Rigby’s Sumptuous Smallbore

When John Rigby & Co. reintroduced the Rising Bite shotgun after a break in production of more than 100 years, it was a statement of the gunmaker’s commitment to the unique elements of a singular design.

Now the famed maker of best guns and rifles has created its first .410 since returning to London, and the gun is a glittering vitrine of everything Rigby. The dipped-edge lockplates, the name in gothic script and the carved leaf fences are all there, but so, too, is a new interpretation of the type of deep floral scroll engraving Rigby once reserved for its Indian clients. Gold inlays are restrained and restricted to a miniature woodcock on the trigger guard and a tiny bobwhite on the toplever. The work is by independent artisan Sam Faraway, who spent years with Holland & Holland. When asked about the origins of his engraving style, Faraway said, “I had taken inspiration from classic gun engravings by Harry Kell and Ken Hunt while trying to answer Rigby’s design brief of an asymmetrical bold acanthus leaf pattern that wraps around the form of the gun. I guess it’s a modern interpretation of a classic style of engraving.”

With this new .410, several mechanical features will be recognizable to anyone familiar with vintage Rigby double rifles. Charles Harvey’s “grip-catch” of 1866 holds the forend to the barrels, while the Rigby & Bissell U-bolt from 1879 secures the barrels to the face of the action. According to Production Manager Jamie Holland: “. . . fitting the Rising Bite and the barrel extension is definitely no simple task at such a smaller scale. Every part of this gun has been scaled down from a full-size 12-bore, including the Rigby patented forend lever, which has been scaled to fit with the 410.”

The miniature nature of a scaled-down action has created a tiny gun with a niche following. But can a gunmaker with a huge reputation for building whopping double rifles create a tiny best .410? If that maker is John Rigby & Co., then the answer is an unequivocal yes.

For more information, visit johnrigbyandco.com.