relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . august 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message john rigby & company industry firearms founded 1775 dublin ireland founder john rigby headquarters united kingdom area served worldwide products rifles shotguns services engraving website http www.johnrigbyandco.com john rigby & company or john rigby & co. gunmakers ltd is the oldest gunmaking firm in continuous operation in the english speaking world . rigby has a distinguished history of technological advancement for both sporting and military application . rigby rifles guns and pistols have played prominent roles throughout the british empire and particularly in asia and africa . the company was established by the first john rigby in dublin ireland apparently in 1775 ; his grandson also john opened a london branch in 1865 ; and dublin operations had ceased by february 1897 . the company is now based in vauxhall central london under the supervision of managing director marc newton . in a relationship that extends back at least to 1895 john rigby & co. is again affiliated with mauser gmbh and is building big game and stalking rifles on mauser barrelled actions . in 2013 the firm resumed production of double rifles based on its rigby bissell 1879 patent rising bite action the first of which was completed in late 2015 . rigby also offers a serial number research service ; refurbishes vintage rigbys for owners and collectors around the world ; and maintains a rigby collection in its showroom . one of the collection s highlights is the rigby rifle used by jim corbett 1875 1955 the famous hunter of man eating tigers and leopards in india . contents 1 company history 2 rigby patents 3 cartridges developed by john rigby & co. 4 notable clients and users a partial list 5 royal warrants 6 references 7 notes company history edit rigby label from the early 1900s some documents suggest the firm was established in 1735 . however since the first john rigby was born in 1758 in dublin and entered the gunmaking trade there in 1775 rigby today claims that as its founding date . if john rigby took over another gunmaking house he would have inherited its founding date in which case 1735 could be valid . the surviving business ledgers date from 1781 and show that by then john rigby was making under his own name shotguns rifles muskets spring guns carbines blunderbusses and pistols to clients specifications and a wide range of prices . rigby was nearly bankrupted during the irish rebellion of 1798 when the government seized the arms on his premises those belonging to the firm and to its clients presumably to keep them out of the reach of rebels . however by 1810 if not sooner john rigby had rebuilt his business and in addition to sporting guns was making updating and repairing thousands of guns for ireland s police military postal and customs services . after the founding john rigby s death in 1818 his sons william and john jason rigby operated the business as w. & j. rigby from circa 1820 to 1865 a period that spanned flintlock percussion pinfire and needlefire ignition and marked the start of the modern metallic cartridge era . rigby was a leader in barrel making and rifling technology and at the time it was also recognised for its high grade duelling pistols . irish gentlemen especially had a fondness for calling each other out over perceived slights to their honour . the third john rigby born in 1829 in dublin and educated in science at trinity college took over in 1858 when william his father died . it was this john rigby who brought the firm to international prominence . in 1865 capitalising on the awards his family s guns had earned at the great exhibition in london in 1851 and at the paris exhibition of 1855 in 1865 john rigby opened a store at 72 st james s street in london s west end . sometime in the 1890s rigby sold his dublin operations to trulock & harriss keeping however his customers in ireland and became a bona fide member of the small circle of elite gunmakers who catered for london society . like his grandfather the third john rigby was a top target shot . he won several wimbledon cups the premier long range rifle championship in the united kingdom and for 28 years he helped form the irish national shooting team . rigby also won the abercorn cup and the first gordon bennett cup and was irish champion three times . between circa 1860 and 1875 the rigby .451 calibre muzzleloader was the match rifle of choice throughout the united kingdom . in october 1874 one such rifle was presented to lt. col. george a. custer the irish team had dined with him and president and mrs. ulysses s. grant in chicago . the irish were on an american tour following the first international rile match at the creedmoor range in new york . there john rigby had posted the highest individual scores among all competitors . during the period from the crimean war to the first world war every facet of firearms and ammunition underwent radical change and thousands of related patents were filed in britain the united states and europe . the areas of greatest interest were military rifles a matter of grave national importance and because of their prestige top shelf sporting guns . john rigby & co. was deeply involved in creating guns and cartridges for both markets . because of his expertise in 1887 the british government appointed john rigby superintendent of the royal small arms factory at enfield lock . there rigby and his large staff resolved design and production problems for a new rifle and its cartridge the .303 calibre lee enfield which in various forms went on to serve as the principal battle rifle for the united kingdom until 1957 . by government policy at the age of 65 in 1894 john rigby retired from government service . he returned to the family firm with the latest knowledge on repeating rifles smokeless powder metallurgy rifling and bullet design as well as international contacts at the highest levels of gunmaking . one of these was peter paul mauser and in 1898 rigby was appointed the exclusive importer and distributor for mauser rifles and components for the british empire . for sale under his family name john rigby also developed sporting versions of the g98 mauser rifle and its ammunition notably the 7x57mm infantry round . with hunting bullets this became a highly successful stalking cartridge known as the .275 rigby . in 1912 john rigby & co. lost the exclusive british sales contract to a member of the mauser family but rigby continued to base its magazine rifles on mauser and mauser style actions and still does so today . among professional and sporting hunters in india and africa rigby became known as the aristocrat of bolt action rifles . in addition to its .275 rigby developed an equally successful medium heavy game round known as the .350 rigby and its rimmed counterpart for double rifles the .350 no. 2 . at john rigby s request in 1900 mauser began to develop a stretched version of its g98 action for larger cartridges . this became known as the magnum mauser and has served as the foundation for countless bolt action big game rifles ever since . the larger action was originally meant for rigby s interim .400 .350 round but in 1911 the company introduced the .416 rigby cartridge for rifles built on the magnum mauser action . this was the first magazine rifle that could perform on a par with the powerful nitro express double rifles for one third to one fifth of their prices . john rigby was well versed in nitro express cartridges as well . in 1898 with the help of the curtis s & harvey gunpowder company he had introduced the first of them the rigby .450 ne . in 1899 however the colonial government of india began to restrict .450 calibre rifles and ammunition which forced british gunmakers to develop a flood of variations to avoid the india ban . the most popular of these proved to be the .470 nitro express and john rigby & co. adopted this as its standard heavy double rifle load . in addition to the pioneering nitro express cartridge rigby was also noted for the unique vertical bolt or rising bite action used only on its best grade double rifles and shotguns . based on the rigby bissell patent of 1879 this is a complex and massively strong locking system with a post that rises vertically out of the break off into a u shaped loop extending rearward from the top rib of the barrels as a third fastener . between 1879 and 1933 rigby built approximately one thousand rising bite guns and rifles in many different bores . today these are coveted by shooters and collectors . within a few weeks after the first new rising bite action passed london proof in november 2014 rigby received orders for more than a dozen such rifles . following the unveiling of the first completed modern rising bite in january 2016 rigby received over 20 further orders for rising bite shotguns and rifles . john rigby died in 1916 leaving a prosperous business in the hands of his son theodore . after theodore rigby s death in 1951 the company was acquired by vernon harris who had been its bookkeeper . upon harris s death his widow sold the business in 1968 to a team of investors led by david marx . marx contracted with j. roberts & son a london gun company established in 1959 to build rigby guns . paul roberts joseph roberts son took over rigby in 1982 and operated it until 1997 . d.h.l. black s book great irish gunmakers messrs rigby 1760 1869 was published in 1992 . paul roberts became well known in hunting circles in both india and africa and in 1995 he created rigby s newest cartridge the .450 rigby magnum rimless . in 1997 roberts sold the rigby name and other intellectual property to neil gibson of texas but kept the right to continue building certain rigby guns and rifles in england while gibson licensed a rigby gunmaking factory in california . in 2010 two american investors jeff meyer and john reed acquired the assets of john rigby & co. . they returned the manufacturing to london j. roberts & son and published the book rigby a grand tradition . the new owner also settled various trademark disputes and secured the historic rigby archives . in early 2013 they sold rigby to the l & o group a swiss based holding company that also owns a number of german gunmakers including mauser . l & o repatriated rigby entirely to london where it now has a full staff in an office showroom and factory at 13 19 pensbury place sw8 in london s vauxhall district . rigby patents edit no. 1976 of 1854 a lever cartridge rammer for a revolver ; a type of rifling ; a safety hook for an outside hammer lock ; a means of joining barrels with straps and wedges ; etc. no. 3140 of 1860 a trapdoor type gate to allow barrels to be loaded at their breeches with j. needham . no. 899 of 1860 sideways pivoting barrels ; a drop down revolver barrel ; a needlefire cartridge ; a cartridge lined with sheet brass ; etc. with william norman . no. 1966 of 1862 provisional a drop down barrel that also moves horizontally ; a breechblock cartridge extractor ; a rifle foresight that adjusts for windage as well as range . no. 332 of 1867 provisional a