doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com A Tale of 2 pre-WW! '03 rifles

Fred will be along to post some photos for me of these two pre-WW1 '03 rifles that were both updated between the wars using NRA Sporter barrels and stocks. The first one was a Rock Island NRA sales rifle with the NRA on the trigger guard, then re-barreled and stocked with the NRA Sporter parts probably purchased from the DCM which would sell the parts in the 1920s. I know nothing about it's history.
The second one has an interesting story but I have no paperwork to verify the story. A WW1 vet who worked at Frankford Arsenal had the rifle built by G&H using his WW1 issue rifle receiver. It also uses an NRA Sporter barrel and stock which may have been purchased thru Frankford since both the barrel and stock are marked Frankford. All of the detail photos are of this rifle except for the NRA marked TG.

Well, I really enjoyed getting a first look at these pictures.

Here are pictures of the engraving, and some nice metal checkering on the safety

Last group of pictures,

Marks on triggerguard

One last photo,

wow thats really nice early Griffin & Howe

Do you think that H.B.J. are the initials of the employee?

No, I think the H.B.J. was an inspector at Frankford. I think the W A C combination was the owner/employee.

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-...-gang-mold-bullet-mold--182-c-5ac419ea36

HBJ marking on bullet mold.


which according to http://library.centerofthewest.org/digital/collection/p17097coll30/id/1347
Captain H.B. Johnson ?

Nice sporters, I like the details and execution of the top rifle. Thanks for showing them.

That's a lovely pair of rifles Dan. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Thaine

Is it some sort of optical / photo reproduction or my strange eyesight or does the barrel on the top rifle appear to be bent?

And I have a hard time with the "made using the rifle that was issued to him" part of the story. The odds are better than playing the lottery, but in the same ballpark.

It must be the camera angle as the barrel is perfectly straight, I just looked thru the bore.

Depending whose opinion you believe, that Griffin & Howe was engraved either by Rudolph Kornbrath or Hjalmar Swensen.

I have one with similar engraving.

http://zincavage.org/GriffinHowe30-06.html

The stippling on the bolt looks very much like John Oberlies' work. I can't tell which rifle has the stippled bolt. I have no further opinion until I know whether the gun with the stippled bolt is the engraved gun. An Oberlies gun with engraving is fairly uncommon. Any ideas?

The bolt finish is done by a scraping process, but I've never seen a contemporary example of this work. How is it done, and wht is it no longer used?

I have only seen it used in John Oberlies guns. I don't know anyone who knows how he did it.

The bolt treatment is on the engraved gun but it also looks a lot like what Niedner did. I thought Oberlies also stippled the bolt knob. I need to compare the bolt treatments on Niedner and Oberlie.

Yup, John Oberlies stippled the bolt knobs and did the scraping treatment on the bolt, down to the knob. One Oberlies gun is scraped all the way to the knob and the knob is not treated to either stippling or scraping. It looks like he just forgot. His stippling is as elegant as the scraping treatment. I don't have any Niedner guns to compare.

I have sent a couple photos to Fred to post but they aren't really very clear to see the close detail. The top bolt is this threads G&H, the middle one is a Niedner and the bottom one is an Oberlies.

I can't wait to see the Oberlies picture. I don't see many of these except mine. I don't have a lot of interest in custom rifles other than Oberlies, can't afford them, but I do like original or not so original Springfield sporters.

Kind of busy today, but I should get them posted tonight

Here are the pictures,

They all look like they were done by the same method. Now, what is that method? Is any custom maker turning out work like this today?

These closer photos look more like "snail trails" than a scraped effect. You can do snail trails easily by mounting a hard, pointed stone in a mandrel and turning it in a drill press. Coat the bolt with oil and hold it lightly against the point, moving it in random directions. It takes some time to get much coverage. It leaves a surface that holds lube quite well.

Take a look at the scraping pattern on a mill or lathe to see how it is done.
Harder bolts, smaller pattern. It can be very attractive.
Chuck