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I'm not sure that I'd rely much on the seller's representations here. This could well be a nice rifle, but it isn't what the seller has described, and the photos are so poor that it's hard to tell what's what. I'd want a letter from Westley on this one, plus lots of better photos and a professional eval. I'd also like to know what it weighs.

Again, the photos are poor but, this rifle wasn't made in 1897. The serial number, T6447, shows to be from 1913-1915. The .318 Westley Richards was introduced in 1908, the .470 in 1899. Further, there don't appear to be any pre-1904 proof marks present, even on the water table where the original marks are never removed when a double gun is reproved in England. On the water table, I see post-1904 Birmingham view marks that are consistent with original proof of a Westley built 1913-1915, plus the definitive London mark (previously put on the barrels, this mark was moved to the action under the new proof rules of 1954) indicating second proof in London sometime after 2/1/55. This action went through original proof in Birmingham sometime after 1904.

The .318 barrels appear to be original to this gun, but the .470 barrels don't. The .318 barrels appear to be shoe lump, and bear the correct original 1904 rule Birmingham marks for a .318 of the date of the serial number. These barrels have not been reproved. Shoe-lump barrels were the norm on Westley's double rifles before WWII, even on DRs of the very best quality...

The .470 barrels appear to be chopper-lump, and bear London proof from post-1971 - I can't make them out well enough to read the date code. Barrels on new Westley's were almost exclusively chopper-lump by this time. These barrels are engraved "S? .470 Barrels For Rifle SN 6447", clearly indicating that it is these that are the second set, not the .318s. Although the lack of a reproof mark isn't definitive, I don't see one, so I tend to think that these marks represent new, original proof for a new set of barrels from post-1971, not reproof of an old set. That would explain the two different barrel construction methods on the same gun, as well as the clearly different style. The .470 set has a quarter/concave rib, which is what you would expect on a set of later barrels, vs the full/flat rib of the .318 barrels.

From what I can see, it looks to me like this gun was originally built as a .318 circa 1913-1915, and now has a second set of new .470 barrels added sometime after 1971. Price-wise, I'd want to know if this second set was added by the maker, and the London marks, while not definitive, make me wonder. The seller indicates that the refurbishment was done by Westley, but the errors in the description make me think that he doesn't have a letter on it from them to confirm it. Again, this could be a nice rifle, but the description is neither accurate nor complete for it's purpose.

Edit: Westley's web site says T6447 was built in 1915.

Edited by 400NitroExpress (28/06/08 01:12 AM)