Dumoulin (Henri Dumoulin & Fils, Belgium) Imperial Magnum Souvereign true left hand .416 Rigby Magnum. An outstanding and properly featured dangerous game rifle, serial 15211 wears a 24-inch barrel (gracefully tapering to .780-inch at the muzzle) fitted with a banded front sight (removable hood with three light ports, matted ramp, fixed blade with silver bead and a flip-up night bead), banded sling attachment point and a matted quarter rib rear sight with three leafs (one fixed and marked 100, two folders marked 150 and 200, both 100 and 150 leafs have gold sighting lines). The double square bridge action (untapped, dovetailed for EAW mounts) has a drop box magazine (3.8-inch magazine box with 4+1 round capacity, snaps over thumbed topping round), full-length claw extractor, jeweled bolt body and follower, sweeping bolt handle, eight-panel checkered bolt knob, three-position safety, single-stage trigger, oversize trigger guard, recessed floor plate release button and timed action screws. An unexpected pleasure in hand, the sleek stock wears an ebony forend tip, 24 lines-per-inch wrap checkering offset with a double border, twin crossing bolts, trapdoor grip cap, scalloped pancake cheek rest with shadow line, inletted sling swivel stud on the toe line and a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad topped with a smooth, hard shoe that won’t hang up on clothing. ENGRAVING: Signed “Dumoulin” followed by what appears to be another “N” under the guard, the engraving is extraordinary! A gold relief bust of a heavily-maned lion graces the left side of the front ring, a leopard watches from the right and a magnificent solid-bossed Cape buffalo bull glowers from the floorplate. Each bust is surrounded by an intricate vine pattern that is in turn supported by delicate gold wire. The pattern continues to nearly full coverage over the action, trigger guard and trap door. In addition to the eight checkering panels circled in gold, the bolt knob ends in a spectacular floral sunburst. For all that, possibly the most striking engraving element is the delicate gold lattice topping each of the bridges. GOLD MARKINGS: “Imperial Magnum Souvereign” appears on the right side of the receiver, the maker’s name is scrolled on the right center of the barrel, “Safe” centers the shroud and “Cal 416 Rigby” floats within a ribbon across the bottom metal. DIMENSIONS: Weight is 9.8 pounds. Length-of-pull is 14.2 inches and drops are 1.5 inches and 1.3 inches respectively. CONDITION: The bore is exceptional, mirror bright with sharp rifling. Barrel finish is approximately 96 percent, with a trace of thinning at the muzzle, scratches on the front sight ramp from removing/replacing the hood and a few other scattered scratches along its length. The action is nearly 100 percent, with one small area of lifting in the gold wire on the upper right side of the floorplate. The grip cap is also nearly pristine. Stock condition is just short of 95 percent, with a general scattering of minor field impressions and light scratches that attest to intended use. The “New England Arms” import mark is hidden on the underside of the barrel just ahead of the forend tip. FUNCTIONING: Bolt operation is frightfully smooth. Feeding, extraction and ejection are effortless.