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Westley Ricards .375

azeerover
I have an old Westley Richards .375 in near mint condition, and am interested in learning about it's provenence, value, or any other information that can be offered. Are there any English hunting rifle experts out there? I've spoken briefly with the Westley Richards Agency, but hope to find out more. Thanks in advance.


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Comments

11 comments

Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    Being that it's chambered for the rimmed version of the 375 H & H, it would date to no earlier then just prior to W W I.

    The action appears to be a Farquharson.

    Provenence would apply to it's ownership history, you would be more likely to know that?

    From your photo, it appears to have been made as a very high dollar custom rifle. Which it still is.

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  • nononsense
    Dexter,

    This is the link to the Westley Richards website. This particular page allows you to fill out the pertinent information about your rifle and submit it to the team at Westley Richards. They will look at the original ledgers and write up a synopsis of the original information about your rifle. They might even be able to give an approximate appraisal. The charge is $50.00/US and well worth it in my opinion. The value of the rifle supports this minimal investment to get the correct information.

    If however, you choose not to use this method, you could plan on attending the next SCI convention in Las Vegas late Jan./early Feb. of 2006 and visit the Westley Richards booth in person. I would suggest that you make an appointment with them ahead of time which is only proper.

    Best.

    http://www.westleyrichards.com/members/date.html

    From their website:

    The history of Westley Richards dates back to 1812 - and so do our ledgers. We have comprehensive records of virtually every gun that the company has ever produced. If you would like to know more about your own gun, then we can tell you about it. For example, enter the gun's serial number below and click 'submit' to display its approximate date of manufacture.

    If you would like to receive more detailed information, we can provide an authentication certificate containing all the relevant details from our ledgers. The certificate is printed on our headed notepaper and signed.
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  • azeerover
    rufe-snow,
    This has shells that say .375-303 Axite on them. They are not 375 H & H. I don't know when they were produced. Sorry I misused the term "provinence". You are correct. It was my great-grandfather's.

    nononsense,
    When I spoke with the Westley Richards Agency, they did not have the serial number in their database. They use the term "gun", and not rifle, so perhaps they only have records on shotguns. I'll have to ask as you suggest, on their website.

    Thanks both for your info!
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  • rufe-snow
    quote:Originally posted by azeerover
    rufe-snow,
    This has shells that say .375-303 Axite on them. They are not 375 H & H. I don't know when they were produced. Sorry I misused the term "provinence". You are correct. It was my great-grandfather's.


    Thanks both for your info!



    The 375/303 Axite is a very interesting and unique cartridge. My reference notes that Westley Richards introduced it in 1905. It was developed as a high velocity .303 Caliber Sporting cartridge, ( for the time ), specifically loaded with Axite powder. Although it was chambered in various types of rifles including Lee Action magazine rifles, it wasn't sucessfull. Apparently Westley Richards only cataloged it for a short time.

    Westley Richards introduced the 318 Rimless Nitro Express in 1910 for Mauser Action Bolt Rifles, it was much more sucessfull then the 375/303 Axite.

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  • azeerover
    rufe-snow
    1905 area makes sense. I found a .450-400 Nitro Express url (http://www.littlegun.be/arme britannique/ancien artisan/a richards fr.htm) that looks similar to mine and says it's a Model 1897. I can't find any other .375-303 Axites.

    By the way, about in 1965, I took one of the cartridges apart. The Axite that is in the shell is not powder, but long "noodles" measuring perhaps 1/8" wide by 1/16" thick and as long as you can fit in the casing, dark red, dried blood color. There were only a few of these "noodles" in the casing, not as many as you could pack in. Anyway thought you might find that interesting. I hadn't seen that before.

    Thanks again.
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  • joel_black
    The action is an 1897 Westley Richards. If you post the complete serial #, I might be able to tell you when, to whom it was sold. BTW, that is a beautiful example of a rare valuable rifle.
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  • azeerover
    The serial number on the rifle is 36065.

    Thanks!
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  • joel_black
    You rifle was not previously listed. #36008 and 36009 were both made in 1904, so yours must have be made right after the introduction of the rifle.
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  • shooter93
    azeerover....you have an e-mail that might help
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  • azeerover
    joel_black - Thanks for the info. Where were you able to locate it?
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  • joel_black
    The info comes from Tom Rowe's published series of books on British single shots. Tom first published Kirton's "British Falling Block Rifles" and since then every year or so he publishes Wal Winfer's books that are specific to individual makers of single shot rifles like Gibbs, Westley Richards and Jeffery. I think the latest one is on H&H. BTW, I, of course, meant to say your rifle must have been produced right after the introduction of the CARTRIDGE (not rifle).
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