quote:

Originally posted by maxbear:
MacD37

I did know that Army and Navy was just a 'name'. Sorry if I used the term to loosley. The Army and Navy's that I have looked at have been 500 Nitro's. I have shouldered a 465 Nitro H&H, 450/400 Charles Lancaster and a few others. All nice guns for feel and handling.

What is your favorite double rifle/caliber?

Happy Thanksgiving

My favorite brand name is Westley Richards, and I find them to feel very light for the actual weight, of the rifle. This is because theyr are supurbly ballanced!

My all time favorite chambering is the 450/400Ne 3" Jeffery, but I strongly favor the 500NE 3" if I also have a small double as well. I find the 500NE, or the verious 450. chamberings to be better that the very popular 470NE!

Right now my favorite pair, and my go-to pair are a pair of Merkel doubles! One is a little 140E 9.3X74R, and the second is a 140-2 Safari 470NE.

I have several choices from a H. Berrela 8X57JR, to Pedersoli 58 cal Percussion ML double. With Merkel 9.3X74R, a TGA 45-70,a TGA 458RCBS, a WR 500/450#1 Express, the 470NE, a V. Haffner chambered for the 58Berdan carbine cartridge.

When I get ready to pack, the two Merkels get the nod! However, I've been mulling over the idea of selling one or two of the rifles I have and ordering a B.Searcy classic, chambered for 450/400 3", with QD scope attachment! I just hate that two year wait!

MacD37

I can tell you are a man who likes his Double Rifles. What does your merkel 450/400 3" and 500 weigh? How would they differ in weight when compared to Westley Richards?

made in the USA SEARCY Classic.

That is a beautiful rifle OZhunter! Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by maxbear:
MacD37

I can tell you are a man who likes his Double Rifles. What does your merkel 450/400 3" and 500 weigh? How would they differ in weight when compared to Westley Richards?

The 500NE Merkel actually weighs less by about 5 oz than the Merkel 470NE @ 11.2 lbs . The outside configuration of the barrels on both are the same with a larger hole down the tubes, and a larger chamber. As far as ballance, I find the Merkels to ballance pritty well, but cannot compare to the WR! For me they feel much better than the Krieghoffs.

I have owned two 470's. I originally had a 470 merkel 140 that really wasn't a bad deal, it just didn't fit me well at all. I traded it in for a 470 Chapuis that fit me a bit better and felt like it had a bit more balance than the merkel (i.e. weight between the hands). The Merkel felt a little barrel heavy. My new chapuis also has better wood and engraving making the aesthetics on the chapuis much better than they were on the merkel (if you even care about such things... so call my prissy).

That said, the chapuis still doesn't have sufficient LOP for me. I'm sending it to J.J. to put another inch on the stock. The triggers, wich are atrocious, are also getting fixed up. Miss fits and bad triggers are rather commonplace on over the counter doubles, but if you're willing to spend the doe on a non custon made double you need to realize that some additional work might be needed.

However, this is not always the case. My chapuis 9.3 has about 15 inches of LOP (don't ask me why) and the triggers are acceptable... just got lucky here. It must have originally been made for the only guy in France that was over 6'2" tall.

On calibers- The 470/465/450's are all relatively similar in terms of ballistics and performance. Shooting ~500 grained bullets at ~2,100 fps is adequate as a stopper on any game. If you really want to consider a 500, you definitely ought to shoot one first in order to determine whether or not you're willing to put up with the recoil. The 450/400's are certainly a step down in power from the 450/470's, but they can be made lighter and have sufficiently less recoil. My next double will be a 450/400... a great round for DG, hogs, and really anything else you can shoot within 150 yards.

One more note on recoil and double rifles. As with any rifle, make sure your double will fit you, or can be made to fit you. Shooting a 470 that's too short is no fun at all. I know this from experience. I experienced less felt recoil from a 10 1/5 pound 505 Gibbs than I did from my 470 chapuis simply b/c it didn't fit right. Hopefully, J.J. will be able to resolve this for me. Good luck, and try anything out you can get your hands on before buying a double.