Gomiata,
The Cavalier was built on machinery imported from Webley & Scott, when Holland & Holland took over the firm around 1980.
Now, the old Webley 700 and its derivatives were good,, solid guns that generally looked OK and handled well and proved dependable. Quality varies and those made in the mid-late 1970s can be rather poor but H&H decided to make a 'London boxlock and sell it as a Holland & Holland product. they brought the machinery to London and made some 'improvements'.
One criticism levelled at the old 700 was the lack of a removable hinge pin.(In reality no big deal) So, H&H added one.
They decided to make the guns a bit more sophisticated so they got hold of the top strap and shortened it, thereby losing the hand pin. This may have looked a bit more elegant but the wrist now has too little support - result is flexing and cracking and a neeed for re-stocking if the guns are given any hard use. the only solution is to retrospectively fit a hand pin.
Chequering on these guns is often not very well done, the finishing on the actions is crude and the details like lettering inlaid in gold lacks finesse - I have even seen pairs where the lettering is not the same size and does not match.
Barrel quality is not too hot either - I have some in now and when we dropped them in the tank, we got bubbles everywhere - had to strip and re-lay the ribs and re-secure the loops.
Very disappointing for guns that are less than 30 years old.
Last edited by Small Bore; 01/14/09 05:14 AM.
