who are the top 5 double rifle gunsmiths in North America

I know JJ is one of them. I believe Ken Owens has retired. And...who else is specializing in these weapons?

The only other I am aware of is Bradshaw - Texas

Aaron Little also.

If you are super nice to Ken he will still help you

Hornedfrogbbq said:

I know JJ is one of them. I believe Ken Owens has retired. And...who else is specializing in these weapons?

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Interesting question.

I’d be surprised if there’s even 5 ‘smiths in the U.S. who have the expertise to work on, let alone build, a quality double rifle.

Jack Stevens said:

Interesting question.

I’d be surprised if there’s even 5 ‘smiths in the U.S. who have the expertise to work on, let alone build, a quality double rifle.

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It is an interesting phenomena.

Places like Leige and Ferlach turn out new young double gun makers yearly, let alone the ones turned out in apprenticeships by gunmakers in England, Germany and Italy to name just a few places…

Yet in the US, you can count them on the fingers of one hand, and you don’t have to use all your fingers!

Just goes to show that despite having a much larger gun culture, it is still very different in many ways than that of our cousins across the Atlantic.

I’ve heard the opposite in regards to new blood coming into the EU/British trade specifically dealing in double rifles. Rumors are just that though.

You will be seeing a new US offering coming into the market in the coming years…

A.M. Little said:

I’ve heard the opposite in regards to new blood coming into the EU/British trade specifically dealing in double rifles. Rumors are just that though.

You will be seeing a new US offering coming into the market in the coming years…

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Greetings A.M. Little,

I am hoping that one of these years the double rifle makers will wake up and smell the market, resulting in them offering an affordable double (side by side) in either or both .303 British and .30-30 Winchester, classic British lines, splinter forearm, etc.
And hopefully 25” - 26” barrel length would be standard or at least an offered option.
Some models of Merkel doubles look very close to the lines of Pre-War classic British double rifles and yet are pretty close to affordable for us Blue Collar income type hunters.

Pictured below left is yours truly with a Merkel in .375 H&H that I once owned and took to Africa many years ago.
It did have almost too short of barrels (23.6”) but for what I paid, I was happy enough with the rifle.
It remains a puzzle as to why Merkel has never at the very least, produced a limited run of this exact same rifle but, in either .303 British or .30-30 caliber or both.
I could be wrong but, if they released a run of 1,000 per each of those two calibers, I would bet that in the USA and Canada alone, that they’d be bought up very quickly.

Pictured below right is a good looking and crazy affordable SxS from a maker I never heard of.
It is in the excellent caliber 9.3x74R.
Due to the low price, I’d be a little cautious about the quality of the product .
That said, the Italians have been making quite excellent copies of vintage Colt, Winchester and other iconic firearms for several decades.
And so, my caution might be unwarranted.
Anyway, this same rifle chambered in the aforementioned two classic cartridges of Canada and USA, seems like it would see a buying frenzy, at least for the first year or two.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

Building double rifles is a challenge, building an affordable double rifle is a whole matter in itself!

To be able to do such takes considerable investment in efficient machinery and methods, a considerable skilled workforce which currently doesn’t exist. To train such would take extraordinary investment in time and money, which all current double rifle manufacturers are dealing with. Then comes the question of demand for such. There’s demand, but how much? 250 pieces a year, for how long? Is that enough to sustain business with razor thin margins? In a three to five year span I could easily see $12mil to $15mil or more invested to do such, how long to see potential return even at $8k a piece?

I’ve watched the introduction of the Pedersoli .44mag double rifle at under the $3k price point. I understand such has a novelty about it, but still a majority of people complained about its supposed high cost, and it comes with expectations that are just unrealistic to the pricepoint. Unreal.

I’m talking with other manufacturers labor is the biggest hurdle, and the graph isn’t going in the right direction!

It’s not a risk I would take! I’m not against you or the idea of such, I just wouldn’t put my neck on the line to do such.

I have ideas on how I plan to proceed, unfortunately I just can’t pursue what’s deemed affordable to most. The high end market supports what I and a helper or two could produce with far less stress and risk.

Ken Owens re-regulated a double for me a few be months ago. After mine he said he was taking a few months off. So I believe he plans to do more work in the future.