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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 433
Member
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Joined: Nov 2004
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The rifle features in a Manton & Co catalogue of 1926 and is illustrated and described but the maker is not specified.
engraving is not typically English - urns surrounded by relief flowers and scrolls. Right. Cabela's had one of these in .470 for sale not long ago. Same engraving pattern. I've seen a number of these. There was an identical Manton rifle with the same pattern on the cover of Shooter's Bible, Gun Digest, or similar publication some years ago, and was identified as having been from Heym. All of these have German proof marks, not British. Look at the illustration in the Manton catalogue, and notice the German proof mark.
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,784 Likes: 15
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,784 Likes: 15 |
Dig, thanks for letting me know. G.L.Rasch was a well known court gunsmith in Braunschweig. I have a very similar German drilling marked by Hildenbrindt, same period, same calibers. Good to know this is a good African gun - just in case... - Regards, Jani
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,544
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,544 |
The Rasch drilling was an unusual choice for an African rifle but on reflection it worked very well. With quick detachable scope mounts we could turn it into a shotgun in no time at all to shoot guinea fowl on our way back to camp and with a scope fitted it was accurate enough to shoot plains game.
As I mentioned, my red lechwe dropped at 170 yards to a bullet placed behind his shoulder blade as he stood, body facing away from me but head looking back. The bullet went exactly to the point of aim. With 196 grain softs, there was sufficient punch to deal with medium sized antelope like lechwe, tough beasts like worthog as well as smaller antelope like impala.
I think we would have been OK using it on anything up to and including eland and kudu in size and the ability to load buckshot in the left barrel so you have rifle front trigger, buckshot back trigger was useful in case we needed to follow up worthog etc.
The build quality was very good and I was pleased with the gun's abilities as a shotgun and as a rifle. Much better than many drillings I have seen over the years.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,660 Likes: 7
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,660 Likes: 7 |
Hello Dig and welcome back,
Herr Rasch's spirit must be very happy knowing his drilling was put to excellent use. Congratulations!
With envy,
JC
"...it is always advisable to perceive clearly our ignorance."ť Charles Darwin
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