Gunsmithing Double rifle making?

[HSNARC]

Every time I see a double rifle used by some dentist to drop Cape buffalo I always go down a google image rabbit hole that’s ends in a frustrating “if you have to ask how much you can’t afford it” realization when it comes to price/availability.

I understand that the grade of wood, engraving, inlay, custom sizing, polish, blue etc take these things into the stratosphere cost wise. But what about a double for the upper lower middle class?

what would a well made double gun cost if it were made by cnc with average wood or synthetic no engraving and brushed stainless/dlc? Designed to be hunted with not presented in a velvet lined box.

is there some black art to aligning and welding 2 barrels together for a rifle that requires 800% more man hours? You can buy a very functional SxS shotgun for under a grand.

 

[gnochi]

With a double-barrel shotgun, the barrels having points of impact within 8 inches at 40yd is considered good, 4” or better is excellent - and much more expensive, even with CNC and all that.

Now, cut that down to 1 inch at 100yd or better, increase the ammo pressure by a factor of 5 or so, and make sure it’s still lightweight.

No, I don’t think it’s possible to do a double rifle worth buying for less than $50k of so. The overwhelming majority of the cost is in the accuracy, followed by weight and reliability; at that point, engraving/wood/etc is essentially free.

 

[RTH1800]

There are some well made used double rifles well under 20 k
The market is very soft right now.
I have owned, shot hunted with and sold many doubles.
Today I do not own one. They are less accurate, less reliable and less usable than a common production bolt action.
Caliber choice, ammo availability figure greatly into the price.
A cheap, cobbled together double is a bad tool and a worse investment.

 

[Baron23]

No, I don’t think it’s possible to do a double rifle worth buying for less than $50k of so.

You can get into a Krieghoff double rifle starting at about $12-15K and by the time you dress them up just a bit, you can get to $20k or more.

You can spend $50K....no doubt, but I would view Krieghoff as a top shelf German arms manf and here is their price list

https://krieghoff.com/wp-content/uploads/Hunting-Guns-Price-Sheet-4_1_2021.pdf

 

[jbell]

A cheap, cobbled together double is a bad tool and a worse investment.

Sound advise!

 

[HSNARC]

rth1800 said:
A cheap, cobbled together double is a bad tool and a worse investment.

So you’re saying I shouldn’t try and build a 500 nitro on the action from the sawed off JC Penny 12ga side by side I bought in the parking lot of the gun buyback?

 

[Waorani]

If you just want to scratch the itch - Baikal MP 221 in 45/70 goes for ~$1300 on GB.

 

[M4guru]

I had a 500-416 Blaser S2 and a Butch Searcy 470NE, and still have a Kreighoff 470NE. None were close to $50K. Kreighoff, Merkl, Heym, Chapuis, Blaser (supposedly reintroducing an S2 replacement), and many others offer a mechanically excellent double for $8-15K. There are deals to be had if you look around. If it tickles your bank account you can spend six figures without even trying when you get an English gun built. You can easily double or triple the price of the rifle in non-mechanical finishing.

They are not the most practical. They're expensive, expensive to feed, slow to reload, a nightmare to regulate (if they aren't from the builder), a pain to resell, and I am not sure if I mentioned expensive? Nothing in NA is ideal for one unless you just want to go to Texas and shoot high fence African stuff for the hell of it.

Regulating is an art that that isn't readily available, think of it like trying to refuel one plane off of two different tankers at the same time. Only a few people in the US are capable of doing it right.

That said, they're a fuckin' hoot to shoot and they're very cool in the craftsmanship that goes into them (especially the ones I can't afford). Lobbing a 500GR Swift A-Frame at anything is a blast.

Don't get a shitty one (Cabela's Sabbati from back in the day, etc.) just to scratch the itch. If it can be made right it would probably cost what a better gun did.

To answer the OP: Sure someone could make a $3500 one that worked, but who would buy enough to make it worth it?

 

[SharpsNitro]

The Krieghoff is the best gun out there for a quality, no BS working rifle in my opinion. The cocking mechanism they use make it exceptionally safe to carry with rounds in the chamber. I used to own one in 500NE, bought it used for around $10,500 for a Cape Buffalo hunt. Sold it when I came to my senses on how much said hunt was really going to cost me.

As has already been stated, barrel regulation is a big cost driver in production.

 

[skl1]

Just to mess around, a Baikal would be great fun. And I think you can find them at 7 or 800 bucks. They did 30-06 as well as 45-70 chambered ones. Side by side and over under double rifles. And these I think have screws on the front of the barrels to adjust the regulation of where each barrel impacts. Pedersoli made some hammergun double rifles at around $1,200 years ago; now they're $4K or more, but might find one used. Then you're up to the Chapuis/Merkel/Kreighoff guns at around $12K. These we're $8K 5 or 7 years ago, so again might find a used one on a good deal. The market has gone really soft on these "low-end" double rifles as somebody mentioned above. Chapuis was a great deal and very accurate, but they just were purchased by Beretta (like Benelli, Uberti, Sako, Tikka, Stoeger, and Franchi), so it appears they dropped some models and it'll be interesting to see what happens to them.

HTH

 

[M4guru]

The Baikal does have a system to self-regulate the barrels, it ain't a pretty gun but for shooting pigs or whatever it's probably a good option. They've gone thru the roof on price also, I think they're going for nearly $2K now.