What brand of double, what caliber?

Is it a sidelock?

How does it shoot?

Thanks.

Thanks for asking. I looked really hard at a number of doubles, new and used, before choosing this one. I tried to buy an old 465 Hollis, but couldn't get an interview with the owner. Same with a 470 Westley Richards (drool) - couldn't get the seller to cross the bridge and really sell. Looked very closely at the new Krieghoff, and also the Merkel. Both nice guns, for sure. Then I saw the one that spoke loudest to me, at least of the new guns in the moderate price range.

It's a Chapuis 470, ordered early last Spring and arrived in August. It's a boxlock with sideplates, not (sigh) a sidelock. Barrels are about 23 1/2", and I wish they were just a tad longer. Shoots really well to about 50 yards, and probably can do so beyond that distance with more time spent in load development. I had it made with a scope and integral mounts due to aging eyes having trouble with small beads on open sights. But, I put a large white bead on the front and never mounted the scope while hunting.

I've got an old pre-64 458 Super Grade, an old 378 Wby, and a very light 375 Wby (really old). To my surprise, the 470 kicked harder than all except the 378. I suspect the relatively short overall length causes quite a muzzle jump, and the scope was gently kissing my shooting glasses each time I shot. Even from the standing position! I wasn't looking forward to the excitement of a dangerous game moment causing a real problem and getting an eyebrow cut. So, I changed foresights to the large white bead, and problem solved.

The engraving on the side plates is really the indulgence. Totally non-functional, but really adds to the rifle's appearance. As my wife observed, if it had a nickname, it would be "Indulgence", and certainly not "Necessity". (Confession: I used the age of my other large bore rifles as the reason I needed a new one. Not sure she completely bought it - something about folded arms and the "uh-huh" answers tells me it was OK, but unsafe to be repeated)

I also got some great advice from several members of this and the HuntAmerica forums.

The good news is that I was able to actually use it in September. Shot two warthogs, the buffalo, and a tuskless cow. Pretty great safari!!

Congratulations on the hunt and the double, and thanks for the story.

NOW! Friends, that's what a double rifle is supposed to be used for!

H T, I don't think my wife would buy your "MY RIFLES ARE GETTING OLD" dodge, because she has heard me brag on how good some of my doubles are, and a couple of them are 110 yrs old!

Congratulations, on your rifle, and your fine hunt with it!

nice trophy i hope you enjoyed your trip

Chapius makes a very nice rifle and they have been doing so for a very long time. I had a Chapius in 375 H&H for a short time and it was a nice little rifle. I am not crazy about rimless cartridges in double rifles.

Chapuis used to have the reputation of coming off of the face rather quickly because of soft steel. Have they fixed this problem?

Holland 465 for a man with several 500's I'm sure you could lay on some sexy "vanquished beast" shots for us all to look at.

I'm not aware of any soft steel problems with Chapuis, but am certainly willing to learn. I did talk to several friends and some new acquaintances in shopping for a double, and the several that had Chapuis rifles didn't report any problems of that sort.

One friend did sell his Chapuis 470 and bought a Krieghoff 500/416 after he had a wounded rhino lead him on a merry chase. His shot with the 470 didn't give him the penetration he wanted, and he decided to stick with the 416 caliber for all dangerous game from now on. Since he wanted a shooting rifle and not necessarily a stopping rifle, I couldn't disagree with him. Still, I went with the 470 and have been delighted!

By the way, I didn't realize those were pictures of a "vanquished beast". I thought it was food.

HT

My info on Chapuis in 10 or so years old. I was looking at a .375 Holland and asked some friends at the gunmaking school in Liege about them. JJ Peradeau was there then also. I haven't paid much attention to them since.

holland 465 did you have any problems with the Chapuis 375?
Mickey1 J.J. speaks very highly of the Chapuis double rifles. My 9.3 Chapuis has been shot quite a bit and is still tight as a tick.

450#2
That is why I asked. Like I said my info and interest is old and maybe they have changed.

Everyone seems to likes Searcy now but remember his old ones on the Browning shotgun actions?

Mickey1 A few weeks ago I shot a friends Searcy 470 built on the Browning SGN action. This rifle was ornately engraved with gold animals, etc. It was very nicely done.

I'm not trying to start a discussion on Searcy. It is a subject I have little knowledge of and less interest in. BUT, ANY rifle using a Japanese 12 gauge shot gun action and monobloc barrels looks, to me, to be cobbled together out of spare parts.

I am glad that Searcy has upgraded and changed his design and components. I now wish he would go to chopper lumps and he would indeed be making an American Classic in Double rifles.

As to the beautiful appearance of the rifle, remember. You can put pearls on a pig, but it is still a pig.

Mickey1
Have you heard some bad stuff on the early Searcy's? I'll be the first to admit it wasn't British, the rifle seemed a little light, but it shot OK.

There is a Searcy 45/120 on a Browning action on Howell&Co's website.Butch sleeved the origanal Browning 12 guage barrels,belive it or not.

Brian.

Has anyone seen that 45-120 at Hallowells? That seems like a damned good price for a big bore double rifle. If the gun is in good condition that is.

Lucs

HT
What scope did you put on your Chapuis. Have you tried moving it farther foward? Are you reloading for it yet?
What loads did you use in Africa and how did they perform?

I put a Schmidt & Bender 1.25-4 variable on the rifle. After I changed front sight beads to a large white Lyman, I could see it well enough that I didn't need the scope. Shot with the scope some, didn't like the recoil causing it to lightly kiss my shooting glasses - too close for comfort. I'll get it moved forward, but the design of the scope ramp means it needs to be re-drilled to achieve that.

I used factory Federals - 500 grains in solids and woodleigh softs. No complaints whatsoever. I will work up a handload to duplicate the factory, probably using Reloader 15, but I sure wish those Federal 216 primers were available to the public.

It would be nice if we could get the Federal 216's. But not to worry, just cut out some foam "plugs" with a sharpened 50cal Browning case [sharpened with a chamfer tool]. Just be sure the foam is compressed by the bullet to hold the powder against the primer. Do not forget to try some 350gr. Hawk bullets with the same powder charge that "regulates" with the 500grainers.
Nice looking rifle.

I bought some Nitro-Epress Wads from Kynock at the SCI convention. The 470 uses size 2, they weight 1.2 grains, and average 940/1000 in length.

Jim

JB, What are the wads made of ?

Wads were very low density foam, somewhat firm.

Jim

Thanks for the compliment on the rifle. It has been fun. I did indeed load up a bunch of 350 grain hawks and got in a lot of practice.

Where would I go about finding some of those foam wads, by the way??

We had a few guys over here getting chapuis rifles made but I never got a chance to ask about them.

At the risk of sounding indelicate what sort of price range are we talking about for them in big calibres?

Karl.

8-9 thousand US for the field grade should be an achievable price. Fancier ones cost more, of course. You can view their website at
http://gunshop.com/chap1.htm

H T
I just make my own foam wads. I have used a grey foam that is kind of spongy, and a black foam that is a lot firmer. Both have worked in otherwise identical loads. Just be sure the foam is compressed against the powder by the base of the bullet. I cut it out with a 50 Browning Machine Gun case that I "sharpen" with a chamfer tool. When it becomes dull I just resharpen it.