Anyone building a decent big-bore double for less than 6 grand?

Sol Griffith

New member
Joined
Nov 3, 2019
Messages
10
Reaction score
14
Location
Wyoming
Website
www.facebook.com
Media
8
Hunting reports
Africa
1
Member of
Diamond Z Outdoors
Interested in acquiring a double rifle, but wondering if anyone could recommend one that's less than 6k. Im not looking for fancy wood or engraving, needs to be a working mans rifle. balance and recoil management means the most to me. I seen a few that where like 900 dollars, but that's not what I'm looking for, not interested in a cheap rip-off.
 
Interested in acquiring a double rifle, but wondering if anyone could recommend one that's less than 6k. Im not looking for fancy wood or engraving, needs to be a working mans rifle. balance and recoil management means the most to me. I seen a few that where like 900 dollars, but that's not what I'm looking for, not interested in a cheap rip-off.
What caliber are you thinking? In a 9.3 x 74 you might find something.
 
Zoli makes an over under that is available in .450/.400. You may be able to find (used ?) for around that.
 
Welcome aboard Sol ,

It may help if you said what caliber and round you would like, what you are planning to kill and what calibers and rounds you have no interest in.
 
Welcome aboard Sol ,

It may help if you said what caliber and round you would like, what you are planning to kill and what calibers and rounds you have no interest in.
Fair enough, Im looking for a buffalo rifle mostly, maybe a few elephants. not really sold on any one round except that I would like something bigger than .375 H&H since I already have a Ruger M77 in that round.
 
Fair enough, Im looking for a buffalo rifle mostly, maybe a few elephants. not really sold on any one round except that I would like something bigger than .375 H&H since I already have a Ruger M77 in that round.

Instead of taking "a few elephants", take one less than "a few" and apply the money towards a better quality (more expensive) double gun. Just a thought.................passing through time..........(n)
 
The quality of a rifle is also an important factor for a successful hunting in Africa.

Rather a not so expensive bolt action rifle as a cheap DR. Last one will only make problems. An DR is a rifle that can only be made by a good maker who mastered this subject well and therefore is expensive. Only on the used gun market , and with some luck , you can may be buy for a low price a good DR , but it is difficult to find something.
 
As @375 Ruger Fan said ......take one less ele and that will give you at least §20,000 to play with....and you can get a nice double for that.......mind you and don't mean to offend......but if you can afford mainly buff and a few ele I would have thought you would be able to afford a nice double in the first place......
 
I'm in the same boat that Sol the OP is. I'd like a nice Double, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it. I've been thinking about a 450 / 400 for a number of years, (no thanks to you rascally AH members.) At 76 I'm not planning any DG hunts and don't really "need" the gun, but my oldest kid would like to inherit one. I keep hoping I can catch Toby in a weak moment. :rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
You can possibly find a used Blaser S2 in something like 500/416 for close to that money. I think they are superb rifles (much higher quality than Sabatti), and you can add other calibers over time. And yes, for the cost of one of "some" of those elephants you can get a very good quality production rifle by Heym, Krieghoff, Merkel, or Verney Carron.
 
As with most of you responders, he got my attention with a "few elephants" also!
 
Interested in acquiring a double rifle, but wondering if anyone could recommend one that's less than 6k. Im not looking for fancy wood or engraving, needs to be a working mans rifle. balance and recoil management means the most to me. I seen a few that where like 900 dollars, but that's not what I'm looking for, not interested in a cheap rip-off.

Requirements summary, just so I get this straight:

-less than $6000 (steaming piles and distressed but repairable guns go for that)
-no fancy wood (pretty hard to find a quality double that doesn’t have great wood)
-no engraving (pretty rare, you might pay more for a high quality double that was unengraved because it’s an odd curio)
-working man’s rifle (if the working man is a PH, the price just doubled because they require reliability)
-balance and recoil management means the most of all requirements (add $5000-$10,000 since this feature is usually British)

-not looking for a cheap rip-off (then you’re short $10,000 from meeting some to most of your requirements)

Your initial question “anyone building a decent big-bore double for 6 grand?” No, not ever. Every reply was telling you about $12,000-$30,000 decent doubles you might find USED for some price near your target.

Not trying to act like a troll here, but you are really off base on what you believe you’re able to demand or acquire at the price point. You didn’t mean to, but what you wrote reads as a farce to many on here.

Let me redraft your requirements into the most cost effective solution that will meet most of your demands:

A guy wants a lightly used Heym in 470 NE or a Birmingham box lock in 470, 500 or 450-3.25”. A blaser s2 would be fine too. He’ll pay $10,000-$12,000. 24” barrels, ejectors. It’s going to take 6-12 months to find at such a price, can anyone point him in the right direction? When you find that gun at that price, you’ll have a couple days to respond before it’s sold out from under you.

If you want to stick with your initial price target, you’re going to get screwed...expensive tuition.
 
Last edited:
Fair enough, Im looking for a buffalo rifle mostly, maybe a few elephants. not really sold on any one round except that I would like something bigger than .375 H&H since I already have a Ruger M77 in that round.

Buffalo rifles are most commonly 450-400 nitro express. The single hottest double cartridge in demand today. (And the 404 jefferey for magazine rifles). Add 30% to 50% to the price of any gun if it’s in a buffalo cartridge. A 470NE will save you a significant amount because the supply is 10x greater in that caliber. (Because they work excellent on everything so they made more of them than all other calibers combined)
 
When I was young and poor (now I'm old and poor) I saw a Purdey at an estate sale. The widow was only asking $10,000. This was maybe 30 years ago, which would make it $20,000 today, but still one hell of a deal on one heck of a fine piece of English gunmaking. Other than absolute, astonishing luck (almost impossible nowadays due to the advent of the internet), you'll not get into a decent, serviceable double for less than $15,000 (and, at that price point, you'll need to be extremely patient). Further, buying used you need to be damn careful as should it require any work you'll be shelling out a lot more. If you don't know what you're looking at it's easy to buy a double that might need work of some sort (at least here in the United States...in England proof laws protect the buyer to some extent).
 
As @rookhawk and @Red Leg have said Your requirement of a decent double for under 6K isn't very realistic in my opinion. The ones you mentioned for 900 are the just plain junk and the biggest round they come in is 45/70 at trapdoor pressures. The 450/400 and up sabatti's are over 6K new and only once in a while will you find one under 6K. I have owned two different sabatti's (45/70 and 450NE) both shot well but their fit and finish wasn't in the ball park of the other quality doubles. To find a double that will meet the 450/400 or larger you are going to have to increase your budget. And settling for one that is a deal that is to good to be true will just result in major head aches. I know where you can find zoli like the one @meigsbucks mentioned for 8500. Look to spend 12-20K to get a Chapuis, Blazer, Heym, Kreighoff, VC you will have a quailty double that will server you for the rest of your life and be handed down through generations.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot (190).png
    Screenshot (190).png
    301.5 KB · Views: 122
  • Screenshot (191).png
    Screenshot (191).png
    226.2 KB · Views: 114

No doubt a phone call would get it for $8000, maybe $7500.

Pretty reasonable deal for a reliable gun. If it weren’t for the fact that the particular s2 in question is “extra ugly” aesthetically to most American tastes (very German tastes on that wood) it would be long gone already. Skip line checkering is giving that gun a $2k discount, easily.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,632
Messages
1,131,591
Members
92,711
Latest member
jenniferlaw003
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
 
Top