Dyke for his hospitality and visiting with his wonderful family. The next day we went out looking for white tail and it turned out to be a 100% day: perfect weather with a slight breeze--cloudless and cool. We walked (rather than driving) a few miles in the bush and rattled up some young bucks. Then, several hundred yards away this young buck was spotted walking away from us and, with a bit of rattling, turned around and began walking toward us. The wind was blowing from he to us so the buck moved off to his right to circle us and get downwind. We, in turn, moved off to our left to meet him. Staying completely still and rattling the shed antlers, the deer appeared about 60 yards away looking at us through the brush. While not a big deer by Texas standards by any stretch of imagination, he was a wild deer, 3 years old or a bit more, and he was hunted fairly. And, it was my first deer. A quick off hand shot with my .450-400 and he fell instantly and didn't move an inch. Next year, after the convention, Lester and I will do this again as he was kind enough to invite me for a chance at a better buck.

A good Alaska friend, Dave Peterson, MD, took this great elk with a great double: Holland and Holland .500 3 1/4" bpe. Dave worked up some loads at my home in Willow and the rifle targets very well.

Dan Levin hunted South Africa with a Kriegoff double rifle with three sets of barrels: .30-06, .375, and .470. The two smaller calibers are scoped with a 1 1/4-4x and a 2 1/2 - 10x Swarovski The .470 is open sighted only. Below are three of his trophies. I met Dan at the Manchester NH gun show on the 15th of October. He asked me about my Courteney back pack and as we chatted more he discovered I was the author of the .600 book and also of this web site. Small world.

Cal took this trophy bull on the Triple U Buffalo Ranch in South Dakota on October 2 with a 4-bore Robert Hughes double rifle. The details can be found on the home page.

Jon Ashbrook took this pig with a Westley Richards 12-bore Explora and Holland and Holland Paradox ammo. Looks it works quite well.

This caribou fell to Cal's .450-400 3" Harrison and Hussey ble in August of 2011. The details of the hunt are on the August 24th update on the home page. I could not get a shot at other bulls due to distance and this makes the success here all the more valuable. Hunting is far more enjoyable than assassination at 500 yards.

The two photos below are very special. Of course the elephant and buffalo are super trophies but the rifle is a one-of-a-kind. This Jeffery .600 sold at the RIA auction in December of 2010 (Yes, I bid, but missed it) and is the only known Jeffery with a 120-grain proof. A plain rifle with only border engraving and 28" barrels she is a very special double rifle with a great history that fills about five pages of my book on the .600s. The gent in the photo is not the owner of the rifle, but a friend of the owner who took the Jeffery on safari. He granted permission to place his photos here but wishes to remain anonymous. Thank you.

Canada's John Hipwell used a stunning Manton 8-bore to take these three excellent trophies. Three of the big six AND with a vintage 8 is something not often done these days. Thanks, John, for sending these. John's hunt and rifles will be featured in my upcoming book on the bore rifles.

Jon Ashbrook shot these nice hogs with an Army and Navy .450-400 3 1/4" that dates from 1903. Thanks, Jon!

Ron Ashabraner sent these photos of his two safaris. The buff and hippo were taken in Zimbabwe and the remaining four in Namibia. All six were shot with a Merkel .375 double. Good job, Ron, and thanks for the contribution.

Paul Ard, a good Alaska mate, shot this nice buffalo in South Africa with a hammer, under lever .450 no2. He hunted with Hannes Swanepoel Safaris. I will post more info on this rifle and details of the hunt upon Paul's return.

Ron Klier's own words will tell of this photo and rifle: The rifle is a standard Sabatti 92 .45-70 as presently being imported by Cabela's. I can't tell you how pleased I am with it. Accuracy is outstanding with both factory loads it was regulated with (325 gr. Hornady FTX) and my handloads. I shot the hogs with handloaded ammo consisting of a 300 gr. Remington HP - 50.0 grs. of IMR 4198 - CCI #200 Large Rifle primer. Velocity is 2050 FPS and accuracy is just a tad better than the aforementioned factory load. I can break clay targets consistently with the handload at 110 yds with either barrel. Really a nice gun for the price. Haven't had a chance to use the Merkel yet and I just shoot factory ammo in it, but will keep you posted. The hog hunt took place this past February at the Gopher Plantation in Millwood, GA. I am a retired Ohio State Trooper and a group of us make an annual trip there every February to get out of the winters here for a bit. We usually try to use old lever guns of some sort on the hog hunt, but this was the first time for a double rifle. Great fun. I attached a few more pics. Thanks again and will look forward to the pics on you site.

Jerry and Joan Brossia completed yet another African hunt and used (among other rifles) a .500 Merkel double. Life does not get any better.

Look very closely and you will see a nice nilgai in the photo. Yes, it is behind a fabulous Holland and Holland royal in .465 nitro express. Photos from a good friend, Lester Dyke.

Stefan Bader from Germany hunted with a friend in Tanzania with a pair of Heym doubles in .500 nitro express. Both took elephant and buffalo. Below are three photos from their safari. Great fun and good shooting!

Stefan Bader of Germany, a good gent I met at SCI Reno in 2010, is a double rifle man. His two buffalo and impala were taken with a .500 in 2006 in Tanzania and the pair of eland with a 9.3x74r in April of this year in Namibia. Stefan is buying a .500 Heym double so we should see more of his photos posted here.

Mike Mooney is yet another Alaskan who left the great northland for warmer pastures in Washington. Several years ago Mike took this cape buffalo with a vintage Holland and Holland .500 3 1/4" black powder express. Several plains game fell to his .375 (only one barrel, though) and the year before Mike and I hunted in South Africa together.

Jerry and Joan Brossia are experienced hunters in both Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Jerry shoots a .500 Merkel double and, as you can see from the photos, shoots it very well. A fellow Alaskan, Jerry began developing loads for his double at my cabin in Willow.

I finally found them! The two photos below are Ron Williams with PH Gary Hopkins from Ron's September 2008 hunt in Zimbabwe south of Vic Falls. The kudu photo has Greg Hoversten on the left and Cal on the right. Both the kudu and waterbuck were both one shot kills (the waterbuck at 120 yards!) and the rifle is a Rodda .475 nitro express double. Ron's elephant can be seen a bit lower on this page. The Rodda weighs about 12 pounds which is a bit heavy for a .475 but the recoil is like a .450-400--quite mild.

Gus Gillespie, a good friend for many years here in Alaska, took this cape buffalo in Tanzania with an Osborne .450 3 1/4". Gus took several great animals on his safari with a .375 and the .450 including a super lion. He is a very active member in the Alaska SCI chapter.

Anthony Alborough-Tregear of Westley Richards was a great assistance in my book on the .600s and was kind enough to write the introduction. He is also an experienced African hunter as can be seen in the two photos below. I do not have the caliber and make of his double but will post it when I find out. Thanks for all the help, Anthony.

Below are some photos that came with the Wilkes .475 no2 on May 7th. From the top: Mr. And Mrs. Ray Meyer with the tusks of one of the 5 elephants shot on safari in 1955. One was a reported shamba raider and had killed a woman and child. Next is the elephant. The third photo is of the Meyers, two Africans, and their PH--Patrick Hemingway--yes, Ernest's son was a PH in the 1950s. The rifle in the photos is my .475 no 2. Fourth photo was published in the Double Gun Journal in the early or mid 1990s (I believe). A bit of American hunting, too, but a great African history (including all of the big five) my new love has! The Wilkes' photos are on the double rifle page.

The following four photos are from Cal. Top photo is a Matetsi, Zimbabwe, buffalo from 2008. Taken with a John Wilkes .600 that dates from 1914 it was rough for this cold weather Alaskan to carry 15 1/2 pounds in the heat of September. The boss is great but he is a bit narrow. Next is a croc from Tanzania taken with a .450-400 Harrison and Husssey. The eland was taken with a Mortimer and Son .500 black powder express outside of Chiredzi, Zimbabwe in 1997 on Jerry Whitehead's ranch with PH Neil Duckworth. The hippo was shot in Tanzania and the rifle is my .450-400. PH is Gary Hopkins of Zimbabwe.

Below are five photos of game I've taken with my Harrison and Hussey boxlock ejector double rifle. It has a Swarovski 1.25-4x 30mm scope and claw mounts. Top photo is a super nyala taken in Zululand, about 30 miles out of Greytown, SA. The bush was so thick other nyala and impala came to within a few yards of us. My PH was Gert Rall of Pietersburg. Next, is a sable taken in Zimbabwe in 2005 with Gary Hopkins, PH. Below that is a warthog from the Limpopo river on the Botswana border in 2005. The water buffalo was taken in 2000 with Kim Walters and Barry Jones of Buffalo Safaris Australia. One shot through the chest and a second through the shoulder as he turned did in the old dagga boy. Bottom photo are some poacher's dogs taken is SA in 2005. The dogs were used to run down and exhaust game and had killed a warthog and now had a 40-inch lizard at bay. After I shot the dogs I noticed the poacher running away. If you look close at the top center of the picture, you can see the lizard--curved like the letter C

Ron Williams of Palmer, Alaska, took this non-trophy cow elephant in Metetsi (Zimbabwe) in 2008. It was a one shot kill (brain shot) with a Rodda .475.

I shot this buffalo close to Lake Kariba in 2003. The rifle is a Joseph Lang double (of course) in .450 no2 nitro express. Load was 102 grains of IMR 4831 and a 500-grain Hornady solid. My guide was Gert Rall of South Africa and Evans M'kanza of Zimbabwe. My rifle has a great history of going to Kenya in 1904 with White Hunters Africa when the owner (a veteran of the Boer War) moved from hog farming to being a white hunter. It stayed in Kenya until 1956 when it went back to London for repairs and/or alterations. I purchased it in Anchorage in 2001 and she shoots within two inches at 50 yards. Below the buffalo is a giraffe taken with the .450 no2 Lang in South Africa outside of the town of Vivo. While giraffe are not considered a sporting trophy animal, stalking one is the most difficult of any game I have come upon. Taken at 60 yards with two shots 3 inches apart on the upper left shoulder. The Grizzly was also taken with the Lang in 2003. He as an interior grizzly taken 30 miles out of the town of Eagle on the Yukon River, close the the Yukon border. The bear's internal organs and fat was purple due to eating nothing but blueberries (I carry whipped cream, bowl, and spoon when I hunt in the fall as I love the wild Alaska berries). I called this griz to 8 yards when a shot in the chest dropped him instantly.

Steve Ahrenberg of Phoenix has hunted extensively in Africa. Below are two excellent trophies taken with doubles. The Botswana elephant was taken in 2006 with a Krieghoff .470 and the buffalo (and what a buffalo it is!) was taken in Zambia with a Armeria de Madrid .500. Expect more photos from Steve. One additional note, Steve has just purchased his first English double--an Osborne .450-400 3 1/4".

The three photos below were sent by a good friend from Texas, Lester Dyke. A Russian boar and two nilgai bulls were taken on his ranch. It may be difficult to see the animals as I know you will be focused on two of his excellent double rifles: a original 1903 Rigby rising bite in .450 nitro express and an Army & Navy .600 (bottom photo).

Below are four of Cal's non-trophy trophies (?). All were taken with my .450-400 Harrison and Hussey boxlock ejector with a Swarovski scope. The caribou was a 2004 meat animal taken on the Yukon Border in Alaska. The impala was leopard bait in Tanzania in 2006. The Tanzania leopard was also in 2006. He was a good cat but was wounded a few months prior by a Russian client and infection set in. Upon cleaning him, he stank to high heaven and his internal organs were green in color. He was over 7-feet long but weighed well under 100 pounds as he was starving. The lion was a major disappointment. My PH told me he was a 5 1/2 year old lion with little mane due to living his live in the bush. Actually, he was a 2 1/2 year old sub adult and should not have been shot. I didn't know this then.