Double rifles
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Sunray
Member
There's lots of 'em. A Yahoo net search turns up all kinds of sites. Starting at about 7 grand US and a long, long way up. This guy is Stateside and inexpensive. Don't know the quality though. Too rich for me. And his .450 NE runs about $6 a shot. http://www.evo-rifles.com/double.html
Capstick sure is an excellent read. He wrote several books. 'A Return To The Long Grass' is good. I've never been able to find 'Death in the Long Grass'.
Capstick sure is an excellent read. He wrote several books. 'A Return To The Long Grass' is good. I've never been able to find 'Death in the Long Grass'.
Russia's Baikal makes a poor-man's double rifle. SRP $629. The trick is, you can regulate the barrels yourself. I think the biggest chambering is .45-70 though. Imported by EAA.
http://www.eaacorp.com/firearms/rifles/sidebyside/izhmp221t.shtml
http://www.eaacorp.com/firearms/rifles/sidebyside/izhmp221t.shtml
MolonLabe416
Member
AFAIK, the EAA unit is not yet on the shelfs. We're all awaiting it for T&E. It should be great fun and affordable. Certainly, it would do for all North American game.
Butch Searchy makes an "affordable" double starting at about $6k.
Pop over to accuratereloading.com for good info on big bore rifles.
Butch Searchy makes an "affordable" double starting at about $6k.
Pop over to accuratereloading.com for good info on big bore rifles.
Slingster
Member
Merkel, Krieghoff, Heym, and now Blaser make "affordable" doubles. Holland & Holland and most others fall into the "if you have to ask you can't afford it" category. 
Butch Searcy and J. Rigby are probably the best-regarded domestic makers of double rifles. Searcy falls into the "affordable" category and J. Rigby is part of the H&H class.
Butch Searcy and J. Rigby are probably the best-regarded domestic makers of double rifles. Searcy falls into the "affordable" category and J. Rigby is part of the H&H class.
nextjoe
Member
I talked to the EAA folks at SHOT and they told me they were waiting on foreign government approval before they could import the new side-by-side double. The best estimate he could give me was "summer."
Best,
Joe
Best,
Joe
redneck2
Member
We had a 45-70 double at our shop. One of the Italian imports. Workmanship was less than spectacular. That thing was HEAVY. Exposed double hammers.
One of them "mebbe cool to own" guns but not practical IMO
One of them "mebbe cool to own" guns but not practical IMO
Preacherman
Member
I want this one... a Holland & Holland "Royal" double rifle. My chosen caliber would be either .416 Rigby or .470 NE.
Prices start at $65,000.00 and go up from there...
Prices start at $65,000.00 and go up from there...
One doesn't have to spend $65,000-up to get a good double rifle. Why, I handled a new one with very nice engraving at the Beretta Gallery in Dallas a couple of years ago, and they wanted only $45,000! It fit me very well, and was a splendid "pointer."
The fine double rifle has never been meant for the common man, but the common man doesn't go on safaris where a .470 or .500 may be really useful.
They are luxury items, and I dislike hearing people badmouth them just because THEY can't afford one. That amounts to class hatred, which is basically what cost British gunowners so many of their firearms in 1997. The "have-nots" resented the "haves". Elitism eventually backfired on the gentry.
In this country, we can aspire to earn enough to buy luxury items. I may never manage to own one, but admire them as examples of fine gunmaking, and am glad they're still made.
There are some nice ones on the Westley Richards site, too.
Lone Star
The fine double rifle has never been meant for the common man, but the common man doesn't go on safaris where a .470 or .500 may be really useful.
They are luxury items, and I dislike hearing people badmouth them just because THEY can't afford one. That amounts to class hatred, which is basically what cost British gunowners so many of their firearms in 1997. The "have-nots" resented the "haves". Elitism eventually backfired on the gentry.
In this country, we can aspire to earn enough to buy luxury items. I may never manage to own one, but admire them as examples of fine gunmaking, and am glad they're still made.
There are some nice ones on the Westley Richards site, too.
Lone Star
45crittergitter
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I can personally recomend the searcy double.
http://www.searcyent.com/index.htm
I have a field grade .470NE with ejectors. It is putting two barnes 500gr solids into under 1.5 inches at 75 yards. You just can't ask for more than that from a double.
Some other double makers are
Chapui
Westley Richards
Rigby
Dakota
Franchi
Barreta
Pedrasoli
In the "inexpensive" double gun catagory I also like the Kreighoff big 5 and the Blaser S-2
I like the decocking hammers on these rifles but since niether offer ejectors I decided on a Searcy instead. And I am not sorry that I did.I also find the safety on both of these rifles to be really stiff and tough to operate in a fast smooth motion.
Butch is a great guy and he really supprots his customers in a first class fashion.
I did NOT like the Merkle doubles...
Just apreference thing but they have basically just taken their shot gun action and hammered a set of rifle barrels onto it. It just doen't seem beefy enough for my tastes and the action was really stiff. I could be all wet on this one as I have no eveidence that they are not a good gun. It was just my impression.
In anycase here are my two babies.
http://www.searcyent.com/index.htm
I have a field grade .470NE with ejectors. It is putting two barnes 500gr solids into under 1.5 inches at 75 yards. You just can't ask for more than that from a double.
Some other double makers are
Chapui
Westley Richards
Rigby
Dakota
Franchi
Barreta
Pedrasoli
In the "inexpensive" double gun catagory I also like the Kreighoff big 5 and the Blaser S-2
I like the decocking hammers on these rifles but since niether offer ejectors I decided on a Searcy instead. And I am not sorry that I did.I also find the safety on both of these rifles to be really stiff and tough to operate in a fast smooth motion.
Butch is a great guy and he really supprots his customers in a first class fashion.
I did NOT like the Merkle doubles...
Just apreference thing but they have basically just taken their shot gun action and hammered a set of rifle barrels onto it. It just doen't seem beefy enough for my tastes and the action was really stiff. I could be all wet on this one as I have no eveidence that they are not a good gun. It was just my impression.
In anycase here are my two babies.
HankB
Member
I had a chance to handle a Merkel .470.
The gun didn't even come CLOSE to fitting me, and the POS sights on it looked like they came off some cheap pistol - a square post front, and square notch rear.
The gun didn't even come CLOSE to fitting me, and the POS sights on it looked like they came off some cheap pistol - a square post front, and square notch rear.
Slingster
Member
Contrary to the two previous posters, I like the Merkel double, perhaps because I also own and use a Merkel SxS shotgun. The actions are beefier than their shotgun actions, and all new doubles should be very tight at first, requiring some break-in with actual firing.
And perhaps because I started shooting with handguns I like the pistol-style sights. They're more precise than the classic shallow-V and bead express sights, in my opinion, and for me they're faster.
I made an off-hand three-second 35-yard shot with a .470 Merkel double to the top of the heart of a walking Cape buffalo that was about to disappear into the brush, and I credit the familiar pistol-style sights with contributing to my success. The death bellow followed two minutes later; the buff had made it only 60 yards before dropping. Works for me!
And perhaps because I started shooting with handguns I like the pistol-style sights. They're more precise than the classic shallow-V and bead express sights, in my opinion, and for me they're faster.
I made an off-hand three-second 35-yard shot with a .470 Merkel double to the top of the heart of a walking Cape buffalo that was about to disappear into the brush, and I credit the familiar pistol-style sights with contributing to my success. The death bellow followed two minutes later; the buff had made it only 60 yards before dropping. Works for me!
Gordon
Member
I got an old 1920's Army&Navy boxlock . I still have a full box and 6 rounds of ammo. Had it for 10 years or so and I am afraid to split the stock if I get carried away and shoot $150 worth of ammo in an afternoon(20 rounds) . It is right on at 50 yards with Federal ammo. If I make it back to Africa before I meet my maker, it and a .375H&H mauser will go with me. BTW when I got the Army&Navy I also got a 10gauge AyA that the owner had matched to it for pull and cast off ect. both guns are a 13 3/4" about right for me. The recoil seems less than a .458Win mag , and is similar to the 10gauge AyA being they both weigh 10lbs almost exactly.
If you search around, you can find decent condition doubles in African calibers for under ten grand. They probably won't be royal grade H&H's, Rigby's, or Purdeys, but there are quality lesser grades out there that are semi-reasonable. Such guns have more historical appeal to me than a new knockoff.
I always had the impression that double rifles were Over-Under. Looking at the photos, I see I was wrong.
Capstick's books are interesting. Would be interesting to see his writeup of him going against a grizzly or polar bear with a double rifle.
A correction: the book I am reading is "Death in the Long Grass", not "Tall Grass."
Capstick's books are interesting. Would be interesting to see his writeup of him going against a grizzly or polar bear with a double rifle.
A correction: the book I am reading is "Death in the Long Grass", not "Tall Grass."
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