Vintage Firearms: Krico Stutzen .243

Myself and our pal Shooter are off out for the day tomorrow so all the unfinished blog posts will have to wait until next week's 'Horse and Fish day' is over and slept off.
In the meantime Roestalker is selling this rather nice woodland stalking rifle a
Krico in .243, being Roestalker he's made a little video. Myself; being a bit lazy and having a growing appreciation for old rifles I'm reposting it.
Keep warm
Your pal
SBW
PS Eat like a Horse and Drink like a Fish - my birthday!

5 Gun Meme

I've been a little busy this year, and mysteriously unable to post comments on my own blog for the last three weeks but rest assured dear reader I'm still here and haven't given up blogging.

In the meantime a blog-meme has been doing the rounds with the usual gun nuts listing the guns they'd most like to acquire. With most of the gun bloggers posting handguns for home defence AKA 'goblin dispatch'.  This has never been a 'Gunny Blog' and I'm not really a hand gun kind of chap so I hadn't felt the need to join in, but when the mighty Steve B chipped in with his list of classic firearms for hunting I finally felt the need to publish my five gun battery of choice.

In the past I've listed a few guns in the "I want one" series of posts, some new and clever, some old and reassuringly handmade, this list is partially 'food getters' that are still available new and partially the antiques of tomorrow, nothing on the list couldn't be duplicated in functionality for a fraction of the price, but where's the fun in that?

Cooper Firearms of Montana: Jackson Squirrel Rifle in any rimfire cal. of your choice.
Arguably the best rimfire rifle made, anywhere, at any price. Sweet!
Picture credit

6.5X54 Mannlicher Schoenauer [preferably in rare Take Down spec.] AKA 'Bell's other rifle'
With its rotary magazine this was the Blaser of its day, an amazing example of the machinists craft. Bell   used his as his primary meat-getter and his stories are punctuated with praise for this wand-like rifle.
Picture credit and an excellent article about the MS 6.5x57 

David Lloyd in .240 (pictured in the barrel burning .244 cal)
Virtually an obsolete calibre, can only be used with vintage glass, but O' so sexy. David Lloyd designed his rifle from the glass down, he wanted a rifle that wouldn't lose its zero even when subjected to the rough and tumble of stalking in the Highlands. He designed his own scope mounts that shroud the scope, and then to really make sure they'd never moved silver soldered the scope to the mounts and the mounts to the rifle! Regular trips to eastern Turkey insured an amazing standard of Turkish Walnut for the stocks, and the barrels were the best money could buy.
Picture credit Emma's custom rifles

.275 Rigby with optional tang safety and the roll stamp on the barrel reading
'SIGHTED FOR RIGBY'S SPECIAL HIGH VELOCITY / JOHN RIGBY & CO. 43 SACKVILLE St. LONDON. W. / .275 BORE CARTRIDGE. POINTED BULLET 140 GRS.'

My last few stalking expeditions have been with a Rigby, and while I'm usually all about utility - plastic stocks and stainless steel, the Rigby was my introduction to classic firearms.  There is something immensely cool about Rigby's rifles, I've seen 'poor man's Rigby's' that would duplicate everything a Rigby could ever be, you could buy a more accurate rifle from pretty much any modern manufacturer, but none of them would ever have the vibe of the Rigby. If I needed to explain it to you, you'd never understand what all the fuss is about. Double want one.
Picture credit and available rifles from Holts

Berretta Super Leggera [Ultra Light] 12 gauge
Like a vist to an italian furniture shop this is both the best and worst of italian design. Not pretty; the engraving is so naff I'd probably have it coated in ceramic paint to hide the true hideousness of what I'll charitably call the 'engraving', but in the Highlands on those long walks after Ptarmigan, snowshoe hunting hares with Perkele or trudging across the prairie after Quail with Chad Love its light weight would be a blessing.
Picture credit

Meanwhile back in the real world I'll keep saving to buy another bag of airgun pellets!
More soon
SBW

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt18

Oh well go on then, I may as well confess; once again I'm sitting on the sofa lusting after things I can't afford, but weirdly imagine would give me that elusive sense of completeness [until the next thing].

I’ve been lucky enough to have a go with one of these on a weekend away with The Bambi Basher and to be fair there really is something a little bit magical about them. We made a short video of the .275 in action you can see it here.

£1600 ($2,462) is a fair whack of cash (especially at the moment) but this rig, a box of solids [footsteps of Karamoja Bell an’ all that] and you’re good to go. Classic, elegant as you like, and remarkable in any company, could this be The One? Must be love.

JOHN RIGBY & CO.
A .275 BOLT-MAGAZINE SPORTING RIFLE, Rigby serial no. 2436,
25in. blued signed 'JOHN RIGBY & CO. 72, ST. JAMES'S ST. LONDON', block-mounted bead fore-sight, block-mounted rear-sight of one standing and two folding leaves each with platinum-inlaid centre-line and calibrated to 300 yards, fitted with a Burris 2x-8x telescopic sight, receiver marked 'WAFFENFABRIK MAUSER OBERNDORF A/N, set trigger, 14in. figured semi-pistolgrip stock including 3/4in. rubber recoil pad, chequered grip and fore-end, sling eyes
Estimate £1,200-1,600 Sale A1045 Lot 1125

Then again what would you buy for the money?
Until next time
Your pal

SBW

PS I've seen both Karamoja and Karamojo used, but as the place seems to be spelled Karamoja, I'm going with that.

Vintage Firearms - Tactical Ring Pistol

At the Ex Mrs SBW's for the next few days, hanging out with the rugrat's, while they're watching 'Horrible Histories' I took the opportunity to scan the catalogue for Holts next auction of historic and sporting arms. Found this little terror, basically a finger mounted, multi-shot mini-cannon!

A RARE 4mm PINFIRE SIX-SHOT RING PISTOL, MODEL 'LE PETIT PROTECTOR',
circa 1865, comprising of a small hand-rotated blued cylinder attached to a nickel-silver ring, the ring engraved with 'LE PETIT PROTECTOR' around the circumference together with two bands of floral engraving, concealed, manually cocked hammer and trigger, the whole in fine condition retaining nearly all its original finish TOGETHER WITH a flip-top jewellery-style blue leatherette covered box, an inlaid white metal plaque to the top of the lid engraved 'LE PETIT PROTECTOR', the inside lined in off-white satin and maroon velvet, compartmented in the continental style with locations for the pistol, six rounds of ammunition (missing), and a small blued turn-screw. 

Estimate £2,000-3,000 Sale A1045 Lot 727 

More soon
Your pal
SBW

Vintage Firearms - The Rigby .275

As I started telling you in the last post I met up with another blogger last weekend: Bambi Basher is a massive military history and firearms buff who I'll be taking my deer management cert. with. He's recently become the latest delighted owner of a rifle made by Rigby of (first Dublin and then) London. I think of myself as the kind of bushwacker who likes his tools to be tools, but made in the 20s or 30s this one is pre Carbon and Fiberglas, so it's stocked in Walnut, and I was surprised how taken with it I was. Svelte in the hand, and older than both of us put together it's obviously been cared for, but bears the marks, scratches, and dings of many adventures. It's chambered in .275 Rigby (7x57mm Mauser) which many of the internets gun nuts seem to regard as a wonder hunting round having a slight edge over the more common .270. Here's a video from last weekend - much more to tell you about my weekend with the him but that'll have to wait.
Cheers
SBW