good day all

i have ben pussled a bit over the last few days, double rifles were sometimes made in pairs, but they are rarly encountered today, i have seen a few doubles that were either a no. 1 or 2 of a pair but never the complete set.

1. do any of you guy's out there, have a matching set of fine rifles ?

2: did any of you ever manage to reunite a matched set after they were devided.

3 what would be the chances of finding the sibling, and how did you go about it ?

best

peter

A pair of 450/400's exist in Aust - I think Lyon & Lyon.


I found the other half to an H&H 12 Gauge shotgun once.

.

nigel

when you found the other half of the H&H were that by pure luck or did you go out and search for them ?

best

peter

quote:

Originally posted by peterdk:
nigel

when you found the other half of the H&H were that by pure luck or did you go out and search for them ?

best

peter

Pure luck.

I mentioned it to someone who collected (a dealer), he mentioned he had one as well
- a No 2 of a pair. It turned out when comparing Serial Numbers that
I had No 1.

I can tell you it was bad luck for him !!! LOL

.

but very good luck for you

i have this 12 bore in my collection, that as far as i remember these days is no 2 of a pair, and i was daydreaming about finding no. 1 and taking them to africa and using them again for what they were meant for.

it is simply a matter of how to do this?
just sitting around waiting for the auction houses to find it for me is not quite as fulfilling as actually being active in the search.

best

peter

quote:

Originally posted by peterdk:
but very good luck for you
peter

About $10,000 worth of good luck
(that's $10,000 on top of what I was going to ask for the gun !!! LOL

.

Peter,

A year or so after I acquired my H&H 500/450 in South Africa, I was approached by the owner of the rifle that was its pair, with the serial number consecutive. The Natal sugar baron who had ordered my rifle had also ordered one just like it for his estate manager. I checked with the gunsmith who had recommended the H&H to me. He knew the mate and waved me off. He said it had not been well care for and was not worth anywhere near the price asked.

Regards, Tim

Peter - no to 1 & 2, but Matched Pairs Ltd seems to do good business with shotguns and also advertises the same service for rifles. Might be worth speaking to them. http://www.matchedpairs.com/double_rifles.htm

I've been warned off them a few times.

Beware.

Pairs, anybody have them ?


At first I thought it said PARIS. I was going to point out the obvious; lots of folks have had it...........

quote:

Originally posted by LRH270:
Pairs, anybody have them ?


At first I thought it said PARIS. I was going to point out the obvious; lots of folks have had it...........

Yep, you'd put it in the category of well worn, loose, no rifling left, needs to be sent back to JJ for a tighten, refresh, re lube, re blue LOL.


Kind of like some of the Cogswell and Harrison Double rifle's, yes, it is a double rifle but do you really want to be seen with it !!! LOL.

.

i like mine with a bit more meat in the barrel's as well

best

peter

I have a pair of doubles. Some might not call them fine, but I like them just the same. Pedersoli Kodiak in 45-70 and in 8x57JRS.
If Mr Brooks in Alaska sells me his 9.3 x 74.....I would have triplets!

tarawa

they sound like good guns to me, i was thinking about guns that were made as pairs from the start though.

best

peter

I remember it like yesterday - it was Sept 1976 and I was on University term holidays & we were invited to a part of India by a friend who said he would take us hunting. We went there and met this guy who owned a Movie studio. My mate ultimately married his daughter a few years later.

This studio owner had a pair of Wesley Richard sidelocks made for the Maha Raja & Maha Rani of Cooch Bihar in the 1960s. He bought it from a dealer NIB unfired with the original ammo packets. The Raja's rifle was a 476WR & the Rani's rifle was a 280 of some sort (no it was not a 7X65R). I was given the 280 to use at my stand while the beaters were beating for wild boar, Sambar or muntjack. Unfortunately I did not get a shot at anything. But I still remember the amazing craftsmanship and beauty of those two rifles. That must have been one of the last pair of English double rifles made for Indian royalty as the Privy purse system was abolished around 1967 or so & the former Royals had to start working to earn a living!

More recently about 18 moths ago I came across a John Rigby side lock hammer rifle here in NZ with two barrels - a 450/400 & a 303. The Rifle was found by this guy in a farm barn covered in dust under some other junk. I saw it with the gunsmith who was going to clean it up. It was surface rusted with a lot of grease still in the action & bores. The 303 bore was a bit dark but the 450/400 looked mint. The wood also looked like the rifle had seen little use. The owner was a novice who know nothing about doubles and did not have the patience to let the gunsmith work on the surface rust slowly without damaging the original finish of the rifle too much. I suspect he gave it to his local black smith to clean up and now it might be used as tomato stakes!