A while back, bobc posted that he did not see what all the fuss about regulating was, his first trip to the range resulted in finding his load that regulated in his beautiful Hollis 450/400 3". I said I wanted to take my Rodda to the range with him when I went so maybe some of his luck would rub off! It did! I loaded up 4 differant loads to take, 80 and 81 gr. IMR4831, 400 gr. Woodleigh s.p. and 71.5 gr. R-15 one set w/2gr. dacron, one without. The Rodda was not too crazy about the 4831 loads, although the test target @ 30yds from JJ was about 2.5"
I could not shoot it that well from a rest, but when we got to the R-15 loads, we knew we were on to something. The gun will shoot under 2" @50 yds, no doubt, I believe with just a little load tweeking and a little trigger work, (front trigger is very heavy and creepy) this gun will go under 2". The loads with and without the dacron were indistinguishable to me accuracy wise, but I noticed that after handling them and loading them standing up with the barrels pointed down instead of level, that the necks and shoulder area on the non-dacron was smoky/sooty, indicating a drop in pressure from the powder moving away from the primer. I also used CCI 250 mag primers as I believe they are as hot as the Fed 215 and they have a harder cup, a feature that I like. I wish I had brought a chrono, but will have one next week, to see what velocity we are getting out of the 24" barrels.We ended the afternoon shooting small balloons offhand at 30&50 yds and I decided I did not want to get bob mad at me with a double in his hands! All in all, a very satisfying day, and many thanks to bobc for his kind invitation to Bayou Rifles and all the help and advice with my new(old) 400 Nitro!!! Thanks also for the 300 gr. Hornadys, I will work some up tonite! Unfortunately Rusty and 400 Nitro(Mark?) could not make it, but we had a good time anyway. Thanks again to all concerned and to this board for all the help and advice! Lee.

Lee:
I was with you in Dallas when you purchased the Rodda; I liked it very much, and knew it was a great deal. Glad it shoots so well; you got a bargain ...... a little hard to come by these days with double rifles. Great gun !!!

Lee, that was loads of fun. I still think this double regulation stuff is propoganda to keep the masses away so the in-crowd can get em more cheaply! You've got a winner of a double there, and maybe we can get Rusty and Mark out there to decipher the proofs, etc. Sure looks like rl-15 is the go-to powder for these guns. By the way, you sure have some nice bolt action trash too. Good meeting you today. Bob

Clearly you guys had a GREAT DAY and that is always a pleasure to read about!

Frank, I do not mean to be rude, but I met a lot of folks that day and sort of lost track! Were you with Tony or were you the guy that was waiting for me to put the Rodda down? He said he already had several doubles, but there were several guys of the DRSS with Tony at that time that I did not see again. Hope to meet you again soon!
bobc, thanks again for the help, you are the Lucky Regulation Guru, you should charge for your services!
I went downstairs and opened the safe, used my trigger pull guage and found that the front trigger was a whopping 7# pull, while the rear was 4-3/4#. I checked four of my other english shotguns and the worst was 5.5. Surprisingly the rear triggers were all about 1# lighter than the fronts!?! I wonder if its a wear issue or just a fluke! I believe I will remove the rifle butt and take a look at the sear engagement and try to find out why it is so heavy and creepy. Lee.

Lee: I was just browsing in the Champlin Arms booth while you were looking at the rifle; I was talking to Mac & Tony when you decided to buy the rifle. You & I talked a few minutes right before you made the deal; I had purchased a Searcy Classic, and couldn't afford another gun at the show, although I would have bought your gun if I was in the market for another rifle. It's a dandy ! I'll be back next year, and I hope to see you again. FRANK

Congratulations Lee!

I think you will find that the RL-15 will be the way to go on the Rodda!

sorry I could not make the shoot!

Rusty and 400 NE, I know you'll see this gun soon enough, but a question. It has initials JA on the underside of the barrels. Any ideas on who made Rodda guns? It's a sweet unadorned working double, 24" barrels. Bob

quote:

Originally posted by lee440:
Frank, I do not mean to be rude, but I met a lot of folks that day and sort of lost track! Were you with Tony or were you the guy that was waiting for me to put the Rodda down? bobc, thanks again for the help, you are the Lucky Regulation Guru, you should charge for your services!
Lee.

LEE, I was the guy who told you if you wanted that rifle, you better not put it down, because I was going to buy it, if you did! I was as serious as a heart attack! I would have bought that rifle in a heart beat.
I'm not surprised it shoots, and I'm very glad for you and Bobc with your luck in "WORKING" up a load that regulates in your rifle. That is it WORKING is the operative word in this case!

Good shooting, and maybe we can get the DRSS out for a Hog hunt soon,so we can blood that rifle for you!

Mac, I remember you! Things were busy that day and I have always been bad on names, but yours was on your hat as I recall. Rusty, I thought I was finally going to meet you after all this time! I think it would be great to have a meeting of the DRSS, hope I am invited.
While we are on the subject, do most people use Dacron for the filler, I know Tony uses foam, but until I know exactly what it feels/looks like, I'm sticking with polyester. I'm still nervous about the issue of "ringing" a chamber, but I believe from what I read that it was more of an issue of not enough wad and powder migrating between wad and bullet. Kind of reminds me of the S.E.E. arguments about secondary explosion effect! Lee.

I use the Dacron poly filler.

The ringing issue was concerning Nitro for Black Powder. It had nothing to do with RL-15 and filler as discribed by Ross Seyfried in "Reloading the Nitro Express" Here is a link to the article that is posted on NitroExpress.com Seyfried Article

I apologize for not making it to the range Sunday. Just had a bunch of family responsiblities and we had a sick dog we've had for 14 years, die. Needed to be around the house. I look forward to seeing you at the range in the future.

lee440,

What caliber is this "New For You" Rodda? Thanks.

Rusty, no problem! And my dog also happens to be 14 and is having some problems, taking care of family and faithfull friends always comes first!
BFJ, my Rodda is a 450/400-3", or 400 Jeffrey. From what my Proof book implies, I believe it was made between 1904-1925. Finding info on Roddas is hard to do.
Rusty, thanks for the link, I have been wanting to locate that article. Lee.

Initials stamped under the barrels are usually the barrel filer's signature. I can't find any candidates for JA.

Not much information about R. B. Rodda seems to have survived. Their marketing was clearly focused on India. They are said to have had a factory in Birmingham.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

Mark, how would I go about identifying the maker? Can you recommend some sources, books, or internet sites? I can't seem to find much at all. The barrels have Birmingham proofs, the J.A was in a circle, and of to the side H.R is stamped. The action has a greener style crossbolt, but does not resemble the Greeners I have seen in that the action is smooth sided and is not machined down near the hinge pin area. It pretty much looks like most standard English Boxlocks to my untrained eye. Any help you can give would be appreciated! By the way, does anyone know if Rodda ever sold shotguns? Thanks, Lee.
By the way, if you go to the Westley Richards website, under used guns, they have a Rodda 450/400 that is the twin to mine in all respects. Maybe their pictures will help identify it. www.westleyrichards.com

Lee:

JA could be Joseph Asbury. He was originally an action maker, but was listed as a barrel maker later on. Asbury was in Lench Street (as was Harry Leonard, the well known DR trade maker) during the same period of time that Rodda was in Whittall Street. In other words, they were very close to each other.

I've don't recall ever having seen a Rodda shotgun.

http://www.gunshop.com/ryder1.htm

Here's a little blurb on Birmingham makers. Bob

The photo on the Westley Richards site shows a reinforced area on the bottom of the chamber area. I have a Cogswell and Harrison 450/400 that has the same features.I have been told that is typical of a Coggie. Does your rifle have a reinforcing plate on the top rib above the front sling eye? If so, I'll bet that Cogswell and Harrison made it for Rodda.

Mike, my top rib has nothing that looks like a reinforcing plate. The bolster on the bottom of the chamber area is I think, the plate for the shoe lumps. This rifle has "shoe lumps"I am told, and it looks like the lumps are part of this "saddle" that the barrels are then laid into and brazed in place. Now, I know diddley squat for sure. Anyone that can enlighten me, please do! It would be fine with me if it was a Coggie, as I have a pair of C&H boxlock 12 ga. shotguns. If I was able to find it was a good likelhood, I could get provenance from C&H for a fee. Lee.

Lee:

The flange on each side at the breech end of the barrels, on a shoe-lump gun, are as you described. Shoe-lump barrels almost always have these. However, many chopper-lump barrels have them as well. They're functional on shoe-lump, but are not on chopper-lump.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."