Is a Rigby worth it?

[VertigoBE]

Also:

Australian Arms Auction - catalogue 30 April available. Lot 453 is a Ruger No.1 in .375 at a very reasonable estimate, lot 472 a (presumably rebarrelled) Farquharson in .256 - what a beauty!, lot 490 a golden age Rigby in .303, a couple of nice WR single-shots, and a Jeffery double in .303 at lot 642.

Note that the Wilson55 sale has an unengraved Dumoulin .375 for sale with an estimate of £800 - 1,200, with a repaired split in the stock. The economics probably won't work for Mr. Speedy (who will have to arrange shipping and import duties), but if you can get that at the low estimate, +22% commission, + a restocking contingency (say: £1,500), that will have cost you a third of the price of a new Rigby.

The Dumoulin is nice, but I believe the scope is too high on. In order to bring it down it would mean new pivot mounts and another scope. 1-6x or something. But for someone counting on only using the irons, a very good choice indeed.

On AAA, there are a few Ruger No1's, I also saw lot 538, an engraved one. No iron sights though.

Thanks a lot for this @Major Bonkers I have again a few sites to peruse

 

[uplander01]

At what point is the cost of the rifle I own too much? Well to start I consider myself an "Average Joe" who has done reasonably well over time. I recently retired from the Army (Enlisted) for 26 years and now contract to augment my income. I have not had a car payment since 2001 and my children have their college paid for. I live within my means and manage debt. I found a good deal (<$9K) for a new Highland Stalker and took it. I see my neighbors all driving and financing $65K vehicles every few years and that seems acceptable to most because they pay their bills. I find that silly. I feel the price point you mention is one where you personally can purchase a rifle without impacting your quality of life or incurring unmanageable debt.

I mean this as a compliment brother,...but you don't sound like too much of an average joe financially, I'm in about the same position as yourself,...and I buy things now that I wouldn't have ever considered 20 years ago. So that is where my comment is coming from as far as "worth the money". I'm a sucker for the rigby brand name,..so much so that I am probably pouring good money after bad having a 70's vintage 416 big game brought back to life with a new modern stock and modern mechanical tunes, mostly only because it was based on a real magnum length mauser action lol. Probably decreasing its value, but I don't care as all it will be too me is another wrench in my toolbox. The only vintage rigbys that are diamond finds are first half of of 20th century guns, purely from a collector standpoint. Buy a 1925 rigby double in any of the big nitros, shoot it for the rest of your life, it may be worth twice what you pay when you die. Buy a new one, half your money is gone as soon as you pull the trigger,....your grandson or great grandson may reap the financial rewards though.

 

[SaintPanzer]

European firearms auctions:

Lauritz - Scandinavia. A Danish gun-shop also posts its stock on this site.
Bruun Rasmussen - Denmark.
Dorotheum - Austria. 2 major sales per year, but lots of ugly guns and weird calibres.
Drouot - France

eGun.de - be careful of this one - it's more like eBay where sellers describe their own lots.

Aggregating sites (ie. they aggregate national auctions):

Interencheres - France
Auction.fr - France
The-Saleroom - UK

American site:

Morphy - tends to be expensive. Expensive arranging shipping.

American aggregating sites:

Live-auctioneers
Invaluable.com

UK:

Holts
Bonhams
Gavin Gardiner - catalogue for 27 April sale now online.
Wilson55 - catalogue for 28 April sale now online.
Southams - hopeless admin. Tends to be better for accessories.

I was going to talk about egun, but you beat me to it!

But also, Johann Springer Erben in Vienna also hosts auctions...

 

[FlowHamed18]

Guys, if you are looking for a Dumoulin system, there is one available in Germany right now.
It's "only" a standard system, but nevertheless worth a look, if you are interested in Dumoulin Mauser 98 systems

Büchsenmacherei Niedermeier GmbH

Die offizielle Webseite der Büchsenmacherei Niedermeier aus München

www.waffen-niedermeier.de

I bought two Dumoulin systems last year - the first one was an unused system finally used for a beautiful 8x57 IS and the second one will be used for a 8x64S.

 

[Doug3006]

I believe in the Market. It determines whether anything is “worth it.” If a product or service isn’t worth the asking price, to enough consumers, for the company to stay in business, they go the way of American Motors. Obviously the newly constituted Rigby is offering products with enough value to enough people to flourish. Good on them! I don’t think I’ll buy one of their rifles, but who knows? Years ago, I would never have thought I’d pay as much to hunt as I have on any one of my African safari. Ones value meter changes over time.

 

[Code4]

I have just sold some property for a very healthy price so I have come into some money, I’ve already floated the idea with the boss (wife). Here in Australia there are a few for sale…. So it would be 30-06, 375h&h or 9.3 I am booked for a hunt in 2023 with KMG so it will be coming on that!

This maybe be a silly question on a forum like this but…. Is a Rigby rifle really worth it?

EDIT: IMO Rigbys are tarted up modern Mausers M98 model, with some flash woodwork and an expensive options list.

Find a good used CZ550 or similar and a good gunsmith. Most of the bigger bores have had very little use. Does the same job and the money you save can go towards more hunting. The rifle can be customized to your needs and fit. Your game will never know what rifle the bullet came from.

 

[R eight]

EDIT: IMO Rigbys are tarted up modern Mausers M98 model, with some flash woodwork and an expensive options list.

Find a good used CZ550 or similar and a good gunsmith. Most of the bigger bores have had very little use. Does the same job and the money you save can go towards more hunting. The rifle can be customized to your needs and fit. Your game will never know what rifle the bullet came from.

Maybe....Before I bought my first Rigby I gave serious consideration to doing something similar to what you propose.

I went to a very good gunsmith/custom rifle builder and had an in-depth discussion about a custom built. In short I handed him my 602 in 375H&H (action, barrel, sights and trigger to be worked and used in the project) and AUD $8K and I got back my custom build in 375H&H. So I figured an all up cost to me of about AUD$10 K. Plus an 18 month to 2 year wait.

I then looked up what I could buy a second hand custom rifle (by the same gunsmith) and I reckon AUD$5 to 5.5 K would get me just about any of them. Which was a very expensive Brno / CZ.

A new Rigby DSB in 375H&H with mounts cost about AUD$17K at the time. Wait time....in stock and available that day.

I went the Rigby. Haven't looked back.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

EDIT: IMO Rigbys are tarted up modern Mausers M98 model, with some flash woodwork and an expensive options list.

Find a good used CZ550 or similar and a good gunsmith. Most of the bigger bores have had very little use. Does the same job and the money you save can go towards more hunting. The rifle can be customized to your needs and fit. Your game will never know what rifle the bullet came from.

Yeah but this sort of the same as saying instead of buying a Rolls-Royse just buy a Toyota and do it up a bit.......
You are right, will get the job done just fine but it aint the same.
Rigby's cost what they cost, you are either happy to pay for one or you aren't.

 

[roverandbrew]

Maybe....Before I bought my first Rigby I gave serious consideration to doing something similar to what you propose.

I went to a very good gunsmith/custom rifle builder and had an in-depth discussion about a custom built. In short I handed him my 602 in 375H&H (action, barrel, sights and trigger to be worked and used in the project) and AUD $8K and I got back my custom build in 375H&H. So I figured an all up cost to me of about AUD$10 K. Plus an 18 month to 2 year wait.

I then looked up what I could buy a second hand custom rifle (by the same gunsmith) and I reckon AUD$5 to 5.5 K would get me just about any of them. Which was a very expensive Brno / CZ.

A new Rigby DSB in 375H&H with mounts cost about AUD$17K at the time. Wait time....in stock and available that day.

I went the Rigby. Haven't looked back.

I went Rigby to avoid the "Custom" gun route. Definitely not worth the headache or wait to achieve the same end product. I am dealing with a gun maker now and am just wanting my rifle back in whatever condition it is currently in. I will sort it later. Wasted time and money.

 

[Brian Rothhammer]

Even better, buy a Mannlicher-Schöenauer stutzen in 30-06 (which is the calibre that Mr. Shifty wants, although the 6.5x54 cartridge is the proper fit).

The 'proper fit' for a Mannlicher Schoenauer stutzen is not limited to 6.5X54.

The 6.5X54 MS was a rimless version of the 6.5X53R that had previously been chambered in several variants of the Mannlicher 'straight pull' (ruck - zuck) military rifles and was prototyped for the M1900 MS in search of further military contracts for Osterreichische Wafferfabrik Gesellschaft - Steyr. It was designed to efficiently kill humans and, with its excellent sectional density, made a fine sporting cartridge as well.

As production began in 1905 on the Y1903 'Greek contract' MS and M1903 sporting arms, both in the proprietary MS 6.5X54 chambering, a new Mannlicher Schoenauer proprietary cartridge of 9X56 was also introduced for the M1905 which would be followed in turn by the (also MS proprietary) 8X56 for the M1908 and 9.5X57 for the M1910.

The Mannlicher Schoenauer M1924 'Sequoia', with its longer receiver, was chambered for the 'U.S. 1906 cartridge' (.30 - '06) which was followed by several chamberings which were later marketed in the U.S. by Stoeger as 'High Velocity' (including .30 - '06) and are commonly referred to by today's collectors as 'M1925' though none were so marked.

1939

The .30 - '06 chambering was included with M1950 offerings following WW2 and throughout subsequent Mannlicher Schoenauer rifle and stutzen production.

 

[Brian Rothhammer]

But not a Dart.

I remember using Valiants for drivers ed. in high school.