Hi All

A friend of mine is wanting to sell his 458. The make is a Churchill which I have not heard of. Does anyone have an idea on what it would be worth. It is in good condition.

Cheers Buzz

There is one over at GI for 8K:

http://www.gunsinternational.c...cfm?gun_id=100119938

quote:

Originally posted by mouse93:
There is one over at GI for 8K:

http://www.gunsinternational.c...cfm?gun_id=100119938

That is a very nice looking rifle.Educate me here,please.That rifle in the link is a single shot yet a bolt action rifle in a DG calibre.What could be the reason especially when you may need more than one shot while chasing DG?How fast can you manually load and fire a bolt rifle? Thanks for your inputs.

Best-
Locksley,R.

Robin,
I would bet that rifle holds four rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
Robin,
I would bet that rifle holds four rounds.

Ozhunter, Looks like I shot myself in the foot with that single round.LOL. When I saw that it was listed under ''African Dangerous Game Safari Single Shot Rifles'', I assumed it's a single shot.Thanks for clarifying.

Best-
ROL.

Buzz,

Send a message to peterdk as he is a renowned gun maker and was with Rigby London.

The value on many of these fine English rifles depends on many factors and if some parts (especially the barrel) are worn or the stock damaged then the restoration cost can effect the resale price.

Andrew

This sounds like an English 98 Mauser built by Churchill in cal 458. A friend of mine has a similar rifle in 375 H&H. I assume it has the normal 3 leaf platinum lined express sight and a drop box (4 or 5 round) magazine. Since the 458 came out in 56, this must be a relatively recent rifle. If it has been rebarreled, this will cut the value dramatically. It should have the maker's name and address (London) on the barrel as well as the English proof marks.

English Mausers sell for grossly inflated prices in the USA, however $8K is waaay overpriced. Typical CSMC .. take the real price and multiply by 2. And that rifle is a "modern" gun, built on what looks like an (commercial) Interarms MkX (Zastava) action, it's not even a Belgian or German Mauser action. And I don't see any English proofs on the

If it were a Holland & Holland or Purdey, it would fetch $10K in a good market, although I have seen them listed for more. I have sold similar rifles by Evans for $5K and Rigby (275) for $2500.

Without seeing detailed photos, it's impossible to put a value on the gun.

And finally, the value of the rifle depends on where it's located. A rifle in the USA is worth a lot more than a rifle in Zimbabwe.

Is it true that rifles with the thumb cut out for striper clips can not be imported into the USA?

quote:

Is it true that rifles with the thumb cut out for striper clips can not be imported into the USA?

Adam, I have never heard that and doubt it based on the number of surplus Mausers imported into the US.

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
Is it true that rifles with the thumb cut out for striper clips can not be imported into the USA?

Umm, yes, sort of. FOr some screwy reason, the US does not allow the importation of "Mauser" action rifles unless one has a special class of license from ATF.

I know- I listed a rifle as a Mauser 96 action- it was in fact a customized 96, exquisite hunting rifle, that I had to ship back to the country of origin.

Many ways around it- just list the rifle as "Holland & Holland" and it should not be a problem.

There are members here who regularly import firearms, they know more than me.

quote:

Is it true that rifles with the thumb cut out for striper clips can not be imported into the USA

Yes.

The law prohibits importation of any military surplus weapons. An exemption was later added to allow "collector" weapons in. But to be a "collector" the weapon has to be absolutely original. So a sporting rifle built with a mil mauser 98 action or barrel is considered a salvaged military surplus weapon and won't be allowed in.

Now we get into a gray area. Some Mauser 98s with cut outs were never mil weapons (Oberndorff sporters). However, this nicety is lost on our ATF and they won't allow anything in with a thumb slot.

Believe me, I have been around the block on this one. I imported some Zastava 98s that have modern military pattern 98 actions. Got 3 Federal Agencies into a clusterf08k. Got a letter from the mfg stating the actions were manufactured from scratch, not surplus. Even got the NRA involved. The ATF would not budge and the NRA didn't even get back to me.

long ago i had a churchill double in 450#1 - it was built on a shotgun action and was off the face. didn't have it for to long

Churchill Mauser = dressed up Zastava = Herters J9 = Interarms MkX etc etc etc.

Why all the fancy names, done so that former Warsaw pact countries could deal with the West to circumvent restrictions in dealing with commies. "Front" export companies were used by all the large companies including BRNO and CZ in former WARSAW controlled Czechoslovakia

It is a Yugo copy of the FN Mauser built under licence..... again etc etc etc

Dependent on when in time it was built the action could be either so so or plain bad.

Hi Buzz
I am assuming that this is an EJ Churchill Rifle, which is the only Company I know of that name which does or has manufactured rifles. They are better known for their shotguns.
I beleive they used to be known as Churchil ,Atkin, Grant and Lang Limited.I beleive Ellet Bros purchased the company . Any Churchill Firearm with the Prefix EB before the serial number is after the company was purchased by them. I can also tell you that any Churchill Firearm with and EB prefix used to carry a lifetime garantee and Churchill would arrange Fedex pick up and return at no cost. I am not sure if that still holds. Anyone however with a lifetime Guarantee has to be very confident of their worksmanship

There is a series of firearms manufactured by EJ Churchill known as "one in one Thousand rifles" If your rifle is one of these, It could indeed be quite valuable. Most of this run were Mauser type Bolt actions, 3shot Mags, barreled at 24inches, walnut stocks etc.

I have an EJ Churchill Valuation Catalogue that you are free to have a look at and try and ID your particular one. Give me a shout next time you are in Harare