The demise of the Rook rifle was the .22rf. which was much cheaper. I have a double in .300 RR and .410 shotgun. Calibres ranged from 297/230, 250, 255 Jeffrey, 297/250, 295 and 300 (which are the same), 320, 360 No.5, and 380. Rooks are of the crow family and are communal nesters. The idea is to shoot the young rooks called branchers as they leave the nests. Partly to keep the numbers down and for eating purposes in Rook Pie. The nursery rhyme of '4 and 20 black birds baked in a pie' refers to these. The Rook rifle calibres are low velocity but heavy bullets as rooks are shot at high trajectories and the low velocity means that the spent and falling bullets are less harmful. The traditional day for rook shooting is 12th. May. There is a charming little piece in Dicken's Pickwick Papers where they all go off to a rook shoot but using muzzle loaders. Bullet bows; a crossbow firing a lead ball, were also employed. Wiki seems to have got it a bit muddled as Hollands didn't invent the rook rifle but the .295 or 300 is one of their designs. Think of something around the power of a .32 S&W pistol round. Very collectable. I recently had chance to buy a needle-fire version by James Woodward. Great fun and a whole area of collecting by themselves. Lagopus.....
