I finally received my shipment of guns from England yesterday. In the shipment were the following:
1. Holland & Holland 16 bore sidelock, crystal cocking indicators. Most likely made by Scott. circa-1882
2. W. W. Greener 12 bore with crossover stock. Made for right handed left master eyed shooters. circa- 1896-97
3. Westley Richards 16 bore with damascus barrels. circa - 1880
4. Westley Richards 12 bore with twist barrels. circa - 1880
5. William Jones rook rifle that has been bored out to .410. Jones went out of business in 1868. I'm contemplating having it lined and chambered to 25-35 WCF as the bores have some pitting.
6. Steyr Mannlicher model 1910 in .375 rimless or otherwise known as the 9.5x57mm.
7. Ego Armos double rifle in 7x65R. No photos as it doesn't meet the age requirements for this page.
8. And my son's C Chisholm & Son 12 bore sidelock with damascus barrels.

Nicely done, thank you for sharing
Mike

I bought some of these 3 1/2 years ago. Couldn't get the exporter to ship so I kept buying more. lol

The Westleys are very nice.

Both of them are. The 16 is going to replace one that I should have never sold. Don't know what I'm doing with the 12 yet.

before shooting, measure barrel wall thicknesses...old english guns are notorious for having thin barrel walls...

The auction houses that I buy from provide wall thickness measurements before each auction on each and every shotgun.

How many have you imported and measured firsthand, eddie?

Due to my cross dominance, I was contemplating the crossover. I always wonder what it is like to actually hit a target.

I bought it for a friend that passed away before I could get it to him.

good news that your auction house provides wall thickness measurements...

many do not...

be careful when buying old english gon for shooting, without knowing the wall thicknesses in front of the chambers...be especially careful when considering sleeved guns...

By British law to sell a shotgun in the UK it must be in proof. It's on the seller to make sure that it is. The auction houses take that seriously as it will drastically impact their livelihood. I haven't dealt with any auction in the UK that didn't or wouldn't provide wall thickness measurements if asked. I used to be a FFL/Import permit holder and did a lot of business buying from auctions. None have had walls below minimum thickness unless mentioned in the lot description and/or sold as action, stock and forearm only.

Exactly Mike. When I'm bidding on UK auctions if they say "doesn't meet minimum wall" I stop looking at that lot and continue to the next. And if I had questions about a particular lot, I've always gotten the info needed to make a sound judgement on that lot.

Agreed, I have not seen any UK auction house that would not provide wall thickness of the barrels.

so, then how are unsafe english made guns getting into our country...are pitted bores being reamed out after they git here...or are they getting in via our open southern border maybe?

just watched the video...some nice looking guns...the 16 ga h&h got my attention...

Which ones you talking bout?

I've used Holt's, Gavin Gardiner, Southams, Bonhams, Scotarms, Sothebys and Christies along with a few smaller ones that I can't remember the names of at the moment.

Mike

Thank you for the video.

Those ex-Rook Rifle .410s make lovely small game rifles when re-lined, but bear in mind that they were built for low pressure cartridges and that the stocks can struggle with recoil as is sometimes seem when they have been opened out to .410 3 inch.

Would not .25-20, .32-20, .32 S&W Long or .38 Special (very similar to .360 No, 5) be closer to the original concept and put less strain on the gun?

Congratulations on your finds,

Parabola

P.S.

Does anyone in Germany or elsewhere make a .410 rifled adapter to take a small centre fire bulleted cartridge like .32 Long?

Not in Germany but in the states. https://www.gunadapters.com/categories/Shotgun-Adapters/410-/ https://www.ebay.com/itm/115059207391?hash=item1aca102cdf:g:QFcAAOSwiyRhcw18 https://www.ebay.com/itm/115059214961?hash=item1aca104a71:g:4tsAAOSwxl5hcw~o

That’s the sort of thing, but what I have in mind is something like the old .303 to .297/.230 Morris Tube so as to be able to slip a rifled liner into a converted to .410 Rook Rifle to make a usable small game rifle without losing the .410 option.

It should be do-able, but assuming a .375” outer diameter for the tube it would need a fairly small bore to preserve wall thickness although the .410 chamber section would support much of the peak pressure.

It would also need to be sufficiently low pressure to be safe. Perhaps .22 WCF?

There used to be a guy in Anchorage, MCA, that made them up to 19" in length. I think he's out of business now.

Chaszel.com might be worth a look. Thay offer rifled inserts for the .410 in several calibers from .22 to .38.