By Diggory Hadoke
Rigby - Aesthetic Integrity, Past and Present
Vintage .470 boxlock double rifle in new leather and canvas case.
T
he long timeline of Rigby’s existence as a gunmaker spans most of the major developments in gunmaking. Having started business in 1775, the first of John Rigby’s wares would have been flintlocks. His doublebarrelled sporting guns moved from there, through the eras of percussion cap ignition, pin-fire and then centre-fire breech-loaders. As the firearm developed, so the ownership and managerial responsibilities at Rigby’s moved through the generations of the family; three men named ‘John Rigby’ headed the firm. The last one died in 1916 but the firm continued to be managed by a family member until 1951. Rigby continued to develop their sporting guns through the mid-Victorian era, as hammer guns gave way to hammerless patents, including boxlock and side-lock variants, before arriving upon the stylish and reliable early 20th century hammerless side-lock ejector. Double rifle output followed a similar path, while single-barrel rifles varied more widely; as actions, rifling and barrel-making advances offered gunmakers ever-greater possibilities for improving accuracy, rapidity of fire and reliability. Rigby was always an innovator and its guns carried a singular aesthetic style. Acid-etched Damascus barrels, for example. Even as early as the 1830s, Rigby made guns with 20
features that would be considered novel at the end of the century, like ‘lift out’ triggers and single triggers firing two barrels. The commercial benefits associated with maintaining high-quality, constantly improving products and good business sense were legion. Moving from Dublin to London opened Rigby to a wider, more prosperous, clientele and this led to some notable people of their day to the doors of the firm. Many of the guns made for famous sportsmen and women are still in circulation and the order books still reside at the current Rigby premises in London, marking the occasion of the birth of each shotgun, rifle or pistol.
Notable clients included royalty and professional hunters Rigby products range from Bissell patent ‘Rising Bite’ double rifles, through Mauser action bolt-rifles, to Kell-engraved, side-lock ejector, shotguns. Clients included tiger hunter Jim Corbett, HRH King George VI, elephant hunter John ‘Pondoro’ Taylor, Professional Hunter Philip Percival, Lt.Col. George Armstrong Custer of ‘Custer’s last stand’ notoriety, ‘Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter’ author W.D.M ‘Karamojo’ Bell, and Karen Blixen’s lover, made famous in ‘Out of Africa’, Denys Finch-Hatton. Maharajahs were the men of means
Autumn 2020 Irish Country Sports and Country Life
who possessed the inclination to purchase large numbers of elaborate and expensive sporting guns for their collections. The rulers of the Indian principalities had vast fortunes and held their traditional local powers but no real power outside of those; being watched over and ‘advised’ by British political officers. This ensured no warring between states and held the peace which was all important for the effective and economic administration of the ‘Raj.’ As a result, many of the maharajahs turned to sporting pursuits as an outlet for their energies and passions. One such man was Fateh Sigh, the 31st Maharana of Udaipur. He bought 16 rifles from Rigby, including a.470 nitroexpress, number 16902, which has typical Rigby dipped edge bar-locks and a shouldered action with vertical bolt. The fortunes of the maharajahs took a turn for the worse in 1972, when Indira Ghandi removed their titles and privileges. This led to many selling off their rifle collections to foreign collectors, in order to help their finances. No. 16902 was repatriated and the standard ‘best’ engraving and finish was enhanced to appeal to American collectors, who were then the principal buyers of such things. The top English engraver of his day, Ken Hunt, added a gold portrait of a lion and further gold borders and foliate scrolls to the locks and action, and the
