Peter Hofer pushes the boundaries of double rifle design to its extremes. Nothing demonstrates that better than a double rifle chambered in .17 HMR displayed near the one chambered in 4-bore. We had a chance to see these rifles during the Arms & Hunting 2017 exhibition.

The company kindly allowed us to take images of these two rifles in comparison. The smaller rifle is made in one of the following calibers: .17 HMR, .22 Hornet and .17 Hornet. It weighs 0.9 kgs (2 lbs).

L-R: .17 HMR, .17 Hornet, .22 Hornet and two 4 bore cartridges

The 4 bore double rifle is called Dinosaur. It is a huge firearm weighing 12.5 kg (27 lb 9oz). It has dinosaur themed engravings all over the metal parts done by Bulino engraving technique with inlaid gold and enamel. The 2,000 grain bullets have a muzzle energy of 32,000 J. If you want to figure out how large the 4 bore is, let’s see what diameter it has. The 4 bore diameter is 1.053″ or 26.7mm!

Another interesting Peter Hofer firearm looks like a side by side shotgun at first glance. When you look closer you can notice a small hole inside the top barrel rib. It turns out that there is a .17 HMR barrel integrated into the barrel rib.

The smoothbore barrels can also be chambered in 20 and 28 gauges as well as 410 bore.

That’s what I think were the most amazing rifles in Peter Hofer booth.