New Gun!

[Wilderbeast]

Hello all,

Bought a new shooter on thursday and thought I'd post some pictures up as I think it's a little bit special.

It's a Webley and Scott 701 'Best Boxlock Ejector' - It is a very different gun from a standard Webley. It was made some time in the 30's when W&C were based in London (On 55 Victoria street by the looks of things) as such it feels much more like a London Boxlock than a Northern one. By this I mean it's a little more slender and feels less chunky and more refined. Its selling point for me was the wood which is gorgeous but did mean I completely blew my budget, ah well I'm happy!

Here are the pics:

 

[Gray]

Ooh now, thats more than just a bit special. Dead jealous

 

[Robbi]

very very nice indeed

 

[Retired Member southey]

Lovely looking gun WB!

 

[British Red]

Sweet - what barrel and chokes? I have a soft spot for a nice side by side - and they are seriously cheap shotguns these days. You have to spill on the price too!

 

[greensurfingbear]

Very nice sir. Tip my hat to your choice in gun.


Orric

 

[Wilderbeast]

Sweet - what barrel and chokes? I have a soft spot for a nice side by side - and they are seriously cheap shotguns these days. You have to spill on the price too!

30" Barrels choked to 3/4 and 1/4 with a 2+1/2inch chamber...will PM you the price BR

 

[wicca]

Saw the title 'New Gun' and wasn't going to look thinking it would be some foreign over and under with a vented rib and fluorescent foresight...... Glad I looked now..lovely gun!

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Looks the dogs Boxlocks

 

[bradleybuckman]

Congratulations, that's a great looking gun.

 

[British Red]

2 1/2" may restrict you just a little I suppose but I run 2 1/2" 32g Eley Super Pigeons in No.6 shot in all my 12 bores and it runs a treat even in the 3" magnum. What are you going to use it for? Its a long old beast but I bet it mounts and swings well - ideal for that high pheasant!

 

[Wilderbeast]

2 1/2" may restrict you just a little I suppose but I run 2 1/2" 32g Eley Super Pigeons in No.6 shot in all my 12 bores and it runs a treat even in the 3" magnum. What are you going to use it for? Its a long old beast but I bet it mounts and swings well - ideal for that high pheasant!

Sorry I've just checked and she's a 28 not a 30" barrel. I'll be using this one for driven game and the odd clay shoot, and I'll be looking to get an AYA or an old boxlock of some description for rough shooting!

 

[JonathanD]

Beautiful. .

 

[Bluebs4]

That's a nice bit of lumber, I'd love to shoot that, a bit like riding an old bsa

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Camel]

Very nice, classic gun.

The stock should be oil finished on a gun of that vintage and type, if so you can remove those little dents and dings in the stock by gently steaming them out with a damp cloth and and a hot iron. It's magic in terms of getting the dings out and shouldn't harm an oil finish in the slightest.

A few thin hand-rubbed coats of something like this: http://www.napieruk.com/acatalog/London_Gunstock_Kit.html

She'll be looking like new.

Sorry I've just checked and she's a 28 not a 30" barrel. I'll be using this one for driven game and the odd clay shoot, and I'll be looking to get an AYA or an old boxlock of some description for rough shooting!

Why?


You can steam out dings as above, a few scars give an old warrior character in any event and you will shoot better if you stick one gun that fits for your game work.

I take my 110 year old boxlock SxS out shooting all season and it does sterling work.

In terms of cartridges i've found that the Hull High Pheasant works well in my gun. Guns of that era tend to have shorter forcing cones than modern guns and although certainly not a universal rule, mine prefers fibre-wadded cartridges of standard velocity.

Wildfowling loads can be a bot of a problem in the 2 1/2" chambered gun, you can find cartridges that work for duck ok but goose capable shells are a little thin on the ground.

 

[Wilderbeast]

Very nice, classic gun.

The stock should be oil finished on a gun of that vintage and type, if so you can remove those little dents and dings in the stock by gently steaming them out with a damp cloth and and a hot iron. It's magic in terms of getting the dings out and shouldn't harm an oil finish in the slightest.

A few thin hand-rubbed coats of something like this: http://www.napieruk.com/acatalog/London_Gunstock_Kit.html

She'll be looking like new.




Why?


You can steam out dings as above, a few scars give an old warrior character in any event and you will shoot better if you stick one gun that fits for your game work.

I take my 110 year old boxlock SxS out shooting all season and it does sterling work.

In terms of cartridges i've found that the Hull High Pheasant works well in my gun. Guns of that era tend to have shorter forcing cones than modern guns and although certainly not a universal rule, mine prefers fibre-wadded cartridges of standard velocity.

Wildfowling loads can be a bot of a problem in the 2 1/2" chambered gun, you can find cartridges that work for duck ok but goose capable shells are a little thin on the ground.

Oh I have plans to get it re-chequered and re-oiled but that is a luxury that will have to wait! Yes I've always used high pheasant 28g No6 for driven days and can't say I'd want to change!

 

[Camel]

It doesn't need re-chequering does it? I mean, by all means and stuff but it looks in fantastic nick for it's age.

Steaming is really not too hard to do and it's well established :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDSQ7u_ii00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bInx_YOoft4

I was surprised how easy it was to re-finish my own gunstocks, I urge you to try it as it's very satisfying.

+1 on the cartridges, guns like these were designed to fire an ounce of 6s from the factory. I will go to 32gr of 5s for high birds and roost shooting pigeons, but the difference isn't much.

 

[Wilderbeast]

It doesn't need re-chequering does it? I mean, by all means and stuff but it looks in fantastic nick for it's age.

Steaming is really not too hard to do and it's well established :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDSQ7u_ii00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bInx_YOoft4

I was surprised how easy it was to re-finish my own gunstocks, I urge you to try it as it's very satisfying.

+1 on the cartridges, guns like these were designed to fire an ounce of 6s from the factory. I will go to 32gr of 5s for high birds and roost shooting pigeons, but the difference isn't much.

I will consider doing it on my own but the concept certainly makes me nervous, I wouldn't want to hash it up! Did you practice on anything first? Do you have any before and after pictures? I'd be interested to find out!

 

[Camel]

You can practice on any oil finished wood, a broken gunstock or even a scrap bit of hardwood dented up just for the purpose.

I don't have any before photos but can post an after photo for you if you give me a day or two.

Here is an old one of my 30.06 in a blind in South Africa in the meanwhile.

I stripped and refinished my .22 first with tru-oil, it was easy to get a good finish but it's a bit "plasticky" and of course scratches like a varnish.

I did my 30.06 next and went with the traditional oil of alkanet followed by many (many, many....) coats of slacum.

For the shotgun I was leery of the amount of work involved in stripping and refinishing from bare wood so just steamed the dents and re-rubbed the oil finish.

The steaming bit was actually quite easy and didn't need much practice at all, I will quite happily use it to steam the dings out of my rifle and rub a bit of oil on during the season.

It doesn't take much technique or practice really, you just get a bit of well-wetted cloth folded into a couple of thickness's, put it over the whole dent in question and carefully apply a hot iron to the cloth only. You keep the cloth damp and after a few goes the dents disappear as if by magic. If you over-do it the dent will come up slightly proud of the surface but you'd have to be quite dedicated to manage that.

The stock looks like you've been out in the rain after steaming, after a few coats of good stock oil rubbed well it'll come up like new.

A good refinish job by a pro would be rather expensive, purely because of the time involved.

 

[Wilderbeast]

Hmmm well I might give it a go in the holidays if I'm feeling brave!