WELL, I FINALLY FOUND No. 14 BREVEX - WHAT A FIND - AN ORIGINAL POST WAR JOHN RIGBY BREVEX IN 416 RIGBY CALIBER - CASED WITH ALL THE ACCESSORIES.

I haven't posted in a while because I have not found any new treasures worth mentioning ... until now ....

I had been searching endlessly to add another Brevex to my collection since its been over a year that #13 was added in September of 2022, I was worried that I was stuck on unlucky 13 forever. But not so .. and what a treasure this one turned out to be. Near as I can tell its never been hunted and appears unfired. It was purchased by Gastinne Renette for one of their customers back in 1971. Gastinne Renette of Paris is a maker and specialist in the weapons of hunting and luxury. Their quality is on par with Holland & Holland, Purdey and Boss & Co.

Why this gun remained in such unused condition for over 52 years in unknown - perhaps a collected safe queen. Searching internet history shows it was sold by Holt's Auction House in England in 2015. Apparently it remained stuck in "red-tape" export laws for the last 8 years - until finally imported to the the U.S. this year.

Its a real treasure for me to have a an Original John Rigby in 416 Rigby cal., and even more treasured because its a rare Brevex action. Emails with Diggory Hadoke, the Rigby Archivist, was told by Paul Roberts, who was in charge of Rigby at the time this rifle was made, that only four .416 rifles were made on French Brevex actions. (sourced from Giles Whittome) He went on to say that between 220 to 230 Big Game 416s were made on CZ actions and between 40 to 50 were made on Magnum Mauser actions, many recycled from .350 cal.

This is now the top treasure in my 14 piece Brevex rifle collection. But I did discover a negative - although the scoped rifle weighs only 11-1/2 pounds, the rifle in the case weighs over 41 pounds. I guess the 30 pound airline travel case is made to protect the rifle in case of a plane crash.

... as always your comment are most welcome ...

The 14 Brevex rifles collected to date ...