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ROYAL Weapons of INDIA
The Jim Corbett's rifle, which now resides in the Elmer Keith Museum, at Cabela's, in Boise, Id. ( The Corbett rifle is the one below the Sharp)

"I own the late Jim Corbett's tiger rifle-the best quality boxlock .450-400(3") double rifle by W.J. Jeffery & Co., with which he killed so many man-eating tigers for the Indian government. He also used it in Africa. The brass-cornered oak and leather case is in fine shape, while the rifle shows more use and less abuse than any old rifle I have ever seen.

The metal is as bright as a silver dollar. The action is that good No. 2 Jeffery is sound and tight as a rat trap. Engraving shows up even better on the bright steel. Only traces of checkering are left. The stock ears are actually worn away from the frame, as is the butt of the stock from the engraved heel and toe plates.

The bores are grey in the grooves from cordite, and the lands are worn down about halfway, but there are no pits from neglect.

With Corbett lying out in tree crotches and machans in the rain waiting for tigers, this rifle was exposed to all kinds of weather. Jim Corbett had no Hoppes No. 9, or Rice's X-10 solvent, but I would bet he poured many gallons of water through these tubes. In spite of external wear, this .450-400 is as effective and accurate a hunting rifle as when turned out by W.J. Jeffery & Co.. I fired both barrels at a six inch bull's eye at 80 yards, shooting from a car window. The bullets(Kynoch 400 grain softnose) landed one inch apart, one directly over the other, both cutting the centerline of the target. Jim sold this rifle to a man from Vancouver, and my friend George Neary got it from him. I swapped a perfect .350 Elliot caliber Danial Frazer double ejector for it.

I would like to have known Jim Corbett. His book, Man Eaters of Kumoan, is a masterpiece on the Indian tiger and proves he knew more about life and habits, of that beast than any living man. I treasure his old rifle. You can judge a man by the condition of his rifle."

Elmer Keith

ROYAL Weapons of INDIA
This is the .275 Rigby-Mauser of Jim Corbett. Still I do not know where this gun is today.
Jim Corbett tells about the time he purchased and the first hunt with this rifle in his book "The Temple Tiger" the hunt did not go on as planed as the man Jim sent to get his big rifle found it locked in the suitcase so Jim decides to shot the tiger with this rifle. But when he pulled the trigger the gun did not fire, when Jim tried to reload the tiger heard the sound and ran away. Then Jim realised his mistake, The rifle was a double trigger and he had to squeeze the trigger a bit harder when it comes to a rest.

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John aka NitroX

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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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