doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Webley .500 Nitro

Restoration in process, getting ready to have the engraving picked up. A re-stock using the existing stock as a pattern. Fore end made from a block but inlet by CNC. The sights were made in house front and rear. Horn fore end tip on this one Dennis.

Steve,
Beautiful rifle and should be a stunner. I haven't mastered horn but do like it a lot for its classic look.

Bye the bye, nice to see the pad. I use them on all the bigger rifles I build. Sissy--really don't care. Like you I build shooters and want to enjoy them. Had the Decelerators been available in the late 1800's and early 1900's I think they would have been a ubiquitous feature of nearly all the makers. I shudder at the thought of shooting an 8 pound .400 Whelen with one of the gorgeous steel trap door butt plates.
Dennis

Dennis,
Horn is terrible to work with, especially inletting it. The CNC mill worked like the cats meow.

I'm not a big fan of pads personally. My 8&1/4lb .404 Jeffery wears the original steel plate and I find it pleasurable to shoot. Bye the time you get up to .500 Nitro though a decent pads does seem prudent. Clients choice on this rifle. The original stock had a steel plate.

Thanks for the kind words.
Steve

Steve knows how much I have been chomping at the bit for this gun.
Now that I see it, and see the work he has put into the metal, I kinda feel like a dick!
We discussed the barrel contour, sights, and forend shape over and over and it took me forever to decide on what I wanted. This action could have taken a 577 but we decided to go with a 500. The original forends on these big bore Webleys tend to go on the fatter side, like a "perch belly" style, which I think looks terrible. My hands aren't very big so a slimmer forend was what I was looking for.
These actions are so big, it is difficult to balance the takeoff from the action face, keeping a shortish forend length and making it look congruent with the bottom of the action and of course, the abrupt angle of the underlever.
Steve would shape it, send me a picture, I would say "a little slimmer", and he would slim it a bit more, send another pic, I say "slimmer" etc.
I think it is just right now.
It is going to be an awesome rifle!

I, personally, would never use a pad on an expensive restock. They don't work, they look bad, and they deprive the owner of a classic butt treatment. A PAST pad on the shoulder, even two thicknesses, is a much nicer alternative. The pad on the .500 seems to be a London Guns pad, a nice alternative if you absolutely have to have a pad.

Bill,
I think the one thing that all gunmakers must eventually come to terms with is that the client will make decisions that we would not. While not a huge fan of pads, I have shot enough big bores to appreciate them. This gun was built to shoot and carry in the field. The heavy barrel contour and the pad help in that respect. Final weight on this one is still on light side at 10&1/4 lbs. The past pads are fine on the range but not something I would consider in a field situation. Different strokes for different folks.....

I wouldn't say that.
A Silvers type pad is very much a period option on this rifle and is a "classic butt treatment" in every respect.
I already have a 425 Westley, a number of BPE rifles and a Greener double rifle with steel butt plates and although they are all original fitment, none are a 500 NE single so maybe there is a bit of psychological need for me to want a pad on this gun.
We did, however opt to keep it on the thinner side so it wouldn't look so bulky on the end of the stock. Also, being a restock, it is no longer an original rifle and if desired, the original could be restored and remounted (maybe).

Really nice project Huvius. Good comments on options and adjustments to proportions, and if I'm not mistaken still based on historical cues. If you folks are willing, it would be great to see how things come out.

Well said. Sometimes it is a real challenge to make it work, but sometimes it works out better than the gunmaker's ideas and the client is happy. Some of the best clients have their own ideas. Working with them is a pleasure and a challenge. A long time ago.
Chuck

A steel buttplate( or Horn) is great if the rifle is only for "show".If it is to be used, it needs a pad,even if only a thin 1/4" one.They don't "slip and slide" like steel and don't make as much noise when you stand it up in the corner of the highseat(stand)."form follows function".
Mike