Accuracy Is Everything!

Thanks to gunsmith Frik du Plooy, Musgrave rifles are once more available – and living up to their legendary reputation for accuracy.

- Gerhard Uys

For decades, Musgrave rifles were a byword for accuracy amongst South African hunters and marksmen. This era came to an end in 1987, with the death of the rifles’ creator, Bloemfontein-based master gunsmith Ben Musgrave. His company was then bought by arms manufacturer Denel, which produced the same rifles under the name Vektor for a few years before closing down the assembly line. It seemed that the legendary rifles had disappeared for good.

In 2010, determined to resurrect the famous Musgrave name, Ermelo-based hunter and outdoor enthusiast Frik du Plooy bought the name, rights, patents and manufacturing licences of Musgrave.

Many shooters were sceptical. Could Frik match the quality of the original Musgrave? The answer came in 2011, when the first ‘new’ Musgrave rifle proved a hit at Huntex. Today, hunters and competition shooters drive from all over to get their hands on one of these proudly South African rifles.

Frik is partnered in the business by rifle designer Gary Barnes, who once manufactured his own barrels under Barnes Barrels.

The pair are obsessive about the accuracy of their rifles. Although basing their design on the original Musgrave, they have altered several aspects to improve accuracy:

New stock

The shape of the stock has been altered to change how the rifle travels backwards from recoil once a shot is fired. The new design, patented by Frik, slopes upwards towards the shooter’s face, rather than downwards as in previous designs. This means that once a shot is fired, the rifle moves backward, not up. Accuracy is improved as the barrel remains on target.