The 2026 DSC Foundation Chapter rifle is a brand new and exclusive version of the Ruger M77 Hawkeye African Rifle, based upon an alltime classic hunting round.

The .275 Rigby began its life not in the hands of a gentleman hunter, but as the 7x57mm Mauser, a cutting-edge smokeless powder cartridge developed in 1892 for the Spanish military. Celebrated for its flat trajectory and mild recoil, it quickly gained a reputation for punching well above its weight class during the Boer War. Recognizing its potential for the sporting market, the prestigious London firm John Rigby & Co. adopted the caliber in 1907. By re-designating it as the .275 Rigby, they catered to British sensibilities that favored imperial measurements over Continental metrics, successfully transforming a battle-tested military round into the quintessential bolt-action chambering for the Edwardian sporting elite.*

In the field, the caliber achieved legendary status through its remarkable sectional density and penetration, allowing it to tackle game far larger than its modest diameter suggested. It became the preferred tool of W.D.M. "Karamojo" Bell, who famously used the 173-grain "solid" round to harvest over 800 elephants with precise brain shots, proving that surgical accuracy often trumped raw stopping power. Similarly, the legendary Jim Corbett relied on a .275 Rigby—a gift for dispatching a man-eater—to hunt down several of the most notorious man-eating tigers and leopards in the Kumaon district of India. Though “modern magnum" cartridges have since flooded the market, the .275 Rigby remains the penultimate embodiment of an era where success was defined by a marksman’s skill and well-placed shot, combined with the cartridge’s deep-penetrating reliability.

This 2026 DSC Foundation Chapter Rifle is one of only thirty two produced, proudly bearing this designation and the distinctive DSC logo. With its fine walnut stock and impeccable blued finish, this longarm would be the envy of any hunter, modern or historic.

Value: $2700

*[Stated differently, Rigby “created” the .275 caliber by measuring the bore on top of the rifling lands, instead of within the grooves. The actual cartridge and “caliber” are the same as the 7x57 round.]