Small Bore Double Rifles

Saul

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I have recently become very interested in the concept of owning a small bore double rifle. Does anyone here own a double rifle in a small bore cartridge? Pictures would be highly appreciated of course.
 
Does anyone know another manufacturer besides Baikal and Merkel that make a small bore double?

I am also interesting in hearing from any people with a drillings gun.
 
85B64082-CAE3-4A89-806D-7136D7C2A0A2.JPG


7DE2815A-91A6-4257-909C-5224973A4B82.JPG


Heym in 7x57R
 
She is certainly a beauty. I do not have a lot of experience with the 7x57 but that gun looks like a great shooter!
 
You will find a number of smaller bore Double Rifles are available form different manufatuers in the under and over configuration. (although it depends on you definition of small bore), Beretta/Sabati/Merkel and others all make them. I once had a Beretta silver Sable (Under and Over) in 30-06 it was a nice gun. Take a look at the on Gun Broker and other sites you will find some there.
 
Define small bore? :)

My one and only double is 9.3x74r. I sure plan on taking it deer hunting this year. :) Yeah, that's like 5 months away but still!
 
Same here 9.3x74 cheap Bikal but it works . Pluss a couple of combination guns in 22rf /16 and 22rf/12 bore

image.jpeg
 
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I have two combination guns.
One in 7 x 65R/12ga and the other in 9.3 x 74R/12ga, both shoot where you aim and are very versatile.

I am in process to purchase a old Chapuis in 9.3 x 74R SxS.

Baikal are rough and I would steer clear of Sabatti. Merkel, Krieghoff and Chapuis make some very interesting combinations, drillings and double rifles in smaller calibers.
 
got my jeffery double in 9.3x74r and as a few know my favourite rifle and one of my favourite calibres :) , and another good smaller cal for a double is the aforementioned 7x65r which i have seen used on european boar hunts to great effect.
 
got my jeffery double in 9.3x74r and as a few know my favourite rifle and one of my favourite calibres :) , and another good smaller cal for a double is the aforementioned 7x65r which i have seen used on european boar hunts to great effect.

Is the 9.3x74R really considered small?
 
I appreciate all of the responses from the 9.3x74R crowd but I was thinking something a little bit smaller, like .30 cal and under...

I remember once seeing a .357 magnum double rifle for sale on Gunbroker I think that looked really fun.
 
I have a Blaser S2 and have used the 30 '06 barrels pretty extensively for PG out to 200 meters. The S2 is a heavy rifle with .375 barrels on up in place. With the 30 '06 barrels it is as compact a PG rifle as one could desire.
 
Hi Saul,

The following blather is regarding Side by Side rifles, knowing full well that Over / Under rifles are also called "double rifles".
Nonetheless, I favor the SxS type and am referring to same here.

This is a topic I have been interested in for many long years now.
A SxS, chambered in the .303 British cartridge is definitely what I want.
Double rifles and shotguns are usually very attractive in my opinion (usually), and owning a smallish caliber double has been a quest of mine from the beginning.
So far, I have resisted the urge to settle for the all too common 8x57R double.
For a time, I did however own a petit little hammer gun by Henry Atkin, in ".275 NE Flanged" (7x57R) but I sold it to pay off a safari bill.
I only had $5,000.us in it, as it was originally made in some other caliber that, had eventually been re-lined to .275 and re-proofed in England.
If it had been done in .303 instead, I never would have sold it (would've surely cost a lot more and been worth a lot more as well, oye vey).

If an affordable but serviceable maker (Heym, Chapuis, Verney Carron, Merkel, etc.) would wake up and smell the market then accordingly, make a .303 British caliber, small-medium frame double rifle, with 26" barrels, splinter forend, semi-pistol grip and oval cheek piece, to retail between about $10,000.us to $15,000.us (according to various options, such as ejectors vs extractors, grade of wood and so forth), old Velo Dog predicts they would not be able to make them fast enough to keep up with demand, for the first 2 or 3 years anyway.

Chapuis offers a cute little double, sort of like what I just described but in .30-30 Winchester caliber, with spare small gauge shotgun barrels, at a very attractive price.
Sadly however, the .30-30 barrels are only 21 inches short ( I cannot imagine why, except to save themselves a little money on steel perhaps or, maybe regulating short barrels is easier to accomplish that it is with longer barrels ?).
I could make do with a .30-30 double, if I some dark day I was to finally admit that, no .303 double is ever going to appear on my horizon but, I'm not interested in super short barrels, whatsoever.
Admittedly, there might be someone out there who possibly favors super extra short rifle barrels like that but, it will never be me, ever.
Even the evidently quite popular 23.6 inchers from Merkel, are just a little short for a double rifle, IMO.

That's my rant for the morning I guess.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.
 
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Hi Saul,

The following blather is regarding Side by Side rifles, knowing full well that Over / Under rifles are also called "double rifles".
Nonetheless, I favor the SxS type and am referring to same here.

This is a topic I have been interested in for many long years now.
A SxS, chambered in the .303 British cartridge is definitely what I want.
Double rifles and shotguns are usually very attractive in my opinion (usually), and owning a smallish caliber double has been a quest of mine from the beginning.
So far, I have resisted the urge to settle for the all too common 8x57R double.
For a time, I did however own a petit little hammer gun by Henry Atkin, in ".275 NE Flanged" (7x57R) but I sold it to pay off a safari bill.
I only had $5,000.us in it, as it was originally made in some other caliber that, had eventually been re-lined to .275 and re-proofed in England.
If it had been done in .303 instead, I never would have sold it (would've surely cost a lot more and been worth a lot more as well, oye vey).

If an affordable but serviceable maker (Heym, Chapuis, Verney Carron, Merkel, etc.) would wake up and smell the market then accordingly, make a .303 British caliber, small-medium frame double rifle, with 26" barrels, splinter forend, semi-pistol grip and oval cheek piece, to retail between about $10,000.us to $15,000.us (according to various options, such as ejectors vs extractors, grade of wood and so forth), old Velo Dog predicts they would not be able to make them fast enough to keep up with demand, for the first 2 or 3 years anyway.

Chapuis offers a cute little double, sort of like what I just described but in .30-30 Winchester caliber, with spare small gauge shotgun barrels, at a very attractive price.
Sadly however, the .30-30 barrels are only 21 inches short ( I cannot imagine why, except to save themselves a little money on steel perhaps or, maybe regulating short barrels is easier to accomplish that it is with longer barrels ?).
I could make do with a .30-30 double, if I some dark day I was to finally admit that, no .303 double is ever going to appear on my horizon but, I'm not interested in super short barrels, whatsoever.
Admittedly, there might be someone out there who possibly favors super extra short rifle barrels like that but, it will never be me, ever.
Even the evidently quite popular 23.6 inchers from Merkel, are just a little short for a double rifle, IMO.

That's my rant for the morning I guess.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.
A man after my own heart! I am in love with the .303 British too...despite not owning a gun in the cartridge :(

You are describing exactly what I am looking for in a double rifle, which means SxS to me. Everyone who is making small bore doubles are doing so with ridiculously short barrels. I am also looking for 26" barrels. That length is plenty handy in the woods without sacrificing round performance and accuracy.

If not the .303, I am fine with the 7x57 and the idea of a .30-30 sure is interesting, especially because I have a surplus of .30-30 right now. I saw some a double online in .357 Maximum that was built on a .410 shotgun frame, but it was in real rough shape so I had to pass. Can you imagine going after jackrabbits with that thing! I swear I also saw one once in .221 Fireball but I cannot for the life of me find another example of it.

If you really really really want a .303 British SxS rifle, I am sure Perugini & Visini will build you own, but it might cost an arm and a leg and another leg. I remember seeing a .458 Lott double they built that was a work of art and I wanted it so badly but you all talked me out of it! Damn you!
 
A man after my own heart! I am in love with the .303 British too...despite not owning a gun in the cartridge :(

You are describing exactly what I am looking for in a double rifle, which means SxS to me. Everyone who is making small bore doubles are doing so with ridiculously short barrels. I am also looking for 26" barrels. That length is plenty handy in the woods without sacrificing round performance and accuracy.

If not the .303, I am fine with the 7x57 and the idea of a .30-30 sure is interesting, especially because I have a surplus of .30-30 right now. I saw some a double online in .357 Maximum that was built on a .410 shotgun frame, but it was in real rough shape so I had to pass. Can you imagine going after jackrabbits with that thing! I swear I also saw one once in .221 Fireball but I cannot for the life of me find another example of it.

If you really really really want a .303 British SxS rifle, I am sure Perugini & Visini will build you own, but it might cost an arm and a leg and another leg. I remember seeing a .458 Lott double they built that was a work of art and I wanted it so badly but you all talked me out of it! Damn you!

Someone once told me they had seen a Holland & Holland SxS in .38 Special.
But he was not a man with much taste so, he could not tell me if it had been a small bore shotgun or some British rook caliber, relined to .38.
Anyway, great minds think alike my friend, however demented those minds may be.
 

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