nitro476
I have not had any problem finding good British doubles.
I was at Champlins in Enid OK in Sept and thought at least 3 of the doubles he had would make excellent hunting doubles for me. That is they were in good shape [finish, bores, tight on the face etc.] and fit me pretty good.
I have had my 2 British doubles for about 7 years [bought at Champlins] and in that time I have seen several that would make excellent hunting rifles.
I will admit I prefer British Doubles to all others.
I have had a Chapuis 9,3x74R for about 6 years and I like it very much. It is my favorite rifle under 40 cal.
If I was buying a new made double I would get a Chapuis 470.
My second choice would be a Heym, then Krieghoff.
If I were you I would handle all of the new made doubles and get the one that fits you the best, that is the most important factor to me.
Even seemingly identical new made doubles can fit and feel different. I handled a Chapuis PH II yesterday that fit me better than most of the others I have handled. At Chadicks in Terrell TX he will usually have 3 or 4 470 Chapuis in stock, as well as some 375 H&H and 9,4x74R's. There is usually one or two that just feel better than the others to me.
One of the nice things about the Chapuis is that they are the easiest to scope. My buddy just bought a 470 Chapuis and we are waiting for claw mounts to arrive at Champlins so we can install a 1.5x4 Swarovski with the illuminated circle dot reticle. We all know what a 470 double can do without a scope.... BUT with a scope it becomes the GREATEST POSSIBLE rifle for black bear, lion and leopard over bait, wild pigs, and any other animal where a scope helps a guy with 50+ year old eyes place his shot better.
We will develop loads with the standard 500 grain bullets as well as a @ 350 grain load for smaller big game.
When we shoot it with the scope I will report back on the results.