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Mike, believe it or not I have no. 2973. The rifle is identical but less engraving and as it came out of India the condition is nowhere near yours.

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Now THAT is quite the needle in haystack coincidence!
Too bad we are rather distant from one another, it would be quite the thing to have consecutive rifles together 149 years later.
- Mike

Tony/TH44,
I speculated to myself that this one likely came from Scott or Webley, however did not want to add that to the initial narrative.
I am absolutely "chuffed" that this one survived in such good condition AND so happy that the refresh was carried out by real professionals. My guess is that the work was done in the UK as I have a couple of photos of it that have "the look" of Holts Auction photography so I'm guessing it was in England in the not too distant past.

In Bill Flemings book "British Sporting Rifle Cartridges" he notes that there was a Holland proprietary .450 3 1/4" made by Eley that was loaded with 110 grains powder and a 330 grain bullet.
It will be interesting to see what this one likes when I finally get to take it out. My good fortune that I have a quite wide selection of .45 paper patch and grooved moulds of 300 up to 365 grains to work with.

- Mike

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"Will Rogers never met a fighter pilot"
- Anon

“Always carry a flask of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore always carry a small snake."
-- W. C. Fields

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