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crs Offline OP
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Those who saw this post elsewhere, may just skip it. smile

Having shot Parker guns most of my life, I am no stranger to double guns, but became intrigued with the idea of a .405 WCF double rifle to be company for my 1895 TD .405. I looked far and wide for such a rifle without success until finally, I learned that a kindly gun maker had made one for himself, but was so busy making guns that he had no time to hunt. He understood my plight and provided Santa with one for me by this Christmas. The complete cased kit was in my Christmas day post and generating many requests for more details.


Whats not to like? New gun, hunting shirt, Cal Pappas book, and 12 year old Irish Whiskey?



Simson &Co. Suhl .405 WCF Double Rifle



The rifle is based upon an engraved 12 gauge Simson shotgun with a scalloped boxlock action with a Greener cross bolt, tang safety, side clips and cocking indicators.


The 24 inch McGowen barrels with sling swivel stud have a rear express sight with one standing leaf and two folding leaves, an orange fiber optic bead front sight, nicely crowned muzzles, extractors, and Talley scope mounts integral to the rib. The kit includes a Leupold Variable 1x4 scope sight with quick detach Talley rings.



The stunning Claro hard walnut stock with right side palm swell, left side cheek piece and classic splinter forend really set off the piece. The stock is fitted with a steel grip cap, sling swivel stud, and a Kick Eze recoil pad.

A few more specifications of interest include weight of 10 pounds with balance at the action, overall length of 40 inches, LOP of 14.25 inches, triggers pull at 4.1 pounds, and minimal drop at the comb. I must be living right because it fits like it was made for me!
The rifle was proofed with 400 grain bullets loaded with the 300 grain service load. It was regulated with 300 grain Hornady JSP bullets at 2100 FPS and this information is stamped into the barrel flats.
Since the original post, I have found the rifle to be fun to shoot; accurate with iron and scope sights, minimal recoil, and an eye catching addition to a February hog hunt where it put down a large black boar. Time to book another hunt!

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Nice! What critters other than boar are you planning to shoot with your new gun?


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Deer and exotics on high fenced ranches here in Texas and a large black bear are on the menu; another Texas Nilgai would be nice too as they are very tasty. The .405 WCF is up to taking most any critter around, and I prefer to shoot game that is good to eat.
I would like to go back to Africa and take some warthogs, a hippo and maybe another Cape buffalo(took one already with my Miroku/Winchester 1895 .405 using 400 grain Woodleighs) and it would be great to do it with my double.
Non of those hunts are booked yet, but a couple are in the works.
Can you suggest some more that would be appropriate?


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Nice looking gun crs. It would be interesting to hear more about how it was built, and by whom, etc. I can't see a sleeving joint on the barrels. How were they done?


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Keith,
At first, I did not fully understand your question, so after some research, I located and read the thread below on this site and now I understand your question.
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...nt=2&page=2

A fine line can be seen in proper light and in close up and enlarged pix. This pic of the Talley sight in the Talley compatible grooves does show the line on the right barrel:


Left barrel view of Talley grooves and thin line around barrel:

I do not know whether the McGowen barrels were threaded or soldered in, but until your question, I did not even see the joint; thanks for the education!
Also, the gun maker has a backlog of more than a year and has asked me not to post his name, so I must honor that promise.


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crs, I assumed they were sleeved because that is the typical method used in these conversions. There are also makers of new double rifles who use a monobloc construction for their barrels which is a very similar process. We just don't hear of anybody building a new set of barrels from scratch in the U.S., and I wondered if your gunsmith might have used TIG welding rather than soldering. I was not able to see the joint, but the breech end of the barrels had Simpson engraving. You will see a lot of sleeving jobs where the joint is very evident, and often there is a ring of chicken-scratch engraving used in an attempt to hide the joint. It looks as if your gunsmith did a very nice job, and I can see why he has a backlog of customers. Did he also make the stock?


A true sign of mental illness is any gun owner who would vote for an Anti-Gunner like Joe Biden.

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Keith,
The gun maker made this rifle for himself and designed to stock (palm swell and cheek piece) and provided the wood but the stock maker was Brian Dudley who also does Parker gun restorations: http://bmdgunstocks.com/about-us/
Brian has this stock on his web site portfolio along with many other guns that he has done:
http://bmdgunstocks.com/portfolio/stock-making/


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Update on Simson .405 Double Rifle:

Before he passed recently, the maker of the rifle, Bob Hynden, recommended gun maker Aaron Little to do some reregulation work; I wanted to increase 300 grain velocity from 2100 fps to Hornady ammo velocity of 2225 fps (also matches my treasure trove of my own 1895 .405 WCF hand loads).
Aaron has now completed that work in his new East Texas shop and I am very pleased with the results.

Final Regulation Group shot 50 yards from target; two shots from each barrel in 1 inch square!

The scope was used to minimize aiming error:


My thanks to Bob (may he rest in peace)for his fine handiwork and for knowing who to recommend for final customization.


Last edited by crs; 04/29/17 07:45 PM.

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WELL DONE
What joy
A double rifle is an adventure

Mike


USAF RET 1971-95 [Linked Image from jpgbox.com]
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skeettx,
And I plan to share that adventure with a Texas Nilgai soon. smile


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