Most interesting firearm you have ever seen

[Darkhorse]

At a sawmill in AL, the owner showed me his English double rifle. I seem to recall it was a 400 Nitro and did not weight very much. It was exquisite but the recoil must have been a real punishment owing to its light weight.

Wow - I wonder if the English liked large double-barrel guns? The double 4-gauge shotgun in the OP was English also...

 

[Unseen Real]

Wow - I wonder if the English liked large double-barrel guns? The double 4-gauge shotgun in the OP was English also...

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In the 16th thru 19th century the only reliable second shot was from a double barrel. If you are facing a crazy elephant, rhino or lion, I imagine the pain in the shoulder is hardly noticed. However, I have read of R.M. Ballantyne (Coral Island Scotts author) who actually did break or dislocate his shoulder with the recoil from one of those rifles.

 

[Servant68]

Wow - I wonder if the English liked large double-barrel guns? The double 4-gauge shotgun in the OP was English also...

The English used to be the worlds finest firearms craftsmen. The most expensive and nicest rifle I have ever seen in person was owned by my dad back when he was very wealthy in the 80's and 90's.

He fancied himself a knock-off of John Hemingway and traveled all around the world hunting and fishing. As such he went on several African safaris and has used everything from English double-rifles to Sharps rifles.

I remember when I was a teen and working in his gun shop, he had a locked glass display case with his finest rifles and shotguns in it.

One was a Rigby double rifle in .450 Nitro Express that I was told was worth $55k, and that was in the 80's...

They are beautiful rifles...

 

[marineimaging]

Guy at our club has one; he keeps threatening to let me shoot it... I will take him up one of these days!

My dad first got a Judge when he got his concealed license. The next time I saw him he had an entirely new and different one. I asked what happened and he said it kept pulling his pants down. Now, for the rest of the story. He was about 78 when he got it and it was the 6" stainless steel full grip. We laughed and laughed at the idea of him carrying that thing around because at that time we had not adopted open carry so he was trying to hide it. Don't get me wrong. My dad is one of the most intelligent, prudent, reasonable men I have ever known but this one took the cake. The one he traded it in on was the Taurus Public Defender composite. Much lighter and still shoots the same rounds.

 

[Darkhorse]

Much lighter?!

THAT sucker must have some recoil!

 

[Darkhorse]

I'm going to walk on the wild side a little here...

One of my aunts lived in the country and walked on the wild side a lot, all through her life.

My parents and I went to her house when I was 13, and spread all over her couch were short-barreled shotguns, short barreled rifles, and some other guns I had never seen before.

Fortunately, I never saw them again, either.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

My dad first got a Judge when he got his concealed license. The next time I saw him he had an entirely new and different one. I asked what happened and he said it kept pulling his pants down. Now, for the rest of the story. He was about 78 when he got it and it was the 6" stainless steel full grip. We laughed and laughed at the idea of him carrying that thing around because at that time we had not adopted open carry so he was trying to hide it. Don't get me wrong. My dad is one of the most intelligent, prudent, reasonable men I have ever known but this one took the cake. The one he traded it in on was the Taurus Public Defender composite. Much lighter and still shoots the same rounds.

Wow!
The barrel length would explain why I have not seen one of these up here. That would be some serious recoil!

 

[Innerfire89]

The Mauser C96 or Red 9.
It's a work of art that you can blast holes through stuff with, what's not to love! All my favorite guns are from the WW2 era.

 

[marineimaging]

The Mauser C96 or Red 9.
It's a work of art that you can blast holes through stuff with, what's not to love! All my favorite guns are from the WW2 era.

It definitely is. I recall the first time I saw one was on Clint Eastwood, Joe Kidd. I thought it was the coolest gun ever, next to the iconic Thompson .45 machine gun which I had shot on full auto and put a hole in my boat (accidentally, of course)