Churchill Gun

A friend recently offered a Churchill made rifle to me in 30-06. I am unfamiliar with them and only find that were an English (?) made firearm. The rifle reminds me of a sportarized 1903 and is a nice appearing rifle, nothing exceptional but nice. It is made on an unknown M98 action and the barrel is unknown--English production I assume.
Anyone out there that can add any comments or information would be appreciated.

I believe zastava actions not a high grade bench made gun tho some where there seem to be on par with BSA or Whitworth get a pic because they did make some higher grade guns called the BARONET

EJ Churchill (if that’s what it is) are an old English gunmaker. They used to make rifles. It I’m not sure they still do. They certainly still make shotguns.

FN

EJ Churchill specialized in shotguns, but they did make rifles including a dozen or so double rifles. You might DM Rookhawk who posts here. He seems to know English makers pretty well.

A friend of mine in Minnesota had several shotguns and as he retired and trimmed down his collection sold his Parkers and Brownings- the main gun that he kept and refused to sell was his Churchill double.

thoma018 said:

A friend recently offered a Churchill made rifle to me in 30-06. I am unfamiliar with them and only find that were an English (?) made firearm. The rifle reminds me of a sportarized 1903 and is a nice appearing rifle, nothing exceptional but nice. It is made on an unknown M98 action and the barrel is unknown--English production I assume.
Anyone out there that can add any comments or information would be appreciated.

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I was given a Churchill 30/06 recently by coincidence, this one was on a standard Mauser 98 action & has a single or double rifled barrel, but some rifles were made on a hybrid action using a 1903 Springfield bolt, I was using one in Guinea Bissau in 7x64mm last year, these are mostly Middland made but there are several companies making much the same lower class rifles under different names from the Parker & Hale hub so to speak.

Some photos would greatly help ?

The original Churchill era ran from 1891-1959. It was most famous for the revolutionary XXV double shotgun design which came out in the early 20's and utilized a 25" barrel. It was something of a fad and those guns demand serious attention and investment today. Like many of the older makers, Churchill did not really survive the post WWII era. The name was originally sold / merged with Atkin, Grant & Lang ceasing operations around 1980. Somewhat like how the name "Rigby" was batted about, the "Churchill" trademark simultaneously was acquired by Kassnar Imports, a US importer, who aggressively used the once prestigious Churchill name on mass produced shotguns and rifles made in Spain, Italy, and Japan. Again somewhat similar to Rigby, in 1996 the original rights to the trademark were reacquired by a British consortium which now both builds bespoke shotguns and licenses the name for a series of entry level shotguns.

The most common 30-06 rifles date to the late seventies through eighties. These were contracted and built on Mauser actions primarily in Spain or Japan and imported into the US by Kassnar. A very few rifles were also built in the 50's through 70's by the original E.J. Churchill Gunmakers. These are extremely well built bespoke rifles on FN Mauser actions. I have never actually seen one of these.

The Kassnar imports show up at large gun shows and seem to be solid no frills rifles. You can find one in good condition for around four or five hundred dollars. Simply adding the "Churchill" name to an import did not make it a London rifle. Should you locate an actual bespoke Churchill, you will know it when you see it, and you might want to call Rock Island and list it.

Red Leg said:

It was most famous for the revolutionary XXV double shotgun design which came out in the early 20's

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That was the era of my friend's double- along with his Parkers that ranged in production from 1904 - 1932. It was a really nice gun- thanks for the further clarifications.

Thanks @Redleg, Informative and I appreciate it !

If it is a london based gun it could be very desirable depending on condition. I have a couple and they are very very nice. There is a .270 from 1972 coming up at RIA with a value est of 2500-4500

If it is a london based gun it could be very desirable depending on condition. I have a couple and they are very very nice. There is a .270 from 1972 coming up at RIA with a value est o2500-4500