Deposit payed, nice upgraded wood bought (thanks Larry), gun licencing office here in Norway will most likely approve .500NE (if not I am looking at .470, .450 etc).

Here are my thoughts so far... Any input would be appreciated.

Sights:
a) Ghost ring sight (no express sights)
b) Foldable Ghost ring sight and foldable express sights (100 and 150 yards).

Stock:
Lenght of pull on my .470 Krieghoff was 14.5 and the gun fits me after I add 1 inch. LOP should therefore be around 15.5 inches (from front trigger).No scope will ever be added so the comb shall not be raised. Stock should be straight so recoil will not move up into the chin. No cheek piece?

Action:
I would like the action as heavy as possible to get maximum ammount of weight between the hands for pointability. I even wondered about having the falling-block made of tungsten Total weight of the gun should be in the range of 10-11.5 pounds?

Barrels:
I have no strong prefrences regarding barrel profile, anything that balances well is good. Anything from 23-27 inches is fine. I am leaning toward shorter barrel length as long as I will not loose too much velocity and I would presume .500NE is a cartridge type that does not need a long barrel to get up to speed.

Finish:
Coin/ shiny or case coloring (conservative). Not sure about this. Have been thinking extra engraving would go best with coin finish but not sure.

Engraving:
I have some old patterns from the Oseberg viking ship here in my capital. Interwining dragon/serpents. Would be cool to have something personal from my bloodline and culture. Maybe the serpent could extend down the tang/triggerguard?

My advice is, get case coloring and 26 inch barrels!

My advice is foldable Ghost ring sight and foldable express sights (100 and 150 yards) because it works but looks good too. If you are used to stock without cheek piece it´s OK. I like case coloured more, coin finish looks me some like cheap.

Bailey did a great job on the CCH on my rifle, and I am very happy I went that route. If I had ordered my rifle with more extensive engraving, like game scenes, I would have gone with a coin finish so the engraving would be more prominent. The engraving on my rifle consists of Bailey's logo in script inlaid in gold - very simple, yet tasteful. I agree with the ghost sight and foldable express sights configuration. You may also want to consider having Bailey install a base in the quarter rib for a reflex sight. You may not need one of these now, but as your eyes get older, they are really great and do not look as out of place as a scope on a double. Two last options I would get are a leather covered recoil pad and a skeleton grip cap. The pad for functionality and the grip cap because it just looks elegant.

CCH+1
Recoil will be nicer with the reduced come drop

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
My advice is, get case coloring and 26 inch barrels!

100% agree

Mine will be deep-relief engraved, casehardened, take-down, with 27" barrel sets in 500 NE and 450-400. I hear it's getting close :-)

Thanks for the advice. I have already spent an additional 1k on wood and have a maximum of 3k more to work with on top of the base 12.5k price.

Take-Down option, I would love that unless it is very expensive. Is it?

CCH seems like the finish to go for. Is it expensive? Maybe I should choose zero engraving to reduce cost and just have it case hardened? How is the durability on case hardening? Will it wear down like blueing?

What is the reason for choosing 27 inch barrels? I understand it is traditional, but functionally? I want to avoid the gun being front heavy..

Leather covered recoil pad sounds good and a case hardened grip cap sounds perfect?

Will go for ghost ring and folding leaf sights. Also base for red dot sight as I may not have 20/20 vision forever...

Couple of ways to go at this point, Norsk. No, No need for 27" barrels! Get the 24" barrels, especially for a 500NE or 470NE. You want something as handy, as possible with weight between your hands.

If this is a working gun and you do not feel the need of fancy engraving, then go for the minimal screwhead and action border engraving, and CCH it. Yes, CCH is durable. Hardness stays at the thin, microscopic level, as I understand it, although the color may wear off if you don't varnish it and renew from time to time.

Save your money and don't bother with a leather-covered pad. I'd argue for a modern kick-eeze pad in whatever color is available (my shotguns use charcoal gray pads...).

Regards, Tim

24" barrels without a doubt. You can get 2150fps with 24". Why carry around the extra length when you can get the performance standard at 24. Just something to get hung up on in brush.

26" or 28" may be traditional on vintage English double rifles, but Bailey's guns are not traditional. Go with what functions best.

Norsk, the take-down option was $1,500 when I ordered mine....might be up from that now.

On the barrels, I don't get long barrels for reasons of ballistics...I just don't like the feel of 24" barrels on a double rifle. It looks/feels like a stagecoach shotgun to me, but to each his own :-)

As an investment, the appeal of S/S double rifles is as much nostalgia as practicality, so resemblance to the English standard makes sense. Hence I would suggest express sights and case hardening, though ghost rings are more accurate and less likely to shoot high than if stress keeps you from pulling the bead deep into a shallow V.

Since you'll have plenty of power but db rifles are heavy and extra leverage makes them feel worse, I'd settle for 24-inch barrels.

Below is a photo of the right side of the receiver of my Bradshaw double showing the CCH and the simple script logo in gold.

I would suggest 24"-26" barrels. I personally prefer 25"-25 1/2". I love leather covered pads and have them on several of my traditional guns. That being said, I would not put one on a BB double as I think it may look out of place on the more contemporary looking gun. Just my $.02. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Thanks for all the input. Still undecided on barrel lenght. Leaning toward 24 inch. Going with case coloring and deep relief (large motif) engraving, viking style for 2k extra. Dropping takedown option as I really dont see the need for it. Red old English decellerrator pad. Ghost ring sight (foldable) and foldable leaf sights (100 and 150 yards). Will post some images of engraving motfs later..

Are not the leather pads slippery?

Not at all.

quote:

Originally posted by D R Hunter:
Are not the leather pads slippery?

No.

I ordered the take-down option, it just seems a double should have that. I bought the same wood upgrade you did, with CCH. I am having Bailey do a simple inlay in silver of a pair of crossed tusks. Also, the folding peep. 26" barrels. Mine will be in 470, as I have been loading and shooting it for years, and have a lot of experience and infrastructure set up for that cartridge, and it has always performed well for me.
I also opted for Talley style bases machined into the rib. I might want to use a reflex sight at some point, and since the rifle will outlive me, it gives another option to a future owner. No negatives to it, and potential positives. Why limit your options?
I am getting a leather pad, a personal preference on a high end gun.

That's what I did, I am sure that whatever you decide on will please you for many years.
The take-down option was $1500 when I ordered.

Just talked to my local gun department here in Norway. They needed a written explanation of why I needed to go up to .500NE from .470. I can't believe how moronic the women at the gun office are. Only 50BMG is illegal and they have no right by law to deny me any other caliber. Problem is they still can do it and I am not interested in a lawsuit to champion somthing like this. Wrote them an article on old low pressure cartridges and how they are far from 50BMG in power and usage. Called them back and I would say 80% chance of getting .500 approved. They need two more weeks they said. Stupid, stupid socialist burocracy.

If they don't approve. I can choose freely below .470NE (have permit on that). What would you guys reccomend?

Bailey said .450NE is 1/8 inch slimmer than .470 or .500 and this does not seem like much. I have read the main advantages of .450NE is bullet selection (.458) and possibilities for building slimmer weapons (depending on maker). Also this is the action that I would like heavy to begin with...I would think slimmer action is a disadvantage as long as it corresponds to weight... What caliber would you guys reccomend? .450no2NE .450NE31/4 or 470NE?

I would go with the .450 3 1/4". Lots of brass and reasonably priced (Hornady) factory ammo as well. My second choice would be the .450 No. 2. Great, low pressure round. Downside is much more expensive brass and ammo.

If you can't have a 500 then go with a 450 or 470. Stay away from the No2 because you don't need the extra cse capacity. The 450 is great because of avaiable bullets. Really no difference in killing power between the 450 and 470. I'd make you choice based on what components you can get easily in Norway.

Sam

quote:

Originally posted by Norsk:
Just talked to my local gun department here in Norway. They needed a written explanation of why I needed to go up to .500NE from .470.....

Suggestion for a written response: "Because it is glorious."

But then again you are bumping up against stupidity so I suppose that response might get rejected.

Suggestion for a written response: "Because it is glorious."

LOL, that would be the only honest reply

They also asked how often I would use it (thinking it is only for elephant and they can deny me something I do not have a need for.. use often). I explained it is perfect for moose (little meat destruction) and that i hunt moose every year as well as planning occational buffalon hunts.

I explained that there is almost no difference between 470 and 500 in power (15%) and that the only reason for going up is that I prefer the 500 in a new weapon (same action size) as it balances better (less weight in the barrels) and that I prefer the more traditional look of a straight walled case. Just a matter of taste.

It is really sad that I have to explain myself like this in the first place. You have to hope Obama et.al will not introduce procedures like this in the US...

I think I will go 450 3 1/4 inch if I get a "no"... I am tempted to beg Bailey to build the rifle in 450 Rigby just to spite the bullet diamter idiots in the office... Problem is he only builds for flanged cases right?

If you want to spite them get Bradly to chamber it for a 450-500 or a 450-577. In that falling block you can load it up hot.

BB will only build in FLANGED caliber. Ed Hubel,
(hubel458) tells us in his great experience that
straight walled cases give much longer brass life
than bottle necked cases. So I vote 450 3.25 NE
or 500 NE.

Or if you wanted something less common 475 NE.
It uses 450 NE brass to fire .483" diameter bullets,
staying with straight walls, non-bottlenecked.

Good advice. Will go .500, if not .450. Will spend 2k on engraving (large motif deep relief) and will probably skip take-down option as I can't really see a use for it. The principal idea behind Baileys fallingblock double is utter mechanical simplicity (inspired by his experience making custom knives and swords). I find dropping the takedown option is in line With this principle (and it saves me money). I have never hunted abroad so I am not sure how important it is to have a smaller gun case when travelling, but as most dont have doubles or take-downs, I figure it can't be very important. If you had to choose would you drop engraving or take-down option?

I'd drop engraving and GO WITH TAKE-DOWN option; NO DOUBT !!!
Engraving is about looking at the rifle. The take-down feature allows
for DISCREET portability...

quote:

Originally posted by D R Hunter:
I'd drop engraving and GO WITH TAKE-DOWN option; NO DOUBT !!!
Engraving is about looking at the rifle. The take-down feature allows
for DISCREET portability...

+1 -- take-down is the winner if you cannot afford both. Nothing like a manageable-sized gun case rather than the long and unwieldy ones...

Regards, Tim

In my opinion, anytime a take - down gun or rifle is transported assembled the risk factor to the wrist of the stock goes up astronomically. A really good case helps a bunch, but a broken stock would really screw up an expensive hunt.

MACD so the take-down system makes the stock more fragile during transport?

Sorry Norsk. I wasn't clear. In my opinion, if you have the option to get the rifle built as a take-down you should do so.

The wrist is the weak point in the system. The take-down system enables you to transport a much shorter, more compact package that has much less chance of being flexed. The case is shorter plus the barrels are packed parallel to the buttstock and would also help in an extreme baggage handler situation.

Thanks forclarifying

Take-down for sure....doubt I will ever travel with out a take down ever again.

Ok, im getting convinced... What takedown system does Bailey use, and i i durable?

Baileys takedown system comprises of tapers on every mating face. The barrels go into a tappered pocket in the action face that perfectly match the taper on the breech of the barrels. Once these surfaces are fitted they really cant wear, or if they do it wont be anywhere near the rate of a traditional threaded takedown system. On a tang extending out of the front of the action there is a vertical block attached to a lever, tapered on its surfaces that acts to draw the barrels into the action. Being that the vertical block is tapered it is also built to accomodate wear. Other design elements are incorporated to negate side-to-side movement and barrel flip. From my standpoint its probably one of the best systems, but im biased.

Bailey and I have made slight design changes and changed the manufacturing process on this system, but everything still acts the same if not better.

Good description A.L.

Any possibility of some pictures of the take-down system?