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You missed the point again, Jim. After re-reading my last post, I'm left wondering how you could have understood so little of it. My guess is that you didn't read it carefully because you thought I was knocking Heym and your choice of it, neither of which is true. All of the large bore DRs in this price range - Heym, Chapuis, Merkel, and Krieghoff - have the same problem for the same reason, and it isn't really their fault. As I explained in my previous post, price dictates compromise. As I've said on this board before, Heym, Chapuis, and Merkel, for what you get in a new built rifle, offer quality and value that is commensurate with price. You wanted a new-built rifle, and that's fine. The Heym is as good as the others and better finished. What you got is as good as you can get in a new built DR for the money that you spent, so lighten up.

With respect to the primary point of my last post, I'll try again. A number of factors dictate handling dynamics of any double. The most important are balance and weight distribution, and the goal is to concentrate the weight in the middle. The heavier the gun, the more important correct weight distribution is, which is why it is so important with double rifles. This is also why a "slim, trim, and svelte" action on a 10 lb double rifle usually results in a rifle that handles like a brick. The small action dictates barrels that are too small at the breech, and the rest of the barrels must then have little contour, or they won't come up to the target weight. The result is a distribution of weight that is much more linear than it should be, and that results in a rifle that is "dead" in the hands.

You took my comments about barrel profile completely out of context. I wasn't speaking of Civil War arty or black powder. We're discussing modern, nitro proof double rifles with fluid steel barrels here. Hammer forging is meaningless in this context, but lets go with it anyway. Steel is homogenous. A straight, hammer forged .470 barrel with a wall thickness of .400" is heavier than a straight, hammer forged .470 barrel with a wall thickness of .125". To oversimplify, a .470 barrel that is .400" wall thickness at the breech for the first 4", steps down to say .275" for a few inches, and is .125" the rest of the way is much heavier at the breech end. That is what barrel contour is used for in a double - to localize as much of the weight of the barrels as possible at the action, between the hands. One more time, it has nothing to do with strength. The barrels can be quite slender over the chambers with modern fluid steels. You don't NEED the extra wall thickness over the chambers for safety. You WANT it for the best weight distribution. The SHAPE of the barrels counts. Of course, in order to do this right, the action must be large enough to accommodate the full diameter of the breech end of barrels that are thick enough to obtain the desired result. In .470 caliber, the actions used by Merkel, Chapuis, Krieghoff, and Heym are too small to get weight distribution really right. If you go to the companion of this string over at AR (DR Forum), you'll see that new guy himself stated in regard to the action that Heym uses for the .470: "Comparatively speaking, this action is small...". That is a criticism of all four makers, and none of them. Again, price dictates compromise.

I handled your Heym .470 - the one you bought from Charles Prince. So you like it at 9.5 lbs, eh? Maybe that's what's wrong with your reading comprehension?