The new Westley Richards Buffalo Double Rifle comes chambered in .470 NE – an ideal round for close-range big game hunting in wooded areas.
These big double rifles are often used for ranges under fifty yards, scarcely will you be engaging a target over one hundred yards away. The .470 NE bullet, when zeroed at fifty yards, will drop one inch at one hundred yards. This minimal drop will allow you to almost point and shoot the rifle like a shotgun when taking body shots at buffalo. Not having to spend valuable time estimating range and bullet drop at such distances can make the difference as to whether you make it out of a dangerous situation alive or not.
Wesley Richards have been making rifles similar to this for well over one hundred years. This rifle was finished in June 2022 and is a ‘Modele de Luxe’ – a term introduced by Wesley Richards in their Centennial catalogue of 1912, described as “Highest Quality and Finish. Elaborately and artistically carved and engraved with Game scene subjects”. The new Buffalo Rifle definitely lives up to this with beautifully executed large scroll engraving, gold inlays, and a gentle angled pistol-grip walnut stock and seamlessly blended forend that are unusually densely figured.
The Buffalo Rifle has been fitted with open sights and a Silver’s butt pad to ensure that it is easy to mount and get on target if the need for snap shooting arises. After-all, a charging Cape Buffalo can close down a fifty yard gap and reach you in three seconds, so you don’t want anything slowing down your mount or target acquisition.
