Hello Gents (& Ladies, of course),
I just returned from the 2005 NRA National Convention held in H-town and I wanted to report firsthand that I have held in my hands the long elusive urban legend of the $600 retail 45/70 double rifle- not by E.A.A. but by Remington!
It is in their Spartan line which is Russian-made.
The sales rep told me that their target date of availablity is September and that it was easily the most sought after rifle people wanted to see. They had no idea it would be so popular.
The double rifle is marked on the barrel for standard pressure 45/70 ammunition (READ: No hotloading to 458 Mag velocities). This is interesting in that this same rifle is also available in 30-06 caliber, which has a much higher max. pressure.
Both barrels are regulated to supposedly 100 yds.
One barrel is fixed, and adjustments to regulate the other barrel is made by a jackscrew on the underside of the forearm which pushes the non-fixed barrel to the side. This is what the salesman told me, I can't vouch for anything else. It does seem odd that one can push a barrel out to regulate it, though....
I have pictures that I hope will appear.
All in all, it appeared well worth the retail price and would be a lot of fun. Maybe some hog hunts?

Enjoy,
Joe
in Houston

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/miatajoe/Viewofendofbarrel.jpg[/image]

And the scanned pages from the 2005 Remington catalogue: