doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Westley Richards ST Question

Hi all, I know that a lot of Brit SST are somewhat not up to par, but how is the reliability of the Westley Richards SST?

Thanks and all the best!

Greg

Pretty good if it's working properly, but if it's not it needs to be serviced by someone who knows what they're doing, they're not the simplest of mechanisms

CJ

gjw;
I've owned three Westleys with single triggers. They've all been utterly reliable. There are at least two designs and the most recent is simplicity itself. Little to go awry. I actually prefer it over the Boss. Which is saying a lot.

Best, Kensal

I have seen a number of Westley rifles with the single selective trigger. Some with a service port.

Were Miller single triggers offered as a factory option on 1950-1960s Westleys? (I know it sounds a little weird, but I thought I heard or read it somewhere.)

I would say no since they had an in house system considered to be one of the best.

I have two droplock guns with st and they both double occasionally. Did I mention that I really dont like ST guns

I only have one and it has yet to malfunction. It's a pretty hard recoiler also.

Maybe that's why I have seen a number with after market (especially Miller)triggers.

Could someone explain to me why a single trigger is necessary other than a mental hitch? For what they cost on the used and new market and the trouble everyone seems to have with them why bother? Unless you are looking for a closet queen collector with a rare feature, is the trouble worth it? Single triggers were cast off as bad for many years and this has to be some of the reason why many guns from the hayday of gunmaking didn't have them cost could not have been the only reason. The only way a 2 triggered gun is going to double is by some fool sticking 2 fingers in the guard. I know I won't disreguard a double for having a single trigger but I also won't fawn over it and pay a huge premium because it has one either. Different strokes I guess...

I think you will be hard pressed to find anybody half-way serious about shooting clay pigeons (sporting, skeet etc.) who uses a double trigger. Since that is the only semi-growth area in the shotgun industry (especially sporting), the demand (and therefore higher prices) in used or new doubles is for heavy, long barreled, single trigger over unders. Like it or not, I don't believe that light guns, with shortish barrels, double triggers and splinter foreends (i.e., typical game guns)are that much in demand. This is certainly a change from 30 plus years ago, when I remember unloading a nice Parker, because it had 30 inch barrels and a beaver tail.

Good comment HOS but it fails to mention the sheer simplicity and reliability of a modern ST compared to the complex nightmare of the one used by WR. I have a ST Droplock and I know.

Single triggers are the single most common mechanical malfunction on British guns. The second is ejectors.

I would avoid them personally, though I have plenty of clients who buy them and keep buying them.

I never understood why some people seem to find double triggers a problem. I mean, they can drive, a car, some even fly aeroplanes! How hard can it be?

Modern mechanisms are certainly better than many of the old Victorian experimental horrors.