My first responses are; it is a droplock and the price was way north of $10,000. It was done about 20 years ago.
The client was given the wreck and it had personal provenance so he desired it to be restored/rebuilt. The before photos do not demonstrate how bad it was. One could read a newspaper through the gap at the breeches it was so off the face, so it had to be rejointed.
The barrels had to be stripped, relayed, filed up, polished, and the lettering recut. If barrels must be simply reblacked, the lettering must be recut. The action body was annealed, filed clean, repolished and what engraving was extant, was recut, then rehardened. All hardware was done the same but the metal was charcoal blued. Of course new screws were made.
I restocked butt and forend, from the blank, of course. I am not adverse to using carved stocks but the old stock was too bad to copy. Besides one of the reasons I got stocking jobs was there was nothing to copy. I don't need carved stocks anyway. All that is needed is the metal, a blank, and a fit sheet.
I told the client this is the most expensive free gun he ever got. That being said, it was far cheaper than having a Westley Richards made new of that quality. I used to tell clients they could restore or rebuild a fine prewar gun for far less than they could buy a new one. Plus, it would practically be a bespoke gun. I thank the forum for their kind words.
Last edited by James Flynn; 11/11/25 04:04 PM. Reason: to complete
