| 4seventy |
| (Sponsor) |
| 29/09/12 03:54 PM |
Re: Double of the Day
|
Quote:
The barrels were not originally chambered for 458 Win Mag, because the rifle was made in 1906, and the 458 Win Mag cartridge was introduced in 1954! Why would some one fit a pair of chambered for 458 Win Mag to a 1906 WR double then re-chamber them to 450N2? Sounds like a long way around the barn to me!
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The new barrels were fitted and proofed somewhere between 1954 and 1989 going by the Birmingham proofs.
The barrels may have been made at the time when Kynoch ammo was difficult to obtain, and that could be the reason for the .458 Win Mag chambering. 458 Ammo would be easy (or easier) to get at that time.
(Kynoch stopped making NE cartridges about 1970.)
The gun was then rechambered and reproofed at London in 2005, to the .450 No2 NE.
By 2005 the old rimmed NE cases and cartridges were being made available through several different sources, including born again Kynoch, and I guess the guns owner at that time preferred a lower pressure rimmed NE cartridge chambering over the belted rimless .458 Win Mag.
See also that "450" gold inlay where the top rib meets the barrel extension, appears to have been changed from "458".
Quite a high grade gun originally by the looks of it. Spare detatchable locks etc.