At last! (Gun pics) Update: image intensive

spurgemastur · November 12, 2007 23:57

Some of you might remember my several posts on this topic.

In short, somewhat over five years ago I received contact from a relative I didn't know existed, who lived in Afica, explaining that I was the most logical heir to some heirlooms.

I gave him my information, and then regretted it.

But guess what! I was born in Africa, and sometimes it ain't a scam!

He died about two years after first contact and I got all of two e-mails from him in the interim so in spite of my efforts I know very little about these items.

I inherited several pieces of china, the old family bible, and six guns. I got the china and the bible last year.

Today, three years and two months of effort have netted me this: I got the guns cleared through the probate courts, out of the estate and into the hands of an exporter in South Africa, got all of the paperwork finalized on both continents and cleared my arms through customs. They are now mine! Three guns were lost in the process. There was a cheap-azz air-rifle that wasn't worth the time or effort to import, a Bernardelli pocket pistol that cannot be imported under US law (barrel too short...and that's a bummer, I wanted that one), and an Enfield .303 that would have cost more to import than it was worth--because it's milsurp. But the three arms that were really heirloom arms all made it!

If you care, the import/export procedure actually took only about 10 months, the rest of those 38 months were probate/estate issues. Still, I wouldn't do it again unless it were another heirloom issue. Importing arms is a big, nasty, PITA process.

Eh. Who cares? Here they are!

Note: original image replaced with a better version.

These were in poorer condition than I had hoped, but I should have expected that. They were working guns that belonged to Boers (Afrikaans farmers) and therefore were probably viewed primarily as tools.

I apologize for the poor picture, but I'm not very good at photographing guns and I'm exhausted right now, anyway. I'll post better pics with some questions on preservation and restoration tomorrow.

For now we have (top to bottom):

1) Westley Richards .450 No. 2 falling block single shot. This one has surface rust and like the Mannlicher, also has a bunch of crud in the barrel. It looks like the chamber has some rust but I haven't figured out yet how bad that is. The cleaning rod is missing and the front sight is broken. I think it was used hard, cleaned little, and then when its owner moved to town was simply stored without cleaning or oiling....so it's probably been over 40 years since this was fired, and it hasn't been cleaned since. So sad.

2)Mannlicher-Schoennauer 8mm (I don't yet know which 8mm). This is perhaps the prettiest of them, but what a shame! Note the three wires above the trigger and the mess of wire behind the trigger: the stock broke and somebody tried to "repair" it--hence the wire. It's not safe to fire in this state. I'll try to have the original stock repaired, but I won't be surprised if I have to restock this poor rifle entirely. The action on this one is in really good shape. I think it might have gotten cleaned upon the 'repair' and then never fired again, which would explain that.

3) BSA .177 cal air rifle. Funny: this one's the "toy" that was given to a great uncle on his 10th birthday and then passed on to an uncle on his 10th birthday, and this "toy" is in the best condition of the three--trust a 10-year-old! In the picture, the cocking lever is not locked up next to the barrel like it should be for firing (it's late, I'm tired, bad pic), but it's a nice little piece. I actually test-fired this little monkey in my apartment, and it penetrated quite nicely into a phone book. I think the sights want some adjustment, however.

I'll post a new thread tomorrow with better pictures, and will be looking for advice on how to preserve these three pieces. They are heirlooms, and therefore precious in the history they contain. On the other hand, they are also fine machines, and therefore items worthy of maintenance. I'm trying to figure out the balance between preserving history and maintaining items that both are heirlooms and fine pieces of machienery.

So, till tomorrow, just enjoy, and be happy with me that after over three years I finally have my bequest.

Edit: oh yeah, the hang tags on the trigger guards are firearms permits from South Africa dating to 1973 (the rifles) and 1980 (the air-rifle). At some point (I assume 1980) South Africa decided that Air Rifles were arms and required them to be serialized and registered. So that air rifle has a serial number stamped on it that was not put there by the manufacturer, but rather by the SA government. Perhaps for that reason alone I should have imported the cheap-azz air rifle that I let go....because they were consecutively numbered. Oh well.

Added pictures.

I'm still not too happy with my ability to get good images of guns. Some of these have been color-corrected with Photoshop. I know that the best way to shoot them is under sunlight, but I live in an apartment and don't really want to advertise my collection to my somewhat sketchy neighbors. Other than that, tips are welcome!

Westley Richards, .450 No. 2

I recently read a book by an Elephant Hunter (I want to say his name was Taylor). He didn't care for ladder sights. They sounded cool to me. Having handled this rifle just a little bit, I agree with him. They don't engage with a positive click and I continually find myself trying to sight the rifle using the loading chamber for a rear sight, because all the ladder sights are down. Maybe one could become used to this. But I think a fixed rear sight might be better.

More of the ladder sights

Action open. What you can't see is the light rust in the chamber[xx(]

Rust on the right side of the receiver around the safety. The left side of the receiver (not shown) is relatively rust-free, but does have a couple dings).

I think this cracked fore-arm probably can be easily fixed.

Mannlicher-Schoennauer, 8mm. Cartridge currently unknown.

This stock was broken. Look at the "repair." I suppose if I had a hammer with a broken handle and needed to use it, I might wrap it with duct tape to get the job done. Come to think of it, if the Boer who did this had access to duct tape, he might have done the same here!

But did he really need to drill holes in the stock?![xx(][xx(]

Here's the one in the best condition of the three: the BSA airgun.

It's a single-shot, and is loaded here. You can also see the standard rear sight in this picture.

But it's also got a peep sight! It's kind of loose, so I'll need to get that worked on.

At last! (Gun pics) Update: image intensive

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