Had a customer drop this off at my shop a while ago, he is wanting to pass the project along to someone else if possible. He bought it at auction in London 4-5yrs ago, but hasn't done anything with it.

The lock plates read J. Blanch, there is no serial number on the action or barrels, in fact the only serial number on the gun is on the forend loop which may or may not belong to the action. The action and back action lock match the H&H Dominion action exactly. The Dominion action is well respected for being pretty strong as there is a lot of metal left in the action bar. The action has bushed strikers.

The barrels are dovetail lump construction and are currently 28". It is currently a .303Brit but could be rebored to something up to .375 Flanged due to there being plenty of wall thickness in the barrels. Extractor model. The only blemishes are the pitting on the inside of the locks, those could be microtigged and stoned/filed off to remove. The rest of the surface rust you see on the gun and barrels will polish out easily.

The gun is missing its trigger bits, trigger guard, and forend latch bits. I have access to a Dominion action to copy the parts exactly.

Please contact me for pricing. I can finish this gun in my shop or you can send it to another maker of your choice.











*I can take better digital pics for interested parties.

Dude!

Any post that is sales/classified in nature requires a price. This isn't Texas Hunting Forum where you bastards PM for everything.

That's a real nice comment DUDE. Get up on the wrong side of the bed today????? I guess you have moved up to the "Moderator" level huh?

Oh I am sorry, forgot you are the guy that is the "ultimate" expert on waterproof raingear. Guess that now applies to all topics here on AR????

Aaron - You have a PM.

Larry Sellers
SCI(International)Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Dude!

Any post that is sales/classified in nature requires a price. This isn't Texas Hunting Forum where you bastards PM for everything.

That would make for a cool rifle in .303 for hogs, bear, deer etc. and plains game too.

Yes, I'd leave it in 303 as well. Nice classic small-bore DR.

What a little Gem...

Ed

Wish I had the cash right now, personally I'd also leave it as a .303. Hopefully you'll get the job Aaron and we can see what becomes of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Sellers:
That's a real nice comment DUDE. Get up on the wrong side of the bed today????? I guess you have moved up to the "Moderator" level huh?

Oh I am sorry, forgot you are the guy that is the "ultimate" expert on waterproof raingear. Guess that now applies to all topics here on AR????

Aaron - You have a PM.

Larry Sellers
SCI(International)Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Dude!

Any post that is sales/classified in nature requires a price. This isn't Texas Hunting Forum where you bastards PM for everything.

I was being funny fucker

The reason I don't list price is because there are so many directions one could take this project. I would suspect to get a proper looking sidelock double rifle out if this one would need to drop $20k on the project. You could do it for less, but eventually you will get to a point of cutting corners, the end result won't do justice to the gun or my capabilities. I would rather decline at that point. If one really wanted to up the wood and engraving I could see it getting nearer to $26k+

I've had questions concerning the barrels. The bores are in perfect condition only having been shot at a proof house, I'd suspect less than 8yrs ago. These are not the original barrels. I'm still trying to figure out what it was when it left J. Blanch's shop 100+yrs ago.

I would leave it as a 303 as well. But I would be Highly Tempted to check the barrel and see what size the tubes were at lands and grooves. I would really want to shoot.308 diameter bullets since there are some many different weights and manufacturers. Something or 3 is going to regulate!

Humor is very difficult to convey in writing on this forum.

Matt

quote:

Originally posted by Matabele:
Wish I had the cash right now, personally I'd also leave it as a .303. Hopefully you'll get the job Aaron and we can see what becomes of it.

+1 on wishing for cash! Hope you get to post pics when you're done with it, Aaron!

Below are a few more pictures of the marking on the action flats and barrel flats. The only serial number(61655) I can find is on the forend loop pictured. The loop may or may not belong to the action. Better pics of the engraving too. There is a little pitting on one plate that could be stoned out and engraving chased when the time comes.

The reason I bring up reboring it to a larger caliber is because of the weight of the metal as it sits. At 7lbs 6oz with 28" barrels it will be one heavy .303 when complete. By going to a larger bore one drops a little weight but makes weight/bore size better. One could cut the barrels down to 24" and loose some weight(keeping .303), or rebore it and leave them longer. A .350 Rigby no 2 would be great...cough.

Big Wonderful Wyoming of California,

1. this is not the classifieds. It is a question RE interest.

2. consensus here appears that you are not funny, just vulgar.

regards,

Rich

Just me, but to talk about $20-26K to complete this project, for the same or similar money I would find an English double, probably cased and all original, that would do a far better job of holding its value long term. Particularly in a medium caliber. For example, Caswell has a Jeffery in .333 Flanged that could probably be had for the same top end price. Obviously just one perspective.

I'm guessing boxlock? Despite what one can get another double for, at the end of the day I have to be profitable at the project. If someone wants to make it a project, great I'd love to do it. If someone wants to farm the work out to another smith, fine. All I know is a customer brought me anincomplete gun and told me to try and sell it. It's a great opportunity, but no need to make minimum wage when there is other work to be done. I've watched too many other gunmakers do this not to have learned from it.

Yep don't short change yourself Aaron. The way I see it a customer can get exactly what they are looking for, down to stock measurements, calibre, finish, engraving etc etc. How often does that happen with a vintage gun.

I agree with the above two posts wholeheartedly!!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Little:
I've had questions concerning the barrels. The bores are in perfect condition only having been shot at a proof house, I'd suspect less than 8yrs ago. These are not the original barrels. I'm still trying to figure out what it was when it left J. Blanch's shop 100+yrs ago.

Aaron,
The (London) proof marks on the barrel flats suggest the barrels have been proved much much earlier than 8 years ago.

What would you date the proofing at?

Could be pre 1904.
What have you seen on the barrels which suggests that they are not original to the action, and that they were proofed less than 8 years ago?

The customer bought it 4-5yrs ago under the stipulation that it had been recently rebarrelled. Just going by what was told to me. The action and locks I have no doubts is pre-1904. The barrels, no way they are that old. I'm still waiting to hear from J. Blanch concerning any records there may be on the gun.

Ok, no worries, I see where you're coming from now.
It will be interesting to see if Blanch can throw some light on things.
My guess on the date is based solely on the proof marks on the barrel flats, as I can't tell much about the barrels from photos.

Is there any chance that the original barrels were cut off and sleeved with new barrels, thus retaining the original old proof marks? I imagine you have already checked for any sign of well concealed sleeving?

Those (barrel flats) proofs IMO are definitely not from 8 years ago or less. They appear to be pre 1904.


There would be a fair bit of work needed to finish the gun off, but the end result could turn out very nice.