Gentlefolk,

I was pondering better things than work this morning and came up with this subject for this esteemed group. For those of us not currently blessed with a double rifle, but hope to be blessed in the future, some questions arise.

One of these questions is what to look for in a new or used double as far as fit, workmanship, and where & tear.

For instance, how does one check for 'on face' specs (if that's the correct term)? What are other things that one should look for?

I'm not suggesting that one should not send a gun to an independent gunsmith before buying the rifle, but what would you look for if you were trying to 'separate the wheat from the chaff'?

Take Care,

-Steve

P.S.: I also posted this same thread on HA's Big Bore and Double Rifles forum. If you either read or ignored this subject there, I appologize. This forum seems to get a bit more traffic.

I don't know how to inspect a double gun, but you said something that was interested.

"This forum seems to get a bit more traffic."

I would hypothesize it is because this forum does not censor posts (except for Latigo's nude picture of himself), resulting in a more free, frank, open and meaningful discussion.

What is the address of the HA double guns forum- I would like to visit.

Thanks in anticipation

Siviter,

Here's a link directly to the forum...

http://www.huntamerica.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=47

The link is rather long and wrapped a couple of times when I pasted it in. If it doesn't work try this one to the top level of the Hunt America (HA) forums...

http://www.huntamerica.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi

As I said the sub-forum (and I should have said sub-forum originally) does not seem to get much traffic. But I agree with 500 that HA's total traffic seems to be down from my perspective. I think that a large part of that is due the the new UBB software Swamp installed a while back and the fact that it is slow and seems to like to hang Netscape 4.X.

But as one who criticized Swamp in the infamous 'leopard skin sale' thread (which was pulled shortly after I posted a link that showed what you had to do to make the sale legal), I understand 500's response.

But I digress. HA is still a great resource. I read it often and post there occasionally.

Take Care,

-Steve

Steve, first off there is a certain amount of etiquette involved in the handleing of up-scale rifles, that belong to someone else. First let me suggest before you handle a double rifle, you remove your finger rings, and put them in your pocket. Then ask permission to handle the rifle, and the first thing you want to do is close your eyes, snap the rifle to your shoulder, then open your eyes. If the rifle fits, you should be looking right at the sights that are nearly as posible alined. If this is way off, move to another rifle. If you are not ready to buy, then the inspection stops here, but if you are really looking to buy, go ahead with the rest of the inspection. If the fit is OK, Then ask the owner to remove the fore end. Then turn the rifle upside down, push the opening lever to disengage position. Then gently try to move the barrel assembly side to side. There shouldn't be any play. If there is not, and the rifle is used, remove the barrels and look closely at the surface of the hook that mates to the hinge pin, and the pin itself. What you are looking for, here, is evidence of peening. This is often done to make a rifle seem tight till it can be sold. If all is well here, the next thing to do is look at the bores, to see if they are bright, and there isn't any pitting inside the barrels, or evidence of "RINGING" of the barrels or chambers, caused by hot load being fired in the rifle, or fired with a blockage of some sort. Now, remove the barrel assembly from the action, and holding it by the chamber end, strike the muzzel end against the heel of your hand, If it seems solid, OK, if it seems something is loose and viberates, check the ribs very carefully for a place where the rib is loose (not souldered to the barrels). Now if everything is OK so far, and the rifle is equiped with ejectors, ask the owner if he has a pair of snap-caps, or empty cases, so you can check the ejectors. It is probably best here to ask him to demonstrate the ejection.
Lastly check the rist of the stock for hair line cracks, or evidence of a repair. any of the things you have checked so far can cost you thousands later, if they are missed.

If everything checks out be ready to deal, but ask for a trial period so you may shoot this rifle. If it shoots you are in business, if it doesn't and it isn't too far out, handloading may fix the regulation. Now is the time to decide if you are really in the market for a fifty year old rifle that is in the $10K up price range!

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..Mac >>>===(x)===>

Best advise is take it to a known double gun smithy and have it checked out and shot..I would think most would be glad to let you do that with a payment and 10 day inspection...JJ Paradoux at Champlains or L. Armes in Nev. come to mind....Bob Francis at Westley Richards would be good...

The best way to check the face is to take the forend off and wiggle the action and barrel, you do not want ANY movement, but that not always a given test..but it usually is a good indicator...

Check the firing pins for smoothness and roundness..The bores should be crisp and smooth without pits, but sometimes rough bores still shoot great..Check for splits in the wood and repairs, just general condition, but all of the above is forgiven in a double that shoots 1" at 50 yds for 4 shots....Most everything on a double can be fixed.....

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

2nd best advise is read Macs' post carefully..

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Guys,

Thanks! That was exactly the kind of advise that I was looking for.

I'm not prepared to buy one today, but I wanted to know what to look at, if and when I run into a gun that trys to change my mind.

Take Care,

-Steve

Ray
What if you do find movement. Is it repairable. I recently came accross a german drilling in 12x12 with a 25-35 win underneath
beautiful gun but a little play in the action. So I didn't pick it up yet till I can find what to do about it.
Rich

Yes it can be repaired by rehingeing, if it isn't completely out of whack! www.Champlinarms.com and click on services. JJ Perdoue can fix most anything that is repairable. Not cheap but JJ is cheaper than some others!

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..Mac >>>===(x)===>