Well ole boy, I guess I can take off my red silk smoking jacket, put down my pink gin and my $50.00 cigar just long enough to have a short word with the ill educated and unwashed masses.
I've never considered the "snob" "status symbol" aspect of the double rifle. If I did I guess I'd probably own a nice little Purdy or an H&H royal grade with full embellishment and never take it out or shoot it. But rather show it off during cocktail parties for the rich and famous that I often host in my mansion on the hill.
But I don't and I couldn't if I wanted to because I am not rich by any standards. Rather I work hard and plan accordingly to make my wishes and desires come true. And if I ever do hit the winning lottery number you can damn well bet that my fine English double rifles will have wear marks on them. I use my rifles and I use them hard. I don't really give two craps if you find them to be a status symbol or not. My rifles are tools.
My double rifle is as a pure a working double as can be had. I've always been interested in heavy rifles and Africana of all types. I guess that reading death in the Long grass as a impressionable youth ruined me for life. I've always dreamed of carrying my own double in the field and becoming proficient enough with it to hunt Africa's dangerous game it. We all have dreams and desires I hope that you are all able to make at least few of them come true.
Here are a few facts about double rifles whether you desire to own one or not makes no difference in the least, to each his own.
It blows my mind that a man will spend 8-10 grand on an ATV, 15 to 30 grand on a bass boat, 45 G's on a pick up to hunt with all of which are extreme de-valuating goods. Hell you've lost 30% when you drive the thing off the lot. But the double rifle is a status symbol? Excuse me?
A double of any quality and the more desirable and the more expensive the better is one of the few firearms you can own that has historically beaten the markets on a percentage basis from year to year. They are worth more money every year. I paid $7500 for my first Searcy and used it for two years. I traded it on my new rifle and got $8500 on the trade. I paid $9500 for my new rifle two years ago and today as we speak I wouldn't sell it for less than $12,000. Have you got anything in your gun safe that you can say that about?
"Doubles are inaccurate."
There are some older doubles that are inaccurate there are some cheaper doubles that are inaccurate the same can be said for any kind of rifle. But a current modern double rifle is as accurate as any big bore heavy bolt gun built today. I challenge anybody with a heavy iron sighted bolt gun to any game you want to play, off the bench, off the shoulder, stationary, moving, stress, timed, group, you name it I'll go dollar for dollar right now right here just bring money.
You should expect MOA accuracy from each barrel from a modern properly built double. If you can hold it, it will shoot. If it is properly regulated it will shoot each barrel into an inch at 100 yds and they should be 1.5 to 2 inches apart.
I took third place in the world double rifle competition in 2004 with a stock old standard field grade Searcy in .470 NE. Yes Virginia there are rifle competitions for double rifles. And they are a lot of fun with several different disciplines involved including best group at 50 yards and 75 yards from a rest and offhand, best timed group with a reload, 4 round stress fire at 50 yards on a stationary target a moving target and a charging target with a reload
No you will not see any double rifles on the thousand yard bench rest line. You won't see any express sighted heavy bolt guns there either. They are not designed for that. Hunting dangerous game is a close range affair. I've killed plains game and hogs past 200 yards with a heavy double. I wouldn't start a fight with a buffalo or an elephant at that range with any rifle. That is just stupid.
"A double will cross at a certain distance." Not always true with todays guns. They are regulated so that they pretty much stay parallel to infinity. Butches guns do anyway. So do some of the newer Blasers and Kreighoffs.
"Doubles have no purpose other than to garner status."
A properly built double is the finest tool on the planet for delivering a heavy blow to a large dangerous animal at close range that has ever been built with hunting in mind. Nothing else can compare to handling and pointing ability of a properly fit and balanced double. It is just like a fine shotgun in that respect. When the feces hits the fan a double that fits you and you are familiar with comes to the shoulder and follows the eye automatically. And it delivers two nearly instantaneous crushing blows that are delivered from a low pressure cartridge that assures easy extraction in the hottest of weather for an easy reload if needed. A good man with a double can get off four shots as fast as a good bolt man can in most circumstances.
Oh and they work as good as anything in this power class at longer range too.
And the primary reason the double was and still is today a desirable platform is that as mentioned above is it's reliability. It is two rifles welded together with two separate firing pins, ejectors ETC. If one fails you've still got a single shooter. That is real handy when you are thousands of miles from a repair facility.
Lighter double rifles are available in many calibers. from .22Lr on up. I was looking at a .30-06 and .303 double just today on the net. I have a friend who has a scoped Chapuis 9.3X74R which is just about equivalent to the .375H&H. He hunts everything with it and commonly kills game out past 300 yards. I've seen these rifle for sale from about $4500 to $5500 depending on the options.
Blaser makes a double in the .30 Blaser rimmed which is just about the equal to a .300 win mag. Many of the older British doubles are in light and medium claibers such as the .30 super rimmed (A rimmed .300H&H) .369 Purdy, .405 Win, .35 Win, 7X57R, ETC.
The Germans have been building light doubles from the start in all kinds of light metric rounds.
As far as cheap double in a easy to find round I am still hoping that Remington will release the Spartan double in .30-06, .308 and .45-70 like they've promised for several years now. they will retail for about $600 USD.
The reason that a regulated double rifle costs so much is that they are built entirely by hand. And the man hours that go into one are astounding.
Remington is trying to get past this with a non regulated barrel set which uses a set screw for regulation. I wouldn't expect that they will be overly accurate or overly dependable. But they should be a fun hog blaster.
To me the double is the ultimate tool for hunting big nasty stuff. there is also a bit of romance and nostalgia heading out into the thick stuff with a finely balanced and personally fit double rifle over your shoulder. It is something I have worked hard to achieve for a long time.
The double rifle holds a mystical spell for some of us.I've known several people who've taken out a loan to buy a historical double to use for their one and only big game hunt. Then sold it when they got home merely to experience what it is like to do it the way it was done in the grand old days of Africa.
While status may be important for some. Most of the real hunters I know who own and shoot doubles do so for an entirely different reason. They love rifles, they love the smell of burning mopani wood and the excitement of closing on a herd of buff or sneaking to within spitting distance from a weathered old elephant bull. They love the smell of burnt gun powder and the rush of adrenalin, the cold sweat, the dry throat and the pounding pulse. They love the feel of figured wood in their hands and the shove of heavy recoil. The terrifying excitement of a blood trail in the long grass and the shrill trumpet of charging herd of cow elephant. being lulled to sleep by lions chuffing out their territorial roars at sundown followed by the erie call of hyenas as they take over the night. The double simply screams all of these things. If none this means anything to you I can't explain it, and I don't apologize for it. This is who we are, plain and simple.
Enough I must return to the smoking lounge and continue my negotiations with the other railroad barons. After all we upper class can't appear to accessible... You know.
A rare picture of a real life communist workers paradise rifle (AK-47) a real one, owned by a real life communist, resting next to an aristocratic snob rifle owned by a real life capitalist.
