- Oct 30, 2004
- 24,048
- 2,528
The.350 Magnum Mauser at Karen Blixen museum.
In my years as a gun collector and hunter, the guns of the Victorian and Edwardanien period hunters has
always fascinated me. Watching the 1950 movie `King Solomon’s` mines with Steward Grange and Deborah
Kerr, the classic safari rifles has caught attention to many of adventure and gun buffs. The movie portraits
a period in the late Victorian times of the unexplored Africa, where a party of adventures sets out to find
the treasures of the Old Testament King Solomon. Along in the dangerous stretches of the dark land, the
party are attacked by savage tribes and animals. The rifles used in these scenes are old time doublebarreled hammer rifles of unknown make and repeating bolt-action Mauser rifles from the London
gunmaker John Rigby & Co. As a gun collector I too have a few of the original RigbyMauser of different
calibers
It caught my attention some time ago, that less than 20min. of drive from where I live was another
RigbyMauser that had its own history. I had seen on the internet, a German tourist had pictured two guns
hanging on wall at Rungsted Lund, Karen Blixen museum Denmark; one of them was a RigbyMauser at
Rungsted Lund. Being a frequent visitor there, my wife I have always in enjoyed the park and the residence
where Karen spend the last time of her life. How could I have missed the old Rigby?. The answer is that not
all rooms are open on regular basis. Some of these rooms are only viewable upon special appointments.
The house of Karen Blixen is a museum, and is treated such. Being a gun collector and writing for a sporting
magazine here in Denmark, I had to see this rifle in hand. A few correspondences with the museum here
in early spring led to an arrangement, with Poul Thorsen a photographer and a curator from the museum to
come up and make pictures for an upcoming article.
The rifle
The rifle is an original Rigby made on a Magnum Mauser action. The caliber is a .350cal made to shoot a
225grain bullet of 2650 Ft/sec. It was considered a medium bore caliber of it day compared to much larger
calibers used for shooting the biggest game. It is a good caliber for antelopes and plains game. The actions
made by Mauser gun factory in Oberndorf in Germany was specifically made for Rigby & Co in London.
These magnum actions take longer cartridges than the standard M98 military action which is common. The
first magnum action that saw daylight was made for the 400/350 rimmed nitro express cartridge in 1899.
Later they were made for the rimless .350cal Magnum and .416cal. All Rigby calibers.
The action has a square bridge in the receiver end of the boltstop, which was made for gunsmiths to mill
out a scope mount bases. Back in the old days, as well as today, it is the finest way to secure a scope base
for rigidness, but it is also one of the more expensive options. This rifle of the Blixen museum however has
claw mounts (Suhler einhack montage), which is not original a Rigby scope mounts system. 100 years ago
these Rigby Mausers was one of the most expensive repeating rifles a sportsman could get. They
commanded premium price of its day, and highly sought after by present day gun collectors, they still
maintain a high price. In Oberndorf, Germany approximate a 1000 was done as a magnum length action,
which makes them very rare. The barrel profile is very traditional for all pre-WW1 sporting rifles. From the
breech it tapers very quickly to accommodate express sight situated on an integral barrel footing. Again
these types of barrels can still be made today, but cost tremendously as they did back then. The barrel of
24 inches is made light for handiness and longtime carry and active hunting, which was traditional way of
hunting by the colonial period sportsmen.
Marked on the trigger guard is the Gun maker’s serie number 4299 located. A call to Paul Roberts in
London, former John Rigby & Co. proprietor could inform from the old records that this rifle was sold
directly from London shop in 1914 to a C.Simpson. From here the rest will become assumptions. We must
assume that if the gun has been used by Bror or Karen, they could have bought the gun in Kenya, during
their stay. Messrs. Newland and Tarlton, established in 1904, was the john Rigby retailers in Nairobi on
Sixth Avenue. Perhaps Bror found it here, because C. Simpsons had sold it there?. We know from Ulf
Aschan book `The man who woman loved`(1986) on page 82 a .350Rigby is pictured along with other guns
of Brors hunting battery. Tore Dinesen has been kindly to inform, that his father Thomas received this rifle
upon Karen’s return from Africa In 1931. Thomas used the rifle for deer hunting on regular basis, and Tore
until quite recently also used it for hunting here in Denmark as well.
A Mauser collector can easily observe the German proof mark “BU” and serienumbers are missing on the
left side of the receiver which normally are marked on the commercial Mauser hunting rifles. Only a `Crown
over V` is visible on the this rifle. However often Mauser in Oberndorf made receivers for the export
marked like England were perhaps their clients requested German proof marks no to be visible. Mauser
met their customer’s wishes and stamped their proof markings hidden inside the receivers. The `Crown`
surmounting the ` V` marking is the London proof mark.
On the day when I was there to inspect the rifle, I was curious to see if the original spare sights supplied by
John Rigby & Company were still inside the pistol gribcap. I opened to see, and piece of thick paper of high
cottenfiber was stuffed into the gribtrap. I was allowed to take it out and unfolding it, two spare front
sights came out of the cottenpaper. I was in awe!. These two sights had been hidden in over 100 years. The
museum was unaware of this but found them self very intrigued over this incident.
This rifle will never again set its sights for the African safari we all romanticize from books and movies.
Today, in complying with the Danish gun laws, the bolt is welded up into the receiver, the muzzle too is
welded and the chamber is cut. Left as it is, the battle scares and bruises testifies that this rifle was there
when it all happened. If it could tell its own story, I am sure we could all be brought back in time facing a
sundown on the African savannah, perhaps once again with the Ngong hills in the horizon.
Jens Poulsen. Farum Denmark
In my years as a gun collector and hunter, the guns of the Victorian and Edwardanien period hunters has
always fascinated me. Watching the 1950 movie `King Solomon’s` mines with Steward Grange and Deborah
Kerr, the classic safari rifles has caught attention to many of adventure and gun buffs. The movie portraits
a period in the late Victorian times of the unexplored Africa, where a party of adventures sets out to find
the treasures of the Old Testament King Solomon. Along in the dangerous stretches of the dark land, the
party are attacked by savage tribes and animals. The rifles used in these scenes are old time doublebarreled hammer rifles of unknown make and repeating bolt-action Mauser rifles from the London
gunmaker John Rigby & Co. As a gun collector I too have a few of the original RigbyMauser of different
calibers
It caught my attention some time ago, that less than 20min. of drive from where I live was another
RigbyMauser that had its own history. I had seen on the internet, a German tourist had pictured two guns
hanging on wall at Rungsted Lund, Karen Blixen museum Denmark; one of them was a RigbyMauser at
Rungsted Lund. Being a frequent visitor there, my wife I have always in enjoyed the park and the residence
where Karen spend the last time of her life. How could I have missed the old Rigby?. The answer is that not
all rooms are open on regular basis. Some of these rooms are only viewable upon special appointments.
The house of Karen Blixen is a museum, and is treated such. Being a gun collector and writing for a sporting
magazine here in Denmark, I had to see this rifle in hand. A few correspondences with the museum here
in early spring led to an arrangement, with Poul Thorsen a photographer and a curator from the museum to
come up and make pictures for an upcoming article.
The rifle
The rifle is an original Rigby made on a Magnum Mauser action. The caliber is a .350cal made to shoot a
225grain bullet of 2650 Ft/sec. It was considered a medium bore caliber of it day compared to much larger
calibers used for shooting the biggest game. It is a good caliber for antelopes and plains game. The actions
made by Mauser gun factory in Oberndorf in Germany was specifically made for Rigby & Co in London.
These magnum actions take longer cartridges than the standard M98 military action which is common. The
first magnum action that saw daylight was made for the 400/350 rimmed nitro express cartridge in 1899.
Later they were made for the rimless .350cal Magnum and .416cal. All Rigby calibers.
The action has a square bridge in the receiver end of the boltstop, which was made for gunsmiths to mill
out a scope mount bases. Back in the old days, as well as today, it is the finest way to secure a scope base
for rigidness, but it is also one of the more expensive options. This rifle of the Blixen museum however has
claw mounts (Suhler einhack montage), which is not original a Rigby scope mounts system. 100 years ago
these Rigby Mausers was one of the most expensive repeating rifles a sportsman could get. They
commanded premium price of its day, and highly sought after by present day gun collectors, they still
maintain a high price. In Oberndorf, Germany approximate a 1000 was done as a magnum length action,
which makes them very rare. The barrel profile is very traditional for all pre-WW1 sporting rifles. From the
breech it tapers very quickly to accommodate express sight situated on an integral barrel footing. Again
these types of barrels can still be made today, but cost tremendously as they did back then. The barrel of
24 inches is made light for handiness and longtime carry and active hunting, which was traditional way of
hunting by the colonial period sportsmen.
Marked on the trigger guard is the Gun maker’s serie number 4299 located. A call to Paul Roberts in
London, former John Rigby & Co. proprietor could inform from the old records that this rifle was sold
directly from London shop in 1914 to a C.Simpson. From here the rest will become assumptions. We must
assume that if the gun has been used by Bror or Karen, they could have bought the gun in Kenya, during
their stay. Messrs. Newland and Tarlton, established in 1904, was the john Rigby retailers in Nairobi on
Sixth Avenue. Perhaps Bror found it here, because C. Simpsons had sold it there?. We know from Ulf
Aschan book `The man who woman loved`(1986) on page 82 a .350Rigby is pictured along with other guns
of Brors hunting battery. Tore Dinesen has been kindly to inform, that his father Thomas received this rifle
upon Karen’s return from Africa In 1931. Thomas used the rifle for deer hunting on regular basis, and Tore
until quite recently also used it for hunting here in Denmark as well.
A Mauser collector can easily observe the German proof mark “BU” and serienumbers are missing on the
left side of the receiver which normally are marked on the commercial Mauser hunting rifles. Only a `Crown
over V` is visible on the this rifle. However often Mauser in Oberndorf made receivers for the export
marked like England were perhaps their clients requested German proof marks no to be visible. Mauser
met their customer’s wishes and stamped their proof markings hidden inside the receivers. The `Crown`
surmounting the ` V` marking is the London proof mark.
On the day when I was there to inspect the rifle, I was curious to see if the original spare sights supplied by
John Rigby & Company were still inside the pistol gribcap. I opened to see, and piece of thick paper of high
cottenfiber was stuffed into the gribtrap. I was allowed to take it out and unfolding it, two spare front
sights came out of the cottenpaper. I was in awe!. These two sights had been hidden in over 100 years. The
museum was unaware of this but found them self very intrigued over this incident.
This rifle will never again set its sights for the African safari we all romanticize from books and movies.
Today, in complying with the Danish gun laws, the bolt is welded up into the receiver, the muzzle too is
welded and the chamber is cut. Left as it is, the battle scares and bruises testifies that this rifle was there
when it all happened. If it could tell its own story, I am sure we could all be brought back in time facing a
sundown on the African savannah, perhaps once again with the Ngong hills in the horizon.
Jens Poulsen. Farum Denmark
