Welcome to the Eighth Edition of the Owen Guns Bulletin.

STOP PRESS

Scroll down for another Free Firearm Manual

We are currently publishing our new website at www.owenguns.com

Where we are in the process of listing 1000s of rifles,shotguns, handguns, accessories, and gun parts that we have for sale. Visit the website now. We also have shooting articles and important firearm information for the gun enthusiast.

Take away free gun photos and free firearm images for your gun gallery collection. New firearm related material being added every day.

Have A Very Happy and Prosperous New Year from all of the team at Owen Guns.

Any Inquiries on any products phone 07 54824099 or 07 54825070

Monthly Specials

Quality Photographs of the famous Ron Hayes collection of hand guns, the most complete Australian collection. A deluxe compilation of handguns from all around the world, the subjects are conveniently cataloged into National and Manufacturer classifications. The twenty six groups utilise each letter of the alphabet, introduced with a brief description of each particular category. 592 large format pages.

Special Price for this Month Only $99.00

FN Custom Mauser

Commercial Walnut Stock, Famous FN Mauser Action. Bedded and Free floated, Custom worked trigger guard and magazine floorplate. Commercial  Adjustable Trigger and Safety Catch. Commercial Striker. 3-9×40 Simmons scope, Simmons Steel Mounts. Comes with 25/308 cases. All finished and deep blued by a Local Custom Gunsmith.
Only

$800.

Email owenguns@spiderweb.com.au for more & bigger photos, its worth it.

Bushnell Sportsman 3-9×40 Variable Riflescope at a once only price of

$90.00

Ian Skennerton has spent more than four decades of world-wide research and study, evolving through two prior editions and many other related titles. The Lee Enfield has proven itself as the finest battle rifle of all time. No other firearm has served for so long at home and abroad with such a proud record. This study encompasses all aspects of the Century of Lee-Enfield development & production… Britain, America, India, Australasia, South Africa & the Far East. Rifles, carbines, bayonets, parts, tools, accessories & ammunition are arranged into specific groups & chapters. There are five new chapters • Preview, Model Identification • Lee-Enfield Hybrid • Serial number Production Ranges • Component Parts Evolution • An Ammunition Summary. The Pattern Room collection has been the primary source for samples and records. With the larger format, this presentation sets a new standard for collectors, students & shooters of the venerable Lee-Enfield… indeed, for all arms books. While the ‘Lee-Enfield Story’ has long been accepted as the definitive tome on the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifle series, this new volume increases the record from 504 to 608 pages and features improved photographic detail, larger illustrations and an improved layout.

Special Price for this month only $79.00

plus postage

Idea for Dad and Son, An Adult Air Rifle. Practice Target Shooting in the Garage.

Includes a 3-9×40 Variable Air Rifle Scope and Air Rifle Mounts. $385.00

(Have to be shock resistant for High powered Air Rifles) . These products will all be 20 % dearer as Distributor prices went up 1st December due to dollar.
Four left in stock

The single shot, .177 cal. spring air Genesis pellet rifle features ultra hi-tech ergonomics in its soft, synthetic pistol style grip and sculpted cheek piece. 28 pounds of cocking force gets up to 1000 fps. Other features include:

• Two stage adjustable trigger
• Ventilated rubber recoil pad
• Precision rifled steel barrel
• Crossblock® trigger blocking mechanism
• Ambidextrous safety
• Made in the USA.

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Anschutz 1450 10 shot 22 Long Rifle

This second hand .22 rifle is a high quality item still in top condition, (open sights are missing) has been used for .22 Silhouette competition with a good scope. Last owner was a winner and up graded. The Ten Shot magazine would be worth $120.  This rifle is a bargain at

$250.

This book  originally printed by the War Office, was intended for use by officers under instruction at the British School of Musketry at Hythe. It is a complete examination of everything needed to be known about smallarms, ammunition and ballistics. It looks at rifles, swords, lances and bayonets, as well as revolvers, grenades and machine guns. There is a section dealing with small arms ammunition (including pre-.303inch ammunition) which is very comprehensive. The book also looks at the ballistics of this ammunition. The book is amply illustrated with photographs, line drawings and tables, and forms a complete record of the weapons and ammunition that were in service between the two World Wars. It was the Text Book Bible referred to by all the 20th Century Gun writers such as Hatcher, Ackley, and Askins. 430 A4 pages.

Special for this Month Only $59.

plus postage

RCBS Great Prices, Get the Best Reloading Tools for the Lowest Price.

RCBS Great Prices, Get the Best Reloading Tools for the Lowest Price.

Throws consistently accurate charges reload after reload. Powder pours uniformly from measuring cylinder into case, thereby eliminating the hazards of “overloads” caused by clogging when charges are dumped”. Changes easily from charge to charge without emptying powder hopper. Numbered measuring screw is used for reference to find a given charge at a later date. The measuring cylinder has precision ground surfaces and slides into the honed main casting for a precision fit. Standard 7/8″- 14 thread. Includes stand plate, drilled for easy mounting on a bench or under a reloading die lock ring. Two drop tubes for .22 caliber and upwards are supplied. The Uniflow Powder Measure is fully capable of accurately measuring all three major powder types - ball, cylindrical, and flake. It will even cut the cylindrical powders so that a precise charge can be obtained. NOTE: The Uniflow Powder Measure should be used in conjunction with an accurate powder scale for setting the original charge and for checking charges occasionally during the run.

Special Price RCBS Uniflow Powder Meausure, $120.plus post

EMAIL Or PHONE 0754824099

For More RED HOT PRICES

EMAIL Or PHONE 0754824099

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GUN LAWS

The Hoplophobe

by Dr. Bill Rogers
WRogers@KeepAndBearArms.com

Jeff Cooper coined the term “Hoplophobe” to describe a person who lives in fear of an inanimate object. The Hoplophobe does not recognize that there is a living, breathing human being in possession of the inanimate object. (See: Bad Gun - Liberals attack the gun issue.) Therefore the Hoplophobe chooses to have a relationship with an inanimate object rather than with the sentient being in control of the object. Such a person is, by definition, irrational. Such a person is, by association, insane.

In our merciful culture, the insane are granted special dispensations. They are not considered responsible for their own well-being. Public money is often used to house, clothe and feed them. They are not allowed to serve on a jury. They are not allowed to vote. (And when they do manage to sneak into the voting booth, the rational among us are not surprised that they often “dimple” rather than “punch” a ballot, despite written instructions to the contrary.) They are not allowed to serve in the military, and they certainly should not be allowed to make public policy that will put their neighbors at risk of being injured or killed.

We in the RKBA community have spent countless hours and dollars attempting to educate the Hoplophobes. This is hopeless. It cannot be done. These poor folks have a condition known to the medical specialty of neurology as “anosognosia.” That is: they don’t know, and they don’t know that they don’t know. A sure sign of such a deplorable condition is that when education is attempted, the Hoplophobe responds with anger.

So, I recommend that we finally give up on educating these unfortunates. Let us instead shift our efforts to controlling them and disenfranchising them. They must be treated like the mentally retarded who are allowed to make only limited decisions in the world of “grownups.”

Hoplophobes don’t like to be angry, because it frightens them to be angry. So, our attack on them should be one of frontal assault.
Let us boldly call them what they are: socially retarded children who, when left alone to participate in the making of public policy, are getting people killed. It is time for us to start taking them on directly. We have simply been “too nice” to these social retards. The worst that will happen when these people are confronted directly is that they will cry and run away, trembling and calling us names as they run.

Politically correct witnesses to our frontal assault will doubtlessly call us ugly names and tell us we are being “cruel.” And that, my friends, is the exact moment when we win the debate, because that is when we turn and point to a homicidal shooter, like the one recently captured in Massachusetts, and we say:

“No, DAMN YOU, HE is the cruel one! HE is the one who shot the sheep, some of them in the back as they frantically scrambled for their lives because they had nothing with which to fight back! HE is the one that no one shot down while he was fumbling to change magazines or reload his shotgun!”

Yes. It is time we came out of our own little closets and began telling our fellow citizens:

“Any man (or woman) among you who is physically able and yet who does not learn to shoot and carry a defensive weapon at ALL times, is a deadbeat who deserves…DESERVES…whatever comes your way.”

——————————————————————————–

Dr. Rogers is a psychiatrist practicing in Tyler, TX. He is a member of the KABA Board of Directors and he is the Director of Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws
……………

Gun History

William Ellis Metford

Rifle Engineer

William Ellis Metford

Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 140, 1900

William Ellis Metford was the elder son of William Metford MD of Flook House, Taunton, by his marriage with Miss M E Anderdon, and was born on October 4th, 1824. He was educated at Sherborne and afterwards became a pupil of Mr W M Peniston, then Resident Engineer under Mr Brunel on the Bristol and Exeter Railway, and from 1846 to 1850 was employed under Mr Brunel on the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway. He subsequently worked for Mr T E Blackwell in connection with schemes for developing the traffic of Bristol and afterwards for a short time acted as engineer under Mr Peniston who was contractor for the Wycombe Railway.

During this period of his life he made many friends in the profession and in 1855 became acquainted with Mr William Froude who at once recognised his ability and skill and became his most intimate friend.

Mr Metford devised a form of theodolite with a traversing stage and a curved arm upholding the transit axis, which is described in the Proceedings of the Institution for February 1856. He also invented an improved level in which the upright stem of the level telescope terminated in a sphere resting on the lower plate of the level and gripped by a ring grip tightened by four screws pulling downwards and having spherical nuts. The instrument could then be adjusted accurately even if the plates were as much as 25 degrees out of the horizontal. Mr Froude suggested a further improvement - that the sphere should not rest on the bottom plate, but should have an internal hollow sphere resting upon a small sphere concentric with the outer sphere.

Early in 1857 Mr Metford, who had married a daughter of Dr Wallis of Bristol, obtained a very important appointment on the East Indian Railway under the present Sir Alexander Rendel. This he obtained largely through the recommendation of Mr Blackwell and Mr Brunel. He arrived at Monghyr, on the Ganges, in May of that year, the mutiny having just broken out. Here there was every probability of an outbreak; the town of 50,000 native inhabitants contained no troops but a handful of Sepoys belonging to a mutinied regiment. The Europeans, some seventy or eighty in all, were taking no active steps to organise defence. If they fled, as was possible by boat, the town would be given over to anarchy and violence. Mr Metford decided to remain and, with his railway staff, took in hand as well as he could the organisation of patrols and other repressive measures. His task was difficult, for he had no official position as leader. The old fort was ruinous and too large to be defended by so few; a house was accordingly fortifiedand provisioned in case of need. Patrols and guards were organised and it became known that ‘Metford Sahib’ was making explosive shells and other murderous inventions. Besides taking his turn on guard duty, he superintended every measure of defence and could scarcely rest night of day.

In the Indian Mutiny some building were fought over more than once. 2000 Sepoys were killed defending this building, due to wild dogs only the large bones were left.

It was the most trying part of the Indian hot weather and not until the beginning of August could English soldiers be spared to garrison the town. Had it not been for Mr Metford’s determination another massacre might have been added to the story of the Mutiny. The heroism of the man who prevented it has remained unrecognised and almost unknown.

The strain of this terrible time left him seriously ill - suffering from inflammation of the membrane lining of the brain - and after some months of rest and an attempt to resume his work at Monghyr he returned home after a little more than a year’s absence from England, and was obliged definitely to abandon the profession. Much of the work which he afterwards accomplished was done under the strain of continual depression and headache.

He soon resumed his old hobby - experiment in rifle work. As early as 1852 Mr Metford had carried out experiments at the long distance of 1,200 yards. About the end of that year he suggested a hollow-based bullet for the Enfield Rifle which was brought to the notice of the Committee on Small Arms in 1853 by Mr Pritchett, and adopted by them. Both at this time and afterwards, he made many experiments on alloys of lead, tin and antimony and on the changes in hardness which take place in them with time.

In 1854 he investigated the disturbance of the barrel by the shock of the explosion, which affects the line of flight of the bullet, a difficulty which has led to much misunderstanding. About this time he designed a form of telescopic sight which he afterwards used a great deal and which was a decided improvement on existing patterns.

He gave much attention to the problem of making an explosive rifle bullet and in 1857 sent in his invention to the Select Committee who found it the best of those offered to them. It was not adopted however until 1863, when it had successfully competed against Colonel Boxer’s and General Jacob’s shells. It was very cheap and easy to manufacture, the explosive being a mixture of sulphur and chlorate of potash, and the hollow a simple one at the nose of the bullet. The Convention of St Petersburg in 1868 put an end to the use of explosive rifle bullets; but the superior accuracy of the hollow-fronted bullet led to its retention for the Service rifle.

The Volunteer movement of 1859-60 had led to a great revival of interest in rifle work, and at the Wimbledon Meeting of 1862 Mr Metford made the acquaintance of Sir Henry Halford, hence-forward his friend and assistant in his experiments. Together they competed, with rifles specially designed by Mr Metford, for the prizes given by the National Rifle Association in 1864-5 for shooting at 2,000 yards. In both these years Mr Metford’s rifles were successful. He now made many experiments to determine the velocity of the bullet at different points in its passage along the barrel and was able to lay down a curve for such a spiral as would give the bullet equal increments of rotation in equal times - the only scientific basis for an increasing spiral. This invention, though it proved to be less important than was at first supposed, formed the subject of a patent. A new form of ballistic pendulum, with double suspension, suggested partly by Mr Froude, was of great help to Mr Metford in his experiments.

Mr Metford’s chief distinction in rifle progress however is that he was a pioneer of the substitution of very shallow grooving and a hardened cylindrical bullet expanding into it, for deep grooving and bullets made of soft lead. No one before him had realised that the expansion of a bullet under the blow of the powder was ample and instantaneous and that deep grooving served to accumulate fouling, while soft lead created unnecessary friction. The Whitworth system of polygonal grooving gave far more grip on the bullet than was needed to give it proper spin. Mr Metford found that a bullet could be spun with rifling only 0.0005 inch deep, and that a depth of 0.004 inch was ample for all practical purposes. In 1865 his first match-rifle appeared, having five shallow grooves and shooting a hardened bullet of special design. It immediately achieved prominence in the hands of Sir Henry Halford, and in a very few years Mr Metford’s rifles, and those made on the same principles, had left all others far behind.

The Martini action, in combination with the Henry barrel, was adopted in February 1869, by the Small Arms Committee who had before them the work of all the prominent rifle-makers of the day, but not Mr Metford’s, and in 1870 he embarked seriously on the production of a breech-loading rifle. He saw that the solid-drawn brass cartridge-case was, for strength and simplicity, far ahead of the compound rolled case adopted for the Service; and that, considering the needs of hot climates and other practical conditions, lubrication of bullet or cartridge was inadmissible. Every detail of the barrel and cartridge received close attention and especially the form of the chamber and of the ‘entry’ conducting the bullet from the cartridge into the rifling. The adoption of a grooving of segmental form was also found to give great advantages in preventing the accumulation of fouling. It was not long before Mr Metford’s first experimental breech-loaders made their appearance and at Wimbledon in 1871 two rifles and a limited supply of home-made ammunition were used. With one of these Sir Henry Halford won the principal prize for military breech-loading rifles - a single prize of £50 - given by HRH the Duke of Cambridge and shot for at 1,000 yards

In 1872 a match at Wimbledon between teams armed with breech-loaders and muzzle loaders proved that while the latter was certainly still superior, the Henry match breech loader was quite out-classed by the Metford military rifle with match sights attached. By 1877 the rifle and ammunition had passed out of the experimental stage and were made by makers of repute, to whom great credit is due for the good workmanship which was an indispensable condition of the success of the rifle. From that time the record of the military rifle is an unbroken series of triumphs; and in the whole 23 years up to 1894, when military rifles of larger bore than 0.315 were no longer recognised by the National Rifle Association, the Metford rifle only four times failed to win the Duke of Cambridge’s prize, while it took a preponderating share of the other prizes. The Martini-Henry, adopted so recently by the Committee on Small Arms as the best breech-loader, soon found its level and after 1882 absolutely disappears from the long-range prize lists for the military breech-loader class. The superiority of the Metford rifle was notably shown in the matches with the military rifle between the Volunteers of Great Britain and the National Guard of the United States in 1882 and 1883 when the American rifles proved to be decidedly inferior to the British, notably at the long ranges, and almost the whole of the British teams used the Metford rifle.

The rapid advance in military small arms abroad, especially as regards quickness of loading, caused the appointment of a Committee to deal with the question of an improved British rifle in February 1883. Mr Metford designed, at the request of the Committee, the detail of the barrel of 0.42 bore for the rifle provisionally issued for trial at the beginning of 1887. But just at this time the question of further reduction of calibre was raised, as a result of Continental experiments, and the outcome was the adoption of the present 0.303 barrel and cartridge for the Service. Mr Metford’s unique knowledge enabled him at very short notice to lay down the proper proportions for the grooving, the pitch of the spiral, the shape and dimensions of the ‘entry’, and the ‘clearances’ to be given for the cartridge, all so satisfactory that though he himself verified them at much trouble and cost and the Committee also tried them exhaustively, it was found that no modifications could improve them, either as regards accuracy, convenience in use, or ease of manufacture. The 0.303 was first used for black powder, for which his segmental grooving was almost essential, and it was only the rapid destruction of the bore by the smokeless powder afterwards adopted which made it advisable to return to a very obvious form of grooving which had been used by Mr Metford twenty five years earlier. The adoption of the name of Lee-Enfield for the 0.303 magazine rifle with the altered grooving obscures the fact that the shape of the groove was only one of many details connected with the barrel, chamber & cartridge, which are due to Mr Metford’s skill. The form of the bullet, for instance, is one which he found to meet with less resistance from the air than any previously invented.

The Lee-Metford Rifle

Rifle work was by no means the only subject in which Mr Metford took an active interest. He was something of an astronomer; was an authority on the making of fireworks; and knew much about kite-flying. He studied thoroughly the questions involved in the cutting of precious stones, and at the Exhibition of 1862 showed some jewels beautifully cut by a mechanism of his own invention. He was an interested reader of books on many subjects.

A return, in 1892, of his old illness in an acute form put an end to Mr Metford’s active work and after some years of failing health he died on October 14th 1899. Those who knew him will always remember specially his kindness, his deep and genuine nature, his wide sympathies, his extreme accuracy of mind as well as of hand, and his untiring thoroughness of his work.

Mr Metford was elected an Associate of the Institution on 4th March 1856

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FREE FOR ELECTRONIC DOWNLOAD

INFANTRY SMALL ARMS OF CHINA

152 Full Colour pages, photographs, specifications and details of all types of Infantry Firearms and Ammunition.
This is your Christmas present don’t miss out.

Email : OwenGuns@spiderweb.com.au and it will be sent to you in .pdf format free of charge.

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Welcome to the Seventh Edition of the Owen Guns Bulletin.

STOP PRESS

We are currently publishing another new firearm photographic site at
www.Gun-Photos.com

Click on the above link and have a look at over 700 firearm photos loaded on the site already. Soon there will be 7000 gun photos and more every day.

Scroll down for another Free Firearm Manual

We are currently publishing our new website at www.owenguns.com

Where we are in the process of listing 1000s of rifles,shotguns, handguns, accessories, and gun parts that we have for sale. Visit the website now. We also have shooting articles and important firearm information for the gun enthusiast.

Take away free gun photos and free firearm images for your gun gallery collection. New firearm related material being added every day.

Any Inquiries on any products phone 07 54824099 or 07 54825070

Monthly Specials

4 x 32 Silver Antler Rifle Scope $40.

plus Postage

Just as its Christmas and many of us did not get Mr Rudds Christmas present we decided to give away another case of these excellent, very clear, wide field of view, 4 power scopes at the old price of $40. Treat yourself and put a new scope on your old .22 . You will save on ammo, one shot instead of two is a 50% discount on ammo. (I put that one in for all those of Scots decent.) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the staff at Owen Guns.

Ideal Christmas Present for Dad, An Adult Air Rifle. Practice Target Shooting in the Garage.

Includes a 3-9×40 Variable Air Rifle Scope and Air Rifle Mounts. $385.00

(Have to be shock resistant for High powered Air Rifles) . These products will all be 20 % dearer as Distributor prices went up 1st December due to dollar.

The single shot, .177 cal. spring air Genesis pellet rifle features ultra hi-tech ergonomics in its soft, synthetic pistol style grip and sculpted cheek piece. 28 pounds of cocking force gets up to 1000 fps. Other features include:

• Two stage adjustable trigger
• Ventilated rubber recoil pad
• Precision rifled steel barrel
• Crossblock® trigger blocking mechanism
• Ambidextrous safety
• Made in the USA.

Leupold 3-9×40 Variable Rifle Scope

$349.

plus registered Post.

Only until Stocks last due to the stronger US Dollar. Last year we had to pay $600 for one of these. Leupold, the Leading Scope in accuracy and reliability. The new ones we are importing now are 20% more than last months unless the US dollar crashes again prices will be up next month again, so buy now or pay more.

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These Rimfire rifles produced by Ceska Zbrojovka Uhersky Brod are among the most sought-after firearms in the world.

The CZ 452 featuring beechwood stock without checkering, hammer forged barrel with tangent iron sights and simple adjustable trigger.

The Famous BRNO 22.

$579.

The CZ 452 actions are manufactured from steel billets not tubing or plastic, the barrels are hammer forged for accuracy and long life. The trigger is adjustable for weight, and the safety is located above the rear of the bolt and provides a positive firing pin block. Single shot adapters, 5 round magazines and 10 round magazines are available for this line of rimfire rifles.

RCBS Great Prices, Get the Best Reloading Tools for the Lowest Price.

RCBS Great Prices, Get the Best Reloading Tools for the Lowest Price.

Big-scale features and capacity with an affordable price. Two-poise design lets you weigh up to 505 grains with 0.1 grain accuracy. The 5-0-2 also sports our magnetic dampening system for fast readings, maintenance-free movement and a rugged die-cast metal base. Tip-proof aluminum pan for loading convenience. Ounce-to-grain conversion table on the base for handy shotshell reference.

$99.00

Special Price RCBS 502 RELOADING SCALES $99.00 plus post

EMAIL Or PHONE 0754824099

For More RED HOT PRICES

EMAIL Or PHONE 0754824099

GUN Law FACTS

United Kingdom They Banned Guns,Then

Had  35%  Rise in Gun Crime Within One

Year.

Can Guns be used for your Defence? Only if your are a Politician.

By David Bamber,
(12/01/2003)
Police officers should be routinely armed if gun crime continues to increase at its current rate, officers’ leaders believe.

Rank and file police officers have always taken pride in the fact that London is the only major capital in the world where most officers do not carry guns.
Jan Berry, the chairman of the Police Federation, which represents 120,000 officers, has now broken with 160 years of that tradition and called for arms to be issued if gun crime continues to increase.

Does any one really think the British Bobbies are unarmed?

On Thursday, the Home Office revealed that gun crime increased by 35 per cent last year compared to the previous year. There were 9,974 offences in the 12 months to April 2002, compared to 7,362 the year before. The figures came just a week after the brutal murders of two teenage girls in Birmingham. Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were shot in the early hours of January 2 as a gang war erupted.
Mrs Berry, a serving inspector in the Kent Constabulary, said that if officers felt guns were required for their own protection and protection of the public, the police service would have to review its firearms policy. She added: “If we do not control the gun culture and guns continue to be glamorised, we cannot expect police officers to go out there unless they are properly protected.”
“If gun crime continues its rapid rise we will have to think seriously about the best options to protect us all. We do not want to meet force with force, but we do need to be protected.”

Are the Guns to protect the Public or Police?

Norman Brennan, a serving police constable and chairman of the Protect the Protectors pressure group, also believes the time is coming when police officers will have to be routinely armed.
He said: “For any crime to be out of control is terrible and we are going to have to seriously consider arming officers. We cannot have a situation where police are being shot at and are unable to defend themselves.”
Pc Bob Crees, a former armed response unit officer and secretary of the West Midlands Police Federation, said: “If the police were being targeted by guns then I think the time would come to consider it.
“At the moment we should increase the number of specialist armed officers but I think arming everyone would just lead to more criminals carrying guns.”
Senior officers have always resisted routinely arming the police because they believe that this in turn would encourage more criminals to carry arms. During the year to April 2002, seven police officers were shot in England and Wales.
Specialist armed officers patrol in Manchester, Nottingham and London almost every day but most police are still unarmed in those cities. The Government still believes officers should not be routinely armed.

Addendum.

Why are Police More Valuable Than Ordinary People?

We have to protect our Police and Politicians, but what about the rest?

No one gives a damn, that the general public have been disarmed and are prohibited from defending themselves. The public are just the lambs for the slaughter and the government gives guns and bullet proof vests to the Police. It debates the right of the police to defend themselves but ignores the fundamental rights of those who should have the first call on self protection the General Public.  9,974 offences against the defenceless general public seven against policemen and its “Protect the Police”, “They have to be able to defend themselves” well the right has to be extended to all. Then watch those crime rates decrease. Ron Owen

………………………………

Gun History

Mr John Rigby

Mr John Rigby

Gun Manufacturer and Target Shooter.

The name of “Rigby” synonymous with firearms was founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 1735, since then John Rigby & Co. has forged an enduring history of manufacturing excellence and design innovation that is unequalled in the annals of rifle and shotgun manufacturing. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the company built duelling pistols and defensive weapons, such as the blunderbuss, which established its reputation for utter reliability in life-and-death situations. Later, and continuing to this day, the company’s mainstay has been the manufacture of the world’s finest firearms for dangerous game and other large animal hunting.
The company traded as W. & J. Rigby during the period 1820 - 1865 during the flintlock and percussion eras. A London shop was eventually opened in 1865, and the Dublin premises finally closed in 1897.

Rigby Target Rifle

Around 1880, John Rigby became Superintendent of the government Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, and was in charge of development of the British service issue .303 British calibre rifle. He was a distinguished rifleman who had competed at international level with the Irish team, and this brought the Rigby’s name to the fore in rifle making.
The principles of this Target Shooting was made possible by Mr Joseph Whitworth in the 1850’s, all famous Gunmakers competed and  developed a special class of ’small-bore’ target rifle. The majority of these rifles were around .451 calibre, and the term ’small-bore’ was used to distinguish them from the ‘large-bore’ service rifle of .577 calibre.
Trials were held at Hythe in May 1860 to select a suitable rifle. Mr. Whitworth and a deputation of Birmingham gun makers contested the trials, with the Whitworth rifle being the clear winner. With one exception, the Whitworth rifle continued to be issued to Queen’s Prize finalists until 1871, when for the first time the match was shot throughout with breech-loaders. The exception in 1865 was the Rigby target rifle.
This very notable exception was in 1865, when the Rigby rifle was issued to Queen’s Prize finalists.
A report of its selection, which follows, was published in The Times of Monday, 29 May 1865.

MR. RIGBY’S RIFLES - In the competition last year which went on between Mr. Whitworth’s and Mr. Rigby’s rifles the Council of the National Rifle Association reserved to themselves the right of instituting further trials of both weapons, which as far as the contest went, had shot in an almost equal figure if merit. To these further trials, however, which were ordered by the Association Mr. Whitworth declined to accede, and Mr. Rigby’s rifles were accordingly chosen by the Association as the weapons with which the second stage of the Queen’s prize should be shot, instead, as here to fore, with the rifle of Mr. Whitworth. To test the weapons thus supplied by Mr. Rigby, of Dublin, a special trial has just been made by the Council of the Association at the 1,000 yards range of the Royal Factory at Enfield. A number of rifles were supplied which were examined by Lieutenant-Colonel Dixon. The bores were gauged for diameter, the lock and other parts tested, the rifle weighed, and a lead pattern of its interior, and the pitch of its rifling ascertained. All proving perfectly correct, 15 were selected for trial at the targets. In the firing no mechanical loading rod was used, nor, it is stated in the official report to the National Rifle Association, was such assistance necessary, as there was no fouling or any difficulty experienced in sending the bullet home from first to last; and the report further adds that the Council “may safely congratulate themselves upon the excellent arm which has been selected by them for the year for the 60 best shots at Wimbledon.” In all, 15 rifles were tried and 83 shots, at 1000 yards; all, of course, from a mechanical rest of Mr. Rigby’s own make. The mean total deviation of all the shots fired was as low as 1.57. In some cases it was as low as 1.11, and the greatest deviation was only 2.15. Mr. Rigby had made the acceptance of his rifle by the Council depend upon its making an average figure of merit at least equal to the figure of merit made by Mr. Whitworth’s rifles at 1,000 yards in the trials of 1862, 1863 and 1864. In 1862 Mr. Whitworth’s mean deviation was 2.35, in 1863 it was 1.77, and last year it was as low as 1.83, the mean of the three trials therefore being 1.98. As Mr. Rigby’s mean for this year is the lowest ratio of deviation that has ever been attained by any rifle at 1,000 yards, and well within the figure of merit allowed by Mr. Whitworth, it follows that up to the present Mr. Rigby has gained the best of the contest, and produced a rifle which has as yet shot more truly than any other known in this country, at least.

Rigby rifle shows the long range aperture sight.

Many of the world’s most-famous hunters and adventurers have relied on Rigby rifles. The renowned tiger hunter Jim Corbett carried a .275 Rigby; Kermit Roosevelt, (son of Teddy), shot a .450 Nitro Express Rigby double rifle during their 1909 African safari; legendary elephant hunter Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell used a .275 Rigby; and the famed African safari guide Harry Selby had a .416 Rigby as his favourite lion rifle.
Rigby landmarks include the 1897 introduction of the .450 calibre Nitro Express Double Rifle; the 1899 production of the Rigby .275 calibre (7×57 Mauser) Mauser system and the Rigby .350 calibre Express Rifle; and the 1900 introduction of the .350 Mauser System.
In addition to earning a reputation for unsurpassed quality of workmanship, the Rigby company also established a track record of innovation that allowed it to survive through changing times. The introduction of the .450 Nitro Express in 1898 rewrote the book on big-bore rifle design, and Rigby was among the first of the English gunmakers to recognize the potential of adapting the Mauser ‘98 bolt-action magazine design for hunting purposes.
In 1907 the Rigby .470 became Rigby’s main big game double rifle, and in 1912 the .416 Rigby calibre magazine rifle was introduced. Between 1900 and 1960, the Rigby Mauser System was predominantly made in calibres .275, .350 and .416 Rigby, with some .303 calibre rifles in the early days. After that period a wider range of calibres were manufactured. Rigby also made boxlock and sidelock shotguns throughout this entire period.

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