The Kreighoff de-cocking system is wonderful, safe, and alittle cumbersome. It does not have ejectors and for me personally that's why I don't own one. As J.A. Hunter once said, "A double rifle without ejectors is a piece of iron."

I thought I was onto something, and now these voices of descent! What is a guy to do....????

I guess I am back to wanting a traditional system with intercepting sears if possible.

I can tell you this, in a long phone call that I had with the famous Mark Sullivan he urged

me to save up for a pre WW2 British rifle and NOT to buy any Krieghoff, Merkle, Searcy, Chapuis, or HEYM!!!

He said he had seen too many of these experience break downs in Africa to want anything to do with them.

I was quite surprised that he included HEYM in that list, but when I pushed a little on that

brand he remained stead fast in his lack of respect for Heym as well as the rest I have sited.

He does not even advocate NEW British rifles. Vintage all the way is his advise and that's that!

I think MS is largely right on this one..... pre WW2 English doubles are (generally) fabulous (Although usually a bit long in the barrel for my tastes). If your budget allows, I'd recommend a proper (English) Rigby double as about the best build quality without having to pay tooo much for names such as H&H. IMO, the (newly made) English Rigby (not the American crap! ) is still a great quality double rifle even now.

Then of course, are the Scottish round action doubles which are also really nice...... but very expensive.

http://www.mckaybrown.com/doublerifle.html

What a well-known PH has to say about the Krieghoff Classic DB.

Fred Duckworth:

"I HAVE REFUSED to pick up a .458 Winchester since the day Tim Wellington was killed by an elephant. A headquarters senior warden took the .470 N.E. 3 1℠4-inch British double away from Tim and issued him a .458 Winchester to follow up on a wounded elephant. Enough said. In addition, I think the Trophy Bonded “Bear Claw†500-grain bullets I used on a wounded buffalo in the Moyowoshi South concession were an important factor in slowing down the bull buffalo I took. None of the five Bear Claw bullets I managed to get into the b u ffalo exited. I only recovered two—the last two I fired. One bullet lodged under the skin on the right shoulder blade; the other smashed the animal’s neck to a pulp at the back of its skull and wound up under its neck after traveling through its spine. The bullet in the shoulder was a textbook example of what a good bullet should do. It was perfectly mushroomed and double the diameter of the original. The other bullet, which had smashed the bull’s spine, was, understandably, somewhat more distorted. Nevertheless, it had held together well and had not disintegrated. I couldn’t weigh those bullets here in Moyowoshi, but I was sure neither of them had lost more than five percent and ten percent, respectively, of their weights.

I’ll concede that any good Britishmade .470 N.E. or .500 N.E. would have done the job just as well as the Krieghoff .470 N.E. I have no problem with that theory. Krieghoff, based in Ulm, Germany, has been working hard for the past 40 years to make its double shotguns and rifles the best in the world. This manufacturer has kept up with every advance in science and technology. Because of this dedication to improvement, Krieghoff has been able to combine the fine bloodlines of its traditional, faultless side-by-side rifles with the most up-to-date, computerized, notolerance engineering technology. The result is the company’s “Classic†sideby-side, double-barreled rifle .

The Classic was originally available in calibers ranging from 7mm to 9.3 x 74 Krieghoff .470 NitroExpress. Later on, this range was extended to .375 H&H Magnum belted rimless and .375 H&H Magnum flanged cartridges. All these side-by-side Classic rifles had a feature no other double-barreled rifle had. They were fitted at the muzzle with a removable wedge and an integrated front sight. This allowed them to be re regulated and, so to speak, be fine-tuned to the specific needs of a given hunter. For example, a change of bullet weights and/or ammunition manufacturer was feasible without having to resolder or reblue the barrels.

The Krieghoff Classic was a huge success. Yet, there was something missing. Hunters from all over Europe , particularly big game hunters, began to ask Krieghoff a simple question. Why did the Classic stop at .375 H&H? Why, indeed? Of course, there were technical reasons these big calibers could not be manufactured. Krieghoff wanted its big-caliber rifles to incorporate all the unique features of the Classic. The manufacturer wanted it all. After two years of work, the first p rototypes of the “Classic Big Five†rifles were ready to be field-tested on the African Big Five. The design of Krieghoff’s Classic proved to be technically flawless. The Big Five side-byside double rifle was manufacture d in calibers from .375 H&H Magnum t h rough .470 N.E. and .500 N.E. 3inch, including .416 Rigby and .458 Winchester Magnum. Finally, in 1995, a new cartridge was developed in .416 caliber, using the .500 N.E. flanged brass; this resulted in the .500/. 416 N.E. 3 1â„4- inch .

A great deal of top-level professional hunters’ practical requirements, advice and input have been distilled into planning Krieghoff’s Big Five Classic double-barreled rifles. All the feature s originally produced in calibers up to .375 H&H Magnum—except theremovable wedge and integrated front-sight system—are incorporated into the company’s Big Five doubles. The reason for this was simply that these heavy-caliber rifles are not usually fired at ranges of more than 75 meters or with telescopic sights. The Big Five Classic is regulated to shoot a maximum three-inch group at 75 meters, using iron express sights. In fact, the .470 N.E. 3 1â„4-inch Krieghoff double I purchased shoots slightly less than a 2 1â„ 2-inch group at 75 yards with both the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw and Sledgehammer bullets loaded by Federal. Hunters regularly fire large-caliber rifles from .375 H&H, up to .500 N.E., at the Big Five species. It is clear that the top three bullet manufacturers for these large calibers are the Tro p h y Bonded Bear Claw soft-nose and Sledgehammer solids, Swift “AFrame†soft-nose, and Woodleigh’s soft-nose and solids. In the field, bullets by these three superb makers are equally suitable, although I don’t recommend A-Square “Dead Tough†bullets. For 7mm, 8mm and .375 calibers — which are expected to perform with pinpoint accuracy at ranges of 150 meters and more—all the Classic doubles have the removable wedge and integrated front-sight system for regulating the point of impact .

Perhaps the most significant feature with all the Krieghoff Classic doubles is the company’s Combi-Cocking Device. There is no safety catch, and the hammers are not cocked until you push the cocking “Kickspanner†forward. You do this in a single, smooth movement, much as you would a conventional double safety catch, since it is located on the top tang, where the safety catch is normally located. Therefore, you can load the barrel s with two cartridges and hand the rifle to your gunbearer. You’ll never have to worry about whether the gun is going to fire accidentally because you forgot to put the safety on, or for whatever reason. You can get into the thickest bush or the longest grass and walk all day long with the rifle loaded—yet never give a care that it might go off inadvertently—which can happen with conventional safety catches on doubles and magazine rifles. When you are ready to shoot, you simply push the cocking device forward with one movement of your thumb as you raise your double— exactly as you would do with a safety catch—and the rifle is ready for action. If, as often happens, the opportunity to shoot or the danger passes you by, push the cock forward a few millimeters. The cocking device uncocks the hammers, and the cock slides back to the original position. It’s as smooth as silk and silent—no clicks. There’s more. Now picture yourself in an unenviable situation of having fired both barrels at a very infuriated lion, and it is down just a few meters f rom you, still not dead, not charging or staggering toward you, but still wanting very much to get you into the meat mincer. You can throw the action open, shove two more rockets into the breach, slam the double rifle closed, and you’re in business again. The Combi-CockingDevice does not uncock the hammers or make it necessary to reactivate a safety. This I do like very much.

Krieghoff has also developed its Universal Trigger System—the finest in the business. Heavy trigger pulls are well known on big-bore double rifles. The Universal Trigger System provides a clean, crisp trigger pull reminiscent of the best and mostexpensive British sidelock cannons — a pull force of 1.5 kg, maximum. This system has eliminated any possibility of a double discharge, which, apart from sometimes tipping the shooter, can be extremely dangerous . I was shooting a .450 N.E. with my old rifle in the dense southern Mizan Tefari forests of Ethiopia when it double-discharged. The elephant I was shooting at collapsed in midc h a rge not 12 paces from me, I didn’t realize the rifle had doubledischarged and still thought I had one unused cartridge in the left barrel. Only when I opened the breech to extract the right barrel’s cartridge did I realize that both cartridges had been fired. I was only 12 paces from a bull elephant in full charge in dense forest—with a useless rifle .

Another feature that grabs my interest is the concept of one action, many configurations. Every Classic Big Five, regardless of its grade or caliber, is built around an identical action to which any other caliber of Classic barrels may be fitted—even 20-gauge shotgun barrels . For instance, you many now purc hase a .470 N.E. 3 1℠4-inch Classic — as I did — and then go back in the future to Krieghoff to get another set of barre l s for the same .470 N.E. action. You might want a set of barrels in .308 Winchester to stock the camp l a rder with an impala. You might also want .375 H&H Magnum (or .375 H&H Flanged Magnum) for that Lord Derby giant eland and a 20-gauge set for the clucks and fluffs. As a result, you can be the proud owner of three rifles in one — with a shotgun thrown in — for a cost less than two Krieghoff Classic rifles, all having the same feel and balance .

Krieghoff has also incorporated a “ Break-O†recoil reducer in the buttstock. This is a clever little device, a sealed cylinder of mercury, which noticeably reduces the recoil of the Big Five big-bore doubles. The Break-O unit’s weight also helps offset the weight of the big-bore barrels , perfectly bringing the double to comfortable balance and making it a joy to hold, swing and caress .

I have been using my Krieghoff .470 N.E. 3 1℠4-inch Classic in Tanzania this season and have fallen in love with it. It is more than just a joy to hold. It has become a beautiful and gracious companion—almost like my wife, Elise. .."










Is it possible to, during times of adrenilin rush, to push the cocking device forward hard enough (attempting to cock it) that you push it far enough to pass the cocking point and disengage the hammers?

And do the Big Five model come with ejectors now?

quote:

Originally posted by PostDriver:
Is it possible to, during times of adrenilin rush, to push the cocking device forward hard enough (attempting to cock it) that you push it far enough to pass the cocking point and disengage the hammers?

And do the Big Five model come with ejectors now?

I am pretty sure it is not possible to push too hard and keep it decocked.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Sellers:
Just wondering about everyone's thoughts are on the Krieghoff Classic Double rifles??

I find the cocking thingie slow and awkward, so my personal preference would be for a Searcy or Heym.

I have heard of a hunter accidentally bumping the cocker-decocker-kickspanner during or after the recoil of his second rapid fire shot, then reloading and pulling the trigger again in a hurry to find that he had accidentally decocked the rifle in the rush to reload and shoot again.

Being used to pushing the safety forward habitually before shooting, some of us standard-double animals of habit might just decock the Krieghoff accidentally, and not realize it until getting into trouble whilst making haste.