I have come accross two Interarms Whitworth Rifles made in England and in 375 H&H as well as 458 Win Mag. Both were advertized as unfired and by all appearances most likely are. I am somewhat familair with the history of these rifles as far as when made and when distributed as well as the actions in general and how persons who have had them felt about performance. I do however have some questions that possibly someone out there can answer. Here they are :
1- What type of saftey is on them? How does it function and exactly how does it work ? Can the saftey be changed and if so what are your thoughts on this as far as should it be done and is it needed and if so why ?
2- How is the wood finished ? Mine are very flat and non reflective. What finish is used and how should it be kept upo ?
3- Your ideas on scope bases and mounts and why ?
Any help would be very much appreciated.

You can get a two or three-position Model 70-style Mauser safety put on if you like. You may have to replace the cocking piece. Mine wear Talley bases and Talley QD rings. I just wipe the wood with a silicone-treated cloth if needed.

The safety is a simple trigger block. It simply pivots a screw in front the the top half of the trigger so it can't be pulled. Works fine as long as it is adjusted. Many would adjust the sear engagemetn and forget to re-adjust the safety. The early models have the floorplate release in the bow the later was a cross pin. I greatly prefer the early model. I'm not sure if the Whitworth ever had the interarms version of the speedlock with the shorter firingpin fall. If yours has one it makes installing an after market safety a little harder because the cocking piece is further forward.

Yes you can use basically any 2& 3 postion Mauser or M70 style safety. However it will leave a gap in the stock and a cut out for the safety tab.

Any MKX or FN base will work. Like Charles I like Talley's with a QD since the rifle does have sights.

The finish is a simple spray on finish I believe with a little stain thrown in. Most look better with a refinish.

Do a search there has been a lot of discussion in the past.

My 458 Whitworth needed a second (rear) cross bolt, needed the barrel recoil lug to be spiffed, the screws replaced with ever so slightly longer screws that better engaged their mounting holes in the barrel cut, also that lug needed to be turned around to squarely fit against the barrel cut.
I bedded it with steel-bearing epoxy, full length.
I replaced the front sight ramp (it was screwed on, didn't seem very sound to me) with a NECG banded/hooded sight.
I left the trigger and safety alone.

It consistently shoots MOA with whatever I feed it, and that's over the iron sights. I have yet to mount a scope.

I really like the rifle, I've carried it through hundreds and hundreds of miles through rough/steep/tight timber and loved every minute of it. The rifle handles and shoots well, it's tough and handy, and with the right loads it hits hard (as you can imagine)

I'd look at the 375 with the same attention to detail that I took on the 458.



Cheers
Tinker

Thanks for posting about your Whitworth rifles. If you have taken photos of your rifles, I would love to see the English markings to compare with the markings on my Whitworth's. I recently started documenting the various "Whitworth Rifle Company" stampings along with the "Castle markings on several of my English proofed rifles.
While I have one apart I will photograph the safety mechanism and post them so you can see how it works. Pictures being worth a thousand words and my gunsmith ability being nill.
If possible if you do photograph the English proofs under the barrel will you send me a copy so I can compare to mine. I will reciprocate if you like.
Frank

If you go to this link you will see a good photo of the safety mechanism.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...2711043/m/9081002541

quote:

If you go to this link you will see a good photo of the safety mechanism.

Here is a larger picture. This one happens to be the OLD style. As the safety is moved to the rear it pivots the center pin to the rear and shaft rotates counter clockwise. This moves the small screw you can see on the lower front rotating it in front of the top of the trigger.

As I said this is the old style on the very front of the safety bar is a tab sticking up. This would slip into a notch on the bottom of the bolt locking the bolt in place when it was on safe. In later models tis tab doens't exist allowing the bolt to open while you are still on safe.

The screws with the lock nuts are adjustments. Front is trigger pull back top is sear engagement and the bottom rear is over travel. If you change the sear engagement you need to adjust the safety screw as well.

I have a pair in .375 and .458. Took them to Zim last year. Very accurate and a dream to carry. I added second cross bolt to both. Full length glass bedded both. Changed recoil pad to Decelerator on both. Changed the trigger and safety to the Timney. Talley QD set up on both.

Frank - I will send photo at a later time when I take the stock off.

Begno - What made you feel like you needed to add a seconf cross bolt? How did you know that it should be done ?

You rang?

Clayman,
I have a 375 that I got a few years ago and love it. Modifications made before I bought it include a 3 position safety, Gentry I believe, and a magnum follower from Brownells. Mods I have made are a fiber optic red front sight and open top/firesight front hood. The fiber optic sight appeared a bit flimsey so I smeared some clear epxoy between the fibers bottom and base, not sure if it made a lot of difference but I feel better. It's a bit larger diameter than the original so it covers the point of impact at 50 yds but that's ok with me, I just cover what I want to hit with the red dot and let it rip. The original scope is a Leupold 1x4 on Warne Premier QD rings and bases. This scope is zeroed with 300 gr Nosler Partitions at a bit over 2500 fps. These are a lttle heavy for south GA whitetails and hogs so I found another set of QD rings and mounted a Burris 2x7 on those. This is zeroed with 235 gr Speers at 2500 also, which hit about 4.5 inches above the 300s. Both scopes return to zero very nicely when swapped over, within and inch so far. The rifle is very accurate with both loads, less than an MOA if I don't mess up. Having a scope prezeroed for each load may be a tad anal but it works for me. Hope this helps.
Best

Mine is a 375 that I got well used but maintained. It has a 2nd recoil lug added and was glass bedded full length. I wet sanded the stock with 400 grit and added acouple of top coats of true oil that I cut back with rotten stone to give a dull finish. I have weave bases and low rings on it but had to take alittle metal of the bolt handle to clear the 1x4 leupold. Gun shoots all loads well and will maintain POI removing and replacing the scope between each shot. Love the gun and it is going to Mozambique in Aug. to kill my first buff.

Now I have a few more questions. Why did any of you who have done so feel that you needed a second cross bolt ? Why wasn,t the original one enough ? Also, both of my rifles have what appears to be a bedding material ( black ) in the stocks in two places. Is this factory ? Any help appreciated.

That stock Will split if you shoot it without a second bolt.
It might be split already, most are - even if just a little.
Get the metal out of the wood and look at the very minimal bit of wood in there, this isn't such a problem as most big bore rifles run two bolts anyway.
Your Whitworth should have had two from the factory as they all should have had, but didn't.

Those two little bits of bedding compound were likely from the factory.
One at the front end of the receiver/chamber of the barrel, and one at the barrel recoil lug.

Do the work or have it done, and don't look back. Your rifle will thank you by way of years and years of trouble free service.



Cheers
Tinker

If anyone can post photos of the second cross bolt as far as location ( placement ) I would appreciate it.

That second crossbolt should go through the narrow web of wood between the magazine and trigger mortises.

quote:

That stock Will split if you shoot it without a second bolt.

Interesting my 375H&H operated for over 15yrs with no split.

Just think of how well you could have done buying a lottery ticket the same day you got that rifle!!



Cheers
Tinker

clayman216

Sorry, didn't see your question, but it has already been answered, i.e. to decrease the likelyhood of a split stock. It may be unnecessary in some minds, but it is cheap to do, so why not. Also, the factory cross bolt on my .375 was fake(for appearances only) so I added a real one to that area as well. I also full length glass bedded which may render the cross bolting unnecessary, but I do that on all my wood stocked firearms for accuracy reasons which are personal to me.(I had a wet firearm totally change zero and cost me a very big Elk).

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Martinez:
If you have taken photos of your rifles, I would love to see the English markings to compare with the markings on my Whitworth's. I recently started documenting the various "Whitworth Rifle Company" stampings along with the "Castle markings on several of my English proofed rifles.
Frank

I am very interested as well. My first Whitworth was the true Express Rifle, with the proper markings- I thought they all were that way, but apparently these are the most desireable.

Here is a link to a true Express Rifle, he wants about $1600 which is too much. I think the range of quality runs from an Interarms M X to a nice English Express rifle, depending on the particular rifle.


a true Whit Express Rifle
I would love to know the complete details of these rifles, and what to look for.

As I recall Don Heath wrote that the PH test in Zim showed they were ok, but their barrels were soft and that they needed a general going over.

All in all not bad for a $600-$900 rifle.