doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Osborne Rook & Rabbit Rifle

Hi,

I just bought a Charles Osborne rook & rabbit rifle from the 1890-ies. It's got three sets of barrels. The original set is in .25-20 win but the two other sets (.22lr and .410) were made and proofed in Germany. The German barrels are marked with a "SS" stamp.

Is it the maker or does it refer to the steel used, or is it something else?

Neat gun which makes a useful combination. It would sell well here in England. Is the 25-20 Win original? I have never seen an English Rook Rifle in that calibre. May have been re-chambered from 297/250. Lagopus.....

Well, it's a bit of a mystery... (all part of the charm)

The .25-20 WCF barrel has got a London adress on it which in Nigel Browns book dates it at 1893-1908. And the makers name is "Charles Osborne & Co" and not "Charles Osborne & Co Ltd.", which suggests a manufacturing date prior to 1895. This should date my rifle to 1893-1895. But the serial number on the .25-20 WCF barrel suggests it was made in 1919. There are only one proof mark and it's the Birmingham definitive proof mark used until 1925.

The flats on the action have got German proof marks and the same Birmingham definitive proof mark as the .25-20 WCF set. The two other sets just have German marks and "SS", which I now think is the makers mark from the Suhl barrel maker Stephan Schilling or less likely Sauer & Sohn, Suhl.

I have a Charles Osborne & Co Ltd. trade catalogue from 1905 in which my rifle appears.

1272 - Anson & Deeley Pattern Hammerless Ejector Rook Rifle. Double Bolt Action with Automatic Safety. Snap Fore-end with Horn Cap. Dest Make and Finish throughout. Finely Bored, Rifled and Shot. File-Cut Top Rib. �13

The catalogue also contains rifles from Marlin, Colt, Remington, Savage, Stevens and Winchester, and Osborne was the sole importer of Smith & Wesson Revolvers to the UK. Import from the US seems to be rather important to Osborne at the time. Perhaps my rifle was made for export to Germany or Sweden in .25-20 WCF. The original barrel does not appear to have been altered.

Prior to me the rifle was owned by a wealthy and important family near Gothenburg, Sweden. A city which has always had a lot of trade connections with the UK.

It's a little gem, but in a rather sorry state, so it needs a lot of care and attention...

If it found its way to Britain bearing German marks on the odd barrel then it would have had to go through our Proof House at that period of time. So it sounds as if it has been about a bit. You may be interested in the book 'The Classic British Rook & Rabbit Rifle' by Colin Greenwood. It is less than �20 and copies are easily available. There is quite a bit about the A & D action rifle. Lagopus.....

The two German made barrels does not have British proof marks, only German proof marks made before 1940. So they were made after the rifle was exported from England. I don't think the rifle's ever been back to Dear Old Blighty.

It's possible that it was exported from England to Germany and then the owner ordered two extra barrels from a barrel maker in Suhl. After that it was sold to Sweden. But I'm beginning to doubt that the original caliber was .25-20 WCF, because that caliber was first introduced in 1895.

Sweden does not have any proof rules or laws, so no marks are stamped on imported guns, or even when altered, I'm afraid. The .25-20 WCF became popular in Sweden in the 1920-ies when Husqvarna made a cheap rifle no. 26 in that caliber. My new theory is that the Swedish owner re-chambered the original 297/250 barrel to 25-20 WCF here in Sweden because no German proof marks can be found on the barrel. The font/typeface differs between the engraving of the makers name and the caliber on the barrel. It also differs slightly from the typeface used on the German made barrels.

I have got the Rook Rifle book by Greenwood, it's a very interesting book.

The one German barrel shown in the photo was proofed in Aug. 1911, I believe.
Mike