claw mounts is sturdiests ans most reliable ,plus they look good aswell. my tip for scope would be 1,5-6x or a 2,5-0 or 10 x . they have good optics and magnification. a 218 is a good and calssic round , unfortunately didn make a rimmed version of it, but the regular is a super cartridge. ill probably end up with one someday anyhaow.

Aussie Mike,
I have the same thoughts about my Janssen .333 Jeffery flanged double. My gunsmith came up with this ideas;

Remove the back sight in its dove tail (it has 4 folding sights) and he will make a new dovetail either for a Docter sight or a ghost ring sight.
I will go for a ghost ring. Nothing will be done on the rifle and i will be able to take it back to original.

With a ghostring I will be able to use the rifle out to 150 - 200 paces.

AUSSIE MIKE, If the claw mount is done properly, there is no reason not to have the benifit of a good scope, on any double rifle. The only double I would not do a proper scope mount on is, one that belonged to someone like Corbin, or Taylor,because of the collector value. These rifles are well documented as being iron sighted rifles. All general double rifles could be either scoped, or not, by the origenal owner, or someone later, but still in it's new/used period . The KEY here is to have the mounts installed by someone who is well aware of the process, and will install period mounts, and rings. My choice would be claw mounts.

The one place I would go modern is, with the scope it'sself. In this case I would opt for a 1.5-5X30mm Luepold Illuminated scope with a No4 German reticle. This way you have the best of all worlds. The rifle can be used with it's irons, with the scope as an alternative sight, to be placed on the rifle only when needed. This scope will cover long shots,with the 5 power, dim light,with the bold German No4 reticle, and even in the dark often experienced in a Leopard, or Lion blind. The existance of a claw mount in the rib of your rifle is period, and if done properly, will not look added on!

I have never understood why folks are so against scoping a double rifle! People had scopes for back up on double rifles as long as they have been available. It is your rifle, do as it suits you!

Thanks for the input. I think I'll price claws from Ralph Blahnik - a good traditional gunsmith.

mike

If you're going to scope it, get claw mounts. They're expensive, but worth every penny, and will have the least impact on the value of the rifle (other non-original mounts will detract).

Just curious, have you had reliable extraction with it? I've shot two Westley doubles in .318 rimless and had extraction failures with both. Since Westley was fond of this caliber in doubles, I've often wondered why they didn't just use the .318 Westley Richards Flanged, aka the .322 Swift, which was identical except for the rim. It was available for the asking and Kynoch loaded it for a time. I've run across a couple of rifles from other British makers chambered for it.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

I sort of split the difference in that if I were to scope that rifle I would not only look for claw mounts but bases that are from the same period. The newer ones look too modern and old ones are fairly easily obtained if one is patient. Call Lee LaBas at L&L Enterprises and see what he can dredge up:

LeArmes, Inc.

If you go for a claw mounted scope look for an older Karl Kahles Helia Super 1,5 - 4,5. Superb quality and doesnt make your rifle look like a mess, as it would with a modern Leupold or Zeiss or what ever scope.

These Helia scopes are very much sought after and preferred for double rifles there you want to keep the look traditional.

As these scopes have a steel tubes, your gunsmith would be able to solder it to two half moon scope mounts which would look very good on a Westley Richards

A claw mount with a rail mounted scope.

He's right about the period scopes, but I would still mount the best new rail scope I could afford on it.

I assume if your shooting a WR double and you talking about doing a $1000 claw mount to it, that any rail scope is in your grasp.

Get the best one you like.

I scoped a W/R .350 No. 2 best sidelock ejector with a Leupold 7/8" tube 2.5x in the 1960s using a Miller Kodiak mount. NO alterations, cuts, or D&T to the rifle were required. A wider rear bracket, to fit over and bear down on both barrel breeches, had to be made. The rear sight was removed and a filler made to take the Miller dovetail lug and an ordinary Marbles single folding leaf sight. The Leupold was the original 5 oz. model with annular ring adjustments, not turrets. By luck and the grace of G-d, no change in regulation occurred. However I did not like the change in balance and handling, the Miller mount looks like the Brooklyn Bridge, and I removed it. But it was functional and if the Rigby had been in use by me as a serious hunting rifle I would have kept it installed. Instead, I always treated the rifle as an object d'arte and went into the woods most of the time with an M70.

I did a claw mount on a '20s regular drilling and bought a near-period rail Pecar 6x scope (single barrel drilling/not a double rifle on this one). The bases had the windage and the scope had the elevation adjustment. It looked awesome and would have worked had the smith done a better job with the front claw. Had the scope rebuilt by a guy in Pennsylvania. Again, it looked great, whish it would have worked better.

In any case, I agree with the rest; claw mount with period scope, rail if possible (doesn't need to be a rail, just nice if you can). It will look and function great.

In my opinion rail scopes doesn't look so nice and the mount will be higher than with a oridinary mount.
I have claw mount on most of my rifles including a 3 Mauser 98 and a double claw mount on my Robert Hübner 9,3x74R ,16/16 drilling for a Aimpoint scope for driven hunts and a Helia 1,5 - 6x42 for low light hunting.

Claw mounts are great - but expensive...

Husky could you post some photos of the rifles you are talking about to show what it might look like.

I especially want to see Husky's Aimpoint equipped double.

OK,
I will take photos tomorrow!

Husky

This is not as simple a question as it seems.

I scoped a 350 No. 2 (by Gibbs) boxlock in South Africa in the mid 80s. Used a rail and the old Warne lever mounts on a Leupold compact 4x scope. The geometry demanded that both rings sit on the front of the tube. The back sight was the recoil stop for the front ring. It worked brilliantly, aligned with the left barrel (the tightest as the right had clearly been fired much more). Groups from the left barrel nearly touched and the composite group was very good at under 3 inches at 100 yards.

The problem came when I tried to change to a Vari-X III. The geometry permitted me to put rings further apart. The result was changed barrel harmonics that had left and right barrels with the same ammo as the 4x compact scope striking more than 12 inches apart...

I like the idea of a ghost ring replacing the entire back sight that is preserved. The .318 is a 150 yard rifle with a ghost ring, maybe more if you become proficient. It's no more than 250 with a scope.

Regards, Tim

Aussie Mike

If your rifle has a solid rib in the rear than you can machine a simple slot in both sides that will allow Kimber lever mounts to grip using the rib as a base. This is very unobtrusive and will be hard to spot when done correctly.

Remember that the scope will sit well back on the barrels so plan accordingly with the placement.

A straight tube Leopold is the best choice because of the lightness and will deliver all the magnification that a 200 yard rifle needs.