Great website showing various DR actions:

http://www.vintageguns.co.uk/a...62-2/actions-gallery

Which is the BEST (ie strongest, staying on-face, accuracy) if cost is not a factor?

Missing a few.


Back action sidelock - like the early Hollands
which were meant to be very strong.


I'd go for a Screw grip boxlock.

Round action?

Of the actions shown...

The Greener Facile Princeps

Too bad B. Bradshaw's action is not one of those pictured! No stronger
design than his. For it to come off face it would have to be nuked!

Thanks, I'll email that website's mods to add these updates! Now I just need to get images of these actions.

Hi PD999,
Thank you for one of the most informative homepages i have seen in a long while!

PD,

That is a great website.

Thanks!

Armbar.

quote:

Originally posted by Bailey Bradshaw:
Of the actions shown...

The Greener Facile Princeps

The W.W.Greener 1880 patented 'Facile Princeps' treble wedge-fast[boxlock]action:
[claimed to be the strongest type of breech/break open design SxS.]

The Greener design came about when Greener was inspired to design his own action in order to avoid paying Westley Richards to make actions for him based on the Anson & Deeley design.
Westley Richards launched the world’s first successful hammerless design cocked by the fall of the gun’s barrels,
that being the A&D design boxlock of 1875. William Anson & John Deeley worked for WR.

The Greener facile princeps boxlock was far from inexpensive to manufacture,and despite several court challenges from WR claiming a technical function/likeness to their A&D design,
W.W.Greener won and went on to prove that a Boxlock could be every bit as "best" as a Sidelock.

It was unfortunate for Greener that people continued to carry the perception that a sidelock was superior to a Greener FP boxlock, unconvinced that the Greener design was worthy & justified of its high cost.


Greener today ... primarily makes sidelocks, combined with very limted production of the Greener FP design.

Trax,

Nice bit of history on the Greener.

The Facili princeps action is a tank. Lots of steel where it counts and the Greener Crossbolt. They just don't get much stronger for a break action.

Thanks Trax and Bailey.

I had no idea that Greener is still trading as a family business after all these years. They are close to Westley Richards, so I'll have to visit both when I'm next up near Birmingham.

I've always had a soft spot for the Westley Richards hand-detachable locks, but I remember Mac mentioning previously that unfortunately a lot of metal had to be removed, potentially weakening the action.

Peter

According to Richard Akehurst's 'Game Guns and Rifles', Greener was sold to Webley & Scott in 1965. The Facile Princeps action's main claim to fame was ease of cocking. It could be had with or without the crossbolt, though Greener recommended its use.