JOHN RIGBY 7mm MAUSER - A RARE EXPERIMENTAL BULLPUP or A CUSTOM RIFLE FOR A ONE ARM MAN

I just added this one to my collection. I've always liked the "different" guns, and this one sure fits that definition. I can't wait to get it in hand. I will be contacting John Rigby asking for any information available for this rifle.

As always your comments are most welcome.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/RIGBY-ONE-000.jpg

In the book, Hunting Weapons, by Howard L. Blackmore at plate 138 there is a picture of an almost identically stocked Rigby .303 Mauser made for a one-armed British Officer.

On that example there is a small leather covered cheek rest at the turn of the stock wrist and the “paddle” is leather covered presumably to be held in the armpit by the stump of his arm.

It was then in the Tower of London, but will now be at the Royal Armouries at Leeds where Jonathan Ferguson or Mark Murray-Futter should be able you give more details.

Does yours have a Rigby number on the bottom of the trigger guard?

Hello Parabola,

Could you post that picture of the similar rifle? When I get the rifle in hand I will see if there is a Rigby serial number on the trigger guard.

The five digit serial number in the auction ad doesn't seem like a Rigby number. Is it a Mauser serial number?

Yes, its a Mauser number - it dates the barrelled action to 1912.

That one looks to be obviously made for one armed use.

For some reason I grew up around a lot of bullpup rifles. In the 60's during my teenage years, quite a few serious groundhog hunters owned them. A high school classmate of mine had a really nice BR gun converted because he went with his dad (the local RDF mail carrier) to hunt groundhogs and it was easy to transport and not have to fool with the trunk. (His uncle was a factory shooter for a while and a gunsmith). Several other people had similar conversions.

Later on, it seemed that I never saw any for sale and finally deduced that they were not nearly as common as I believed. Sort of like the 69 Z-28 with the duel Holley setup. A friend just a few years ahead of me was the son of the local Chevy dealer and would get all his buddies cars at essentially cost. I remember one Friday night at the local drive-in I counted 13 of the dual 4 Z's sitting around. This in a very rural town of 1200 people. It didn't realize until many years later that this was a significant number of the total ever produced.

Hello AGS,

I've always liked bullpups. I built one in 1975 on an old Stevens 22rf that I sold to a friend.

Here are two more of mine that I currently own. I built the 7mm-08 in 1988, the 222 Rem Mag I purchased last year.


http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/7mm-08-bullpup-000.jpg




http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/222BULLPUP-000.jpg

Hello all,

I had sent pictures of the rifle and a request to Rigby for information about this strange rifle. Today I got a very pleasant reply from the Rigby Historian. Here is what he wrote:

"... 4610 is a Rigby Serial number, It was made on 11th October 1919 for a Major J. D. Venables. ’Stock for one arm’
So, it seems it was made that way by Rigby. ..."

Based on his comment at the end of his report, the Historian seemed surprised that it was indeed made by Rigby.

Here is what I've found about the Major Venables. I can only assume he lost his arm and had the rifle custom built for him by Rigby.
I will continue to research History about the Major.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/venables-record.jpg

Now its official . here is a copy of the Rigby Certificate.


http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/rigby-cert-1.jpg

Good that you now have the full history and provenance.

This is the illustration of the .303 Rigby Mauser from Howard L. Blackmore’s book “Hunting Weapons”.

Well, the rifle arrived today.

Testing showed that I could maneuver the rifle with having only a right arm ... I placed the muzzle down on the ground with the stock against my right shoulder. I could then work the bolt, and then grab the pistol grip, and then raise the rifle to aim and shoot. My chin / cheek would rest against the slanted oval on the stock. The recoil pad was against the shoulder and the sights were in-line to aim. By pulling the gun tight against the shoulder, I think recoil would be quite manageable. Since the caliber was listed as 275 HV it means the bullet would be 140 grain resulting in lower recoil.

here are some pics

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/RIGBY-ONE-0000.jpg

Unique..
The forward trigger looks similar to the rare Alexander Henry/Fraser 2-position Target rifle.
Enjoy

Just got the June issue of The Field, celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings.

In the antiques section this article showing the same rifle as in Howard Blackmore’s book.