Holland and Holland 30 Super Double Rifle

[Mack The Knife]

Thanks, Mehul. Did not know or had forgotten that he is an agent.

Mack The Knife

[Grumpy]

Although this topic has wandered away from the original topic somewhat the amount of interest it has generated shows just how much interest there is in double rifles - a trend that is reflected worldwide. There is now more interest in double rifles and more people desire to own one than at any time in the past. Obviously mystique and romance play a major part in this trend as does the fact that a double rifle is a superb canvas for decoration - a fine bolt action can be a thing of beauty but there just isn`t the physical area for engraving available - however there is an increasing realisation that the double rifle is an extremely practical weapon for most hunting purposes - the combination of shotgun like handling, superb reliability and an extremely rapid second shot is not achievable via any other format.
As contemporary gunmakers apply modern techniques to the production of double rifles we can look forward to more double rifles achieving the accuracy and remarkable value for money of the Fabarm Asper. No less an authority than Paul Roberts says of the Asper that it `has to be the most advanced boar hunting rifle of its` time`. The Asper is built on a 20-Bore action and is available in only three calibres with the 9.3x74R being the largest. Fabarm recently announced a larger 12-Bore version of that action ......... I wonder if that means that there will be a new version of the Asper available in calibres such as the .470 NE ? We can only hope......................................................

[mehulkamdar]

Grumpy,

I do think that the vast majority of shooters would like to have at least one double rifle if they could - some members on this forum are fortunate in having them and I feel like congratulating them on their fine taste whenever they talk about their guns. The Fabarms Asper does sound like a technological tour de force though I wish they made it somewhat more traditinal looking... Yes, if they marketed it in the USA, it would undoubtedly be a very popular gun with shooters here. Reasonably priced doubles are a big thing now with several gunmakers making them in the USA - Searcy was the first and there are a few more now. That said, the Asper would beat all of these guns on price and still be available in a limited but much more useful range of calibres than the guns that other double gunsmiths make.

Cheers,

Mehul

[Grumpy]

Mack The Knife, I managed to miss your `One shot, one kill is to be applauded. However we are all mortal` quote somehow. Yes. Very true. Damn arrogant of me to suggest otherwise......and also to suggest that my shooting is perfect. It isn`t as you might suspect.
Thanks for the lesson in common sense and humility.

[Mack The Knife]

Come of it Grumps. It's pretty obvious you missed the last bit.

Speaking of one shot kills, my friend was gifted The Wanderings Of An Elephant Hunter by his wife but since he has read it, he has lent it to me. It should make very interesting reading.

Mack The Knife

[Grumpy]

Ah, you`re a gent Mack The Knife.
Let me know how you find the book. A remote relative of mine ( his family owned the brewery, my grandfather ran a pub ! ) was a noted `white hunter` at the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century hunting in both Africa and India. He - like Bell - primarily used a 6.5x54 Mannlicher Schoenauer even for Elephant which meant that head shots were a necessity. Frankly I reckon both were drastically undergunned - they must have been remarkable shots though. The old feller became an ardent conservationist - way ahead of his time - when he realised that managed wildlife was becoming a necessity. Even 100 years ago it was obvious that wildlife stocks were becoming severely depleted.

[Mack The Knife]

Ah, you`re a gent Mack The Knife.

The jury never did return on that one.

Let me know how you find the book.

Read a bit earlier this evening and Bell comes across as a very straight forward and honest author. He makes it crystal clear that shot placement is everything, not calibre.

A remote relative of mine ( his family owned the brewery, my grandfather ran a pub ! ) was a noted `white hunter` at the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century hunting in both Africa and India.

Could we know his name?

Mack The Knife

[Grumpy]

Glad to oblige Mack The Knife. Edward North Buxton. A Google search brings up quite a bit of information on him. He was well aquainted with Walter D.M.Bell, Frederick Courteney Selous. Theodore Roosevelt and many others. Wrote a book in 1893: Short Stalks : Or Hunting Camps North, South, East and West. Heads ( purely alphabetically ) Alexander Wakes`list of .256 ( 6.5x54 ) users in `Killers in Africa`.
He was from the rich side of the family - owned large tracts of land in Essex..........We`ve got a back garden.
He was, believe it or not, a contemporary of my grandfathers`: My grandfather was born in the late 1840s and died in 1945......he was well into his 70s when my father was born - third wife, third family ! Needless to say, both he and Edward North were deceased before I was born.

[Mack The Knife]

Thanks a lot, Grumpy.

I don't think I have heard this name before but will look it up on Google.

Mack The Knife

[Grumpy]

Mack The Knife, most of what you`ll find on Google refers to Edward North Buxtons` efforts to save Epping Forest ..... which is pretty boring. If you wade through the entries though you will find material relating to his exploits in Africa and India. He also comes up when cross referenced to Selous, Bell and Teddy Roosevelt amongst others.