They were mostly mauser actions assembled in England and imported to this country. For the most part, Whitworth's were fairly well made rifles but a little light (weight) for my tastes.
I have two of these rifles,one a synthetic stocked, no iron sights version refered to in the catalog as the Alaskan model. The second one is a 25-06 with a nice wood stock, steel grip cap, fore-end tip, solid rubber recoil pad, again no iron sights. Both rifle are well made utilizing Mauser actions and marked Manchester, England. Both rifles are accurate and I would recommend them. BigBullet
Posts: 1224 | Location: Lorraine, NY New York's little piece of frozen tundra | Registered: 05 July 2003
A difference I have noted is the early versions have soldered rear and front sight bases and later versions are screwed on. Stampings in the barrel and receiver ring vary too. Earlier Mark Xs also have inside trigger guard bow floorplate releases, later types have a push button on the side. Nice rifles for the money, very accurate barrels, fit and finish, particularly the inletting and metal machining and polishing, can vary. These rifles are fairly lightweight and stocks are built on the small side and felt recoil is more noticeable than other rifles of same caliber, at least of other 375 & 458 rifles I have tried.
Posts: 9487 | Location: Texas Hill Country | Registered: 11 January 2002
The actions are made in Yugoslavia on FN style machinery. The little C-Z logo stands for Zavodi Crvena Zastava. The company is commonly known as Zastava. They made the Mark X that was imported by Interarms and the current line of Charles Daly mausers.
The Witworth series had a good deal of their assembly done in England, on these imported actions. Fit and finish tends to be better than the Mark X series, but there is also some variation within the Whitworth series, as these rifles were made over numerous years. You will have to judge each rifle on its own merit.
I love it but hate getting it to a decent usuable state. The barrel thread was cut at an angle and the stock made at an angle to fit. So the scope was not in line to the barrel!
Had custom scope bases made to fit.
Its a .375 H&H Mag and like its style, lightness, superb accuracy and handiness.
Posts: 10138 | Location: Wine Country, Barossa Valley, Australia | Registered: 06 March 2002
Mine was semi-custom built by Jaeger as an Alaskan model. It is the most uncanny rifle I have ever heard of, let alone owned. Using hot, but by no means extrodinary, loads of IMR 4350 I can drive a 300 gr. Nosler over 2700 fps and put three shots into a thumbnail at 100 yards. It is the one rifle I will never part with, even in death. My wife is on orders to bury it with me Black synthetic stock, PAST pad, Leupold 1.5x5, teflon finish . . . it will take everything the bush can throw against it and still bring home all the bacon from dik-dik to jumbo. Someday, I will have a good walnut stock made for it and pair it with a Pedersoli rechambered to .450 NE. Then I will sell everything else except for one (as yet unchosen) deer gun. And if I ever came across another like it, I would hunt the universe with just those two. Now if I can just come up with a star-liner ticket to Cretacea . . .
Posts: 2690 | Location: Lakewood, CA. USA | Registered: 07 January 2001
I never felt like they were too light for the 375 or the 458 and I think they suck up recoil quite well, they certainly are very accurate as a whole..I never have seen one that didn't shoot very well...All in all they are one heck of a lot better rifle than anything coming out of the factories these days...there just a good Mauser..Even the Mark 10s were very acceptable in the big bores and at a very good price..They are a bargain on todays market..replace the trigger and they are equal to an old FN, now how can you beat that, A Mauser is hard to beat.
Posts: 42394 | Location: Twin Falls, Idaho | Registered: 04 June 2000
I agree with all comments Atkinson made. Mine always shot sub-MOA with 300gr Seirras and IMR4064. Best group was 3/8 minute. Would have kept it till death if it was left handed. Traded it for a LH Winchester Safari Express and am getting 1-holers with 300gr Winchester silver tips, IMR4064, and a Lee factory crimp die. Another great rifle. Ghost
I have two Whitworths -- one in .375 H&H and one in .416 Rem Mag. I will have to agree that Whitworths are more than a bit on the light side. Even my .375 will beat you up on the bench, but both are damn accurate and reliable. I highly recommend these rifles.
Posts: 13440 | Location: Virginia | Registered: 10 July 2003
Black synthetic stock, PAST pad, Leupold 1.5x5, teflon finish . . . it will take everything the bush can throw against it and still bring home all the bacon from dik-dik to jumbo. Someday, I will have a good walnut stock made for it and pair it with a Pedersoli rechambered to .450 NE. Then I will sell everything else except for one (as yet unchosen) deer gun. And if I ever came across another like it, I would hunt the universe with just those two. Now if I can just come up with a star-liner ticket to Cretacea . . .
