Makes of vintage single and double break action rifles

[gdawg]

Held a beautiful 100 yr old break action single recently and it inspired me to do a little more research.
Can any one suggest some names or makes that would be worth while exploring? Preferably vintage makers that did runs in smaller calibres and not the 30K+ H&H equivalents. thanks

 

[southernman]

Fair, makes a vintage hammer double, I side rifle bore shotgun is what they call it, I've just priced one up in 7x65R with an extra set of 20 ga barrels, may be what your after.
They have single shots on the 28 ga u/o frame,

 

[Ardent]

For double rifles there are several factors to consider, price, handling, regulation, quality. The cheap ones will be missing at least one, and likely two of the latter points. Excellent budget double rifles start at Merkel for modern production, on the old ones the cheap ones are a place you don’t want to go if you plan to use it. FAIR may get you in the game feel wise but falls well short of a Merkel.

 

[gdawg]

Thanks for the feedback gents. There is a nice Merkel at Prophet in 9.3x74r which would be a great practical calibre in NA, but it is still well north of 10K. In fairness is has a nice scope and an extra barrel in 9.3x74 and 20 gauge. Is 10K the typical starting point for these?

The German one from the 30's that I held was around the 5k mark. I did not get the makers name unfortunately.

 

[Ardent]

Doubles are a lot like women, more so than any other gun. The beautiful ones are expensive and gorgeous, feel amazing in the hands, they’re all particular and finicky, and the cheap ones may seem like a good and quick way in but sell the experience far short. And once you’ve had a good one you can’t go back. Good truthfully starts at $30k but there are doubles available in the $10k range you’d bring home to mom and dad with no shame, and could happily spend a lifetime with.

 

[Ardent]

And remember the cheap part is acquiring them, living with them gets expensive. Careful where a double leads you.

 

[257Roberts]

There was a gentleman in the Oshawa area that was working on Double rifles but I have not seen him in a while.
He did some fantastic work.

 

[209jones]

Even if you look at the US, you will see some down there for 7-9K, with exchange that is 10+ in most cases, and being European made, possibly some duty. When I bought my K-gun, because of the exchange rate at the time, they were available for under 8-9 for a base Merkel, VC, Krieghoff, Chapuis. Those were not the "safari" versions, they started at 11+. Same gun as I bought, because of just the dollar and the options I added, sights, scope mounts, stock upgrade, which were a bit over the 3000.00 mark, would be over 14 now. Sabatti and FAIR and Baikal and a basic Chapuis were the only ones under the 8 mark at the time. All of those are boxlocks, minimal engraving, many are hogsback stocks, basic sights. You can inquire with Tradexx, CSC and Wolverine on Chapuis, Merkel, Krieghoff, VC. Bilozir has FAIR, perhaps Sabatti. Epps has some Merkel.