Rigby .451 Percussion Match Target Rifle
Rigby .451 Percussion Match Target Rifle
Rigby .451 Percussion Match Target Rifle. .451 caliber, 36″ round barrel with Rigby flats including a false muzzle and a bright excellent bore. This is a fabulous rifle and is the type used by the Irish during the long-range matches against the Americans at Creedmoor and Dollymount in 1874 and 1875. This rifle dates to 1873 or 1874 and may well have been used in these matches. It conforms to Creedmoor rules with a single standard trigger and the rifle weighs exactly 10 pounds with the long-range sight installed. It is interesting that the Irish team who shot Rigby percussion rifles were competing against Americans who were almost exclusively shooting Remington and Sharps breech-loaders. The top of the barrel is engraved “John Rigby & Co. Dublin & London” and here is no engraving or embellishments on the rifle, it was built with one purpose, to perform at the target. The quality is exactly as we would expect from this world class gunmaker and the condition is fabulous. The checkered English walnut stock shows nice figure and rates excellent with horn grip cap, forend tip and a coarsely checkered steel shotgun buttplate. This fabulous rifle shows no alterations of any kind and comes with two long-range sights. A superb example of these extremely high quality Irish percussion target rifles from the Golden Age of long range competitive shooting.
A rare opportunity to own a superb match rifle.
** Ammunition, Firearms and any Licensed components are not available to order online. Due to current Firearms Legislation these items are collection only and can only be purchased upon production of the necessary Firearms Permits. If you would like to purchase this item then please contact us on info@guntopia.hu or call +36 30 304 3036 **
| Barrel | |
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| Calibre | |
| Serial No: | 12961 |
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| Stock Number: | Ant 24 |
€ 6 719,86
Rigby .451 Percussion Match Target Rifle
Company history
Some documents suggest the firm was established in 1735. However, since the first John Rigby was born in 1758 in Dublin and entered the gunmaking trade there in 1775, Rigby today claims that as its founding date. (If John Rigby took over another gunmaking house, he would have inherited its founding date, in which case 1735 could be valid.) The surviving business ledgers date from 1781 and show that by then John Rigby was making, under his own name, shotguns, rifles, muskets, spring guns, carbines, blunderbusses and pistols to clients' specifications and a wide range of prices.
Rigby was nearly bankrupted during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 when the government seized the arms on his premises - those belonging to the firm and to its clients - presumably to keep them out of the reach of rebels. However, by 1810 (if not sooner) John Rigby had rebuilt his business and, in addition to sporting guns, was making, updating and repairing thousands of guns for Ireland's police, military, postal and customs services.
After the founding John Rigby's death, in 1818, his sons William and John Jason Rigby operated the business as W. & J. Rigby from c. 1820 to 1865, a period that spanned flintlock, percussion, pinfire and needle fire ignition and marked the start of the modern metallic cartridge era. Rigby was a leader in barrel-making and rifling technology and, at the time, it was also recognised for its high grade duelling pistols. (Irish gentlemen especially had a fondness for calling each other out over perceived slights to their honour.)
The third John Rigby, born in 1829 in Dublin and educated in science at Trinity College, took over in 1858 when William, his father, died. It was this John Rigby who brought the firm to international prominence. In 1865, capitalising on the awards his family's guns had earned at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and at the Paris Exhibition of 1855, in 1865 John Rigby opened a store at 72 St James's Street in London's West End. Sometime in the 1890s, Rigby sold his Dublin operations to Trulock & Harriss (keeping, however, his customers in Ireland) and became a bona fide member of the small circle of elite gunmakers who catered for London society.
Like his grandfather, the third John Rigby was a top target shot and developed the Rigby Target Rifle for competition use. He won several Wimbledon Cups (the premier long-range rifle championship in the United Kingdom) and, for 28 years, he helped form the Irish national shooting team. Rigby also won the Abercorn Cup and the first Gordon Bennett Cup, and was Irish Champion three times. Between circa 1860 and 1875, the Rigby .451-calibre muzzleloader was the match rifle of choice throughout the United Kingdom. In October 1874, one such rifle was presented to Lt. Col. George A. Custer: the Irish team had dined with him, and President and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, in Chicago. The Irish were on an American tour following the first International Rifle Match at the Creedmoor Range in New York. There, John Rigby had posted the highest individual scores among all competitors.
Additional information
| Barrel | |
|---|---|
| Calibre | |
| Serial No: | 12961 |
| Manufacturer | |
| Stock Number: | Ant 24 |
