I�ve bought and sold four double rifles in my past. Each time I sold the guns I talked myself out of needing (wanting) them because I could get an equal quality bolt rifle (scoped) that was much more accurate for much less of a price.

I�ve got the bug again for another 9.3x74R or possibly a .470 Chapuis this time. Has anyone been really pleased with the accuracy of their double rifle? Is 4� groups of two pairs too much to ask for at 100yds? The rifles felt great, but I had little confidence to be able to consistantly hit with them.

I may never get to africa, but I did use the guns after hogs and brush hunting. Thanks!

No possible way I can try to talk you out of one. I got bit by the double bug myself. They are a bunch of fun to play with and also bring lots of attention at the range. 4 inches isn't bad, but you may be able to improve that with some careful reloading.

Don't worry if you never get to Africa. I'm going to use my double to tip over an elk someday and probably a bear too. Just sounds like something fun to do.

Mac

FFg My 9.3x74R Chapuis will shoot 4 shot [2 right, 2 left] groups at 200 yards around 3 inches with the only 2 loads I have shot at 200 yards. The right bbl seems a little more accurate than the left, it will shoot 1 to 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yds with several loads. I have a 2.5 X8 Leupold with the heavy duplex in QD mounts. I have two otner British doubles, check my previous posts. They shoot as accurate as necessary for hunting use. They do not have scope sights so their long range accuracy is a non-issue...But I can hit my 200 yard rock with either one of them. Double rifles are my favorite hunting rifles. I think my hunting buddy is going to buy and scope a 470 Chapuis. I am looking foward to loading and testing it.

"Talk me out of a double rifle"

OK, don't buy one!

Or maybe you should, and when you tire of the trouble you have to go through to get a working load, you can sell it to me for half price!

You don't need to be talked out of it. Since you've bought and sold four, you obviously won't be happy until you have one that you like. Be persistant.

A good medium bore double, like a 9.3 X 74R, is hard to beat for timber and brush hunting in North America. I use a .400/.360 NE almost exclusively for hunting here and wouldn't be without it. Nothing wrong with a .470 for bigger game. You should try a .450/.400 though. For most shooters, they are easier than the .470 to learn to shoot well.

I probably wouldn't be happy with 4" at 100 and if I had a double that grouped into much more than that, I would have it reregulated. This is actually quite a viable alternative. I've had one that didn't shoot that well which I let go. Both of my current doubles will do better. I've seen few doubles, new or old, that would do better than 4" at 100 yards with factory ammunition, but many that would with handloads. The key to accuracy with a double rifle is feeding it what it wants and proper shooting technique.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

hey macd37 a question for you how long have you been into double rifles could you email me i have some basic simple questions about doubles youll probably be able to answer.

The blasted things are so expensive and hard to replace that I just can't bring myself to check one on a plane. Also they seem to be pretty particular about ammo. Other than that you might as well get one. The perceived accuracy troubles might have been ameliorated by more experimenting with loads.

FFg

Why would we want to? Only the most intellegent and highly respected people on this forum shoot Doubles. Only the elite of the Hunting World shoot Doubles. Why would anyone encurage a fellow human being to jump into the goo pool of mediocrity and blandness of Bolt action rifles. They all look alike and you can't tell them apart!

That would be like trying to talk a person in to being insane. Only totally sane people shoot doubles.

This is your Brain OO.
This is your Brain on Drugs o

Gentlemen, there is still time. Borrow the money for a double rifle. If you do not reload, try Superior Ammo. Do not hunt dangerous game in Africa without a double rifle, it is what hunting the Dark Continent is all about. A double rifle is the ultimate hunters rifle, especially for dangerous game.

Amen.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

This is like walking into a bar and asking the patrons to persuade you not to get a drink

I have yet to purchase my first double, but when funds allow it, I'll have to have one. I see it as one of those decisions where logic and economics simply fail. If you want one, you'll simply have to have one, or more.

Thanks All!

Two of the doubles were new with test targets. I waited months to shoot each as that's how long it took to get the proper RWS ammo (according to the test target) for the 9.3s. Both failed to come anywhere close to the accuracy of the test target. (1" vs 6-8"). I would have thought that factory loads would give similar performance. Maybe I should have experimented further...

FFg

"FFg My 9.3x74R Chapuis will shoot 4 shot [2 right, 2 left] groups at 200 yards around 3 inches with the only 2 loads I have shot at 200 yards. The right bbl seems a little more accurate than the left, it will shoot 1 to 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yds with several loads"

Not clear if this is 3 inches each barrel or 3 inches for both barrels, which would be exceptional for 200 yards!!

I am working on loads for my Merkel 9.3 74R. I have three loads that shoot less than two inches at 100 yards for a RL pair, then about 4 inches for a four shot RLRL combination.

I am going to get a 2 inch four shot load for 100 yards that is not temperature sensitive.

The last load I tested on Sunday last was three bullets touching, and a fourth at 3 inches away.

the trick is what do the first two shots always do with the cold barrel? I have three loads that put a RL pair under 1.5 inches. sometimes. then they puke.

For western hunting and stalking, an overunder double is a lot cheaper, and a good bit more accurate. There the two barrels either converge perfectly, or they are regulated so one is dead on at 100 yards, and the other is sighted in for some longer distance... what a european friend calls the milkmaid solution.

I have killed a moose with mine. dead as a bolt.

but do not be deluded: doubles are subject to uneven heat stresses that make them fail as target rifles.

BS If you have the money for a double you have the money for a hunting trip. Quit dreaming, you have bought and sold 4 doubles. Get to africa, you will remember it long after you forgot the first double. Don't substitute the romance of holding a double for the experience and memories of BEING THERE.

No offense Kevin, but there is nothing like the memory of being there and staring over the muzzles of your double rifle at a wall of brush waiting to see if the Buffalo that you just walked past and is now hunting you is coming or going!

FFg,
There is no good reason to buy a double rifle. They are a beautiful work of functional art, however any bolt action can shoot further and more accurately.

Plain and simple, you do it or ya don't. Find the double you like can afford and can hit what you shoot with it. The only prerequisite in my opine is the rifle use a flanged round.

Yes it is romancing the rifle/round, but what a wonderful romance! Just go do it if you want to, and if you don't no big deal!

I hope you get the chance to look over the muzzles of your double rifle THERE! You'll love it, too!

Rusty
We band of brothers!

other than the prospects of building one, there's nothing going to get the double out of your blood.

buy it, enjoy it, SHOOT it!!
jeffe

Jameister Sorry if I did not make myself perfectly clear. The one time I shot my 9.3 Chapuis at 200 yards I shot standing, off of the roof of the car. I had a coat under my left hand to have padding between the roof and my wrist. I fired 4 rounds, right/left, right/left, let the rifle cool and shot 4 more rounds with two different loads. 286 Nosler Partition, and 285 Hawk .035jkt, both with 65gr. of IMR4831. Scope is a 2.5x8 Leupold with heavy duplex. Both groups could be covered by the palm of my hand. I plan to do more 200 yard work with the 9.3 in the near future. I even plan to shoot at 300yards. Remaining velocity at 300yds should be around 1800fps with the Partition, energy around 2000ftlbs. I do not want to stretch the 9.3 that far, but I am curious as to how the double will shoot at that distance.
If a double does not group both bbls together at a distance, just adjust the sights for one bbl and use it like a single shot.

Can't agree NE 450. If a double's barrels don't shoot to the same point of aim, I paid to much. I have to ask myself, If I were buying a dbl and the dealer told me that it did not shoot to the same point of aim. I'd pass.

By the way, great shooting with the Chapuis!

Did you buy it already mounted with a scope? Was the gun regulated with the scope? If so, does it still shoot well with the scope removed? Thanks!

When I bought the Chapuis I got the scope mount at the same time. The rifle was regulated with the Iron sights, but shoots good with the scope.
Doubles are usually regulated by the "factory" at 50 to 100 yards. If the rifle will not group both bbls together at longer ranges the practice was to adjust the longer range sights for one barrel. This is an especially good technique when a scope is mounted on a double because the scope makes hitting at a longer range possible, the more precise you can place your shots the more the divergence of the bbls is aparent. I did not think this up, on my 450/400 3 1/4, made in the 1920's is marked on the bbls in the following way.
On the left bbl is engraved "THIS BARREL IS ACCURATE WITH THE SIGHTS TO 400 YARDS". On the right bbl is engraved, "THIS BARREL IS ACCURATE WITH THE LEFT TO 50 YARDS". A good double should be accurate for the game it is designed for to at least 100 yards. If the barrels do not group together at longer distances, sight in the scope or the long range leaves for one of the bbls and shooting game at a longer distance is not a problem. I have shot my British guns with their 200 yard leaves on my 200 yard rock with hits, but I have not shot them on paper as you do not normally shoot DG at such ranges, especially with iron sights. The next time I get the chance I will shoot them at 200 yards and report back.
What I am trying to illustrate here is that a double rifle is not just a short range brush rifle, but capable of taking game [suitable to its cartridge] at any reasonable hunting range.

I doubt that anyone, other than a PH needs a double as a good bolt gun will get you by...You don't hunt alone, you have a backup...You can take a trip to Africa for the price of a double and that is better than owning a double any day..I wouldn't be without one.

FFg

A half serious help for not buying a double is reading W.D.M. BELL who hated doubles or perhaps Hemmingway.

I think doules are quite nice and could think of getting one in 450 (3-1/4)rigby. A bolt gun is more allround and will be better suited for longer range. It easier to play round with different loads in a boltaction, since regualtion of barrel won't be a problem

Now, I will stop otherwise I might start to convince my self NOT too

/ JOHAN

Some folks like single shots, some folks like lever actions, some folks like bolt actions, and some like double rifles. There is na absolute NEED for any of them,or spears, arrows or poison, and anything can be trapped if all you want is a dead animal!

None of these tools are better than another one in it's particular niche. I have, and have used, all these methods to take animals at one time or another. Now I shoot only single shots, CRF bolt rifles, and Double rifles for the hunting I do today. For plains game in open country, I prefere single shots, in open western mountains, I like bolt actions, for dangerous game I prefere a double rifle of adiquate size, for the job at hand. Because dangerous game is only DANGEROUS if he is close enough to win a fight, and in this sittuation, NOTHING beats a S/S double rifle, for speed of an aimed second shot, without haveing to work any bolt, lever, or other gadgit, and the absolute reliability, and power combined,of a double rifle!

Nobody in his right mind would claim one must have a double rifle to hunt dangerous game safely, that would be silly! However, one cannot be better armed in that fight, than with a good double rifle! Since I have all three types available to me in a range of chamberings to cover most anything I'll ever hunt, I wouldn't be in the bush for dangerous game without a double!Others may do as it suits them!