First, please forgive me for shortening your post, in the interest of addressing the portions I want to adress.

It's a very good thing you didn't offer that Chapuis 375 H&H FL to me for $3900 because I would have had another double rifle to explain to my good wife! If I got kissed, you'd probably have had to be the one to do it, for a while, afther I drug another double into my home!

The hand, you see in one of those DAKOTA pictures with the silver, and gold African ELE hair bracelet, is my hand! Rusty is right, the leaves are cut 50Mtrs, 75 Mtrs, and 100 Mtrs. I'm Like Nitro X, that sounds a little dumb, to me! The rifle, like the Dakota shotguns, are made in Bresia Italy, and are very well made, and fit, and finish is top of the line. We disassembeled the rifle, and the good finish seems to be trough out! The wood was prestine,but Rusty mispriced this rifle, it wasn't $24K USD, but $25.5K, and that, I'm told, dosen't include the engraveing shown! IMO, they are out of their minds! Though I like 375 H&H FL doubles, they are not as good an investment, even in Britt rifles, as other chamberings, and are hard to sell, at least in the USA! This is probably one reason the Chapuis was so hard to sell, as much as it's name! If it had been a 470NE I think it would have sold quite a bit sooner!

I didn't even bother to ask the price of the H&H Royal, because I knew I couldn't afford it!, besides, I can get a 21 day Elephant hunt with Cape Buffalo, and Leopard included for the price it commands, and shoot them with a WR boxlock 500/450, that I paid only $4K for ten years ago, and have no intention of selling to make a profit!