First Stop Guns of Rapid City, SD is advertising a stainless Searcy 470 double rifle for $13K. It is 1 of 2 made in stainless and per the dealer cost was over $18K.

quote:

Originally posted by LJS:
First Stop Guns of Rapid City, SD is advertising a stainless Searcy 470 double rifle for $13K. It is 1 of 2 made in stainless and per the dealer cost was over $18K.

They were made a few yrs ago, and the price was $8K. I don't know how many were made, but Butch will be more than happy to tell you the number. they are rare today, because nobody wanted them, especially chambered for 470NE! Now! That fact is also what drives that rediculous price today.

I personally, thought the stainless/sythetic stocked doubles were a good idea, for a working guide in Alaska, but they would have sold much better if they had been chambered for a perprietery cartridge in the range of a rimmed 45-120, or a 50-110, or even the 458Win Mag,or 338 Win Mag, for the bears in Alaska. Most of the people who would have bought them wouldn't care if the cartridges were rimless, or not!

The stainless was not needed for Africa, and nor would a rimless round in a double rifle sell well for Africa, especially made of stainless steel, with a plastic stock. This was never a selling point to African hunters. Alaska, however, is another story!

sweet! pics please!

And the lubricants used in the locks would congeal in cold weather, the firing pins would stay protruded, and the double rifle could not be opened after the first two shots, assuming the gun would go off.

Double rifles are fair weather friends unless you are willing to get into special lubricants and maintenance.

Yep, stainless and plastic arctic double rifles make little sense.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
And the lubricants used in the locks would congeal in cold weather, the firing pins would stay protruded, and the double rifle could not be opened after the first two shots, assuming the gun would go off.

Double rifles are fair weather friends unless you are willing to get into special lubricants and maintenance.

Yep, stainless and plastic arctic double rifles make little sense.

I have hunted (diving ducks) with double shotguns without issue when my buddies' autos and pumps were frozen and inoperable. I can recall more than once when we were passing my double around taking turns. This applies to both boxlock and sidelock shotguns, with and without ejectors.

JPK

I have used my 450/400 British double in Montana and Alaska in driving rain storms.

The double was soaked for several days in a row.

Did not have any problems.

There is a post by GeoffM24 just below this one that has pictures of the gun. It appears top me to be wood stocked rather than synthetic.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Double rifles are fair weather friends unless you are willing to get into special lubricants and maintenance.

Yep, stainless and plastic arctic double rifles make little sense.

I've used double rifles in a lot of extreme weather - ice and snow to heavy rains - and have never had a problem of any kind. In fact, I've found them particularly resistant to weather extremes.

I agree that stainless isn't needed. I've never had a problem with blued steel and walnut, even in extended rains.
----------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
I have used my 450/400 British double in Montana and Alaska in driving rain storms.

The double was soaked for several days in a row.

Did not have any problems.

If it was raining, it wasn't cold!!!
JOKER!!!

Yes I am an old duck and goose hunter and 5-year Alaskan Sourdough. No Cheechako here. I have pissed in the Yukon River, killed a bear, and at least tried to make love to an Eskimo woman, but she was having none of it. Making love to the bear would have been easier.

Some greases and oils will thicken in the cold and cause a double rifle or shotgun, boxlock or sidelock, to malfunction. Frozen water in an action is a no brainer.

Any stainless and synthetic "Alaskan Double Rifle" better have easily detachable locks for easy maintenance.

I want my stainless and synthetic DR made by Westley Richards with droplocks, or by H&H with their "hand detachable" sidelocks.

Are H&H and WR any good at synthetic stocks?

Wasnt there an AK bear guide who hunted with a H&H Royal? Can't recall his name but apparently it was very well used when he got done with it. I think a client gifted it to him.

Anyone know his name?

Brown bears are hunted in the spring and fall when the weather is for sissies, sunny or mere liquid rain.

Not too much polar bear hunting is done with double rifles, but would be a good chance to fill the action of that Royal with some graphite (shudder).

quote:

I have pissed in the Yukon River, killed a bear,

Now THAT's one heck of a whizz!

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Manion:

quote:

I have pissed in the Yukon River, killed a bear,

Now THAT's one heck of a whizz!

Memo to self "Stay up river frome this guy"
Bill

It's an old saw in Alaska. To be a true sourdough you have to:

1. Piss in the Yukon River.
2. Kill a bear.
3. Make love to an Eskimo woman.

Types like shootaway get #2 and number #3 mixed up. #1 is easy.

Doing number one in the Yukon, easy. I drove into White Horse, Yukon Territory, and headed right for the river. I was not even to Alaska yet and my urine was already headed down stream to pollute the entire state.

Then I cruised into town and stopped at Colonel Sander's Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. I felt right at home and the place was stuffed full of native women. That's when it got ugly ...

I fulfilled two of the three, and got grandfathered into sourdough status by staying 3 winters, the minimum to qualify.

Bill Cooley: You need to get out more often, so you would be more familiar with these customs.

I've always used doubles to hunt geese and quail in freezing temps up in the Texas Panhandle. It is always a blast to hunt quail in the snow b/c you can follow the tracks. I shoot both a weatherby orion 28 gauge over and under and a 20 gauge silver pigeon 3 over and under and have never had problems with either in freezing temps. That being said, they weren't stainles steel. I just think that perhaps your statement that doubles are "fair weather guns" might be a little generalized. It's certainly not true for all of them.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

1. Piss in the Yukon River.
2. Kill a bear.
3. Make love to an Eskimo woman.

My EX is part Eskimo and I've killed a bear (black). Two thirds there and never even been to Alaska

Been there done that.
1) Killed a beer, in fact many of them.
2) Pissed in the Yukon.
3) Eaten Eskimo Pies.

quote:

Originally posted by maddenwh:
I've always used doubles to hunt geese and quail in freezing temps up in the Texas Panhandle. It is always a blast to hunt quail in the snow b/c you can follow the tracks. I shoot both a weatherby orion 28 gauge over and under and a 20 gauge silver pigeon 3 over and under and have never had problems with either in freezing temps. That being said, they weren't stainles steel. I just think that perhaps your statement that doubles are "fair weather guns" might be a little generalized. It's certainly not true for all of them.

maddenwh,
Good taste in shotgun. My Orion is my favorite.

But it can get worse than quail hunting in the Texas panhandle. Even in Kentucky at minus-28F (it happened in 1993) I could keep the Orion toasty in the truck, pop out and keep the Orion action in my armpit and track those vicious quail or bunnies.

I did a solo Caribou hunt in below zero weather in November on the Alaska Peninsula in 1986. 5 days and 4 nights, before the pilot returned. I accidentally broke through the ice of a creek while packing meat and antlers back to my little tent camp. My rifle and I went for a swim up to my neck. The rifle had to wait its turn at thawing after I jogged back to camp in a panic and had to jog about for an hour while deciding which way to go as the night was moonless dark by the time I got back to my tent by minimag flashlight backtracking. Days are not long there that time of year. My Weatherby Fibermark .340 was encased in ice the next day when I finally undertook to thaw it by a fire, my fingers and toes having regained their sensation.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve:

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

1. Piss in the Yukon River.
2. Kill a bear.
3. Make love to an Eskimo woman.

My EX is part Eskimo and I've killed a bear (black). Two thirds there and never even been to Alaska

quote:

Originally posted by HARDBALLER:
Been there done that.
1) Killed a beer, in fact many of them.
2) Pissed in the Yukon.
3) Eaten Eskimo Pies.

Spoken like a true Sourdough.

quote:

Bill Cooley: You need to get out more often, so you would be more familiar with these customs.

While I don’t get out much I am fully recognizant of the concept that it is in ones best interest to not drink down stream from the heard.
I think nearly any weapon can be made to function properly in extreme cold if you do your part and prepare for this type of condition. I think a double rifle or shotgun will be easier to keep working in extreme cold versus a auto or crew served weapon.
Bill

rip

we greet with great joy your announcement that the 395 IS BACK !!!

but did anyone ever notice it was gone ? i don't think so.

so what is it - a 400 purdey bp cartridge ?

just what we need. will you be offering double rifles for it, or bolt guns ?

quote:

Originally posted by tomo577:
rip

we greet with great joy your announcement that the 395 IS BACK !!!

but did anyone ever notice it was gone ? i don't think so.

so what is it - a 400 purdey bp cartridge ?

just what we need. will you be offering double rifles for it, or bolt guns ?

tomo577,

I don't think very many people knew that the .395 existed as "BP," "BPE," and "Nitro For BP," or "Light Express" loadings.

The 400 Purdey 3" was not a true "Nitro Express" nor a .395: it loaded a .405-caliber bullet of 230-grain weight with 47-grain cordite charge, for 2050 fps, same ballistics as the 400 NFBP 3" (which was a .395-caliber, as were the old Martini BP loads of 2-3/8 to 3-1/4 inches).

Offering in 400/.395 Nitro Express?
Prof242 and I are "Made Men" in the .395 Family and will be starting off with Ruger No.1's in this chambering, using brass made by straightening out the 9.3x74R brass into a "straight-case" with no shoulder. It will get 400-grainers up to 2150 fps in a spritely 27" barrel at modest pressure, and thus clean the clock of the 450/400 Jeffery NE 3".

Time will tell about the double rifles, a more long term sort of project.

rip,

you can really get your 395 project up and running fast if you can only convince the DYNAMIC DUO

to team up as they have on the 9,3 and the 450/400-3" jeffery.

since both members of the DYNAMIC DUO are already set up it should be a snap for them to get into production.

Ruger only needs to buy 395 cal barrels for their # 1 and a reamer

Hornaday just needs to open the neck from 366 to 396 - there is no shoulder on a 9,3 x 74r case

so go for it laddie, put your name in the history books, and get the DYNAMIC DUO to get on the program

good luck and shoot straight, tom

There is a 10.97-degree shoulder (cone angle) shown on the 9.3x74R brass drawing by Norma, so that is only about 5.5-degrees, semi-angle, or "per side." Barely perceptible shoulder but it is there.

Let's give Ruger and Hornady a chance to finish getting settled from their latest 450/400 NE 3" and 9.3x74R adventures before springing a 400/395 NE on them.

Sounds like a natural.

If Hornady makes new brass, would they call it the 10.03x74.7R, 10x75R, 400/.395 Nitro Express,
or will they go all the way daring and call it the "400 Nitro Express 3-Inch," hmmm?

Here is the shoulder on the 9.3x74R, in the Norma drawing considered along with a Donnelly drawing of the 400NFBP3" (.395-caliber):



The latest reamer for what could be the 10x75R or 400/.395 NE:

quote:

Originally posted by tomo577:
- there is no shoulder on a 9,3 x 74r case ...

Of course there is a shoulder on the 9.3x74R. That is the shoulder that gets straightened out when necking up to .395.

Were you meaning the 9.3x72R? It has no shoulder, but not the "9.3x72R Sauer" though, that one has a shoulder too.

Maybe the 9.3x70R, 9.3x80R or the 9.3x82R? None of those have a shoulder.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

Of course there is a shoulder on the 9.3x74R. That is the shoulder that gets straightened out when necking up to .395.

If you look closely you can see the shoulder. Do not use the reloading data -- it is not mine but was included on some cartridges that came with my rifle.

Come on Tom, you know better than that, certainly there is a shoulder on a 9.3X74R case!It ain't much of a shoulder, but it is definently there!

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

Thanks, Charles. That's nice. The 400/395NE ("10x74R") loaded with hard-cast-lead 340-grainers and 400-grainers ought to be just as pretty.

Lessee ... 109.3x74R ...