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Today I was cleaning out my Documents files and came across the attached article. I wrote this for the the brochure of our local SCI chapter's annual fundraiser, four years ago. After re-reading the article, I thought it might be of some interest, perhaps even a bit of inspiration, to those newcomers here who are contemplating their first double rifle build.

Best wishes to all, Ron Vella.

The Side by Side Double Rifle
By Ron Vella

“I lurched up and looked at Mbogo, and Mbogo looked at me. He was 50 to 60 yards off, his head low, his eyes staring right down my soul. He looked at me as if he hated my guts. He looked as if I had despoiled his fiancée, murdered his mother and burned down his house. He looked at me as if I owed him money. I never saw such malevolence in the eyes of any animal or human being, before or since. So I shot him.”

If you are an incurable Africaphile like me, and if, like me, you grew up devouring the works of Robert Chester Ruark, then you are very familiar with this description of one of his hunts for Cape buffalo. Ruark’s words above are redolent with the inherent danger involved in hunting Africa’s “big five”. For me, and for many others, these words also evoke images of big-bore double rifles holding “panatela-sized cartridges” like the .470NE, .500 NE, .577NE, etc. Unfortunately many hunters believe that double rifles are limited in their ability to close-range shooting only. In fact, a properly regulated and properly sighted-in double is fully capable of 200 yard shots in the big bores, and of shots to 300 yards and beyond, in the flatter shooting calibers. Certainly, if one is going to hunt pronghorns on the prairies, or sheep in the mountains, where a 500 yard shot is distinctly possible, then one would be far better served with a good bolt-action or a single shot like the Ruger Number One or a European kipplaufbusche. More on this later.

For 58 of my 70 years I have been obsessed with fishing, hunting, shooting, and tinkering with firearms. For the first half of those 58 years, though I hunted with double shotguns, my rifles were all bolt or lever-action guns. Then, about 30 years ago, I had an epiphany in my thinking. I came to realize that no other rifle has the same balance, the same “between-the-hands” feel, nor the same sense of history and character, as the side by side double rifle. However, at that time double rifles were very expensive. I had three daughters in a community college, a university, and nurses’ college, respectively, and the costs associated with that made buying a double rifle unthinkable. Though it seemed at that time that I would probably never be in a position to afford to buy a double rifle, the desire never diminished, but rather it increased. I finally decided that if I were to ever own a double rifle, I would have to build one myself. Building a rifle on a shotgun action is not a decision to be taken lightly, as it is potentially fraught with danger, if not done correctly and done on a shotgun action of sufficient strength. I spent my working life as a grocery store manager, not as a machinist, but I do own a nice South Bend lathe and have taught myself to operate it fairly proficiently. Also, a good friend is a tool and die maker, as well as a shooter/hunter, and owns his own milling machine. I thought that the job was doable.

A 12 gauge double rifle seemed like the sensible project for a first attempt, as the pressures involved would be those that the gun was proved for. This would be a learning experience. I lucked into a high-grade Belgian gun that had a burst barrel. Two Hastings rifle barrels, upper and lower ribs, hundreds of hours of labour, and many trips to the shooting range for regulating, resulted in a very nice, very accurate gun. I have killed 11 whitetails and several coyotes with that first double and it is still one of my favourites. As the years went by and my eyesight deteriorated, I retrofitted a quarter-rib and scope mounts to this gun. It now wears a Leupold 1.5x-5x and is fully capable of reliable hits at 125 yards.

My next double was a .22 Hornet, built on a Zabala .410 action, with a quarter rib and another 1.5x-5x. I regulated this gun with 50 grain cast bullets at 1600 fps. Basically, it as a hot .22 long rifle. I have enjoyed many hours hunting rabbits and coyotes with it here in Ontario as well as many squirrels with friends in Mississippi and Alabama.

Number three is technically not a rifle, but rather a Cape gun. I wanted a percussion gun for hunting deer during our muzzle-loading seasons. I started with a 10 gauge Pedersoli, cut the barrels back to 26”, sleeved a .54 calibre barrel into the left side, installed a quarter rib, iron sights, scope bases, and another 1.5x-5x Vari-X III. This gun is wonderfully practical with a heavy load of “OO” buckshot in the 10-bore barrel and a 335 grain, .54 calibre bullet in the left barrel. It is also very accurate, as several coyotes have learned to their dismay.

II

About 10 years ago I got the itch to go back to Africa in order to take another Cape buffalo. What better way to do that than with a double rifle? I decided on the .450 #2 Nitro Express for its calibre, due to its relatively low pressure. I built the gun on a BRNO 12 gauge side by side with 25.5” Douglas Supreme barrels. This gun also wears a Vari-X III, 1.5x-5x scope. My load in this rifle is the Hornady 500 grain bullets at 2080 fps. It also has a second set of 12 gauge barrels, fitted to the same frame. This turned out to be a wonderfully accurate rifle for a big-bore. Last year in Zimbabwe it accounted for a sable at 208 yards, as well as buffalo, Chobe bushbuck, and a klipspringer.

The next double that I built is in caliber .303 British, using barrels from 1910 Ross rifles on a Laurona 20 gauge frame. This rifle is mounted with a Leupold 1.75x-6x scope. If I do my part, off a bench rest at 100 yards, it will group 3 rights and 3 lefts into under 2 inches. This load is the 180 grain Hawk bullets at 2150 fps. Of my 6 doubles, this is my favourite because it seems to have just the right feel and balance. A few years ago, in Tennessee, this rifle was responsible for the demise of two Russian boars. In South Africa, in 2011, the gun accounted for eland, duiker, blue wildebeest, nyala, red hartebeest and two warthogs. That eland was taken at 225 yards with one shot through the lungs on the first day of my hunt. It was plain to me why the .303 British was always one of the most popular calibers for a rifle in British Africa.

Just last week I completed my most recent build. This rifle is in caliber 9.3x74 Rimmed. It was built on a BRNO 16 gauge side by side using 26” McGowen barrels. The rifle is fitted with another 1.75x-6x Leupold. My load for this gun is the 286 grain Nosler Partition bullet at just a hair under 2300 fps. The rifle lives in a French-fitted, heavy duty aluminum case with its twin, a BRNO 16 gauge shotgun. The 9.3x74R is yet to be blooded. It will be going on a moose hunt with me in a few weeks at which time I hope to rectify that shortcoming.

My next project is a double that will be legal in southern Ontario, in caliber 6.5x57R. I have already purchased, profiled, and re-chambered a pair of arsenal-new Swedish M-38 barrels. Next week I will be taking possession of the host gun for this rifle, a Zabala in .410 calibre. This is planned to be a very lightweight rifle/shotgun as it will have two sets of barrels, one in 6.5x57R plus the original .410 barrels. More to come…

In my opening paragraph, I talked about regulation and sighting in. For those unfamiliar with doubles, these are two distinctly different processes. Regulation is the process of adjusting the left and the right barrels so that they strike at the same point at a given distance, which is often, but not necessarily, 100 yards. The adjustment may be accomplished as easily as turning a couple of screws in some doubles. In the majority of cases though, it is a labour-intensive job for a skilled craftsman, involving heating the barrels, moving an adjusting wedge, re-soldering, and sometimes re-bluing when completed. Sighting in a double differs from sighting in any other rifle in one extremely important regard. You cannot rest the fore end or barrels of your double on sandbags, or shooting sticks, or anything other than your hand. The reasons for this are beyond the scope of this article, but rest assured, your double will print to a radically different spot if fired off a rest versus off your hand. You must hold the fore end or barrels in your weak hand and rest that hand on the bags or sticks or tree, or rock, or whatever.

It should be obvious from the foregoing that I am obsessed with the side by side double rifle. If you’ve never shot one nor hunted with one, you should give it a try. There have been a lot of new entries into this market in the last 20 years. You can still spend north of $100,000 for a Holland and Holland, Purdey, Westley Richards, etc, if you’re able. At the other end of the spectrum, you can buy a new Sabatti in calibers like 7x65R, 8x57R, etc. for $3,000. $6,000 will get you a Sabatti safari in .470 NE or .500 NE. For little more there is the very fine Chapuis and the Merkel in a range of calibres. Shop around a bit and you can pick up a Kreighoff with its revolutionary safe-action for under $15,000. Also, a bit of net-surfing will turn up a few very fine used double rifles at some attractive prices. Sheldon James, who has just returned from 3 weeks in Zimbabwe and South Africa, tells me that his recently acquired Blaser S-2, in .500 Nitro, is now his favourite rifle! I won’t say more than that about his trip as I don’t want to take the wind out of his sails. I happen to know where there is a used Blaser S-2, in calibre .375 H&H, in as-new condition for only $10,000…..hmmmm!

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