Bought this last year and asked Mr. Caswell to look it over and build some loads. Shoots like a dream. It's a W.R. Leeson 500 Express. Hope to hunt with it upon my return to the States. Now I'm itching to find its nitro sister.
Nice to have time to read the boards again.

Still learning the photo thing. Here's the gun. The target shows that it shoots pretty well.

Nice! Congratulations!

Looks great Jeff.

There is just something attractive about a doublebarreled back actioned hammer rifle with jones underlever.

Now there's a classic!

Very nice. Got to be some history there.

It obviously has some history. Wish I had some provenance. That said, I've had lengthy discussions with a Leeson collector in the UK. It appears to be one of the few, if not the only, heavy rifle extant. There is one other in pieces that we've found. Interestingly, the markings are something of an anomaly. Long story short, the markings and address suggest that it was proofed circa 1895 and likely finished around 1900. Further, the action type and Jones underlever were fairly outdated. A couple of surmises but the rifle may well have been ordered by an "old timer" that wasn't impressed with the "new" models. I will say that it would be difficult to disable with the redundancy in the construction. It also has a doll's head that may stay lateral movement but doesn't provide any real lock up strength. At first, I thought it was a "parts gun" but have been corrected by those who know better. Bottom line: it shoots well and is suitable for any deer or hogs I might encounter. My biggest surprise was how slim and svelt the rifle was. It's handles like a hefty 28 double. Now I want more.
Cheers, Jeff

Couple more photos. Just looked at some other posts and pics. Not sure this one measures up for membership in the DRSS but I still like it.

http://i1287.photobucket.com/a...2181_zps8db4fb43.jpg

Thanks for the comments and best to all.

Congrats on a lovely piece of shooting history. I have a Richards 20b Hammer gun with a Jones rotary underlever. One of it's nifty safety attributes is that if I need to lower a hammer on an unfired shell it's very easy to open the gun first and then lower the hammer. That way you don't have to worry about grabbing the right hammer and the front trigger..
Best of luck don't forget to post a couple of the loads your shooting.

Lovely gun.


Re the Dolls head, being a Underlever it doesn't need to provide strength in the lock up as the
Underlever does that so well.

quote:

Originally posted by JeffM:
Couple more photos. Just looked at some other posts and pics. Not sure this one measures up for membership in the DRSS but I still like it.

http://i1287.photobucket.com/a...2181_zps8db4fb43.jpg

Thanks for the comments and best to all.

Hi Jeff. Sweet gun and good shooting! Definitely qualifies you for the DRSS

Nice old double. I love the look and the feel of the old hammer guns. What load were you using to get such nice grouping?

Gents,
Thanks for the responses. The underlever design is extremely strong as you know.
Thanks, Don. Wasn't sure about the DRSS thing. There's a chance I'll be working a bit north of you by next year. Would love to meet and shoot.
As for the loads, I wish I could claim that I developed it but the truth is that the loader (don't know name) at Champlin's put them together for me. I'm in Rwanda and the recipe is at home. That said, it's smokeless load with a 350 grain GC doing about 1600 fps by my chrony. Thought about tinkering with it but not sure I want to let perfection get in the way of good enough.

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

What is the bullet weight & velocity? I presume you were shooting Nitro for black.

jeff, you are causing me some consternation with those pics, I am trying to talk myself out of spending an extra chunk of loot, for an underlever 12 bore, over a sidelever. You may be a baaaad influence!!!!
That just looks like a fun gun.

The bullet weight is 350 grains at about 1600 fps. I'm sure I could boost it a bit here and there to a 440 grainer but why mess with good enough. I'm a fan of accuracy.

209: I understand. I've trolled and been on these forums for a long time. I now own a 9.3x62 custom mauser, a .416 Taylor, and a 450 NE custom #1 all because of the derelicts who post on these pages. Frankly, the photos don't do the gun justice. First it was dirty when I took the photos and, secondly, there is much more bluing that the sun seemed to wash out in the photos.
That said, it's my only underlever at the time but I'm looking for a light 20 gauge. The action is unbelievably simple and strong. And it's not that slow to operate as you have to come out of the action on a double anyway to reload. It's just classy.
There's a 12 bore rifle out there that I lust after but I'll have to find a higher form of employment before I can own it.
Jeff

Nice lines on the stock and metal as well. The fact that it shoots well is an added bonus. I've been hesitant to embrace rifles such as these in the past but as you mention the people here on the forums are infectious. You can now add yourself to the Typhoid Mary club as your pictures have only worsened my infection with DR and BPE rifles.

It is a beautiful gun. Congratulations indeed.

Eric

Gents,
Again, thanks for all the positive comments. Although some have claimed me to be an instigator, the reverse is true in that now due to the comments I feel validated in yet another bad (read expensive)habit. Double guns, custom rifles, Reeder revolvers, bird dogs, flyrods, etc... where does it end? Cheers to all.

It's a wonderful looking rifle!
Best of shooting and hunting to you!!!