A nice example of what a Webley & Scott Model 701 looks like.

Webley & Scott 701

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TC

That brings back memories. I spent a lot of time haunting their shop in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s and still have a B.S.A. .22 LR Model 12 I bought from them for £5.

They made something of a specialty of upgraded Webley and Scott guns, and if I remember right also sold a lot of AyA guns. Mr. Brooks was then their gun department manager. I think I saw him one year at the Game Fair on the AyA stand.

When that 701 was made 26” barrels were fashionable, now not so much so. With that and the wall thickness (possibly original for a lightweight 12 bore) I fear that it will struggle to make its reserve.

Still a very pretty gun. It amazes me how little some quality boxlock shotguns sell for in your British market place. Works of art in my opinion.

Was S.R. Jeffery and Son more a retailer/gunsmith or actual gunmaker back in the day? I never heard of him before.

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TC

The SR Jeffery name is very old. I have a centerfire single action with the SR Jeffery name on the lock, it was converted from percussion. I believe at one point SR Jeffery was a maker, maybe not by the time they were retailing Webley 400's though.

Great time to buy a British gun in the UK.

Good question, Tim, but with the British system of using outworkers difficult to answer.

The founder of the Guildford business, Richard Jeffery started in about 1850. A very nice single percussion rifle by him featured in DGJ not long ago. To what extent it was built in his workshops and to what extent he bought in the lock (probably) the Damascus tube (probably) and had it rifled (quite likely) by specialists we are never likely to know.

There is an August 2020 article in Diggory’s Vintage Gun Journal about a Richard Jeffery gun made for him by E.C. Hodges in Islington.

In the 1960’s they appear to have been primarily retailers of guns built by others, but if Lord Onslow had walked into their shop and said “build me a best gun regardless of expense” they could no doubt gone to an actioner, barrelmakers, a stocker and finisher and a best S.R. Jeffrey gun would have emerged from their front door.

They seem to have had family links with various other Jeffery gunsmiths, and is possible that at one time they shared workshop facilities.

Parabola, your thoughts of Richard Jeffery are interesting. Attached is a picture of a Richard Jeffery 10 ga pinfire on the Dougall Lockfast System, and so marked on the underside of the receiver. Also stamped between the bars is J. Wilkes who apparently actioned the gun.

“Left wall at 19”? With 2 3/4” chambers? I’m having trouble with the fact there is a reserve on it.

The first 1 1/4 oz 1350fps load down that tube ought to make a lasting impression.

Best,
Ted

Thanks Parabola. I had a check in Nigel Brown’s, British Gunmakers book, but not much information there for S.R. Jeffery & Son other than dates for their business addresses.

Do vintage British boxlocks typically sell for higher prices into continental Europe? I came across this Webley & Scott, model 702, circa 1975/1976, selling in Belgium for 7,900 Euros? That’s pushing $12,000 where I live. I guess it’s still cheaper than what a new AyA XXV boxlock is selling for now, 10,125 Euros from their website.

Webley & Scott 702

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TC

I've never bought from the English gun auction houses. I understand from posts here that double the hammer price is good general estimate for firearms, but how much does a hard gun case cost to ship to the U.S.?

A little more involved than putting it in a hard case and mailing to USA.

Richard Jeffery Vintage Gun Journal

Interesting read. Thanks for that Parabola.

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TC

Around 1970, sure someone here knows exactly when, H&R put out 2 small catalogs to list their wares for sale to the American market. One for fishing rods, etc. another for firearms. Still have a copy of latter, probably in old files at office. It included bolt action rifles, Webley pistols, flare pistols, a cased harpoon gun identical to the one used in JAWS, and some Webly & Scott doubles. Even then as a teenager, I was attracted to the 728. It was a 28 gauge with 25” barrels, choked 1/4 and 3/4, straight grip checkered butt, cased with accessories. Looked almost identical to the gun that started this thread. Price then was $700. Flash forward to about 1981 and I got into the market. Looked at some beautiful Superposed (P2 Q) etc at Scotts furniture store in Jay, Fl. Wanting a SxS he suggested I call Bill Jayques (sp).Bill mentioned a couple out of my price range and then suggested a, as new, 728 with “the pettiest wood” he had even seen on one. Did not haggle and bought it for $2750. Killed hundreds of dove with it and a number of quail until I got to reading about the “need” for longer barrels. A Red Label and Parker Repo aquired since just never did as well. Guess I should dig it out of safe and try to learn to shoot it again. It is one I will never sell. My son better not either. Forgive an old farts trip down memory lane.

Our English speaking friends across the Pond tried their best to confuse us Yanks with the numbering system for the 700 series guns, which appeared shortly after the end of WWII. The base model was the 700. The next step up was the 702. And the 701 was the top of the line. I've never owned a 701. However, I have owned a couple 720s. The 720, like the 728 mentioned above, is basically a 702 made in the specific gauge (20) for the US market. 3" chambers in the 720, on a gun that will weigh less than 6 pounds. And, as also mentioned, the 720 and 728 came with the shorter barrels then more in fashion, but somewhat less so now. The wood will obviously vary somewhat from gun to gun. But the 720s I owned did have very nice wood. I believe that a nice canvas covered hard case was also part of the 720/728 package. Nice guns for the money. One way to tell a 720 (or 728) from a standard 702 is by the serial number, which began with the model number: 720xxx, for example. And there was also a 712. According to the Scott book by Crawford and Whatley, 225 712s were made; 229 720s; and 215 728s.

The S.R. Jeffery 701 did indeed struggle to reach its reserve.

It appeared last night in their catalogue of unsold lots, but I saw that they had now been bid £700 so will presumably sell for that unless any higher bids come in before the sale closes.

It's still a nice gun and I think it would be okay using lead light loads.

One thing I noticed on this later model 701, is the engraving looks closer to a 702 style when comparing it to the 1953 catalogue image showing a much fuller, finer coverage. Maybe it was a cost cutting thing.

Webley & Scott 701 Catalogue Image
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TC

I would have liked to have known what that left bore was proofed at, because with 2 3/4” chambers, I highly doubt it was .019, which, is what was noted by the auction house.

Best,
Ted

Agree. It would still have to be in proof by law for resale. If you were buying such a gun, it would be prudent to have it inspected by an expert first.

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TC

No doubt it will be a fine shooter but it wouldn`t allow any barrel work in future imho. I don`t see value in guns with marginal measurements,if push comes to shove ,sleeving isn`t viable nowadays ,new barrels can be forgotten about and reproof by the philistines at the proof houses will destroy it !!! Caveat Emptor.

Great advice. Going forward, the guns that feature modern dimensions and unaltered barrels will likely be the everyday guns of shooters who see the future for what it is, the slow encroachment of rules and regulations designed to remove them from the field.

Those guns will be the last to go.

Best,
Ted

Its the paper work , import and export licences ,plus the fewer and fewer carriers will take guns of any sort .

All true, as well as the broker fees and inland delivery. Overhead has increased dramatically in the last few years. I have kept my prices down by increasing volume.

Re Harrington & Richardson as the importer of Scott guns: The Crawford & Whatley book on Scott lists 1971-75 for the years when H&R was the importer. Back then, I was either overseas (where I bought an Ithaca SKB Model 150 sxs for $162 at the Navy Rod & Gun Club in Rota, Spain . . . A new Winchester 101 20ga OU would have been about $30 more) or back in the States as a grad student, or in my first year as a high school teacher. In any case, I remember admiring those guns, but they were out of my price range.