Hi guys/gals,
I am on the look out for a 500NE 3 1/4", my grandfather had one, there is only a blury pic of it, and I have no idea on it's make. It was said to be a turn of the century nitro english double, that's all the info I have. It was bought in India.
If wanting one similar era, what makes should I be looking for, I know of Holland, Rigby and Gibbs.
Any suggestions appreciated.

Cheers.

well a blurry picture is better than No picture.
So show us.

Since bought in India, I would look at W. J. Jeffery, Manton, Rodda, and Army & Navy rifles in addition to the others you named.

Most 500s of that era, from India, were not full Nitros, but were either Black Powder Express, or proved for Nitro for Black rounds. I had a Greifelt that was Nitro Proved but was quite light and small; definitely not for full NE loads. There is a plethora of makers of them; they used to be quite cheap but not so much any more. There was no need for a full Nitro .500 in India which is why most of them were BPs; for Tiger shooting. So, maker is not really important; could have been any one of a dozen, or an Army and Navy too. I assume it was a side hammer; many of them were, but many were hammerless too; yes, even a blurry pic is better than no pic; Confucius said that.

Give Evans a call, might be worth a look. It's a nitro 3 1/4 extractor gun built by a good company. No idea as to condition.

http://www.williamevans.com/pr...ouble-rifle-2nd-hand.

Good luck

Thanks guys, have been away from any phone coverage.
As far as I know, it was a famous English made rifle, I cannot provide a pic, I do not have it in my posession. It was bought in India far cheaper than what it would have cost if bought in Britain, and it was my great grandfather, not my grandfather, my mistake. It was used in Africa for several years before being sold, that's all I know.
Jeffrey rings a bell, but none of the living relatives really know the full story, my great grandmother was from Mauritius and that's where my great grandfather lived for quite some before returning to England.

Anyway, thanks for all of the suggestions, I will be looking at them all.

Cheers.

I may be an idiot, but how do BPE guns compare to smokeless? I know I should buy one of Cal's books, but is it the smoke and velocity?

quote:

Originally posted by DCS Member:
I may be an idiot, but how do BPE guns compare to smokeless? I know I should buy one of Cal's books, but is it the smoke and velocity?

THe BPE doublerifle has in many years been considered an underdog exept to those who had them and shot them. Quite a few Hunters have shot african Buffalo with their .500 Express rifles. A 440-500grain hard lead bullet doing 1700-1900 ft/sec will perform miracals. They can often compete in the penetration dept along with modern full nitro/modern bullet calibers.
Lots of BPE owners shoot their expressrifle with smokeless powders...but a full blackpowderload is no whimp either. It really packs a wack often with more recoil than a smokeless load.

Your are not an idiot...just go buy a BPE rifle and shoot it and you will become a believer..

Jens is right. A BPE rifle is very capable.
As for the rifles, the BPE rifles are built much lighter and slimmer than a rifle built as a nitro rifle from the beginning.
A .500 double from the BPE era, such as an Alex Henry hammer gun, will run about 8-1/2lbs and a nitro double .500 will almost always come in over 10lbs.
Many BPE rifles have been re-proved to shoot either light nitro (Nitro for black) or even full tilt nitro express loads but are really not designed to regularly use full loads and are no fun at all shooting them.

Seems like your Great Grandfather's rifle could have been literally anything, so without any better description, just buy any .500 caliber double you like and can afford. That should meet the only requirements known about it; that it is 114 years old.

416RigbyHunter,

I sent you a PM. My .500 3 1/4" was delivered on July 23, 1907. It was sent to Mr. H. Turner, Esq., I.C.S. The rifle was sent to India in care of P. Over & Sons in Madras.

The rifle is listed as a .500 A&D double cordite rifle, 3 1/4" case, weight 11 3/4 lbs, drop 1 1/2" 2", LOP 15". The cost was 30 guineas.

Interesting stuff.