That's from when Paul owned it...was in that shop plenty from 1989 onwards till he sold the name...had I think 4 different ones of those 416s ..very nice rifles..and @Dewald during pauls ownership the rifles were well made...yes on brno actions but that is what was mostly available at a sensible price ...he would build you one on a Magnum mauser action if you wanted to pay a lot more...as said I had around 4 different ones on brno actions and wish I had kept one...Paul hunted all over and he knew what was needed in a big game rifle ...I know some people look down on the brno action rigbys but nothing wrong with them at all....the period you mention as the worst time in the companies history was prior to him getting ownership...he had to sort a few rifles built during the period prior to him taking control, and told me some of the screw ups that had been built during that bad era....so I owned rigbys from the brno actioned 416s...to the top end in a sidelock 470 double he built for me, and in between those calibres the last 350 rigby he made built on a mauser action...and the last 275 he ever built ,as it was the last serial number left he had been given to use ,as he was given a series of serial numbers as a run out to use when he sold the name...that 275 is a copy of one of bells rifles using the information from the ledgers as Paul has copies of the originals...so it's same as he was sold down to his initials engraved in same place and the same type of gun box with his initials on WDMB...neat little rifle ...swopped my 350 and a 1949 275 rigby for it...he only brought the bell rifle out to ask my thoughts on it....as soon as I picked it up and put it to my shoulder I was ..ohhh shit I want it...rest is history as they say...photos of it on a thread here somewhere
Harry had a post ww2 Rigby which I thought was built on either the Brevex or zkk 602 action…
Is this one of HM’s rifles? Or do I even need to ask since it’s case is refinished?
No. Harry’s 416 was built on a standard length Mauser action.
Interesting- Never seen one on a standard action .
That's one reason Harry's is so famous. The funny thing about Harry's 416 is that he bought it used (it was originally owned by Don Bousfield, but he didn't take to it), and that after he got it, he took to it with a file to make the stock how he liked it. Harry's 416 bore no resemblance to what we think of as a classic Rigby 416. In point of fact the rifle had no checkering for a long time - until it was rebarreled.
I use to own 2 Brno 602’s . One in 375 and one in 458. Both were absolute tack drivers straight out of the box. The 375 functioned flawlessly for the first 20 years and then had a trigger failure
the 458 would not feed soft points reliably. Would often get a hang up when feeding a round from the right side of the magazine. Never an issue with solids.
I’ve only ever seen DSB 602’s . I’m guessing that the rifle this post refers to started life as a stock standard BRNO 602 DSB…..and was then modified to a SSB by the gunsmith.
