When a hunter wants, no make that dreams hunting dangerous game with a double rifle, the only remedy is to make those dreams come true!
A double rifle is in fact an insurance tool for the hunter. How many of us will ever hunt without a professional hunter backing us up? A PH’s rifle may jam or some other calamity occurs and that is where two separate rifles in one’s hands is insurance to walk away from death.
Is the dream of a double rifle logical? For most hunters, hardly. Let’s face it, a sturdy bolt action magazine rifle is much more practical. Dependable controlled round feed (CRF) bolt action rifle in any chambering from .375 H&H to .458 Lott are available for as little as $1,100 to $2000 USD on the used firearms market. Those may not be works of art but considering big bore rifles don’t usually get shot much, they have plenty of life to share with their future caretakers.
Stepping up one’s desires, better quality magazine rifles range are available for under $5,000 or less for an intense searcher. At around $8,000 very high quality magazine rifles are available. At the $10,000 price point and above affords one top quality rifles. Personally, I would love to own a Heym Martini Express. With an oversize bolt body, this action is nearly impossible to bind even when pushing the bolt closed nearly sideways! At $20,000 last year was in my hands a new London made Rigby that to my eyes was spectacular.
Now let’s consider a $20,000 double rifle and work our way downward in price. Yes, $20k will buy a very nice modern Heym 88B on the used market if one searches and waits for it, ready to buy the instant one becomes available. With modern barrel steel and intercepting sears, Heym doubles take a licking and keep on ticking, or shooting in this case.
$20k will also buy a British double but one should shop wisely and probably get expert evaluation before buying. There may be an issue with the quality of the steel used in older barrels. Certainly at the time of manufacture that steel was top shelf. But the steel of pre-WWII isn’t the same as we have today. Monometal or solid copper or bronze “solid” bullets of today may not do 80-year-old barrels any favors! The bullets available today are light years advanced to the old guilding metal full metal jacket solids of yesteryear. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_metal_jacket_(ammunition)
Still, if you are someone who demands the same rifle and ammunition as used in 1930’s Africa, that’s your choice. Me, I’ll hunt with the best quality monometal solids with 65% meplat available! https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/The+Effects+Of+The+Meplat+On+Terminal+Ballistics.html
Going down in price, $15,000 can buy an occasional Heym, or often a Krieghoff Classic. Krieghoff are very well made rifles but their “combi-cocking” much like that in a stalking rifle is a learned appreciation. Great in theory but different than most rifles. Inside the Krieghoff action is finely machined and a joy to behold.
There are certainly other makes of double rifles between the $10k and $15k price points. Chapuis prior to being owned by Beretta (March 2019) were very fine rifles as a decent price. Beretta as any new owner would, has tightened up the budget of their subsidiary. Chapuis are still a great rifle but given a choice between a new Chapuis of a lightly used pre-2019 Chapuis at the same price, you don’t have to think too hard about which one I’d buy.
At $10,000 one gets lucky to find good buys on quality double rifles. There are Merkels at that price which are great, until they are not. I’ve owned two of them that I received brand new. One developed trigger problems that required serious intervention by an experienced double gunsmith. The response from Merkel in Germany and their USA distributor is still yet to come… Still, many people shoot Merkel double rifles with never having any problems.
Between $10k and $15k are out of production Blaser S2 double rifles. There are very accurate and the user can adjust their regulation if they feel brave! Blasers are not traditional but gosh do they handle like a fine shotgun and put bullets from both barrels in small groups at 50, 100, and even 200 yards for chamberings such as 375 H&H. A 470 NE Blaser may also shoot small groups at 200 yards if the shooter can manage steady shoots time and time again. Recoil is not conducive to accurate shooting!
Below $10k is what most people consider an affordable double. They are out there but decent double rifle under $10k don’t last long on the market! One can buy a Sabatti double new for under $10k and may never have any problems. Others may not be so lucky. Ken Owens a fabled double rifle regulator swears by Sabatti’s. J.J. Perodeau, perhaps the most skilled double rifle gunsmith in the USA won’t touch one. Rizzini makes double rifles that one may find for under $10k. These are light for their chambering’s so buyers better love recoil!
Any double rifle may need to be repaired which depending on the quality of the rifle, may likely require the expertise of J.J Perodeau. Intercepting sears and such are like Swiss watches, fine mechanical devices that deserve a better than average gunsmith!
Double rifles may also need to be regulated so that with a certain load, both barrels shoot bullets to the same point at a desired range. Ideally, the path of the bullets from both barrels would be parallel from muzzle to eternity. That is hard to achieve! I’ll settle for a small group or bullet holes touching at 100 yards from a .45 caliber double. Larger bores, even less distance for intercepting bullet paths. An accurate double may group 3” for both barrels at 50 yards. A double rifle is a specialized instrument. These are not varmint rifles, rather they are insurance tools for face to face encounters with elephant and buffalo. One doesn’t shoot elephants at 100 yards!
Still, I’m an old competitive rifleman who desires 100-yard accuracy from my 80’s vintage Heym 88B in the mighty .458 Winchester. If I stepped up to a .500 NE, 50 yards would be acceptable accuracy.
So, $10k will buy a decent double rifle that will probably be trouble free. That same money will buy a bold action magazine rifle in .375 H&H, .416 Rigby or Rem, or .404 Jeffrey that will take any game big or small, from 20 yards facing an elephant to 200 to 300 yard for plains game. And one doesn’t need to ship it to a specialized gunsmith if they change the load. Just adjust the sights or scope!
I own three double rifles and have passed on to other caretakers another three. Of those Chapuis, Merkel, Blaser, Krieghoff, and Heym, my Heym 88B is a rifle I will own until I die. The others may find new caretakers which will love them the way I do my Heym.
Double rifles are a passion I think much like owning a Corvette or European sports car that one drives but 5,000 miles per year. Those automobiles give on pleasure just knowing that the next sunny Sunday they will be driven once again. Our double rifles fill a similar desire in our hearts, souls, or brains. Doubles are a joy to own even if they are rarely shot. I think mine are handled many, many times more than they are shot. There is something about shouldering a relatively fast handling elephant gun while day dreaming! Perhaps the only thing better is slowly shouldering it while facing an elephant at 20 yards!
A double rifle is in fact an insurance tool for the hunter. How many of us will ever hunt without a professional hunter backing us up? A PH’s rifle may jam or some other calamity occurs and that is where two separate rifles in one’s hands is insurance to walk away from death.
Is the dream of a double rifle logical? For most hunters, hardly. Let’s face it, a sturdy bolt action magazine rifle is much more practical. Dependable controlled round feed (CRF) bolt action rifle in any chambering from .375 H&H to .458 Lott are available for as little as $1,100 to $2000 USD on the used firearms market. Those may not be works of art but considering big bore rifles don’t usually get shot much, they have plenty of life to share with their future caretakers.
Stepping up one’s desires, better quality magazine rifles range are available for under $5,000 or less for an intense searcher. At around $8,000 very high quality magazine rifles are available. At the $10,000 price point and above affords one top quality rifles. Personally, I would love to own a Heym Martini Express. With an oversize bolt body, this action is nearly impossible to bind even when pushing the bolt closed nearly sideways! At $20,000 last year was in my hands a new London made Rigby that to my eyes was spectacular.
Now let’s consider a $20,000 double rifle and work our way downward in price. Yes, $20k will buy a very nice modern Heym 88B on the used market if one searches and waits for it, ready to buy the instant one becomes available. With modern barrel steel and intercepting sears, Heym doubles take a licking and keep on ticking, or shooting in this case.
$20k will also buy a British double but one should shop wisely and probably get expert evaluation before buying. There may be an issue with the quality of the steel used in older barrels. Certainly at the time of manufacture that steel was top shelf. But the steel of pre-WWII isn’t the same as we have today. Monometal or solid copper or bronze “solid” bullets of today may not do 80-year-old barrels any favors! The bullets available today are light years advanced to the old guilding metal full metal jacket solids of yesteryear. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_metal_jacket_(ammunition)
Still, if you are someone who demands the same rifle and ammunition as used in 1930’s Africa, that’s your choice. Me, I’ll hunt with the best quality monometal solids with 65% meplat available! https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/The+Effects+Of+The+Meplat+On+Terminal+Ballistics.html
Going down in price, $15,000 can buy an occasional Heym, or often a Krieghoff Classic. Krieghoff are very well made rifles but their “combi-cocking” much like that in a stalking rifle is a learned appreciation. Great in theory but different than most rifles. Inside the Krieghoff action is finely machined and a joy to behold.
There are certainly other makes of double rifles between the $10k and $15k price points. Chapuis prior to being owned by Beretta (March 2019) were very fine rifles as a decent price. Beretta as any new owner would, has tightened up the budget of their subsidiary. Chapuis are still a great rifle but given a choice between a new Chapuis of a lightly used pre-2019 Chapuis at the same price, you don’t have to think too hard about which one I’d buy.
At $10,000 one gets lucky to find good buys on quality double rifles. There are Merkels at that price which are great, until they are not. I’ve owned two of them that I received brand new. One developed trigger problems that required serious intervention by an experienced double gunsmith. The response from Merkel in Germany and their USA distributor is still yet to come… Still, many people shoot Merkel double rifles with never having any problems.
Between $10k and $15k are out of production Blaser S2 double rifles. There are very accurate and the user can adjust their regulation if they feel brave! Blasers are not traditional but gosh do they handle like a fine shotgun and put bullets from both barrels in small groups at 50, 100, and even 200 yards for chamberings such as 375 H&H. A 470 NE Blaser may also shoot small groups at 200 yards if the shooter can manage steady shoots time and time again. Recoil is not conducive to accurate shooting!
Below $10k is what most people consider an affordable double. They are out there but decent double rifle under $10k don’t last long on the market! One can buy a Sabatti double new for under $10k and may never have any problems. Others may not be so lucky. Ken Owens a fabled double rifle regulator swears by Sabatti’s. J.J. Perodeau, perhaps the most skilled double rifle gunsmith in the USA won’t touch one. Rizzini makes double rifles that one may find for under $10k. These are light for their chambering’s so buyers better love recoil!
Any double rifle may need to be repaired which depending on the quality of the rifle, may likely require the expertise of J.J Perodeau. Intercepting sears and such are like Swiss watches, fine mechanical devices that deserve a better than average gunsmith!
Double rifles may also need to be regulated so that with a certain load, both barrels shoot bullets to the same point at a desired range. Ideally, the path of the bullets from both barrels would be parallel from muzzle to eternity. That is hard to achieve! I’ll settle for a small group or bullet holes touching at 100 yards from a .45 caliber double. Larger bores, even less distance for intercepting bullet paths. An accurate double may group 3” for both barrels at 50 yards. A double rifle is a specialized instrument. These are not varmint rifles, rather they are insurance tools for face to face encounters with elephant and buffalo. One doesn’t shoot elephants at 100 yards!
Still, I’m an old competitive rifleman who desires 100-yard accuracy from my 80’s vintage Heym 88B in the mighty .458 Winchester. If I stepped up to a .500 NE, 50 yards would be acceptable accuracy.
So, $10k will buy a decent double rifle that will probably be trouble free. That same money will buy a bold action magazine rifle in .375 H&H, .416 Rigby or Rem, or .404 Jeffrey that will take any game big or small, from 20 yards facing an elephant to 200 to 300 yard for plains game. And one doesn’t need to ship it to a specialized gunsmith if they change the load. Just adjust the sights or scope!
I own three double rifles and have passed on to other caretakers another three. Of those Chapuis, Merkel, Blaser, Krieghoff, and Heym, my Heym 88B is a rifle I will own until I die. The others may find new caretakers which will love them the way I do my Heym.
Double rifles are a passion I think much like owning a Corvette or European sports car that one drives but 5,000 miles per year. Those automobiles give on pleasure just knowing that the next sunny Sunday they will be driven once again. Our double rifles fill a similar desire in our hearts, souls, or brains. Doubles are a joy to own even if they are rarely shot. I think mine are handled many, many times more than they are shot. There is something about shouldering a relatively fast handling elephant gun while day dreaming! Perhaps the only thing better is slowly shouldering it while facing an elephant at 20 yards!
