By Diggory Hadoke
Regulating a Double Rifle Checking targets and analysing results
I
s it science, is it magic, is it a formula or a dark art? Everyone seems to have an opinion about the best means of getting a rifle with one barrel attached to another to place two shots side-by-side within an inch or two of one another and at the desired range. Diggory Hadoke gets to grips with the gritty subject of double rifle regulation. Not many companies still make double rifles, but for London gunmaker John Rigby & Co. their Rising Bite double rifle which was reintroduced in 2015, after a break in production of over 80 years is still in demand. The double rifle, once the mainstay of the deer stalker, the big game hunter and the driven boar enthusiast has largely been surpassed by bolt-action magazine rifles, which are cheaper to make, accurate, reliable and, above all, easier to make shoot tight groups and simple to adjust. The old double rifles of the Victorian and Edwardian eras were painstakingly tested and adjusted in order to make them deliver accurately, with the
desired powder load and bullet weight. Looking into the cases of vintage double rifles, we will often see, on hand-written labels, pasted to the lid, detailed loading instructions, with specific notes on powder, bullets, wads and patches. If the sportsman followed the recipe, he could be confident that the rifle would shoot in the manner intended. The necessary bespoke loading tools were often included in the case. I met up with one of Britain’s foremost rifle regulators, Keith Dennison-Thomas, who carries out all of Rigby’s double rifle regulations, while he was busy regulating a new Rigby .416 Rising Bite side-lock double on the John Rigby & Co. rifle range at West London Shooting School. Not to be confused with Keith Thomas, the gun engraver, Keith has over two decades of regulating double rifles under his belt. He explained to me some of the procedures and challenges for regulating Rigby double rifles accurately.
The tools of the trade Regulation takes place at the range. There are indoor ranges, which are fully enclosed and there are also open-air ranges, like the John Rigby & Co. rifle range at West London Shooting School. Arriving at the range, the regulator will have with him a collection of essential kit to be employed during the process. The most obvious being ammunition. This needs to be from a single batch to minimise variation. The average rifle requires 60 rounds of ammunition to regulate. The regulating jig is a contraption that fits over the barrels and has hex head bolts in multiple positions for adjustment. A gas bottle is required to provide the heat, binding wire and aluminium wedges are for support. Measuring tools, pliers, rosin flux, tin wire, a lighter, cleaning brush and a tin to store the front sight when not in place complete the essentials. If a proper bench and vice is available, that is ideal. If not, something like a Black & Decker ‘Workmate’ will
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