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Double Rifles, Single Shots & Combinations >> Double Rifles
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bonanza
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Reged: 17/05/04
Posts: 2335
Loc: South Carolina
Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report.
      #191377 - 06/10/11 06:03 AM

Now that I have returned from Africa from hunting with my top-lever back action H&H 35 WCF double rifle I can give an in depth report on how it performed. I want to compare and contrast it with my .375 Merkel DR and .376 Dakota 76 so that the reader put it in perspective.

Lets start with a picture. Obviously it's the petite rifle with hammers. You can take your thumb and finger around it with ease. The other rifle is a 450 Jeffery.



Carrying. I carried this rifle two ways the entire time a) africa style over the shoulder b) in my right hand cupping the round action. At 7.5 lbs it was a joy and I never got tired. However, nothing caries like a double over the shoulder. The drop in the stock acts like a keel and keeps the rifle flat and the twin tubes really gives you something to grab.

The Merkel .375 comes real close but it was 9 lbs and began to get heavy on an elk hunt in 2006. The Dakota is a scoped rifle which makes it top heavy by comparison.

Now let me tell you why I think the top-lever hammer gun makes the best stalking rifle: safety and the wonderful slim round action. I loved being able to carry the rifle loaded but un-cocked. If a quick follow-up shot was not needed I could open the action reload the right barrel and let the left hammer down with no danger of a discharge - or just reload the right tube and cock the right hammer if the game is near.

Shooting. Nothing points like a classic DR with lots of drop in the stock and rock steady 28" bbls. It begs off hand shots. Terminal performance with bonded bullets is nothing short of amazing; pass throughs are the norm.

So go out and get yer self a small bore double rifle. Merkel used to make a 30-06 140 that would be very nice.

--------------------


"Speak Precisely" G. Gordon Liddy.

"Life is absurd, chaotic and we must define its purpose with our actions" Abert Camus

"I''m the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude."

"Yo! Mr. White"

Edited by CptCurl (06/10/11 11:24 AM)

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tarawa
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Reged: 21/10/07
Posts: 420
Loc: South Florida
Re: Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report. [Re: bonanza]
      #191975 - 17/10/11 07:19 AM

Great write up. Now I want to go out with my 8x57jrs Kodiak. A bit heavier than your fine English double.

--------------------
Life is for Service

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lancaster
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Reged: 06/05/08
Posts: 9038
Loc: There's a lighthouse in the mi...
Re: Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report. [Re: tarawa]
      #192486 - 25/10/11 06:00 PM

was the H%H original build in 35 WCF??
would like to see more pics from this

--------------------
Norwegian hunter misses moose, shoots man on toilet
.
bringing civilisation to the barbarians

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bonanza
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Reged: 17/05/04
Posts: 2335
Loc: South Carolina
Re: Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report. [Re: lancaster]
      #192493 - 25/10/11 10:25 PM

The H&H was finished in 1896 as a .303 British. Around 2002 is was re-chambered and bored to .35 WCF. My africa load is a Woodleigh 250 round nose at 2200 fps. It also shoots a 200 grain Hornady at 2500 fps for small stuff.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2...e=3&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2...e=3&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2...e=3&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2...e=3&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2...e=3&theater

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2...e=3&theater

--------------------


"Speak Precisely" G. Gordon Liddy.

"Life is absurd, chaotic and we must define its purpose with our actions" Abert Camus

"I''m the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude."

"Yo! Mr. White"

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lancaster
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Reged: 06/05/08
Posts: 9038
Loc: There's a lighthouse in the mi...
Re: Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report. [Re: bonanza]
      #192505 - 26/10/11 12:04 AM

very vintage, please make some comments to the picture's












I like the cartridge very much , maybe one day an winchester 95 in 35 or 405

--------------------
Norwegian hunter misses moose, shoots man on toilet
.
bringing civilisation to the barbarians

Edited by CptCurl (27/10/11 12:19 PM)

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AkMike
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Reged: 19/11/05
Posts: 2576
Loc: Anchorage, Alaska
Re: Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report. [Re: lancaster]
      #192545 - 26/10/11 04:32 PM

Great shots and it appears that the Rover has the extremely rare option of quick switch steering. Very under rated when it comes to drivers from different parts ot the world.

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"When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; you may know that your society is doomed." Ayn Rand

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kamilaroi
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Reged: 18/12/04
Posts: 1803
Loc: sydney, new south wales, Austr...
Re: Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report. [Re: AkMike]
      #192553 - 26/10/11 07:54 PM

^ yer too subtle by far mate!

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bonanza
.400 member


Reged: 17/05/04
Posts: 2335
Loc: South Carolina
Re: Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report. [Re: lancaster]
      #192567 - 26/10/11 10:36 PM

Lancaster,

The reason the pictures look vintage has to be the subject and equipment, they are old. I'm pretty confident in my photographic skills, especially in natural light, so I only took an old 35 mm Nikon FM2 SLR, 28/50/105mm lenses and 10 rolls of film. The color film is absent the over saturation of digital and the monochrome is simply classic with the grain and contrast. Too many safari photos just look like snapshots overly automated. I wanted a photographic story told with imagers from the field and while enjoying a gin and tonic. Safari is dripping with texture and human moments that when captured from ones point of view in photography can turn an image into a feeling.

--------------------


"Speak Precisely" G. Gordon Liddy.

"Life is absurd, chaotic and we must define its purpose with our actions" Abert Camus

"I''m the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude."

"Yo! Mr. White"

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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39896
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: Top Lever Hammer Gun - Field Report. [Re: AkMike]
      #192578 - 27/10/11 01:13 AM

Quote:

Great shots and it appears that the Rover has the extremely rare option of quick switch steering. Very under rated when it comes to drivers from different parts ot the world.



Ha ha, good one.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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