The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Big Bores John Rigby and Company?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| <500 AHR> |
Are they any good? As anyone shot and/or handled one? Todd E | ||
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one of us |
The 1890 vintage double .500/.450 #1 BP Express I have is a peach! Can't say much for the current "California" Rigbys. | |||
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| <500 AHR> |
The California variety was what I was referring to. Todd E | ||
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| one of us |
They are an old and prestigious firm from England (London) and they made fine rifles and I assume they still make fine guns, but I have used any of the new ones... some say that they do not compare to our gunsmiths of today but they sure demand high dollar for 100 year old bolt actions..One reason the bring top dollar is they work, feed and function above all else..Many Custom guns just look purty.. ------------------ | |||
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one of us |
The Rigby name was sold to a firm in the US a few years ago. The main rifle maker at Rigby when it was still in the UK was Ron Wharton. He now trades as Ron Wharton (from Rigby's). His web site is http://www.bunduki.co.uk . He does all my riflesmithing and his work is the best I have seen anywhere. He specialises in the classic English style. | |||
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| One of Us |
I looked very closely at the California Rigby double rifles at SCI this year. They were very nice, handled very well and had the look and air of quality all about them. I would like to have bought one and then walked over the the H&H booth to bonk those snobs on the head with it. | |||
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| one of us |
Paul Roberts,the original owner of John Rigby and Co still operates at the original Rigby office in London under his family's name www.jroberts-gunmakers.co.uk The current co offers some "standard" guns based on the traditional Rigby designs, but the original Roberts firm was more adventurous and tried to revive the 10 bore in Nitro Express version as the .775 Rigby, something that is not offered by the new co. ------------------ | |||
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| <eldeguello> |
Didn't John Rigby make rifles in Dublin in the muzzleloader era? If I recall, the Rigby target rifles used in the Creedmore matches in the 1870's were made in Dublin?? | ||
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| one of us |
Yes, eldeguello, Rigby were an Irish firm before moving to London sometime early in the 20th century. The recent move to California is one more move for this great company and one can only hope that it goes from strength to strength as the move from Dublin to London not only saved it from possible closure, it made certain the company flourished. The way all things related to guns are headed in England, the move US wards should be another "rescue package". ------------------ | |||
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| one of us |
quote: I was thinking about this the other day and I think the opposite is true. IMHO selling the Rigby name to the US has effectively killed off a classic British rifle maker. There is something of a renaissance in British gun and rifle making. The following firms are all going strong in one form or another: H&H, Purdey, Boss & Co, Wm Evans, Wm Powell, John Dickson, Dan�l Frazer, McNaughton, AA Brown, Churchill, Westley Richards, David MacKay Brown, and a host of small makers who make bespoke rifles in the classic English style, Proctor, Wharton (from Rigby), J Roberts, Medwell & Perrett (wince). With the demise of Parker Hale and BSA we do not have a maker of mass produced rifles. I think this is no bad thing. Do you ever see any nice double rifles for sale in India? There must be quite a few around. Good hunting. [This message has been edited by Deerdogs (edited 04-16-2002).] | |||
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| one of us |
As I recall, Rigbys Actioneer, got an NR-1 Visa. They just gave him a Green Card. First for a Gunsmith. Seems that if they didn't have him they would not have a Company. As for the move to California, well I hope the Men who tried to make the World England are not rolling to much in there graves. My guess in time, Rigby/USA will be turning as good a rifle as you can get. There is a lot of good talent out there and with a few years of guidence, I think John Rigby will do just fine. Now that Single Shot they are making is quite interesting. | |||
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| new member |
I have to disagree with you guys regarding the 'snob' factor of Rigby. A couple of years ago my Dad and I walked into J. Rigby's old establishment here in California (they have since moved across town). We were treated like a pair of bumpkins straight off a melon truck. I have never, in my life, been treated in such an inappropriate manner in a high-end retail establishment - not to mention the fact that my Dad was there. My father is a respected vascular surgeon who practiced in the area for around thirty years. While neither of us were exactly in our Sunday best, one must remember that Rigby does not have a storefront on Rodeo Drive. The most well-off people I know in this area do not walk around with flashy jewelry and Hermes neckties every day (ever hear the expression 'big hat, no cattle'?). In any event, the people at Rigby were complete and total weenies, to use a much nicer term than I'd like to. On the other hand, in my few dealings with Holland & Holland I have always found them courteous and helpful. They might have had a bit of an air about them, but they never acted like those tools at Rigby. I have heard some scuttlebutt concerning the questionable parentage of some of J. Rigby's actions, but I will pass on commenting on that as I am wholly unqualified to do so. I am certainly no expert in double rifles. I can say that I will never ever spend a dollar with the current Rigby group and will do my best to let others know the experience I had with them. I considered going up to Craig Boddington at SCI and letting him know my experience with his pals, but then I realized that life is short and there were other nice guns at the show to look at. I walked ten feet up the aisle and checked out Butch Searcy's fine products. mfw | |||
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| one of us |
Deerdogs, If the gun scene in Britain is picking up, this is great news - may your industry go from strength to strength. Yes, we do hear of outfits making excellent rifles and I also subscribe to an excellent e-mag called sportingrifles.com but if I remember right, the Rigby name was sold off by Paul Roberts when the handgun ban craze was on during the last days of the Major government and subsequently when Blair banned even rimfire handguns. Things didn't look good at all at the time and I can only hope that they get much better. Paul Roberts continued to remain on the board of John Rigby when the name was sold to Rogue River Armoury, but I don't know what the situation is now. Do you know if there is a Rigby representation at the old address (now Robert's)? Yes there are a number of grand old guns that are still available in India, but our present laws have consigned them to the dustbin. Licenes are not issued for rifles in calibers greater than 8mm and the export of anything more than 90 years old is strictly banned. Most of the biggest gun dealers (who were located in Calcutta) like Manton, O C Daw, GM Biswas etc have closed down and I am sure that equally good outfits in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) like the Bombay Gun House and Bundukwala and Co will definitely close down once the present owners retire or fade away. I did have an opportunity to visit these people some years ago when looking for guns for a collector friend who lives in Belgium and saw all sorts of pieces from mint condition pinfire shotguns to Westley Richards miniature double rifles in .250-3000 - I don't know what happened to them and I'm too scared to ask. I happen to love guns as you probably know. ------------------ | |||
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| <Rusty> |
I too have heard rumors of the actions that the California Rigby uses. I have heard they use someone's 20 Ga. shotgun action? Any one here know for sure? As in the old english gun making days, most bought their actions from other people. Is that the case with the California Rigby? Rusty [This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 04-18-2002).] | ||
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| <eldeguello> |
mehulkamdar, I though so!! Thanks for the info on this great company. I've seen some of their muzzleloading sporting rifles. I wish someone would make a gun like these again, for us blackpowder burners. | ||
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| One of Us |
I was treated nicely by all the double makers except H&H. The Beretta folks had no trouble with me pointing a $112,000 double all around the booth. Butch Searcy spent copious amounts of time with me and answered all of my semi-ignorant questions with great patience and courtesy. The NECG people even ran down the aisle to fetch their double expert back so that my questions could be answered. The Rigby people were very informative, courteous and patient even though they were overrun with customers. Overall I was quite impressed. | |||
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| <hsp223> |
Rusty-Rogue River/Rigby does use either Merkel or Kreighoff ( can't remember which) 20 ga shotgun receiver as a base for some of their lower grade rifles but they do not carry the Rigby name. Geoff Miller is the owner and a number of articles have been written about the firm in "The Shooting Sportsman" magazine. His background is in the aerospace industry and that is where he made his fortune. He then started Rogue River making high quality double rifles and shotguns. Subsequently, he and some others got together and bought Rigbys. They make the true Rigby style rifle and other models. He hasn't redesigned the rifle but has made some improvements. He changed the shape of the mainspring such that the upper and lower leaf touch in the middle, this distributes the tension throughout the spring instead of at the bend as having the leafs not touching. He also TiN coats certain pins and wear surfaces which he believes should extend the life of the rifle. This seems to rankle some traditionalists, but reports that I've read in Shooting Sportsman, the quality is up to standard with the Rigby of old. HTH | ||
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