Gentlemen,

I am slowly getting all the parts and goodies together on a project and now I am at the bolt.

I want this rifle to look as close to English as I can get (within reason). I am looking for bolt handle photos of early Rigby's, Westley-Richards ect. These are the handles that come straight out, then sharply angle down. They clear the stock side wall completely.

If you have such a rifle and can take a photo from an angle slightly to the rear, and post it or email it to me I would most certainly appreciate it.
If you have a catalog of these rifles and can scan the photo and post it that would be almost as good as a photo of the bolt handle itself.

Thank you.

Roger,

The book "original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles" by Jon Speed, Walter Schmid, and Reiner Hermann, have numerous Rigby, Jeffrey's, and Westley Richards Mausers.

I have a copy I would be happy to scan some for you in the next few days.

Bob

Thank you Sir, I would appreciate that.

At some point the English decided the bolt handle should clear the side wall of the stock rather than have a notch cut which would weaken it, then down at a sharp angle to keep the knob close to the stock. This is "the look" I am after.

Thanks again.

I don't think the English made much of a decision on that one. That is the way the way the bolt handles left Oberndorf on the commercial Mausers. They offered plenty of clearance for the Suhl scope mounts of the day.

It was after the war (and probably in the US) that gunsmiths started angling the bolt handles thru the stock, to accomodate the "low scope" craze.

You can find the pictures you are looking for by looking at any commercial pre-war Mauser, in addition to British rifles.

This is a model B, I think.

How is this? .404 Jeffery by Jeffery

Kurt,

You are correct. I had speculated the early gunmakers both on the Continent and in England had to contend with recoil battering the rifles apart. Which of course became worse as the calibers increased and with the introduction of cordite. They dealt with that by having very close metal to wood fit. They didn't have the super-strength epoxies we have today. The bolt handles clearing the sidewall of the stock would give them that extra strength. My speculation has been verified over the years with correspondence with collectors and a handfull of stockmakers. I also read the old article by Jack Lott and that was the frosting on the cake so-to-speak.

While the early commerical Mausers employed the design we are talking about, the British took it a little farther by elongating the handle and making closer to the stock. Mickey's .404 Jeff is gorgeous is it not? But Jeffery squashed the knob to get more clearance rather than make a cutout like on the K98k. Interesting isn't it?

I keep thinking of an article I saw by Boddington where he is in Africa using a .318 Westely-Richards, an early one from the looks. This thing had a handle that came straight down like Mickey's Jeff but the knob was a stylized pear-shape. Really funky looking but in a cool way.

Thanks for the photos, these do help, especially that Jeff pic. That is the sort of thing I can send to my 'smith for him to work with. I can take the handle and shape but not the squashed knob
Thanks again.

[ 07-12-2003, 17:25: Message edited by: Roger Rothschild ]

Roger.

To give you a little more perspective on the change in shape over time here is a photo of my 333 Jeffery made in 1908.



Now, here is my 375 Jeffery made in 1952, which came from the factory with a detachable side mount scope (scope sat over bore line). As you can see, the bolt handle bend starts nearer the bolt body, and the outer surface is concave to allow more clearance. The knob also sat a little farther from the stock, presumably to make it easier to grasp (some say that it was to provide more clearance for the trigger finger, but I don't subscribe to this theory).



Hope this helps.
Jim

Thanks Jim, as I had told you before, those sure are beautiful rifles.