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Double Rifles, Single Shots & Combinations >> Double Rifles
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Marrakai
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3595
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle
      #89923 - 28/11/07 01:58 AM

In my quest for the ultimate 12-bore heavy double rifle or magnum paradox, I always have time to stop along the way and smell the roses. Picked up this little gem during an interstate trip on the weekend, though it will be a couple of weeks before I take delivery.

12-bore Howdah Rifle by Cavanagh, converted from pinfire, possibly started life as a muzzle-loader. Folding express sights with no standing leaf, gold bead up front. Wedge fore-end attachment. Prowling tigers on the patch-box, bold scroll on the lock-plates and action bar. Short barrels, damascus with wide shallow slow-twist rifling, shiny bore with a couple of small stains which should improve. In need of TLC, but should be a good shooter with care.

...and cute as hell!









Now all I need is an elephant!
...and some tigers, of course!

I'll put a spread of better pics in the DR Photos & Archive forum when the gun arrives, and gets a clean-up.

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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gatsby
.375 member


Reged: 05/09/05
Posts: 862
Loc: inland valley CA USA
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: Marrakai]
      #89929 - 28/11/07 02:23 AM

What a great looking old workhorse and a well heeled traveler at that. Don't you just love good damascus? Great find. What is the weight of the gun and the bore dimensions?

--------------------
"Recoil is insignificant when there is a tiger on the head of your elephant" The Maharaja of Cooch Behar



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peter
removed


Reged: 11/04/07
Posts: 1493
Loc: denmark
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: gatsby]
      #89933 - 28/11/07 02:55 AM

nice one marrakai

is it full lenght rifled and what is the barrel lenght ?

i cant wait to see it after a clean up.

congrats

peter

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dons
.333 member


Reged: 18/08/07
Posts: 431
Loc: Essex
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: Marrakai]
      #89941 - 28/11/07 04:38 AM

Would hate to be at the muzzel end of this bad boy. Looks nasty.

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 27009
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: dons]
      #89944 - 28/11/07 05:06 AM

Pinfire, yes - muzzleloader, no, not likely. The 'all' folding sights is a carry-over from the muzleoading days, though. Pinfires were becoming popular in the Lefaucheau design in the mid 1850's through 60's in India with the only complaint being they held smaller powder charges than were popular in the double and single 'bore' rifles and smoothbores for tiger and buffalo.
: Getting back to the sights, the point blank sighting, out to 25 or maybe even 50 yards was taken down the rib, all sights folded out of the way. Some guns, typically the smoothbores designed for shot only, with large diameter breeches, gave too much elevation to the ball and destroyed it's point blank shooting efficiency.
: I would be interested to know what the rifling twists are, length of chambers - probably 2", but maybe 2-1/2" unless re-chambered in the 20th century, along with bore dimensions, depth of grooves and weight when you receive the rifle. Many of the English makers of the day put in too much twist, which reduced the amount of powder they'd shoot accurately. I would think anything of 60" or 70" or better yet, slower, would put this rifle in the 'great' category. Even such makers as Purdey didn't have rifling twists down correctly in their double muzzleloading guns, falsely claiming the faster 35" or so twists made the guns shoot "harder"(in his words). It is possible this double bite action post-dates the "too-fast of twist" era.

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CptCurlAdministrator
.450 member


Reged: 01/05/04
Posts: 5284
Loc: Fincastle, Botetourt County, V...
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: DarylS]
      #89961 - 28/11/07 11:47 AM

Congrats, Marrakai!

A very interesting piece to say the least.

Can't wait to hear how it shoots and other specifics of the rifle.

Curl

--------------------
RoscoeStephenson.com

YOUR DOUBLE RIFLE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.



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tinker
.416 member


Reged: 12/03/05
Posts: 4835
Loc: Nevada
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: DarylS]
      #89973 - 28/11/07 04:03 PM

Darryl-

I own an underlever SxS percussion breech loading shotgun.
It's really quite nice.
I'll try to get an image up on this thread of it some time soon, but I think I've posted images of it elsewhere here on nitroexpress some time in the past.

Marrakai-

You Dog!
Another nice find there mate.
We should get together for a hunt. When my little critters get big enough to travel, I might just pack the clan up and whisk us out your way for a bit of a holiday some time.
Perhaps I'll pack up one of my 16b double rifles for the occasion...

Have fun with that thing.



--Tinker

--------------------
--Self-Appointed Colonel, DRSS--



"It IS a dangerous game, and so named for a reason, and you can't play from the keyboard. " --Some Old Texan...

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mehulkamdar
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/04
Posts: 3688
Loc: State of Ill-Annoy USA.
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: Marrakai]
      #89978 - 28/11/07 05:20 PM

Marrakai,

Absolutely superb piece! What a beauty! Thanks for the pictures and for the promise to post more as soon as you take delivery. Of course, since you own the gun, we can expect a superb hunting story in the future.


Thanks for posting these pics and good hunting!

--------------------
The Ark was made by amateurs. Experts built the Titanic.

Mehul Kamdar

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Marrakai
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3595
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: mehulkamdar]
      #89994 - 28/11/07 08:43 PM

Thanks gentlemen. Most of these questions will have to wait till I take delivery of the gun. The fully-rifled barrels are in the order of 20 inches, and the gun is fairly light, built for a 3-dram charge at most IMHO. At this stage I can only speculate on the cartridge for which it was chambered, probably 2 1/2 inch, round ball, paper case. We'll see soon enough!

Daryl: While I am prepared to concede that patch-boxes may have been fitted to a few very early breech-loaders, as a matter of 'tradition' at the time, the very thin chamber-walls are suggestive of cut-down tubes from an earlier piece. IMO it is not unlikely that both the barrels and the stock were once parts of a very nice 12-bore muzzle-loading rifle. We'll probably never know, and of course it matters not. Fun to speculate, though!

Tinker: If you visit without one of your 16-bores, you'll jolly-well be sent back home to get it!

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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degoins
.333 member


Reged: 28/02/06
Posts: 435
Loc: SC, USA
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: Marrakai]
      #90001 - 28/11/07 11:29 PM

What a treasure!!!! Congrats to you!!!

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 27009
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: degoins]
      #90015 - 29/11/07 03:23 AM

Looking forward to hearing the goodies on this very special rifle.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Yogi000
.333 member


Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 265
Loc: New York, USA
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: DarylS]
      #90217 - 01/12/07 03:23 AM

Awesome double.

Very interested in knowing what load works for you in it.

Beautiful.

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Bill_Cooley
.300 member


Reged: 14/12/06
Posts: 197
Loc: Fort Worth, Texas
Re: New Toy: 12-bore Howdah Rifle [Re: Yogi000]
      #90429 - 03/12/07 01:30 PM

Looks likwe you found a nice new toy.
Bill

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