I can't say that the subject gun was or was not made by the fellow in Maine, but what I remember of him and his video, was that he knew what he was doing and had some prior experience.
I have had more than a smattering of experience with double rifles (see my post about Gary Herman) and have had a lot of them. From 5.6 Vierling (metric designation of .22 Hornet) to .577BPE, Gary fed my obsession with what my wife thought was an endless stream of 'another gun?'
The guy in Maine regulated his .45-70 Government with over the counter ammo. My Purdey DR was originally a .400 Light Express (BP) rebored and re-regulated by John Foster. It shot to nearly the same point of impact, with Remington ammo at 50 yards, but when I tried reloading, either crossed, or never came together. All of the German, and Continental DRs shot RWS or DWM ammo the same, with the same difficulties when I reloaded (Usually IMR3031)
Black Powder loads, in guns built for them, were no different; 70grs of 2F, great, 85grs, and they crossed at 50 yards, 65 grs and they shot into almost the same holes at 100 yards. The only gun I remember having no luck with was a Royal H&H 450-400 Nitro, and Kynoch was real expensive.
The guy's video wasn't pretty guns at a range in tweeds, but soft iron wire wrapped around the muzzle with brass wedges, and lots of adjusting before final soldering and rib laying.
It's reasonable to assume any of these guns shooting together at 'some distance, but at a range that's useful?, That's where science, and a lot of work, comes in.
Reflecting back on the more than 3 dozen DRs I've owned a Westley Richards .280FNE, and a Daniel Fraser .500BPE were my all time favorites. I had a few O/U DRs also. A Merkel made for Otto Geiger in 8x60s was so painful to shoot, and a Simson 9.3x74 was a joy. The only ones that haunt me for not buying was an as-new Lancaster .450 Oval bore hammer gun. It was $395, and sat in the rack at Safari for years. The other was the tiniest Westley .300 Sherwood, with no so good bores. Last I heard of that one, someone bored it out to a .410. The horrors.
Gary bought back my H&H back action 360 Rook, that was rechambered to .357 Magnum. Kirby Hoyt couldn't live without that one. I think Kirby also bought my 10.75x76 German double that Ed Spicer had John Warren turn into a masterpiece.
If my dad hadn't gotten me back into Parker, I'd probably still be shooting double rifles.
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Yesterday, 11:12 AM
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