Double Rifle - Current Use

Current Use

As double rifle chamberings evolved, this culminated in the production of the famed .600 Nitro Express rifle, developed by the famous company of W. J. Jeffery in 1902. This cartridge was designed and developed to be able to stop a charging 6-ton bull elephant in its tracks, provided a vital organ or major bone was struck. It was not until the 1980s that an even larger-calibre, modern cartridge was produced for the double rifle: the .700 Nitro Express, developed by Holland and Holland of London. The .700 Nitro Express fires a 1,000-grain (65 g) projectile with a muzzle velocity of 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s). This equates to 8,900 ft·lbf (12 kJ) of muzzle energy. However, a few custom-built double rifles have been chambered for cartridges as small as the .22 Long Rifle rimfire.

Most of the world's high-quality riflemakers have produced double rifles for their customers, and the most highly-regarded makers include Holland and Holland, James Purdey, John Rigby & Company, Westley Richards, George Gibbs, W. J. Jeffery, and Woodward. Outside the "best gun," by British definition, London trade, excellent double rifles of equal and better quality have been made by riflemakers in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Scotland, Sweden and the USA, including makers such as Hartmann & Weiss, Krieghoff, Merkel and Beretta; however, the "classic" British double rifle remains, to Britons, a distinctively British style of sporting firearm.

The UK trade over the years also featured many serviceable double rifles made under many names, not all featuring the famous Webley action. This was a box lock action made by Webley of Birmingham, England and sold on a wholesale basis to many makers, including some of the most famous names, who finished the rifles and put their names on them. An interesting thing about British doubles is that the named 'gun-maker' need not produce anything except a name; many British doubles were only sold as a name, with all the work being done by other skilled, but never-named firms, either in Great Britain, Ireland, or on the Continent, usually in Belgium.

Many large-calibre double rifles are still in everyday use in Africa, especially among professional hunters. However these firearms are now primarily collectors' items or, in the case of older specimens, antiques. Second-hand and auction prices for especially fine and rare double rifles can reach phenomenal figures, up to US$400,000, at least five very dependable modern double rifles are available for less than US$15,000. In the United States, one builder of modern, well-regarded double rifles in a variety of calibers is B. Searcy & Company of Boron, California. Other US-Based builders include John Rigby & Company of Paso Robles, California. Searcy rifles are popular: the price of a new Searcy double rifle starts at US$10,500.00, and goes up considerably, depending on specific model chosen, caliber, and adornment. Merkel, an ancient German Builder who retains absolute reliability in function with rifle accuracy, is the 'best deal' today in the US for simple, unadorned doubles, such as those usually used by professional hunters. A large caliber (.470 or .500 nitro express) is less than $12,000 in the US and considerably less in various European Countries. One can take a trip to Europe "on the cheap," as the British saying goes, and return to the States legally importing one new Merkel .500 Nitro Express for less than buying one in the US. Suhl, Germany, where Merkels are made was in the 'East Bloc' and wages are not yet up to western European standards. Large bore Merkels, including those bought in America, are investments that are seldom-equalled today, appreciating at an average of 10-12% plus per year over the past 9 years. And a few African plains-game hunt 'dings,' which are relatively inexpensive these days, increase sales appeal, if not yet price.

Since double rifles are hand-fitted, custom-built firearms that require much hand-fitting, as do all doubles, plus the additional, time-consuming regulation required for barrels to shoot to one point of aim, these firearms must sell for high prices and are equally fine investments. Interest in large calibers, and dollars spent for large caliber double rifles has never been so great in the world, especially the United States. Even in the heyday of Great Britain's Empire, double rifle owners were among the moneyed few. In the famous words of Robert C. Ruark, who popularized African hunting in the US: "Use enough gun." This is always good advice regardless of the game, and that is what the doubles were designed for, to deliver two aimed shots with unequalled rapidity and absolute reliability, because each barrel's firing mechanism is independent in a double-trigger double. The British and Irish gun makers produced the pinnacle of game rifles for dangerous game at close range.

Smaller-calibre double rifles are commonly used in Europe for smaller game such as wild boar and roe deer. As interest in small-bore double rifles has increased over the last 15 years, there has also been an upsurge in interest for use in Africa on plains game. In the used market these rifles are typically less expensive than their large-calibre counterparts, allowing a collector to get "more for their money." That said, "factory" ammunition for these rifles is less readily available and in many cases these rifles are "project guns." This is especially true of rifles featuring older British small bore chamberings. The exception here would be the .303 British, which is a common double-rifle chambering.

The same is not true of modern small-bore double rifles made by continental makers such as Krieghoff, Merkel and Chapuis. These represent a good value and are chambered for commonly available European cartridges and some American chamberings including the .30-06.

• The breech of a side by side double rifle