doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Added another Westley to the collection.

WESTLEY RICHARDS & CO. HEAVY WATERFOWL BOXLOCK SXS SHOTGUN.
Cal. 12 GA, 2 3/4". S# O9162. Bbl. 30" of fluid steel with 1 1/8 oz. nitro
proofs. Steel front and mid bead. Case colored scalloped boxlock action. Double under
lug and crossbolt locking with dolls head extension. Sides have gold inlaid markings
"WESTLEY RICHARDS & Co.". Single selective trigger. Selective ejectors.
Bore Diameter: RT: .739, LT:
.742. Choke Constriction: RT: .043 (Extra Full), LT: .045 (Extra Full).

Beautiful gun, Mike. I especially like the gold label “Westley Richard’s and Co” inlaid in gold. Very classy.

Very nice.

What's the weight?

What do you know of WR's single triggers?

Detachable locks or “drop lock”too. Nice gun. Good luck with the trigger, if it hasn’t been monkeyed with, it should work fine.
I’m not sure it qualifies as a “heavy waterfowl” only being proofed at 1 1/8 oz.

Nice looking gun, although 1 1/8 would not be considered a heavy waterfowler. We don't have proof laws to worry about, but if is was proofed as a 12 bore and is now .739 and .742 it has been opened up and may be out of proof.

what bore diameter is it proofed at ?

It probably has the Lard Patent single trigger, but the patent might be marked on the flats. Westley Richards used that quite successfully.

Outstanding gun

Beautiful gun!

How can you tell its a drop lock?

Pretty gun with what appears to be good dimensions, but one big spec not mentioned is barrel wall thickness. Hope it’s at minimal .025. Also, the nose of the comb looks like it’s been shaved down and tapered, a little odd-looking to me.
JR

It weighs 8lbs and 4 ozs.

nice...big ole thang...

Plenty heavy enough for 1 1/8 oz. loads. I'll bet she'll handle low velocity 1 1/4 loads fine, too.

Thanks. Color me green.

Mike: if you could post a full size close up of the barrel flats we might be able to provide more information.
Or send the image to me at drewhausemd@yahoo.com as a jpg attachment

Odd that it has 2 3/4” chambers and is proofed for 1 1/8 Oz. I wonder if it was made for shooting small shore birds like plover. It certainly has the weight of a heavy fowler. At that weight, 1 1/8 oz loads at moderate velocities will be very comfy to shoot.
In reality, there’s no need for 1 1/4 oz loads even for waterfowl. Even my 1 1/4 oz proofed fowlers, I load up and shoot 1 1/8 oz loads. I’ve been shooting late season mallards and divers with 1 1/8 oz bismuth loads for a few years now when I’m using a vintage gun. Works very well when the distance and choke combo are right.

It’s a very nice WR. I hope the trigger works well.

I don't see the need for such a heavy gun for ounce and an eighth or ounce and a quarter, but it will certainly work well. And it is a fabulous gun. If it indeed has drop locks, I sure would appreciate pictures of the out of the gun. I'm sure others would also.

I shoot ounce and a quarter lead in my six pound gun without any problem when upland hunting, which is proofed for that amount.

In your Westley, you could (and I do) shoot ounce and an eighth bismith loads using ounce and a quarter recipes for lead. Volumetrically, it works almost perfectly and gives lower pressure, a little more velocity, and excellent performance. Check out ounce and a quarter loads for Longshot powder in Winchester aa hulls and wads.

I'll take more photos when I have the gun in hand.