Making a side by side 303 british who?
- Thread starter David L
- Start date
Eaglelord17
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Sault Ste. Marie
If your willing to accept a side by side, what about a single shot? Ruger has some No. 1 single shot rifles chambered in .303 British. Otherwise, there isn't too much modern firearms being made in .303 british (without having a custom gunsmith job done up).
Seems a little like wanting someone to stuff a flathead Ford in behind the seats of a Ferarri, as far as great choices goes, but what the hey, your money, as long as you can accept that you will own a gun worth a lot less than you paid for it in the end...
Does TradExCanada still have any of those Russian side x sides in 45-70? Baikal? Add a couple barrels grafted in, either as liners or a graft into the block, an you should only be out 2 or so K dollars, on top of the cost of the original gun. Should come in around $10K all told, maybe a wee bit less. Then you end up with a really expensive double (OK, super cheap, actually, for a custom double) that looks a little more industrial Russian, than classic English.
There were some classic (and Classy!) British made bolt guns up to say the 1920's or so.
You don't see too many guns made in .303 these days, because you can do SO much better! Better selections of Bullets for loading with, in .308, vs. .311 size, as well as cartridges with min/max specs not measured with a wooden ruler.
Cheers
Trev
Does TradExCanada still have any of those Russian side x sides in 45-70? Baikal? Add a couple barrels grafted in, either as liners or a graft into the block, an you should only be out 2 or so K dollars, on top of the cost of the original gun. Should come in around $10K all told, maybe a wee bit less. Then you end up with a really expensive double (OK, super cheap, actually, for a custom double) that looks a little more industrial Russian, than classic English.
There were some classic (and Classy!) British made bolt guns up to say the 1920's or so.
You don't see too many guns made in .303 these days, because you can do SO much better! Better selections of Bullets for loading with, in .308, vs. .311 size, as well as cartridges with min/max specs not measured with a wooden ruler.
Cheers
Trev
I have a nice BSA factory bolt action sporter built on a P14 action which essentially makes it the same as a Remington model 30 in 303. Also have a nice Winchester 95 lever action in 303 built in 1912.
It's a great caliber. If you want one get one. Don't let the magnum crowd talk you out of it.
It's a great caliber. If you want one get one. Don't let the magnum crowd talk you out of it.
If you can find one of the sported P'14s done up by BSA - as mentioned by sahara - that would be your best buy. They seem to sell for $150 - $250. Receiver is nicely contoured for standard scope bases, and the reworked stock is well done.
Join the nitro express forum. There are several guys building their own double rifles. One is a member on this forum who has built multiple and they have all turned out beautifully. There is also a book written by a member on the nef on converting shotguns to double rifles.
The cheapest sxs I saw was a double shotgun with barrel liners for 45-70. Looked like a pig.
I sold this one a while back. It was 8mm rimmed (8x60R) Sort of looked like a 303, but with 30-06 power. It was a bargain for $4,000.
I sold this one a while back. It was 8mm rimmed (8x60R) Sort of looked like a 303, but with 30-06 power. It was a bargain for $4,000.
I've seen those guns, and they are exceptional.
Have Brown's book, "building Double Rifles on Shotgun Actions". Not for the faint of heart.
Nick Makinson, a British trained gunmaker in Komoka ON would make express doubles on Browning BSS 20ga actions. Added a Greener crossbolt.
Makinson isn't cheap either but does great work. I'm going to drop off my double ten when I get time.
There are options for a double in 303 but none are cheap. I looked into having a 25/35 double built and the few estimates I got were all above $12 grand usd and that was case colored action and normal wood. Exhibition wood was running an extra $1500-3000
There are options for a double in 303 but none are cheap. I looked into having a 25/35 double built and the few estimates I got were all above $12 grand usd and that was case colored action and normal wood. Exhibition wood was running an extra $1500-3000
Were you looking at .303 because you thought that by default, they would come cheap? Not so much, unless you are more interested in a sportered milsurp. Which you say you are not. Keep in mind that there were a lot of military actions out there besides the Lee Enfield, that were available. Ross Rifles, The afore-mentioned P14's, and a bunch more were out there, and reasonably priced these days if you are willing to shop around.
The reason .303 Milsurp rifles were everywhere, was that the raw rifles were cheap enough that the risks of the whole project going to heck and ending up ugly, were less than the cost to replace it. Nothing more magical or mystical than that. Helped by that minor factor of being essentially the standard Military caliber in most of the Commonwealth countries, for two wars. Lots of it around.
Funny enough, guys seem to be wanting the guns in original condition now, and, as they were readily available and cheap in the past, there are far fewer of them in unmolested form.
With regards to my earlier comment about the wooden ruler, do a little research. Look up the specs for minimum and maximum dimensions for the ammo, and compare those dimensions to the minimum and maximum dimensions of the chamber, and do the same with a more modern cartridge, like .308 Winchester. The differences in size for the .303, are HUGE, by comparison. They were made that way, so all the rifles would continue to function under really adverse trench conditions in wartime. These dimensions are also responsible for the very short case life of the .303, when they get fired, resized and reloaded, and fired again. It can be worked around, but it is still a minor PITA.
Shocked by the costs of Doubles? Most are essentially hand made, to order, by VERY skilled craftsmen. Such, pretty well, has it always been. It's not very hard to spend a hundred thousand dollars on a double these days. Mind, it's not hard to spend that on a pickup truck these days either. The pickup truck stands a far lower likelihood of selling on for the same or more money than you spent upon it, though, something that you can almost count upon in the case of a decent double rifle, if it is well cared for.
Cheers
Trev
If you are really persistent (and lucky) you might be able to find a reasonable, usable double for well under $10K. Like as not, it will be well worn, maybe not still in the company of it's case and accessories, and maybe not so much in 'investor' condition. You are going to have to be pretty persistent, educate yourself as to the differences in values, etc., and be well prepared to jump when it crosses your radar.
You could do a lot worse than to spend some time digging around the auction sites, like James D Julia, and others, that deal in a lot of high end guns, scrolling through the sales lists and seeing what stuff sold for. It will give you a pretty darn good idea what the values and differences are. Their print catalogs are pretty much pure gun #### too!
Cheers
Trev
You could do a lot worse than to spend some time digging around the auction sites, like James D Julia, and others, that deal in a lot of high end guns, scrolling through the sales lists and seeing what stuff sold for. It will give you a pretty darn good idea what the values and differences are. Their print catalogs are pretty much pure gun #### too!
Cheers
Trev
Always wondered about that, those H & R Handy guns seemed a pretty risky proposition to me.
Grizz
If you like the Mauser action take a look at the Siamese Mausers that ran a 8mm rimmed case. I am confident that they would turn into a nice .303 Sporter that could be scoped. I have rebarrelled them into the Russian 7.62X54 and they worked well. A good used donner action or rifle would be under $500.00
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Myself I highly recommend this fine English gentleman! I purchased a Parkhurst SxS from the 1890s Damascus barrels that seen a lot of wear-tear, he did a superb job re-browning the barrels complete.
Came out to a wonderful color, almost a deep hue of cherry.
Besides trueing up the action and hand making then fire bluing some action screws that needed to be replaced.
He's a freaking gun magician IMO.
