Bell's 275 Rigby Rifle

The 275 Rigby used by Bell is one of the most famous individual rifles. Re-reading the exploits of Bell elephant hunting still gives me goose bumps (see, for example, the article by Jack Lott at http://ezine.nitroexpress.info/NickuduFiles/Africa-PDF/Africa328.pdf that was published in 1980).

When I came across the production of a Ruger Number 1 chambered in 275 Rigby, I wondered why they chose to do it in the Tropical configuration. The published configuration of this rifle has a 24" barrel, a 40.5" OAL, and a weight of 7.5 lbs. As I recall, the Ruger 1-A has a barrel that is 4" shorter and is a half pound lighter.

As one thing tends to lead to another, I have been looking for the dimensions of the "little Rigby" bolt action that was used by Bell. So far I have been unable to run them down. Does anyone know the dimensions of this famous little rifle?

On the number of rifles: When you are in the tall grass, standing on a small platform in the middle of an elephant herd, killing the elephants for ivory with the end goal of making as much money as you can, and have gun bearers, it is a lot faster to have multiple rifles than to stop and reload. Take a look at the illustrations in the article I referenced in my first post to this thread, and you will get the idea.

I recall reading that one of the reasons Bell used the 275 Rigby was that it made less noise and was less likely to spook the herd than a heavier rifle.