History - John Rigby & Co.

1758

The founding John Rigby is born

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The founding John Rigby is born.

1775

Official founding date of John Rigby & Co.

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In the latter part of the 19th century, Rigby advertisements claimed that the business dated back to 1735. However, the John Rigby who founded the company was not born until 1758 and opened his gunmaking business in Dublin, Ireland, in 1775. Either an older company was bought out and the name changed or the reference to 1735 was simply a printing error. We now use the 1775 date, which places us as the oldest gunmaking firm in continuous existence in the English-speaking world.

1798

The Irish Rebellion

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The 1798 Rebellion was a turbulent time for Rigby, as described in Rigby: A Grand Tradition: ‘Although [John] Rigby was an upstanding member of Dublin’s merchant class, the police, led by the notorious Town-Major Henry Sirr, raided the premises during the short-lived Irish Rebellion of 1798. A record, possibly by John Rigby’s daughter Frances, noted: “Wagons under military escort seized his stock of arms and those entrusted to him by country gentlemen without warning and took them to Dublin Castle. They were retained there for a long time and, when returned, much was worthless and a good deal missing. No compensation was paid.”’

1816

John Rigby & Son

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The founding John Rigby took his elder son, William, into partnership with him and the company name was changed to ‘John Rigby & Son.’ One of the oldest firearms currently in Rigby’s museum collection – a flintlock magazine pistol engraved ‘Rigby & Son’ – is thought to date from this period.

1818

William and John Rigby

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The founding John Rigby died and the firm passed to his son William. William invited his brother, John Jason, to join him, and the business continued to grow. The company name changed to W&J Rigby as early as 1823.

1851

Rigby at the Great Exhibition

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The Great Exhibition of 1851 was the idea of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband to showcase inventions and art from across the world. The exhibition was held in the 773,000 square foot Crystal Palace that had been specially built for the event in London’s Hyde Park. Many firearms makers had displays there, including Rigby. The following is from the exhibition catalogue:
“ – 236. RIGBY, WILLIAM and JOHN, 24 Suffolk Street, Dublin — Manufacturers. Complete Indian or Highland outfit, consisting of a double rifle, double shot gun, and pair of extra barrels, forming, when required, twin double guns, with additional rifle barrels, and the locks, stocks, etc., all adjusted to one fit. Double rifle with extra shot barrels, back-action locks, and single removable hair trigger, with cases and equipments. Bar-lock double rifle, single trigger, cases and equipments complete, with or without telescope attached. Double-shot gun, with bar locks attached. Double gun, back-action locks, and double rifle on improved plan, with cases complete. All constructed with continuous mountings, lift-out triggers, and solid slide-bolts. Bar-lock double gun, without ramrod. Bar-lock single rifle and back-action; cases complete. Double-rifle pistol for bison shooting, with single hair trigger and cases. Small horizontal double pistol and case; and various other pistols. Improved six-shot revolving pistols, with detachable barrels, safety-bolt, and other improvements, in case, etc. Cavalry officer’s holster pistols in case. Bar-lock single rifle, in unfinished state, prepared for adjusting in the field. Different parts of a gun in preparatory states. Specimens of bullet moulds, with improved mould, in which a solid bullet can be cast. Single gun, back-action locks, in case.”

1865

John Rigby & Co. London shop opened

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Rigby opened a London shop on 72 St James’s street, continuing to work between its Dublin and new London premises. Rigby remained at 72 St. James’s Street until 1908, and the firm’s Dublin office at 24 Suffolk Street was closed in 1897.
The illustration shows the announcement of the new London premises in an 1866 edition of The Field.

1873/74

Match rifle success

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With the founding of the National Rifle Association of the UK in 1859, a new emphasis was given to accurate long-range rifle shooting. The NRA’s inaugural match at Wimbledon was held in 1860, with Queen Victoria firing the first shot. The third John Rigby (1829 – 1916) won the individual prize at Wimbledon in 1864, and the Irish Team, using Rigby rifles and with him as its captain, won the Elcho Shield match in 1873. The Irish team then challenged the Americans to a match at their new Creedmoor range in New York. The American team won what is now the Leech Cup on the last shot. A few days later, the Irish team won the Bennett Cup with Rigby having the highest individual score. The Leech Cup match is held annually at Camp Perry, Ohio and is the oldest competition in US shooting sports.

1879

Rising Bite guns and rifles

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Between 1879 and 1910 approximately 1,000 guns and rifles were built using the Rigby Bissell patent action (1141 of 1879). Rigby described the action as their ‘vertical bolt’ but it’s better known as the ‘Rising Bite.’ It was the basis for ‘best guns’ and was renowned for its strength, but the cost of the hand fitting required for manufacture was likely the reason Rigby switched to the ‘screw grip’ just before World War I.

1887

John Rigby appointed Superintendent of the Royal Small Arms Factory

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John Rigby’s expertise was well known and, in 1887, he was appointed Superintendent of the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock. His job was to transition their military rifle from single shots using black powder cartridges to smokeless powder bolt-action repeaters.

1897

Rigby collaborates with Mauser

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During his time at Enfield, John Rigby had become very familiar with bolt-action rifles. After leaving the Royal Small Arms Factory, he began negotiations with Mauser in Oberndorf, Germany. He was awarded a 12 year exclusive distributorship to import and distribute all Mauser made rifles, actions, barreled actions and components into the United Kingdom and British Colonies. Rigby sold its first Mauser rifles in 1897. According to Jon Speed in Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles: “Some of the first Rigby-Mauser sporters were made on the rare pre-98 Transition actions left over from the 1895-1902 German military rifle tests which had resulted in the adoption of the Gewehr 98.” The rifle pictured has an 1897 receiver date and carries Rigby No.1059 and Mauser 10.

1897

The Dublin office at 24 Suffolk Street closes

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Rigby’s Dublin office at 24 Suffolk Street closed and the firm’s entire operation moved to London, where it remained until the 1990s at various addresses.

1898

450 NE 3 1/4" developed

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In 1889, shortly after the development of smokeless powder, Rigby began work with the Curtis and Harvey gunpowder company on what became the .450 3 ¼” Nitro Express. When it debuted almost a decade later, testing by Kynoch revealed that with 70 grains of Cordite it could drive a 480-grain bullet at 2,200 feet per second, producing 5,186 foot-pounds of energy. The new cartridge was the ‘beginning of the end’ for the 8 and 4-bore black powder stopping rifles and would change big game hunting to the present day.

1898

Winston Churchill buys from Rigby

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In September 1898, Winston Spencer Churchill (under the command of Lord Kitchener) was armed with a Rigby-Mauser pistol when he participated in the battle of Omdurman (Sudan). In a letter to his mother describing the battle he wrote: “I am sorry to say I shot 5 men for certain and two doubtful. The pistol was the best thing in the world.” Churchill was also armed with a Rigby-Mauser pistol the following year when he was captured during the Boer War in South Africa.

1900

The birth of the magnum Mauser action

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In 1899, Rigby asked the engineers in the Mauser Sporting Arms Department to make a special action that would handle their popular rimmed .400/350 cartridge. When completed c.1900 it was the ‘birth’ of the magnum action which, in turn, provided the ideal platform for dangerous game cartridges like the .375 H&H, .416 Rigby and the .505 Gibbs.

1907

Jim Corbett is presented a .275 Rigby

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Jim Corbett was presented with a .275 Rigby rifle by Sir J. P. Hewitt, Lieutenant, Governor of the United Provinces in India, in gratitude for killing the ‘man-eating tigress of Champawat’. The dreaded female tiger is thought to have killed an estimated 436 people before Corbett tracked it down and shot it. The .275 went on to feature prominently in many of Corbett’s subsequent adventures. In 2015, Rigby tracked down and purchased the rifle, which now resides in the firm’s London museum.

1908

Rigby develops the .350 No.2 and the .350 Magnum

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The .350 No.2 was the successor of the well proven .400/.350. The only difference was that the new cartridge featured a 225gr bullet at a higher velocity. The .350 magnum as rimless had much the same ballistics but was chambered in Mauser magazine rifles.

1911/1912

The famous .416 Rigby is developed and the first rifle sold

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Following the success of Rigby’s .350 rifles on the magnum Mauser action, there was demand for a bigger and more powerful cartridge to be built on the same platform. With other makers already producing larger bore magazine rifles on the standard length Mauser action, Rigby and Mauser collaborated to produce what is perhaps the firms’ most famous calibre: the .416 Rigby.
The first rifle was supplied to Col. Sir A Wools Sampson on 29 August 1912 and is listed in the ledgers as a Mauser sporting ‘Big Game’. Between 1912 and the Second World War an estimated 189 rifles were built to the original design; today they are both rare and highly desirable. Today, Rigby is once again working with Mauser to produce large calibre rifles built to the pre-war pattern and on the magnum Mauser action.

1912

Rigby opens at 43 Sackville Street, London

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J. Rigby & Co moved premises to 43 Sackville Street, London.

1912

1940 Guns and rifles continue to be produced under Rigby family ownership

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Rigby continued to produce several thousand guns and rifles that went on to be used throughout the British Empire and around the world. Despite the firm’s Mauser agency ceasing in 1912, Rigby continued to supply hunters worldwide with excellent sporting weapons.

1913

Bell orders two .416 Rigby rifles

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W.D.M. ‘Karamojo’ Bell ordered the 21st and 22nd .416 Rigby rifles made. Both were entered into the ledgers, with four months between them.

1914

Rigby develops .322 cartridge

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John Rigby had further plans for his .416 cartridge case. When World War I began in June 1914, he was working with Kynoch to develop the Rigby .322 Nitro cartridge. They intended to use a .330 diameter bullet weighing 250 grains. The velocity should have been about 3,000 feet per second, which would have produced more than 5,000 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle. Completion of the project was delayed until after the war, but with John Rigby’s death in 1916 all development ceased.
In the 1950s, American arms designer Roy Weatherby added a belt to the .416 Rigby cartridge case for a number of his proprietary rounds. In the early 1980s, an American company called Research Armament, working with the Finnish ammunition maker Lapua, developed the .338 Lapua Magnum. Using the 416 Rigby case and a 250 grain .338 diameter bullet – it was almost identical to what John Rigby had conceived seven decades earlier. The .338 is generally considered the ‘ultimate’ for long range sniper needs.

1916

The third John Rigby dies

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The death of the third John Rigby was noted in Arms & Explosives on 1 December 1916 as follows: ‘He was a remarkably fine target shot, and he added to this important qualification a special turn of mind which made him a master of mathematics of rifle and bullet behaviour. As a gunmaker he was able to cater for an important clientele amongst target shooters and big game hunters.’

1922

Bell orders one of his many Rigby rifles

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W.D.M. Bell ordered a .275 Rigby, serial number 4890 – one of his many Rigby rifles in various calibres.

1951

Last family owner of Rigby dies

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Theo Rigby dies, the last member of the Rigby family to own the company.

1968

David Marx buys John Rigby & Co

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David Marx buys John Rigby & Co.

1970

J. Roberts & Son contracted to build rifles for Rigby

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J. Roberts & Son – founded in the 1950s – was contracted to build guns and rifles for Rigby. This relationship would later lead to Paul Roberts buying the name and Rigby ledgers.

1984

Paul Roberts buys Rigby

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Following an elephant hunting trip with a .416, Paul Roberts developed and released the first new Rigby cartridge for over 80 years. Using the same case as the .416 but with a larger 480gr .458 calibre bullet, the .450 Rigby is born.

1995

.450 Rigby rimless created

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Following an Elephant hunting trip with a .416, Paul Roberts develops and releases the first Rigby cartridge for over 80 years. Using the same case as the .416 but with a larger 480gr .458 calibre bullet, the .450 Rigby is born.

1998

John Rigby & Co. goes to the USA

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John Rigby & Co. is bought by Neil Gibson, a gentleman from Texas who moves production to California.

2010

Rigby bought by Dallas-based investment group

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Following several investors coming and going, Rigby was sold to a Dallas-based investment group led by John Reed and Jeff Meyer, and the historic Rigby ledgers dating to the 1700’s were acquired from a private collection. Rifle production was moved back to London, with Paul Roberts of J. Roberts and Son once again contracted to produce rifles.

2013

Company bought by the L&O Group

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In January 2013, John Rigby & Co was bought by the L&O group, which also owns Blaser, Sauer and Mauser.

2013

Rigby and Mauser reunited

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With management and production firmly back in London, Rigby resumed its historic relationship with Mauser to create aspirational but affordable rifles for use across the globe.

2014

Pensbury Place premises open

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Rigby moved into its purpose built premises in Pensbury Place, London SW8. A fully operational workshop and showroom are on site, all ledgers and memorabilia are housed within the same building, along with Rigby’s museum of historic guns.

2015

Rigby re-acquires Jim Corbetts’s .275

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John Rigby & Co. tracked down and acquired the original .275 Rigby that was presented to Jim Corbett in 1907 for despatching the man-eating tigress of Champawat. The rifle, which featured prominently in his best-selling memoirs, was given pride of place in Rigby’s London museum and is availabele for all to see.

2015

First new Rising Bite completed

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The firm’s gunmakers completed the first Rigby Rising Bite double rifle to be made since the early 1930s. The rifle – a .470 Nitro Express – makes its debut at the Safari Club International Convention in Las Vegas.

2016

Rigby's SCI donation rifle sells for a record $250,000

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An exquisite .275 London Best, built as a tribute to Jim Corbett, broke records at the February 2016 Safari Club International Convention (SCI) selling at auction for $250,000, making it the most valuable bolt-action rifle ever sold in more than 40 years of SCI auctions. It was bought by husband and wife, Brian and Denise Welker, who are both life-long Corbett fans.

2017

Rigby unveils their highly anticipated Highland Stalker rifle

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Marc Newton, the managing director of Rigby, unveils their latest creation – the Highland Stalker – to the sound of bagpipes in front of a huge crowd toasting its arrival with a dram of Rigby whisky at IWA OutdoorClassics, which was held in Germany in March 2017.

2017

Rigby celebrates the launch of Highland Stalker rifle in the Scottish Highlands

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Rigby invites journalists and dealers from across the world to join them in the heart of the Scottish Highlands to celebrate the launch of their new Highland Stalker rifle in September 2017. The traditional Scottish stalking party experience replicated that which had not been seen for more than 100 years. By sleeper train from London, guests were greeted by the sound of bagpipes as they disembarked the train bleary-eyed. The week which followed was adventure-filled with red stag stalking, using the traditional method of garron ponies on the historical Blair Atholl estate, followed by fine dining in Blair Castle, sharing hunting tales over a glass of Rigby whisky

2019

First pair of new Rising Bite shotguns completed

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After a break in production of over 100 years, the first pair of 12-bore Rising Bite shotguns were unveiled at Safari Club International Convention in January. Built in London by Rigby’s skilled team of gunmakers, under the direction of the firm’s Rising Bite executive, Nick Coggan, its traditional designs pay homage to the company’s past.

2019

Rigby releases a new calibre, the .416 No. 2.

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More than two decades after the development of their last cartridge, Rigby releases a new calibre, the .416 No. 2, which is chambered in their Rising Bite double rifles. Dr. Eckhard Stief, a passionate German hunter, rifle collector and avid fan of rifles is the genius behind the design of this new and improved cartridge. Working hand-in-hand with Rigby, he has seen through the development of the new calibre from concept. Using the .416 Rigby’s original design, Dr. Stief has added a rim to the cartridge, to improve the extraction in double rifles, whilst maintaining the same cartridge pressures and velocities.

2021

The Rigby Falling Block rifle heralds the revival of a legacy

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After three years in the making, Rigby restores the Falling Block rifle to its core range of guns. The rifle is built around a true Farquharson action, mirroring the original patented John Farquharson design of 1875 and a strong match to the historic Rigby-made Farquharson rifles in the company’s historic ledger books.

2022

John Rigby & Co. proudly unveils the Rigby Academy

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A dedicated gunmakers’ apprenticeship programme designed to preserve the traditional skills and methods used in gunmaking. The five-year apprenticeship mentors the next generation of craftsmen in the art of gunmaking, ensuring the continuity of these time-honoured skills for future generations. Upon completion, successful graduates earn a Rigby gunmakers’ certificate and an opportunity to apply for a permanent position within the company. To learn more, click here.

2024

Rigby launches the Big Game Lightweight at Dallas Safari Club Convention

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A tribute to the classic pre-war safari rifles housed in the Rigby Museum, this addition to the award-winning Big Game series is ideal for hunting African plains game or North American big game. With a slim profile barrel and a vintage stock design featuring larger hand-chequered panels and no cheek piece, the rifle exudes timeless aesthetic. Built on a Mauser M98 magnum double square bridge action, the rifle blends classic charm with modern functionality.

2024

The return of a legend: The Rigby Shikari rifle

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Rigby unveils the Shikari double rifle, a modern incarnation of the classic British double rifle from the late 1890s. This Best boxlock double embodies the spirit of a bygone era, while exceeding the demands of the modern-day hunter. Its resurgence pays homage to a rich heritage of hunting and opens the door to experiencing the thrill of an African double rifle safari with a Rigby in-hand.

British gunmakingsince 1775

British gunmakingsince 1775

More than 240 years of experience

1758

1775

1798

1816

1818

1851

1865

1873/74

1879

1887

1897

1897

1898

1898

1900

1907

1908

1911/1912

1912

1912

1913

1914

1916

1922

1951

1968

1970

1984

1995

1998

2010

2013

2013

2014

2015

2015

2016

2017

2017

2019

2019

2021

2022

2024

2024

1758 - The founding John Rigby is born

1775 - Official founding date of John Rigby & Co.

1798 - The Irish Rebellion

1816 - John Rigby & Son

1818 - William and John Rigby

1851 - Rigby at the Great Exhibition

1865 - John Rigby & Co. London shop opened

1873/74 - Match rifle success

1879 - Rising Bite guns and rifles

1887 - John Rigby appointed Superintendent of the Royal Small Arms Factory

1897 - Rigby collaborates with Mauser

1897 - The Dublin office at 24 Suffolk Street closes

1898 - 450 NE 3 1/4" developed

1898 - Winston Churchill buys from Rigby

1900 - The birth of the magnum Mauser action

1907 - Jim Corbett is presented a .275 Rigby

1908 - Rigby develops the .350 No.2 and the .350 Magnum

1911/1912 - The famous .416 Rigby is developed and the first rifle sold

1912 - Rigby opens at 43 Sackville Street, London

1912 - 1940 Guns and rifles continue to be produced under Rigby family ownership

1913 - Bell orders two .416 Rigby rifles

1914 - Rigby develops .322 cartridge

1916 - The third John Rigby dies

1922 - Bell orders one of his many Rigby rifles

1951 - Last family owner of Rigby dies

1968 - David Marx buys John Rigby & Co

1970 - J. Roberts & Son contracted to build rifles for Rigby

1984 - Paul Roberts buys Rigby

1995 - .450 Rigby rimless created

1998 - John Rigby & Co. goes to the USA

2010 - Rigby bought by Dallas-based investment group

2013 - Company bought by the L&O Group

British gunmaking
since 1775

British gunmaking
since 1775