Owners of premium bolt guns - Rigby, Jeffery, Holland + Holland, Westley Richards etc
- Thread starter Northern Shooter
- Start date
Nope lol
Man, I want to say I read in "African Rifles and Cartridges" by Taylor that Rigby has always bought Mauser barreled actions and used them, and about the difficulties various wars imposed on this...but I just looked through it very quickly and couldn't find it.
The Rigby website does say:
So they absolutely did. Wish I could remember exactly where I had read about them using Mauser actions and the trouble with the war, but I could swear it was the Taylor book.
Know what exactly?
What Rigby actually did. My position is, without evidence to the contrary, that vintage Rigbys are a Hitachi with a John Deere paint job. Mauser numbers inside the stock and German Final proof mark, meaning it was a complete rifle. Unless Rigby junked the German stock and reapplied the Mauser number to their stock.
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Your first question is whether Rigby did stock Mauser barreled actions. Yes they did. Your next question seems to be whether Rigby received fully stocked rifles from Mauser. I think. You seem to be all over the map here. I have no idea. But I suspect that they did. I suspect there were all kinds of variations of things that left the Rigby shop. I also suspect a couple of world wars altered some of that as well. You seem to want a fight, and you seem not to want to do any research on the subject. Honestly, who really cares?
And doing one does not preclude doing the other.
It’s on their bloody website and it’s been spoon fed to you right here on this thread.
Just to the right of ".416 MAX", in a little saw-edged box, is stamped "NOT ENGLISH MAKE". The stamping in the 2nd photo is easier to see, but the barrel stamping isn't visible. I forget the reasoning behind it, I think it was something to do with how taxes were applied on retail if the gun were being exported.
The point being, those stampings wouldn't be there if the action and barrel were made in England. Prior to WWII, most, and possibly all of the Rigby-Mauser rifles started with barreled actions from the Mauser Werke in Oberndorf. Other makers used less expensive war surplus actions to build on, so the source of the barrels is a little more muddy.
In the last photo you can see the Mauser serial number. That number, or the last two digits would have been stamped onto every little part of the action, except the springs. Rigby would have applied their own number as well, usually on the bottom of the trigger guard.
If you want to do some reading yourself, I recommend "Original Oberndorf Mauser Sporting Rifles", by John Speed, Walter Schmid, and Reiner Hermann
The point being, those stampings wouldn't be there if the action and barrel were made in England. Prior to WWII, most, and possibly all of the Rigby-Mauser rifles started with barreled actions from the Mauser Werke in Oberndorf. Other makers used less expensive war surplus actions to build on, so the source of the barrels is a little more muddy.
In the last photo you can see the Mauser serial number. That number, or the last two digits would have been stamped onto every little part of the action, except the springs. Rigby would have applied their own number as well, usually on the bottom of the trigger guard.
If you want to do some reading yourself, I recommend "Original Oberndorf Mauser Sporting Rifles", by John Speed, Walter Schmid, and Reiner Hermann
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Cool to see, 9.3!
I think the issue here is MiG asking whether or not Rigby actually did any of their own work, like stocking the actions we know are Mauser actions, any finish polishinng etc....or if they ever simply imported complete rifles and sold them with a considerable mark-up and no work done on them at all.
I kinda wonder about this though
Is there a difference between a German proof mark denoting a barreled action has fired a proof load, etc and some final proof mark indicating it was assembled into a complete rifle, with a stock etc? What are they?
I think the issue here is MiG asking whether or not Rigby actually did any of their own work, like stocking the actions we know are Mauser actions, any finish polishinng etc....or if they ever simply imported complete rifles and sold them with a considerable mark-up and no work done on them at all.
I kinda wonder about this though
MiG25 said:
Is there a difference between a German proof mark denoting a barreled action has fired a proof load, etc and some final proof mark indicating it was assembled into a complete rifle, with a stock etc? What are they?
Yes, what I am wondering is just how much did Rigby put into the rifles, the Crown B and Crown U would seem to indicate a complete rifle as would Mauser SN inside the stock. I'd say Rigby certainly put/replaced sights on them.
I've had Steyr Mannlichers with English Makers names on them and no indication they really did anything other than retail them.
Mauser certainly could make rifles to the highest standards.
A look on the 'net seems to show that in 2023, a new Mauser is more $$$ than a new Rigby.
I've had Steyr Mannlichers with English Makers names on them and no indication they really did anything other than retail them.
Mauser certainly could make rifles to the highest standards.
A look on the 'net seems to show that in 2023, a new Mauser is more $$$ than a new Rigby.
The Mauser website lists pricing in Euros and from what I'm seeing they start at roughly 11,600 Euros for the
Model 98 Magnum.
The John Rigby & Co. Big Game PH model starts at 11,100 Pounds and the standard Big Game rifle I ordered starts at 12,000 Pounds.
Model 98 Magnum.
The John Rigby & Co. Big Game PH model starts at 11,100 Pounds and the standard Big Game rifle I ordered starts at 12,000 Pounds.
These guns are out of my price level so take this with a grain of salt.
I handled a Rigby, then a few weeks later I handled some Chris Griesbach customs. He compared the Rigby to a Parker Hale. I'm inclined to think he has the skills to make statements like that.
If I had the cash it would go to Chris. Or Martini, Echols or if I really had the cash Fanzoj or Dorleac. Satterlee Ti is also coming to mind
20+ grand could get you a hell of a custom gun made exactly to your specifications.
I handled a Rigby, then a few weeks later I handled some Chris Griesbach customs. He compared the Rigby to a Parker Hale. I'm inclined to think he has the skills to make statements like that.
If I had the cash it would go to Chris. Or Martini, Echols or if I really had the cash Fanzoj or Dorleac. Satterlee Ti is also coming to mind
20+ grand could get you a hell of a custom gun made exactly to your specifications.
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Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I had a custom Satterlee Ti done, took around 5 years. Custom Picatinny bridges, six down Rigby drop box. It arrived, was cool… but I was already hunting grizzlies for work and using a Model 70 and Merkel .375. Started rushing the mods to press it into service and… couldn’t see the reason to run the Satterlee in the other guns’ workplace.
The idea saw the light of day in the end, built the light stalking .375 2 1/4 Improved on an Oberndorf Mauser, and named it the .375 Kemano. All for maybe 25% what I had in the Satterlee… As kismet or the fixed quantum plan of the universe would have it, a fellow who didn’t have to wait the 5 years really wanted it, relieved me of it and built himself a wild sheep rifle.
Been through a bit of the gamut of custom rifles, actions, and a good introduction to British bests. I hate to say it, well not really, but the damn-near perfect rifle probably already exists. It’s called the Model 70 Pre-64, or a Mauser Oberndorf modified at far more expense to the same features. Either is a Rigby once in a nice stock.
I carried quite a few guns guiding, really whatever suited the season. Only three went out repeatedly, Winchester, Merkel double, Glock. All solid, albeit working grade guns of their ilk. Only the Model 70 made it onto the painting, despite the H&H Royal doing work out there, the Merkel, the Satterlee arriving in the heat of it.
First I thought it was only because I had the best picture of it when the artist offered to do a collage of memories of the place. I realized it was more than that, as one each of a Winchester & Mauser .375 are the only guns left in the cabinet descended from that era and what I learned in it. The Glock’s still there, as I’m not allowed to sell it. I tried.
The idea saw the light of day in the end, built the light stalking .375 2 1/4 Improved on an Oberndorf Mauser, and named it the .375 Kemano. All for maybe 25% what I had in the Satterlee… As kismet or the fixed quantum plan of the universe would have it, a fellow who didn’t have to wait the 5 years really wanted it, relieved me of it and built himself a wild sheep rifle.
Been through a bit of the gamut of custom rifles, actions, and a good introduction to British bests. I hate to say it, well not really, but the damn-near perfect rifle probably already exists. It’s called the Model 70 Pre-64, or a Mauser Oberndorf modified at far more expense to the same features. Either is a Rigby once in a nice stock.
I carried quite a few guns guiding, really whatever suited the season. Only three went out repeatedly, Winchester, Merkel double, Glock. All solid, albeit working grade guns of their ilk. Only the Model 70 made it onto the painting, despite the H&H Royal doing work out there, the Merkel, the Satterlee arriving in the heat of it.
First I thought it was only because I had the best picture of it when the artist offered to do a collage of memories of the place. I realized it was more than that, as one each of a Winchester & Mauser .375 are the only guns left in the cabinet descended from that era and what I learned in it. The Glock’s still there, as I’m not allowed to sell it. I tried.
It sounds like you've lead a very interesting career. Has that painting been posted here? I'd be interested to see it.
