I bought a Cogswell & Harrison rifle last week in .318. The rifle is built on a 98 Mauser in the classic British style. The odd thing about the rifle is the caliber markings stamped on the barrel by the receiver ring. The markings are British nitro proofs with Cordite 37 - 250 Max and 2 40. What is odd about it is this is stamped upside down. I initially thought that maybe the barrel had been set back 1/2 a turn and the rifle re-chambered, but that couldn't be the case because the Cogswell and Harrison name and address is in the center top of the barrel where it should be. I don't know if anyone else has ever seen anything like this on an old British rifle but it is odd to me.

This is standard for older British bolt rifle proofs. I guess it's because they read them while standing over their rifles instead of beside them. Or just because they are contrary...

Thanks bpesteve,
It really threw me. I had a .416 Rigby which was built by Rigby several years ago and I didn't recall the markings being like that. They probably were and I just didn't notice it because what caught your attention was the marking on the receiver that said Rigby 416 Big Game.

It always amazes me how much knowledge the members on this site have in regards to every aspect of firearms.

Steven:

You can contact C&H through a contact form on their website with your guns details and they will look up the records on your rifle including whether they actually worked on or reworked the rifle. Apparently their records unlike some of the others who lost part of theirs during the Blitz are intact.

Thanks ALF,
I saw the forms for records search on line and will have them check the records. It's funny after I made the post I looked at another Cogswell & Harrison and what do you know the caliber markings were also upside down.

They all are

I have a buddy who has a 404 Coggie on a p17 action and it is also upside down on the left side of the barrel just in front of the front action ring.

I recently looked at a Certus and it too had this upside down on the left stamping.
just as a side note IMO the Certus must be the ugliest gun ever made !

All my coggies, same thing.

Did you buy one of the two C&H rifles at cabelas in Nebraska by chance?

Rookhawk,

Yes, I got the rifle from cabelas in Nebraska.

ALF, I have to agree with you on the Certus. I used to think the old Savage 340 held the ugly record, but the Certus clearly beats it.

From a gun design perspective the Certus is actually revolutionary !

To think that C&H designed the equivalent of Walther Gehmann's Mauser M66 and the later Blaser back in 1904 ! except that the Certus bolted to a front action ring and not to the barrel like the Blaser or Mauser 66.

The bolting was achieved by dual opposing lugs and the bolt body itself bore no load in terms of strength

What was further a feat was that it was originally chambered for the 450/400 which was rimmed. The single stack magazine fed reliably on this rifle.

I got dies and bullets and made some brass up for the .318 from 30-06 brass and got the rifle to the range this week. The rifle's bore looked good and I was pleased to see that it shot great with the iron sights. The load I worked up was a 250 grain Woodleigh bullet over 55 grains of H4350 which averaged 2250 fps from the rifles 24 inch barrel. The rifle put three shots into 3/4 inch at 50 yards dead center and about 1 1/2 inches high. I don't think I could have asked for much more. I picked up an old Army Navy Lee Speed .303 British I'm going to start work on next. With any luck the Lee will be as good as the Cogswell turned out to be.