doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com French Chapuis Guns.

Those animals are in a different world then what we have ever seen and I go with the experts who like the double rifles. It just amazes me how much punishment those African animals can take. Chapuis makes a lot of them.

That's because almost nobody in USA buys French-made O/U shotguns. That market belongs to Italians and B.C. Miroku-made Brownings (in Europe one can get MK series Mirokus). Quite honestly the only newly French-made guns I would consider are rifles from Dorelac & Dorelac. They do however make fine wine, brandy, chocolates, clothing and cosmetics. Their cheeses are wonderful much better than what we make in Wisconsin.

PS. One does seem to see lot of second hand Chapuis single-shot and SxS rifles. I heard they're world biggest maker of SxS rifles. That along with fact that there are very few new reasonably priced choices it would make sense that people buy them and when no longer needed sell them.

A lot of PHs use controlled feed bolt guns. I doubt the animal knows if the .416 slug that just crashed into it was fired from a square bridge Mauser or a double rifle. But, I'd be willing to bet the Mauser would be more accurate at 100 yards.

Best,
Ted

Advantage of the d. rifle on dangerous game, I would think, as I have never hunted any dangerous game other than big wild hogs, is an immediate second shot. I'd rather carry a d. rifle all day, than a bolt gun, but few professionals or hunters carry their gun all day anyway.

Advantages of a bolt gun are much lower price, added capacity and accuracy. If I ever got to the Dark Continent I would most likely, out of necessity, be carrying a bolt gun. Although, I will admit to having spent a considerable amount of time loading the .45-70 round to it's extremes in a Ruger #1, with 500 grain bullets. It can be safely loaded to within 300 fps, or a little less, of what the .458 Winchester Magnum does with factory ammo. Shooting them out of a Ruger #1 on the bench is not for the fainthearted, but is rather fun offhand. You just let yourself rock back with the recoil. One can also get very quick at reloading a #1 by holding extra rounds between the fingers, as it ejects the empties quite well. Big double rifles can be fascinating pieces of handiwork, tho'.

SRH

What you need is Artemida .45-70. It is good handling gun in that particular caliber. Put nice new recoil pad on it and you will be ready to go. Great value for <$1000. If you don't like it there will be plenty of takers not so for stuff costing thousands of dollars especially when Hecho en France. I realize w/o the French we would not have a county, but many hombres don't seem to appreciate or realize this. If I see another MP-221 .45-70 locally I will probably buy it. It goes very, very well with Wrangler's, rubber galoshes, camo jacket,.....
The expensive double rifles are true money pit. If you buy one next thing you will want them expensive leather cartridge wallets, hunting knife for several hundred (when Buck Woodsman Hecho en Los Estados Unidos available at Walmart is all one needs) fancy smancy Selous boots from England along with safari jacket and hat costing hundreds of dollars. It ain't worth it.

Yep, I'll just go to Walmart to outfit for my trip to Africa. That should do it. Awful silly idea, isn't it?
I've read also that the PH insists that the scope flips down so the client can use the open iron sights on his bolt action in deep brush. That tells you something right there. Deep brush, a possible wounded animal, they want that quick second shot on a double.

I've read also that they like that Chapuis over there.

Well in defensive situation angry jumbo has to come w/o 10 paces or less before it can be shot and that is where heavy caliber two single shot rifles in one really helps. I hate to say so but modern American bolt actioned rifle is basically single shot firearm with spare magazine box. I have old Winchester so I can tell you that. For love of God I do not understand why American companies keep making those antiquated actions instead of going to strait pull designs like many European makers offer. I mean the bolt locks into barrel extension and accuracy is on par with lift up pull back push forward push down designs. Good folks at 24 hour campfire told me locals now only buy real cheap stuff like Savage Axis or Ruger American. Those European type designs with rotating multi log designs would be more expensive to make.

The bolt action is good for everything and its accuracy is unequaled. For the vast majority of game and on continents to hunt game the bolt action rules. As it should.

The key point being missed here in the discussion of style prefs., DR vs. bolt is that of having the gun stocked so that it naturally shoots where one is looking. You want the FIRST shot to find home. Talk of quick second shots w/big bore rifles of any kind is not quick.. due to recoil, but it is likely quicker in a DR than most bolt rifles.. unless one is using a Blaser or Kreighoff or one of the more modern bolt guns of that very fast feeding nature.

Its one of the big difs. w/American custom rifle stock makers, their instinctive mastering of classic lines w/shootable [meaning handles like a well made shotgun] dimensions vs. the average store bought bolt action that requires some funky and useless scope/rings/mount and will most likely never be shot well off-hand or w/the iron sights provided, but works well enough when shot from a blind or off a rest of some nature.

The factor of being able to be brought into play quickly & shot instinctively and accurately and having a second shot, when necessary, is whot brought the DR its favored status, IMHO.

Think about it, a SxS shotgun w/double triggers & hammers was/is nothing more than two independent shotguns sharing a common butt stock & forearm. Safety, as such, when applied to a DR is solely from that same redundancy.

Hey, the thread was already adrift, so thot I'd add my two cents en passant;-) I've no pachyderms in this ring.