In the years leading up to World War Two, British gunmakers set the bar high when it came to double rifles. So high, that few modern gunmakers (including some of the surviving British innovators) have been able to equal the same levels. However, as time goes by old doubles become even older but, occasionally, a rifle such as Heym’s 89B comes along.
The 89B is, according to Heym’s own company literature, the finest British double rifle made in Germany, and one look at the rifle shows that there’s a large grain of truth in this statement. Heym’s earlier design, the 88B, earned a solid reputation for reliability and accuracy, styled rather uniquely with prominent extended shoulders. The 89B, on the other hand, looks distinctively British from across the room and this is no accident.
From a technical point of view, the 89B is a slightly unconventional design that makes use of coil springs instead of the leaf springs of British double rifle actions. Most of the action’s working parts are situated behind what appears to be the action, and the only metal that is removed from the bar of
