doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Win M70 with side mount

Have emailed Bob Beach G&H history guy to see if he has come across anything about G&H selling mounts to Winchester or doing mounting for them.

If anyone has or is going to buy a custom rifle that may have belonged to Dr. Smith write me.

I have a copy of his inventory complete with serial numbers. If you have one of his rifles I would be happy to make a copy of the page that's it's listed on.

Michael, over the years I have run into more than a few of Dr. Smith's rifles, as well as seeing them in magazines and Gun Digests. However, the one that intrigued me the most was perhaps the ugliest. It was an Enfield actioned, probably 1917, gun with an absolutely black stock of some wood that I did not identify. A friend owned it, I think sold it to Jim Parker the knifemaker a few years ago at an Ohio Gun Collectors show. I would like to know something about it and possibly locate it. It is not a pretty sight, but I kind of liked it. Bill Murphy

http://cgi.ebay.com/ECHO-SCOPE-MOUNT-1-M...=item230732836a

description of Echo holes

Thanks,
The Echo holes look to have the same pattern as a typical G&H. I do not know whether the 1.75" is correct or not for G&H.

It is possible that the original mount was a custom built for the gun and then later lost. If this is the case then it is back to original because it now has a custom mount.

Here is a link to Griffin and Howe's instruction page for installing a side mount.
http://www.griffinhowe.com/mountsandpads.cfm
you have to scroll down within the box to find the instructions. I get the impression that
the base plates were shipped without holes and so a gunsmith might have gone with any
pattern of holes and pins that he liked. I don't know if Jaeger sidemounts were shipped like this as well.

FWIW I once had a new-in-the-box G&H mount setup and the base was completely blank, no holes at all. The shallow scallop for the round action side was there but no holes in it.
Regards, Joe

Bill,

I looked at the Smith inventory and he had a small number of Enfields. Twenty-four (24) out of several hundred custom rifles. If you locate the one you know about we can narrow it down.

Thanks Joe, I think that may answer the question. The original could have been bought from G&H and then installed. Or possible one of the others like Jaeger or Echo if they also provided their sights un-drilled.
One of the reason I and many others like these old guns with "patina", cause if only they could talk.
Thanks again.

Michael, does the list include caliber and maker? I have always wondered about the maker of the black gun. It was a 300 H&H if I remember correctly. The fellow who sold it sold me a beautiful unused Oberlies Model 70 numbered Gebby Varminter (22-250). This fellow is more of a shotgun guy, so maybe he came into a deal on some Smith guns. I had never thought of the Oberlies-Gebby gun as a Russell Smith gun but now I think it probably is. The black gun had the initials and my friend had no idea who RCS was. Bill Murphy