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Forums10
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Most Online1,335 Apr 27th, 2024
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 9,381 Likes: 1
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 9,381 Likes: 1 |
577-bore express by M. Galand would have been just as effective.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 622
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 622 |
I didn't realize Mr. Galand was chambering rifles in the 577 express in 1847.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,021
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,021 |
GregSY, here are some quotes from T Roosevelt's journal concerning his trip to Africa, "Roosevelt wrote to Kermit “I think I shall get a double-barreled .450 cordite… It is no child’s play going after lion, elephant, rhino and buffalo.” Perhaps acting on this knowledge, this rifle was built in 1908, and in January 1909 Edward North Buxton, a personal friend of Roosevelt and a well-known hunter, together with a group of 55 British zoologists and sporting enthusiasts, presented the rifle as a gift. In a note of thanks to Buxton, Roosevelt called the rifle “a perfect beauty. The workmanship is like that of a watch…I cannot say how delighted I am with it.” Kermit Roosevelt recalled “it shoots very accurately, but of course the recoil is tremendous....so severe that it became a standing joke as to whether we did not fear it more than a charging elephant!” This monster of a rifle later acquired the unofficial nickname of “The Big Stick,” derived from Roosevelt’s famous quotation “speak softly and carry a big stick,” itself from a West African proverb."
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 9,350
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 9,350 |
The reference to no child's play reminds me of shoulder-fired rockets. It's not something they did every day and all that mattered was results.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,954 Likes: 12
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,954 Likes: 12 |
Sounds very much like the stopping (more accurately,stomping)double rifle competition at the Vintage Cup. Quality of the day is judged by pain suffered during dinner. "Not tonight, dear, I'M the one with a headache!"
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1 member likes this:
eightbore |
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 384
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 384 |
I think he exaggerated the recoil thing a bit !! Guys, don't you think this has all got a bit out of hand. Dig was perhaps using a bit of journalistic licence but all journos do that, they wouldn'y catch anyones attention otherwise. As Capstick said and I paraphrase from memory, "All journalists have to make a living and if some chap wants to write an article about how any solids other than those from a .470 or bigger just bounce off a Cape Buffalo like soggy lima beans then I'm not going to complain; only if he expects me to believe it will I have a problem". All said as a chap earlier mentioned they are different things, you don't buy an Astom Martin to plough a field, best Mike
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 8,158 Likes: 114
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 8,158 Likes: 114 |
Right on the money Destry- I traded a Parker SC 34" SBT and took a plain old non-engraved M12 Pigeon and some cash to boot (OK- the little birdie is "engraved" on the magazine extension by the sn)12 gauge Trap Gun mfg in 1948-solid red pad- "Olde Milled Rib" 30 inch Imp Mod. barrel of WPS-- That Parker had some fancy-schmancy engraving, some numbnutz had replaced the original factory pad or plate with a God-Awful Morgan adjustable pad, built up the cheek with an add-on check piece to resemble a "Monte Carlo"- thought that was a Chevy- like an IROC Camaro-had an Orre choke and a release trigger- if that Parker had a top tang safety, they would have most likely "boogered" that up too. As an old timer once said "All them chicken scratchings on the metal don't break you targets, Sonny"..
What is all the hype about barrel steel grades in Parkers- If I bought a CHE 12 in 1922, and my hunting pal bought a VHE 12 the same year, are my barrels "proofed" to a higher standard than those on his "Olde Reliable" just because I had deeper pockets and wanted a "better" gun. Utter rubbish-and I can't swing a Model 21 in this economy (whom of us can?) but at least those great doubles were all made from WPS-no variation that I know of.
"The field is the touchstone of the man"..
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,377 Likes: 105
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,377 Likes: 105 |
RWTF, the proof on your Parker would have been the same, but the steel may well have been different. In fact, I think Parker used a whole bunch of different names for the steel in their barrels (as did LC Smith). Those names may not always have represented different barrel steels, but I think it's safe to say that the Vulcan Steel used on a VH was not the same as the Whitworth Steel on an AAH.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 349
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 349 |
Thanks Treblig for the Cumming reference - I guessed wrong, I thought it could have been Frederick Barber.
FWIW, on the "big gun" - from my archive :-
" ............We got much pleasure from the visit of the Bakers in 1881......He was well over sixty, but it was easy to relate to that herculean frame the tales of his dominance twenty yars earlier, and the awe he had inspired in the lands of the Senoussi.......Baker used a heavy .577 Express with an unusually heavy charge, and he was still a very fine shot. But it required a man of his weight to stand the recoil of “Baker’s Baby.” I killed a wapiti with “Baby” and the recoil shook every bone in my body. "
Location of meeting was Wyoming. Rs K.
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,715 Likes: 415
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,715 Likes: 415 |
Somehow, English guns seem to equate to Purdey when these types of discussions come up. Strange. There are so many other guns to talk about. English (and the rest of Great Britain) guns have a diversity that American guns can't touch. As for quality and value, I think the English win hands down at most price points. Look at some recently offered Sterlingworths vs better English boxlocks at slightly more than half the money.
I keep looking for the right American double, and I keep finding they are much too expensive for what they are. That others think they are worth so much is fine. My money isn't going there. Perhaps my opinions are colored by being a user, not a collector.
_________ BrentD, (Professor - just for Stan)
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2 members like this:
Parabola, canvasback |
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