The Webley was a retirement present to myself which I bought at an Holt’s auction. At the time I was looking for a double rifle and had visited a couple of auctions but hadn’t been satisfied with what I had seen. Fortunately I live within an hour’s drive of Holt’s main base and they had a rifle in their upcoming sale I was interested in, so I drove over with my wife to take a look.

Holt’s is a great place to visit, once you have established your bona fides, they lock you in the gun room and leave you to it. Provided you show due care they allow you to handle anything from junk to museum quality pieces. However, once I saw the double rifle in question I began to realise that what I wanted I couldn’t afford and what I could afford I didn’t want. Just at that point my wife pointed to a gun and said,

“Isn’t that a double rifle?”

I had to admit that, yes, indeed it was. She asked,

“Well, do you like that one?”

I picked the rifle up, examined it and I had to say that I liked it very much. Her response was,

“Buy that one then if you really like it.”

At that point you will all undoubtedly think I made a cardinal mistake because I said,

“I don’t think I’ll buy that one because it’s a Holland and Holland Royal Grade rifle and they’ve got an estimate of Ł30,000 on it.”

My wife went very pale. Fortunately, by this time I’d spotted the Webley and decided that the rifle and I could be very happy together.