| 3DogMike |
| (.400 member) |
| 22/10/21 03:23 AM |
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James Woodward .450 resurrected
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A 2 year project to bring new life to this James Woodward .450 Express has come to completion.
Letter from Purdey says the rifle was finished & sold in July 1895; evidently held on stock for some years as surrounding Woodward serial numbers date to circa 1893.
28" steel barrels with Henry rifling, 8lb 14oz, rebounding locks with stalking safeties, fully engraved steel buttplate, 14 11/16' LOP.
Except for the obviously wrong front sight the rifle was in otherwise original state.
This was a collaborative effort with my guy Steve Bertram (bouldersmith) and Aaron Little; Steve in charge of metal restoration, while Aaron Little relaid the barrel ribs and reregulated.
The barrels were separated at the muzzles and had a bodgered non original front sight; rear sight had been banged up, and the ring of engraving at the breeches needed some TLC. A small splinter of wood was missing from the forend as well.
Steve made a proper new caterpillar front sight, restored the rear sight, had his engraver guy restore the engraving at the breeches, then restruck & polished up the barrels and did a 1st class "London" reblack. Steve fixed the forend wood such that one would never know that it had the missing splinter replaced.
The buttstock was a bit "dry" so I addressed that issue with Linseed oil.
- Mike
Shameless plug for Steve Bertram: http://www.bertramandco.com
Aaron Little can be found on FaceBook….(I don't go there any longer)
Before:
After:
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Very nicely figured wood:
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 22/10/21 04:01 AM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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What can one say? - they did a marvelous job indeed.
Absolutely beautiful work.
| tinker |
| (.416 member) |
| 22/10/21 04:24 AM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Looks great!
| 93x64mm |
| (.416 member) |
| 22/10/21 08:01 AM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Quote:
What can one say? - they did a marvelous job indeed.
Absolutely beautiful work.
Mike, Daryl is certainly stating the obvious, but Steve Bertram & Aaron Little did such a magnificent job on this old girl that she will be good for at least another 120 years - easy!
What an heirloom to have. kudos to you all.
Hope to see the range report if you haven't already done so.
93x64mm
| bwanabobftw |
| (.375 member) |
| 23/10/21 12:28 PM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Congrats on a beautiful rifle !!!!!!!!!! Hope you can do some hunting with it this fall.
Robert
| 3DogMike |
| (.400 member) |
| 23/10/21 12:40 PM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Pretty rough terrain and potential weather here for 2nd season Deer/Elk, probably not risking this one on this years hunt……my Ruger No.1 .338 will be my "go to" at camp this year.
- Mike
Outdoors & flat light, a couple of better "glamour shots" of this old girl:
| rigbymauser |
| (.400 member) |
| 25/10/21 07:56 PM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Awful nice express rifle you have there Mike. Woodwards are rare. Some rifles like yours adds value when restored and by this I mean restored correct!.
Lets hear how it shoots. Thanks for sharing.
J
| degoins |
| (.333 member) |
| 26/10/21 05:57 AM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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WOW...….that turned out great!!!
| 260rem |
| (.375 member) |
| 26/10/21 09:30 AM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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She definitely came up very nice, and should be a brilliant staking rifle.
NitroX
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| (.700 member) |
| 26/10/21 10:50 PM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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I think that James Woodward .450 BPE will be something special to hunt with.
| Aaron_Little |
| (.300 member) |
| 31/10/21 12:29 PM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Glad to see her finished up and back in your hands. One of these days I hope to get to my own .450 Henry Atkin project!
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 31/10/21 01:05 PM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Mike - is it marked for bullet weight & load regulation?
| 3DogMike |
| (.400 member) |
| 03/11/21 06:05 AM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Hi Daryl,
No, there are no original markings as to load or anything else. Just .450EX proof marks. Typical of those days…..
The rifle was regulated by Aaron Little for 300 grain jacketed bullet (Speer HP) and H4198 NfB load. I would not defile the rifle with modern load info engraving (even under the forend).
- Mike
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 03/11/21 07:23 AM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Might ask Curly what he uses in his .450 BPE Purdey's, Mike. I know it's a 300gr. paper patched copper washed bullet. It prints to the sights in both of his rifles. I almost bought one of those - should have. Oh well.
| lancaster |
| (.470 member) |
| 03/11/21 02:01 PM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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very nice work
what ever it cost in the end you feel it was worth the money
| 3DogMike |
| (.400 member) |
| 04/11/21 12:34 PM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Quote:
very nice work
what ever it cost in the end you feel it was worth the money
Lancaster.
Thankyou for the kind words. This Woodward has turned out to be a very successful resurrection to proper age appropriate condition and appearance.
Fortunately I feel that this project was/is worth the reasonable expenditure, and the restoration was not that huge an investment because the underlying rifle was so good to begin with.
It is very satisfying to facilitate bringing a bit of history back to its rightful glory, and this Woodward is now good for many more years enjoyment.
As they say: I am only the current caretaker of this beauty, and I truly appreciate the opportunity to bring it back to life.
- Mike
| Ripp |
| (.577 member) |
| 05/11/21 12:34 AM |
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Re: James Woodward .450 resurrected
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Congrats Mike
Absolutely beautiful rifle and workmanship... joy to look at let alone hunt with...
Job well done...