For many, the traditional image of the double rifle is that of a heavy-calibre rifle leaning against a big-game animal. As most of the double rifles made in Britain and elsewhere during the Nitro era (roughly from the late 1890s onwards) were indeed big-calibre guns made for hunting large, dangerous game in Africa and India, this image has its merits. The British were equally adept at making small-calibre double rifles more suited to shooting stars in Scotland or impala on the African savannah, however. Almost without fail, these smaller-calibre double rifles were just as finely made as their bigger- calibre brethren, and because of their scarcity, today are considered highly prized collector's items.
From the start, it is necessary to define exactly what a small-calibre double rifle is. It is…
