So at the show in Greeley this year I saw a cute little (well, not so little) rifle that grabbed my ankle and forced me to take it home. It was a Rigby tip up hammer single with a Jones underlever. It is not easy to run down information on vintage Rigby rifles so I resorted to writing directly to Rigby and ordering a certificate. It came very quickly and was quite interesting in more ways than one. It said that the rifle was recorded in their ledger as a John Rigby Best Single Express with a .450 bore and was made for Lord Keane (see my other post for the big story there) and delivered to him (this would have been in Dublin, Rigby was Irish) on 5th October 1877. Other information was the stocker was Kavanaugh and had a length of 14 ¾ inch with a bend of 1 3/4” and 2 1/4”. The barrel length was 2'4” and it weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces and the sights were for 80, 150 and 250 yards. It also had remarks and the first was “for the No. 1 case” (so the 500-450 No. 1 Express – for us think a 45-110 - which then used a 270 grain bullet). The second remark was the one that floored me. I had noted that the trigger pull was rather heavy and the remark was “hair trigger”. It was a single set and went undetected by me as there wasn't an adjusting screw. There was a little bump in front of the trigger that turns out to be the other end of the adjusting screw. Seems the maker figured they knew best and adjusted it from the inside.  It worked! OK, that is Rigby's side of the story. On the barrel it says “Jeffery” and the address of the London office and it is no longer a 450 bore. The proof was for a 360 EXP (the typical 360 2 1/4” case) but using 30 grains of Cordite and a 300 max grain bullet. So it was now a 360 Nitro! For some reason the Rigby barrel for the 500-450 No 1 Express had, at some point around the turn of the century, been exactly replaced by Jeffery with a 360 Nitro barrel. The rifle shows quite a bit of use so through the last 150 plus years it wasn't just hanging on a wall. Oh, the buttplate, the pistol grip cap and the forarm tip are all horn.

Gorgeous old Rigby rifle! Love the sleek lines of the design and very nicely engraved. Great history of English Lords and now owned by Lord Oneatatime!

Very nice rifle for sure. Probably an impossible task but it would be great if you were able to locate the original barrel and have a nice swap barrel rifle.
Sam

25cal, it's easy. Go to (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) then point at About us then click on Services. Click on Research & Gun Provenance. Check the list to see if your serial number is covered by one of the books they have. If so, go to the bottom of the page and fill out the information. They will send you an invoice and you pay. In a day or two you will receive the report from Diggory Hadoke, their historian. I just selected the least expensive way which is by email.

What a handsome and gracefull rifle.

Still waiting for my 300 grain mold so I looked through my supply of other possible bullets. Besides the 313 grain 38 caliber bullet I found a 275 grain GC 38 caliber bullet. I found that if I size/lube them through a 38-55 sizer die first that I can then put them through my 9.3 sizer easily if a little messily as it takes a ring of lube off the outside but the lube grooves are preserved. I had enough of these bullets to load 13 each of these up (1 sighter and 3 4 shot groups) using 5744 and 38-55 loads. We'll see what happens.

My supplies have arrived and now I'm moving over to the Loading thread under 360 Nitro Express. By the way, Jeffery and Co was formed in 1891 (the original owner of the rifle died in 1901) and was at the original 60 Queen Victoria Street London address until at least 1921. I suspect that whoever inherited or purchased the rifle from Lord/Baron Keane's estate is the one who had it rebarreled in a newfangled Nitro cartridge at the earlier time. The Jeffery barrel has Birmingham proof marks that date between 1904 and 1925 so the rebarrel happened between 1904 and 1921. I will try to contact the Birmingham proof house to see if there is more info.

absolutely stunning rifle! what a find!! and this history is outstanding, such beautiful craftsmanship. thank you for sharing.

Judge