doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Double Rifles, Paradox Guns & Gauge Rifles @ doublegunshop.com The British Bore Rifle by Cal Pappas

Hi All,

I received my copy of the British Bore Rifle by Cal Pappas the other day and just wanted to say it is a great read and I encourage any and all bore rifle enthusiasts to get a copy. It has a ton of great history and stories of the users of these wonderful guns and rifles, along with loading data and many detailed photos of vintage bore rifles. It is a very well thought out book and I can't imagine how long it took to aquire all of the photos of the 60-70+ vintage bore rifles in the book.


Charlie

He was supposed to stop by my home and drop off my copy last week. Hmmm Luckily our water buffalo skulls are getting shipped to my place.

he he he....

If he wants his trophy....

CJ what area of the country are you in? I haven't received mine yet.

I live in Beaverton, Oregon which is right by Portland, Oregon, if you happen to know where that is.


Charlie

Well it's closer to AK than I am so maybe mine this or next week.

I did prority mail because it was the cheapest for both his bore rifle book and his 600 NE book, so that might be another reason I received mine so quickly. I imagine you should receive it this week, as California isn't that much further.

How's the book? Any standout guns?

The book is great! Cal did a very thorough job of finding vintage users and what rifles they used. Definitely a lot of wonderful old rifles pictured in the book as well. The one and only Westley Richards 8-Bore Explora is in the book. I actually noticed quite a few of your rifles PM, and I must say you have amazing taste. I assume that the pair of Holland 12-Bores for The Duke of Portland are yours?

As far as I know the # 1 gun of the pair has never surfaced.

Still a great rifle with wonderful history behind it. There is something I have always liked about guns with a history of being used in India. Is it a 7 dram gun or more?

7 dram gun.

I've been waiting for his .600 book. Seems like a double deal would be great. Where did you purchase them?

Go to Calpappas.com.
If you buy both the 600 book is half off according to a post at another forum.

Go to Calpappas.com.
If you buy both the 600 book is half off according to a post at another forum.

It also shows that it is half off on the homepage of his website under orering information for the bore rifle book. The 600 NE book is definitely worth it as well.

Thanks, Guys. I'm really looking forward to getting these books. Like me, Cal is from western Massachusetts but was smart and scooted up to Alaska.

Maybe I should follow suit and buy his cabin. Nah, I'd fail the He-Man test and everyone would blow my head off and steal all my guns.

BUT he's got a nice standing rest with a 50 yd rangre just out his front door!

Good point, Mike. I'll have to give this some serious thought.

Gents:
Good day. My first time here and thanks for the kind words about my new book on the bore rifles. Here are some details of the book:
Chapter 1. 36 pages of history--users of the bore rifles in the vintage years.
Chapter 2. 21 pages of muzzle loading bore rifles, 14 rifles photographed.
Chapter 3. 37 pages of vintage ammunition, ballistics, reloading tools and moulds.
Chapter 4. 41 pages of 4-bores, 14 4-bores photographed.
Chapter 5. 61 pages of 8-bores, 27 8-bores photographed.
Chapter 6. 22 pages of 10-bores, 10 10-bores photographed.
Chapter 7. 39 pages of 12-bores, 12 12-bores photographed.
Chapter 8. 25 pages of 13-28 bores, 11 rifles photographed.
Chapter 9. 73 pages of the Bore Rifle Today: modern ballistics (11 pages), reloading (13
pages), shooting (10 pages), hunting (14 pages), where can I get...(17 pages), modern
history (9 pages).
Chapter 10. 34 pages of modern and non-UK bore rifles, 22 rifles photographed.

A couple of years of time and a good deal of money went into its production but from the feedback it was well worth the effort.
What folks are saying about the British Bore Rifle:

The books came today. Extremely pleased with both! Very well put together books and I really like the high quality gloss paper. Thank you for taking the tine to put together these wonderful books, it must have taken a long time. Also thank you for signing both. I have already started to read the Bore Rifle book and I am really liking it.
Charlie H.

Your book has arrived.� And it was better than I could have imagined.I've written you a letter of thanks, but while I still have your attention, Thank you, my friend!� It�s a beautiful book.
Don W.

Hi Cal, Gary H. checking in with you today. I have some very good news to report. My Book came in is mornings mail. Life is good today. Boy, does it look great! I really like the heavy paper stock and all the color pictures in it. Great job in signing my book to me, very well worded and written. Later tonight, I will be able to sit down and go through it and do some serious reading. What a great edition to go along with my .600 Nitro Express Book. It looks like you have hit another Home Run with your new British Bore Rifle Book. Many Thanks Cal. All the very best to you. Bye for now. Gary H.

Thank you for the two copies of "The British Bore Rifle."� What an incredible job you did on this.� It is the encyclopedia for all those interested in these rifles.� It will be some time before I have explored it all.� The photos are uniformly excellent, and what a fantastic variety you have uncovered over the years. George H.

The book will be a collectors item for sure. Will G.

I read most of the book last night. I loved the history section; lots of new info I hadn't heard before. Rob S.

And you, too, will be pleased with the work! I�m home mose evenings for phone orders and email orders are placed anytime. Don�t forget about the discounted rate for the .600 NE book!
Cheers, all, and thanks for the kind words.
Cal

All order info can be found on my website at <calpappas.com> and I can be reached by phone most evenings at 907-495-4505. My email is <pappas@mtaonline.net> I now am able to accept credit cards. The only change from my website is I would prefer not to send the book by media mail. I've been getting a few complaints of 2-3 week delivery time and some damaged corners from the time the book is shuffled around the post office for a few weeks. And, USPS insurance won't pay for minor damage--only lost, destroyed, and severely damaged (unreadable). Last of all, my third book, the .600 Nitro Express is 1/2 price ($35) for each bore rifle book ordered.

Again, my thanks for the kind words. Meeting like-minded folks has been the best part of the writing, website, and going to conventions. In Dallas I will be at the African Hunter booth.
Cheers all.
Cal

I received my copy yesterday and stayed up late going through it. The amount of information contained in the one book would take years to pull together from various sources, if one were left on his own. There were many photos and they were presented well. If your a doublegun afficionado or a bore rifle fanatic, your going to love this book. All others take heed, the bore rifle virus is alive and spread liberally throughout the pages of this book.

--------------------

And therein lies the danger. It's impossible to go through that book, at any pace, and not feel a burning desire to acquire a new double bore rifle no matter what it takes.

And specific necessity need not apply!

The book is indeed a triumph. The amount of research, writing,travel and other logistics is staggering. A lot of work went into this book and it's a delight to own, as is the .600 book.

You need to be prepared for that wayward maneating lion, rogue elephant or marauding tiger. And if you live near a lake or river I hear tell of those who release their pet hippos and crocs when they become too large to care for

That's right. No kidding, in my area I can remember two escapes of tigers and one of an elephant from wandering circuces. Now, what if one of them wandered in my front yard? A 12 bore shotgun could possibly take care of a tiger, but an elephant? No way!

They work quite well for squirrels and other vermin too!

Fellas:
Thanks for your kind words and for ordering the bore rifle book and also the .600 nitro book. I will be in Dallas at the African Hunter booth for the first two days and maybe all four days. If you are planning a trip to DSC please stop by and introduce yourself as it will be my pleasure to meet you all.
Cheers,
Cal

PM is correct. For many, many years we had a cow/calf operation in central Missouri and one of my greatest fears was the appearance of a livestock eating tiger, lion or croc or a Cape Buffalo that suddenly took an interest in my cows. Consequently I've always kept a dangerous game rifle of some variety in my toy box and thankfully have never had need of it for that purpose. Evidently deterrence is effective. How I wish one of those was a Paradox or Explora. Sadly, either of them is beyond my means...but man do I love to read about them. Some day I would love to examine and shoot one.

Sharps4590:
Should you vacation in Alaska, or come here to fish, drop by and take a few shots with my 8 and 4. It's catching on! Like-minded gents are always welcome here to shoot and good times are had when a dozen of us double rifle blokes show up to fire a few shots.
Cheers,
Cal

Cal, that is a very generous offer and I thank you for it. Let me tell you what I know about Alaska. My sister and her husband took the inside passage cruise once and on another occasion had a short vacation up there. Tammy told me, "Vic, you better not go up there, you won't come back". So in deference to the population of Alaska I won't subject them to my presence....hehehe.

Seriously, I would love to visit the last frontier and should opportunity arise I will keep your offer first in mind. Thank you.

Vic

Vic:
My pleasure. Just keep my contacts and when you are ready, give a call.
Cal

Hey, another believer in that "tree rats" are vermin, and are great targets as well. Old time meat hunter once told me- "Son, you want to be a good deer hunter? Then first be a great squirrel hunter"! He'd buy a box of 20 shells for his .32 Special M1894- you could bet serious folding money he'd have 19 dead deer to show for those 20 shells- I like to hunt them, as I do woodchucks- as a sniper- good shadows, no movement- watch, wait and observe- and a .22 HV Hollow-point will do the job just fine- but every now and then, I take either my Sako M759 .243Win Sporter, or my G&H Mauser 98 BA custom .35 Whelan and "bark" the rodents- you put the crosshairs just offset to the rodent's head, works best if they are pinned against a solid tree section- do NOT do this with a large caliber rifles if they are on a limb or on rocky ground--and shoot so the bullet just grazes the head- and blasts the bark to smithereens- the concussion and the "shrapnel" from the bark sure 'ruins their day"--lotsa fun too!

Nothing like fried squirrel with milk gravy. I wouldn't dare eat one of the ground squirrels we have here though.

I received my copy of the Bore Rifle book today. What a valuable resource to have in my library. There are some truly great rifles contained within it's covers.

I had the pleasure to meet Cal at the Dallas Safari Club Show a couple weeks back, and he graciously autographed the book for me.

If you enjoy large bore and hammer rifles, do not miss getting a copy.