Hello Group,
I own the G,Gibbs Farquharson in the first photo in this post, I can say that the workmanship on this fitting is extraordinary, even looking at the inletting with a loup there is no sign of gaps or chisel slips, as you can see from the photo the plates are let in flush all around, the "timed" screws have all been fitted, the plates blued, then the screws re fitted in correct order with polished heads, not a single slot has a burr or any damage, as you can see from the photo the two sides meet perfectly at the front of the pistol grip, and around the grip trap.
One other point that has often intrigued me was if these metal plates become uncomfortably hot in warm weather, as I would expect them to, last week I took the rifle out in 40 deg (C)temperatures, and although the rifle was exposed to the full sun the grips never became to hot to shoulder and fire, I can only assume that as the metal is very thin, (.040") the heat was dissipated into the wood of the stock.
The Selous plates cost an extra £2 when the rifle was new in 1887 !
If there are any other questions about this rifle I would be only too glad to answer.