This is one of the coolest guns I've ever seen

F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
Pedersoli's "Cabela's" Kodiak Express Double Rifle... can be had in .50, .54, .58, or .72 caliber! External hammers; percussion cap gun:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...parentType=index&indexId=cat601141&hasJS=true


Would this be legal for elk in Colo. if you only loaded one of the two barrels, anyone know?

I find this gun very appealing - it's just different.

BUT, it's got a bad review there - one guy says the barrels are not regulated to same point of aim (supposed to be for 75 yds), and that accuracy blows:

Benchrest shooting at an 8" black bull at 100 yards with a green fiber optic front sight and a Lyman rear peep the best I could do was a 2" group with the right barrel 7" to the left of zero and the left barrel shot a 4" group 6" to the right and 12" high from zero.
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Sounds like correct regulation of barrels don't come cheap. Would make a nice wallhanger however.
 
Barrel regulation.

Not sure about the magazine, but I remember a CAS article some years back involving double rifles. One tested was an EAA Bounty Hunter 12 ga. with .45-70 barrel inserts, the other was the Kodiak in I believe .58 caliber.

Seems the article mentioned the rifle having a seperate rear sight on each barrel, which allowed each one to be used with reasonable accuracy.

As to the legal question, I don't know about the caliber. I am sure, however, that you would be required to load only one barrel.

Hope that helps.

AH! It was a "Guns of the Old West" article.
 
Single sight? Why, that takes work and time and these aren't English guns.

Not to knock them, but I have one in .58 and there are separate sights for each barrel. Don't ask me how it shoots. I haven't gone to the range with it yet. :o
 
sxs accuracy

I read an article years ago that slammed sxs's for accuracy. It said that any shotgun under the 5 or 6 thousand dollar price would not be accurate. After I read it I shot two 311's and one Baikal from the bench at wrapping paper 40 yards out. All three guns were very cross-eyed (left shot right and vice versa). I can only imagine that the same would be true, and perhaps exagerated, on a rifle - even a muzzleloader.
 
I realize that almosty everyone would expect a double rifle costing $XXX to shoot to the same point of aim with the same consistency as a single barrel autoloading rifle. However, I believe that in reality, double rifles were historically designed and built with a more specific purpose in mind, i.e.- to be used on dangerous game animals. Even today, it's just about "mandatory" that a double rifle with a minimum caliber of .375 H&H magnum be carried by professional African hunters on modern safaris. When a client hits and wounds a dangerous game animal and it disappears into the bush, it's the professional hunter who is responsible for seeing that the game is harvested without incident...mauling or killing the hunter/client. The same goes for a dangerous charging animal, when the client misses the shot or fails to put it down in time, it's the PH'ers "double rifle" that must be employed at the last minute, usually at close range to save their necks.
These were intended to provide as much reliable, instantaneous close quarter knockdown power as possible on deadly game like lions, tigers, elephants and other large vicious charging beasts, to achieve penetration of their skull, central nervous system or heart, but very often, only if the client couldn't complete what they had paid so much money to attempt to accomplish first.
 
I agree about double rifles not really being meant as a long range rifle because in all the African safari hunts I have seen, they always take shots up close using the rifle. Usually always an elephant charging at them. Must take a whole lot of guts to be in the path of a huge bull elephant charging at you and you only got 2 shots to anchor the animal before it reaches you.

Funny that I found this thread because I can't even tell you how many times I have flipped through my Cabelas catalogs and I always stop at the blackpowder firearms section and that double rifle always catches my eye. Must be a real hoot to touch of a a charge with a .72 caliber lead ball over it. :eek: Little on the pricey side for me, but certainly not as bad as some centerfire double rifles I have seen.
 
Yep it's an eye-catcher.

Must be a real hoot to touch of a a charge with a .72 caliber lead ball over it.
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'Specially both at the same time! :) Hey Maser it's $200 or so off, on sale right now.... Wish they'd have put a Baikal-style self-adjustment screw to allow the owner to regulate the barrel him/herself.

If that rifle had traditional leather and/or metal adornments on the buttstock, I believe I'd want to get it for a wallhanger at that price.

If the group size of each barrel independently is good enough for hunting, and it sounds like it is, then one could do some work and spend money for independent sights for each barrel - that would work if you're willing to 'smith it a little bit.

But as for poor regulation, ol boy was 13" (7 + 6), total, solely in windage error, PLUS an additional 12" elevation error as regulation error (granted, some can be because he was shooting at 100, not 75, but still). If you believe his claim that he tried many different combos of bullets, powders, etc., then it's unacceptable. Of course, it could be the case that that one is a lemon, and the next one off the line is a sweet shooter - who knows..
 
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