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Double Rifles, Single Shots & Combinations >> Double Rifles
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AdamTayler
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Corbett's Double
      #50380 - 20/02/06 05:03 PM

In "Maneaters of India", Jim refers to his D.B. 450/400 3 1/4" hammer double. What does the D.B. stand for and where is the rifle now?

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400NitroExpress
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Reged: 26/11/03
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: AdamTayler]
      #50387 - 20/02/06 10:31 PM

D. B. stands for double barrel. I never knew Corbett had a hammergun in .450/.400. The one he used for so many years was a Jeffery boxlock No 2 Grade .450/.400 3" NE. Elmer Keith got it from George Neary, IIRC, back in the '60s. Elmer said it was pretty well used up, but still tight. Don't know what happened to it after Elmer died.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

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moleman
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: AdamTayler]
      #50792 - 25/02/06 02:09 AM

In addition to his Jeffery .450/.400 and his famous .275 Rigby magazine rifle I believe that Corbett also used a .500 BPE underlever hammer double and a Martini-Henry .577/.450, but few details are given in his books. (The Martini was only used on some goats, not leopards or tigers, IIRC.)

Kurt

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AdamTayler
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: moleman]
      #53116 - 23/03/06 05:37 AM

I just finished reading the book and at the end he hunts with a hammered 500 modified cordite under lever. The bolt action 275 was made by Westley Richards that he bought in Calcutta at Manton's.

I tried to find the reference that the 450/400 was a 3 1/4, but I guess I just assumed it was.

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Peterb
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: AdamTayler]
      #53122 - 23/03/06 06:52 AM

Probably a Brit thing: What is an IIRC?

By the way, 275 Rigby is the classy name for the 7x57 Mauser.

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Raff
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: Peterb]
      #53133 - 23/03/06 08:37 AM

PeterB
IIRC= If I Remember Correctly

It's a computer geek thing

Raff

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Peterb
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: Raff]
      #53137 - 23/03/06 09:28 AM

Thanks

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davem3
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Reged: 10/02/04
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: Peterb]
      #53287 - 25/03/06 01:46 PM

Interesting note about the Rigby in one of his hunts where the tiger actually came to lie down directly under his machan but when he tried to fire his new rifle - the trigger moved but the gun did not go off.
Later he remimbered that the salesman in Calcutta had told him that it had a military type trigger and he had only pulled the first stage but didn't realize it at the time because his DR had a singlestage.
It sure read like he had gone out after a maneater with a rifle that he had never fired.

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davem3
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: davem3]
      #53300 - 25/03/06 04:17 PM

The entire story is in "The Temple Tiger" which also has descriptions of his Jones under lever .500 Modified Cordite DR.
I was wrong about the trigger being of a military type. Corbett stated that the Manton's manager had told him that the trigger had a double pull off and that he (Corbett) was not familar with this so-called improvement and did not know it was necessary to pull the trigger a second time after taking up the initial slack.


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DUGABOY1
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: AdamTayler]
      #53322 - 26/03/06 05:09 AM

I have seen references, by others, to Corbett haveing a Westley Richards double rifle chambered for 500/450#1 Express , but have not been able to find anything written by him about this particular rifle! Does anyone here know of a reference by Corbett that you could give me?

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DUGABOY1, and MacD37 founding member of DRSS www.doublerifleshooterssociety.com
"If I die today, I have had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"

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Marrakai
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: DUGABOY1]
      #53352 - 26/03/06 11:26 PM

As a small boy, Jim Corbett was first taught to shoot with a Dease 12-bore muzzle-loader, which apparently sat him on his backside from recoil! Jim's first firearm was another muzzle-loading shotgun, which had only one useable barrel, the other having been split from an over-load by a previous owner. His next firearm, and his first rifle, was a .450 Martini Henry, with which he killed a leopard while hunting by himself at age 10. At age 17 he acquired a shotgun and an unspecified "light-calibre rifle" for pot-hunting while cutting timber for the railway.

He tackled his first man-eater with a shotgun and a .500 Express, which is said to have fired a round ball rather than a bullet in some texts. After killing the maneater, he was presented with a .275 Rigby Mauser (Serial No. 2516) by Sir John Hewett, Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces at the time. The rifle was bought from Mantons of Calcutta for 12 guinneas, weighed 7lb 8oz with a 25-inch barrel, and had a 14 3/8 inch length of pull. A silver plaque mounted in the buttstock was inscribed:
Presented to Mr. J.G.Corbett by Sir J.P.Hewett KCSI, Lieutennant Governor of the United Provinces in recognition of his having killed a man-eating tigress at Champawat in 1907.

It was from then on his favourite weapon, and I'm not sure why he bought the .275 Westley Richards from Mantons in the mid-1930s some 30 years later, perhaps he had worn the Rigby out!


There are several good biographies of Corbett, but my favourite is possibly the earliest one: "Carpet Sahib" by Martin Booth, published in 1986. I like Hawkins' earlier selected stories too, as it was my first Corbett book, but it would offer little once Jim's own titles are on your shelf. Specific references to Corbett's firearms are pretty scarce in all of them, especially in his own books as we all know.


Mac:
Corbett was definitely using a .450 double when he and Ibby caught the wrong leopard in the gin-trap.


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Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
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oupa
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: Marrakai]
      #53374 - 27/03/06 09:41 AM

"...a Jeffery boxlock No 2 Grade .450/.400 3" NE. Elmer Keith got it from George Neary, IIRC, back in the '60s."

Anyone happen to know if this is the same DR pictured with Elmer Keith on Safari. The one photo that sticks in my mind is of he and a buff, I think MidWay used it as a catalog cover several years back. Just curious.

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400NitroExpress
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: oupa]
      #53422 - 28/03/06 04:45 AM

No. The only doubles Elmer ever took to Africa were a .476 by Westley Richards and a .500 by Charles Boswell.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

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davem3
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Re: Corbett's Double [Re: Marrakai]
      #53544 - 29/03/06 08:27 AM

In the "Talla Des" man eater, Corbett wrote that he had killed his first tiger with an old army rifle that he bought for 50 rupees from a seafaring man, who he was inclined to think had stolen it and converted it into a sporting rifle.
This must be the Martini-Henry you mention as his first rifle.

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