Photo courtesy Frazier International History Museum.
These are words of a romantic, a semi-mystic who is also a visionary. TR was all of these things and more. His love of the outdoors life led him to become the founder of the National Parks System and a founding member of the Boone & Crockett Club as well as the New York Museum of Natural History, testimony to both his love of the hunt and his respect for the hunted. He is justly recognized as one of the fathers of the modern conservation movement. As a hunter, he well understood the basic principle that preservation of wildlife requires that economic value be afforded to it, game and non-game species alike; that a species’ very survival depends on its value to man. He undertook his safari with this vision in mind:
Wise people…have discovered that intelligent game preservation, carried out in good faith, and in a spirit of commonsense as far removed from mushy sentimentality as from brutality, results in adding to the state’s natural resources…. Game laws should be drawn primarily in the interest of the whole people, keeping in mind certain facts that ought to be self-evident…. Almost any wild animal…if its multiplication were unchecked...would by its simple increase crowd man off the planet; and that far short of this…a time comes when the existence of too much game is incompatible with the interests of the cultivator. There should be…sanctuaries… where game can live and breed absolutely unmolested; and elsewhere…allow a reasonable amount of hunting on fair terms to any hardy and vigorous man fond of the sport…. Game butchery is as objectionable as any other wanton form of cruelty or barbarity; but to protest against all hunting of game is a sign of softness of head, not of soundness of heart.
The first animal to fall to TR’s H&H double: the Kilimakiu rhino.
Planning such a safari necessarily started well in advance, as it was a complex logistical and scientific undertaking as well as a grand adventure. He was accompanied by scientists and specialists from the museums involved, as well his 19-year-old son Kermit, then a freshman at Harvard University. Many of the arrangements were made through two of the world’s most famous big game hunters, Edward North Buxton and Frederick Courteney Selous. Other famous hunters who joined him on arrival included R.J. Cuninghame and Leslie Tarleton, hard-bitten Englishmen who were Old Africa Hands. The expedition’s ponderous equipment included motion picture cameras and technicians, too, as this was the first safari to be filmed. The equipment and supplies for such a trip required no fewer than 150 porters and assorted gun-bearers, askaris, and of course their camp followers, all of whom had to be fed on the march. TR, in charge, had his work cut out for him and had no lack of hunting opportunities.
Among his preparations was the assembly of his famous African Battery: a pair of Winchester rifles in .405 caliber; Springfield rifles in the then-new Army caliber, .30-06; and the most powerful rifle in his collection, a “Royal” grade double rifle made by Holland & Holland of 98, New Bond Street, London, recognized then as now as “The Royal Arms Maker,” whose elite list of customers included not only Presidents, but King Edward VII, numerous Indian Rajahs, many members of the European Royalty and the American plutocracy, and those lesser notabilities who could afford their prices, people who demanded – and got – the best.
TR’s rifle is now on display at the Frazier International History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, the centerpiece of a fabulous assemblage of artifacts focused on American and British arms of the Colonial to modern period. In addition to the collection of guns from the frontier and western eras on this continent, one floor houses a stunning array of weapons from Britain, a collaborative effort with the Royal Armouries in Leeds. The Frazier is one of the premier arms museums in this country and for anyone with an interest in history and the role arms played in this nation’s development, a visit there is an absolute must.
“Best Gun” double rifles are rightfully considered the very apex of the gunmaker’s art. While double rifles were and are made elsewhere, English ones are universally considered superior to all others; and H&H is acknowledged to be the “Best of the Best” maker of this unique type of firearm. The firm’s origins go back to 1848 when Harris John Holland set up shop as a gunmaker in London. By 1876, he had been joined by his nephew, William Harris Holland, and the new firm, Holland & Holland, was located at 98, New Bond Street, London W1—as fashionable a shopping district as could be found in Victorian times. Holland & Holland are still very much in business today. While the names of their clientele may be different, neither the quality of their guns nor their stratospheric prices have changed. They are still the “Royal Gun Makers” in every sense. TR’s “Royal” grade double, serial number 19109, was a product of the best efforts of the best craftsmen in the world, a monument to H&H’s artisans, their skill, and the firm’s traditions, as much as to its one-time owner’s passion for the hunt.
Scratches on the barrel show that this is a working gun and was used as intended.
The flip-up rear sight leaves, made to TR’s directions. Express-caliber double rifles are meant for close-in work onbig animals; a 300-yard leaf (especially for a man who admits “At long range...I never was really good for anything”) is pure optimism on someone’s part! Note also the barrel inscriptions. The Field was an important sporting publication of the day.
The elongated tang of TR’s double rifle, intended to strengthen the stock against the battering of the .450/.500 round. Note the cast-off of the stock, which brought the barrel group in line with TR’s right eye. (TR was blind in his left eye, the result of a recreational boxing injury he incurred while President.)
Working through the office of the Honorable Whitelaw Reid, Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, and with Mr. Buxton acting as liaison to H&H, President Roosevelt placed the order for the rifle in the Spring or Summer of 1908. It was, of course, stocked to fit his personal measurements, which had been taken in America in August of that year and sent to the firm. A copy of the original order is present in the Frazier’s records. It specifies:
A best quality .450 bore double Royal H’less non-ejector Cordite Rifle, long top strap cheek piece pistol hand stock recoil heel plate, loops for sling, pull to be light, say right 3-1/2 pounds, to measurements rec’d 21/8/08.
As you’d expect, the workmanship is flawless. According to the documentation, this rifle weighs over 10 pounds, but as with any fine double, it feels much lighter and is perfectly balanced. I took the very considerable liberty of raising it to my shoulder and found it pointed as fluidly and as instinctively as a shotgun.
TR’s special-order front sight.
It’s a hammerless sidelock with small floral and scroll pattern engraving on the locks and the receiver, all of which were left in the white. The engraving is elegant but subdued, and actually as functional as it is decorative: it effectively breaks up the highly polished steel with what amounts to a matte finish from a distance. Despite the profuse coverage, there is very little in the way of embellishment otherwise. The cocking indicators are inconspicuous bands of gold inset into the ends of the hammer pivots, and the word SAFE is inlaid in gold on the top tang but there is no other ornamentation. Per TR’s specifications, the “long top strap” tang extends halfway down the length of the stock, a way to strengthen the wrist against the very substantial recoil of the cartridge it fires. The heavily-engraved grip cap has a spring-loaded lid, inside which
