A recurring theme in Rigby’s literature today is the phrase “fit for purpose.” It encompasses something of a mission statement for everything we produce.
However, the concept is not a novel one. Rigby has been sending sportsmen afield with rifles capable of long and arduous service for 250 years.
Nothing encapsulates that idea better than the rugged boxlock double rifles sold in the early years of the 20th century. These invariably set sail for Africa, and most never returned.
They spent decades in the hands of game wardens, Professional Hunters, sportsmen, and meat hunters—people for whom Africa was daily life and a dependable rifle an absolute necessity.
The rifle depicted here is an example of just such a classic.
The Rigby .470 NE serial no. 17942 can be traced to its original owner, who was a game warden in Tanzania in the 1920s. Unfortunately, the records for this period stop with no. 17765, which was made in 1912, placing the delivery date of no. 17942 around the time of the Great War.
From Tanzania, the rifle made its way to Botswana, where it was purchased by Professional Hunter (PH) Neville Peake, who used it for many years of elephant hunting.
He, in turn, sold it to fellow PH Mark Kyriacou, who guided clients primarily in the Okavango Delta. When Mark’s son George qualified as a PH and joined him, he was given the Rigby and used it for over a decade.
With George’s untimely passing and Mark’s impending retirement, the subject of the Rigby .470 that had once belonged to Neville Peake was raised by his son, Richard.
Richard, now also a Professional Hunter in his thirties, was keen to buy back his father’s old Rigby and carry it in the field as Neville once had.
Mark Kyriacou agreed to sell the Rigby back to Richard. Once in possession, Richard arranged to have it serviced and repaired, as there were some areas of damage in need of attention, including a cracked hand that had, for years, been bound with buffalo gut, enabling the rifle to soldier on, as well as a missing pin in the knuckle.
Externally, there remains little of the original finish. This is a ‘C’ grade Anson & Deeley boxlock non-ejector, so engraving is minimal, with just the gothic Rigby name on the side of the action.
The bores are worn from use, but the rifle still plants bullets in the right place and is as dependable now as it was 50 years ago.
We believe this old workhorse has been in constant use in Africa for over 90 years and, if moderately well cared for, should be good for at least another 50.
If that isn’t “fit for purpose,” then nothing is!
Rigby continues the tradition embedded in Richard Peake’s .470 NE in the form of the new Shikari model, available in .450/400, .470 NE and .500 NE—a boxlock double rifle for the professional, which we believe is capable of the same long service, wherever fate should take it.
