Double rifle

Synonymous with big game hunting found primarily in Africa and Asia, the double rifle is a sporting weapon with very little military heritage.

The majority of double rifles have been built on the boxlock actions as it is a simpler design with fewer moving parts that can fail.

[1] These first double-barrelled weapons were black powder, smoothbore muzzleloaders built with either flintlock or percussion cap ignition systems.

[1] In 1858, Westley Richards patented the break-open, top leaver breech-loading action, whilst a useful development these early break-open designs had a great deal of elasticity in the action and upon firing they sprung open slightly, a problem that gradually worsened with repeated firing and with more powerful cartridges.

[7] Many gunmakers tried various methods to rectify this problem, all to little avail until Westley Richards invented the "Dolls head" lock in 1862 which greatly improved rigidity, this was followed by James Purdey's under-locking mechanism in 1863 and W.W. Greener's "Wedge fast" system in 1873, finally the basic break-open action known to this day had the strength required to meet the stresses of large-bore projectiles.

[7] Until this time all double rifles had external hammers whose fall struck the mechanism that fired the cartridge, however, attempts to remove them were well underway.

[7] In 1875, Westley Richards employees William Anson and John Deeley patented the "Anson & Deeley" hammerless boxlock action, and in 1878 the Birmingham gunmakers W&C Scott & Son invented the basic sidelock action which was so successful it was immediately adopted by Holland & Holland.

[3] Now in its final form and chambering modern Nitro Express cartridges, the British double rifle entered its golden age at the turn of 20th century and it was to last for the next three decades, with the birth of the White hunter and professional hunting safari industry in East Africa.

It was not until the 1980s and the emergence of the big game hunting industry in Southern Africa that production of double rifles resumed at a steady rate, driven largely by demand from American sportsmen.

[2] In Africa, hunting with the Nitro Express double rifle remains extremely popular, although unaffordable for the majority of hunters.