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Yes, Terry was right it’s a S.R. Griffin. Griffin was a lot more prolific before G&H than I had thought in my early writing. His style seemed to continually change over the years. Luckily some of his are marked and others have a solid provenance like the rifle below. The owner can tell you about it, or not. I’ve been working on articles on both Griffin and Howe but are still some time off in the future.

Obviously, I had an unfair advantage (to use Mark Donohue's phrase) in that the above pictured rifle has been with me for about 20 years. It was originally owned by Major T. D. Sloan who advertised it for sale in the American Rifleman in the early 1920s. Mark Benenson or Michael found the ad in their collections of magazines. I have to wonder why he elected to sell such a fine rifle - perhaps he was as inflicted with gun buying as I am, and had less space for storage as he was in the military. Later, he worked for Griffin & Howe.

I have collected custom American single shot rifles for years. This was the first sporter style Pope I had seen, single shot or bolt action. I now also have one in .30 - 06 on a Springfield, again by Griffin. I'm still looking for a sporter style Pope single shot.

Major T. D. Sloan sold a pile of fine rifles, I think Mark had his double rifle and Ray B. had his Owen.

Here is a snap-shot from one of my databases,

GUNSMITH ACTION CALIBER OWNER YEAR MAG NOTES
Adolph Over-Under 20x.22HP Sloan, T.D. 3/15/1922 AATM "28""bbl. Engraved"
Owen Bros Savage-1920 .250-3000 Sloan, T.D. 9/1/1924 AR
Niedner Winchester-85 .30-40 Krag Sloan, T.D. 5/1/1924 AR Owen Bros Stock
Owen Bros Winchester-85 .30-40 Krag Sloan, T.D. 5/1/1924 AR Niedner Barrel
Pope Mauser .7X57 Sloan, T.D. 10/15/1921 AATM Stocked by Griffin

OK, Lets find his Owen/Niedner high wall .30 - 40. I NEED that! Well, perhaps I just want it. Any evidence that it still exists? I don't recall seeing an Owen highwall offered in any auction in the past 20 years, which is about the maximum holding period in a collection. Maybe it is about to come onto the market!

I can't remember and single single-shot rifle by Owen for sale of any kind. Also notice that it's listed as an Owen Bros. Sloan sold your rifle in 1921 Griffin started G&H in 1923 what is the year of the Pope barrel? That would tell us when this rifle was made.

Barrel is H M Pope #554, dated 6/6/20. Twist code is 9.6/0 Twist is right handed, as I think all "smokeless" cartridge barrels by Pope are cut.

I don't have the action serial number in front of me, but several years ago I inquired of the keeper of the Springfield records (Mark provided the contact info, I think) and they did not have anything on it. However, we were able to determine the action was made in late 1919, so Major Sloan must have had some pull with the arsenal to get a brand new action for his rifle.

Oops, brain fade. The comments about the action relate to a second Pope .30 - 06, not the Mauser.

The Pope Springfield/Griffin sporter carries Pope barrel #603 from 12/20/22. Twist is listed as 14. Also carries "NS" mark (likely Nickel Steel)

I've simply adored every Owen rifle I've seen. A High Wall, in 30-40!
I can only imagine...