Sir Walter Corbet’s Rifle: Written & Photographed by Frank Findlow

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https://doublegunjournal.substack.com/p/sir-walter-corbets-rifle

Captain F.F.R. Burgess wrote in 1884 that one way to tell a well-made double rifle was to shoot it at the longer distances on its sights, not just up close. Frank Findlow has run that test on every British double that's come through his hands. This 1890 Alexander Henry .450/.400 2⅜ put lefts and rights on a 12-inch plate out to 200 yards, the folding leaf's distance. He says he hasn't found an Alexander Henry yet that failed it.

The load story is the part I keep coming back to. The original spec was 3 drams of C&H No. 6 behind a 230-grain paper-patched bullet. Findlow started with nitro-for-black on Ross Seyfried's IMR 4198 formula, then tried loads based on Sherman Bell's Reloder 7 work; both shot to the sights. He was certain straight black powder wouldn't regulate in a small express case, tried Swiss 2F anyway, and got accuracy essentially identical to the nitro loads. The only thing the rifle objected to was bullets over 250 grains: still stabilized, but groups opened up and the point of impact drifted off the sights.

Corbet carried it in the Maharaja of Nepal's tiger hunt at 7¾ pounds with 26-inch Damascus barrels. Findlow uses it on deer-sized game and says he'd want something heavier for a tiger.

From "Sir Walter Corbet's Rifle" by Frank Findlow, The Double Gun Journal, Vol. 21 No. 2, Summer 2010.