Every single detail has been considered, besides the rifle which has 2 pairs of barrels (Rifled and Shot) and 2 pair of locks (A spare pair for the African Bush), John made a full compliment of cleaning and loading accessories, an elephant hide oak and leather case, a set of leather goods for taking the rifle on Safari and of course a pile of ammunition for shooting with it.
John is a machinist by trade and he moved from Ontario to the Yukon to set up his own business. Here his business worked primarily for Caterpillar servicing the large type of earthmoving equipment and other heavy machinery but also for the gold miners of Dawson City. It was after this move to Yukon that he met Neil Cross and a fascination with guns, rifles and everything shooting started having been shown Neil's collection of big bore rifles.
The 4g took John 10 years to make and when I said he made every bit, I did mean that. He drilled, bored and rifled the barrels from solids, he machined the action and all the internal parts, actioned the gun, filed it up, stocked it and regulated it. The late engraver Heidi Hipmeyer from Ontario was the only other person to have a hand in the production, she executed a simple design copied from an old Holland & Holland 10g Paradox from Neil's collection.
The 4g took John 10 years to make and when I said he made every bit, I did mean that. He drilled, bored and rifled the barrels from solids, he machined the action and all the internal parts, actioned the gun, filed it up, stocked it and regulated it. The late engraver Heidi Hipmeyer from Ontario was the only other person to have a hand in the production, she executed a simple design copied from an old Holland & Holland 10g Paradox from Neil's collection.
Not satisfied with making the rifle alone, John then embarked on making a very full and complete set of accessories, both loading and cleaning, for the gun, these were turned from brass and mastodon ivory and also engraved by Heidi. Each one of these tools has been made with the same care and attention given the gun itself and are faithful to the old Dixon tools many of you may have seen in vintage rifles and guns.
During the years it took to make the rifle John was a frequent visitor to our old factory, he would show the slow but steady progress with pride and tell me that the ambition was to complete the rifle and take it to Africa. He did just that and whilst he was not able to shoot an Elephant which had been his ultimate desire, he was able to take a large Cape Buffalo with which to Christen the rifle and 'proof' his work.
I think any of you with even a little understanding of gunmaking will admire this outstanding example of craftsmanship made by a person who only studied the vintage guns closely and who never had any training in gun making itself.
I am happy to pass any questions regarding this rifle to John or please post them in comments below.
Helen on April 11, 2014 at 3:31 pm
beautiful. Forget paintings, to me this is art!
neil mcveigh on April 15, 2014 at 10:18 am
YOU HAVE TO ADMIRE HIS PERSEVERANCE.
CERTAINLY A LABOUR OF LOVE.OF COURSE THIS TYPE OF THING ONLY MAKES IT WORSE FOR THE REST OF US.
IT OFFERS NO CURE WHATSOEVER FOR THIS AFFLICTION OF GUN MAKING AND GUNS!
kymm wilson on December 28, 2014 at 8:34 am
Johns work is the most beautiful I have ever seen . I have hand built guns and pride myself in quality and beauty in the end result an my work pales to extreme to johns efforts . I have seen other pictures I had received from john years back of the exquisite work inside and out on this gun and an 8bore he worked on. I am going to give it my best shot in converting a 8 bore shotgun to double rifle and am going to try and emulate johns art work (fat chance)
emanuele scaglia on January 12, 2015 at 9:39 am
Good afternoon Mister,
I am an old cases collector but don't find 4 bore cases and balls in Italy; can you send me n° 01 piece of 4 bore case with ball ?
can you export in Italy ?
thank you
best regards
Emanuele Scaglia
emanuele scaglia on January 12, 2015 at 9:41 am
dear mister, can you send me n° 01 piece of 4 bore case ? can you export in Italy ?
How much ?
best regards
Emanuele Scaglia
Simon Clode on January 12, 2015 at 11:38 am
I am afraid I don't have any to send you!
kymm on January 29, 2016 at 12:57 pm
ian of forgotten weapons a reaaly cool gun sight on obsolete guns is need of a few four bore rounds if anybody can help him out
thank you
sincerely
Kymm Wilson
Stephen Colclough on June 29, 2016 at 3:58 pm
I am absoloutley gobsmacked!! I too have been given a gift in furniture making and art, but this gentleman is something else, wow! I bow to your perfection and excellence in your mammoth of a task and completion of the most beautiful gun i have seen
Daniel Clark on September 18, 2021 at 4:19 pm
Wonderful write up!
Thank you for taking the time to research learn and share all of this information and the many excellent pictures.
I'm a Craftsman custom "object" maker myself, so I can appreciate the creativity precision ingenuity that it takes to make something that has never been made before.
Well I've never made guns for many years I did specialize in making one of custom items that simply did not exist anywhere else in the world.
When I see the perfection in the work on this thing I am quite simply mind blown.
Being somewhat of a perfectionist for such things myself, I understand the compulsion and drive that pushes one to do it "just right".
Chances are all we see is perfection, but there's probably something about this project that the maker sees as a flaw that none of the rest of us could ever see if he pointed it out. LOL
Some might think "why would it take 10 years to make something like that?"
I can TOTALLY understand why it would take that long!
EACH AND EVERY SINGLE PIECE... EVERY bit EVERY screw, everything on this, was in and of itself a precision, custom, "one of" project.
Or some specialty Craftsman might take 6-12 months to make just a custom decorative trigger and Hammer mechanism for a gun where everything else is already built just needs assembly .... To find out this guy built everything from raw materials!?
He didn't just build it to be functional, he built it and with some of the best materials available to man. I'm sure he took care to pick the best pieces, the best wood grain, the best angles, for every piece in the gun.
Materials sourcing and selection ALONE could have been a multi-year endeavor.
Had this been done by someone like "John M. Browning" I would have been impressed, but to find out it was made by someone who not only isn't even a professional gunmaker, he'd never even made a gun "on the side" or "as a hobby" ....well that just takes it to another level.
I can guarantee you one thing I'm sure of ...this may have been his first gun, but it was NOT his first custom built project!
This man's craftsmanship and ability to produce such a functioning work of art that's safely usable with such ridiculously extreme pressures & tolerances is top notch and could only have come with years of meticulous persevering experience.
And I think you captured that pretty well for a simple short article and a few pictures.
Leroy Floyd on January 12, 2022 at 7:55 am
Excellent firearm. A fine example of craftsmanship and love.