I had forgotten...

SaxonPig

New member
How much fun it is to shoot this rifle.

When I was 19 I went into my favorite gun shop and they had a Cogswell & Harrison double rifle in 375 Nitro Express on consignment. I had never seen a DBR in person and although this was a field grade box lock that would cause any well heeled aficionado to turn up his nose I thought it was beautiful. It was priced at $1,300 and it may as well have been a million. I was a starving college student making $1.80 and hour and there was no way I could buy that rifle.

When I was 25 the rifle showed up in the shop again. Now the asking price was $1,900. I was out of school making the princely sum of $8 an hour. I had to have it. I put a modest deposit on it and went home to empty out the piggy bank. I scraped together about $800. I sold two guns to friends who had been bugging me for them and that raised another $600. I was $500 short. Mom came through with a loan and I bought the rifle.

Ammo is no longer made but RCBS dies and cases were available. The cases are no longer made having fallen by the wayside about 20 years ago. I now have to form them from other calibers. Bullets are easy to find. I loved shooting that rifle.

It was stolen in a burglary in 1985. Police in a town 100 miles away recovered it six months later from a guy trying to sell it at a gun show.

Took it out to the range today. Been too long. I forgot how much fun it is to shoot.

Hardest thing with DBR is getting the two barrels to shoot together to the same point of impact. This one does OK. Two rounds, left and right barrels about 3/8" apart.

standard.jpg



Here's the rifle. Made in 1910 and originally sold to an Afghani prince it was sold on consignment in the London shop in the early 1920s to Ian Fleming's father in law. Weird but true.

standard.jpg
 
Last edited:
I should ask my friend how they did those double barrels so that they'll have the same or similar point of impact.
 

SaxonPig

New member
At the factory the barrels are mated via a temporary set up that they can adjust. They shoot and adjust until they are "regulated" then they solder them permanently in place. Time consuming and that's a big part of the price. Some are not close at all.
 

zipspyder

Moderator
Very nice rifle! Must take quite a while to shoot a session since you have to wake up on the ground after every shot from the concussion. :D
 

SaxonPig

New member
The 375 Nitro Express is not a very powerful round. Rimmed, straight case that's 2.5" in length (shorter than an '06) it is far below the 375 H&H in power.

standard.jpg
 
Top