Fascinating Article from Westley Richards

[Red Leg]

Captain James H. Sutherland’s .577

Whilst the latter is largely redundant in discussion today, during the golden age of big game hunting from the late 1890s to the 1950s, these two topics dominated the sporting press and fireside conversations around the world, and even today the former is still hotly debated. From a purely...

www.westleyrichards.com

 

[spike.t]

Yup very ...

 

[Shootist43]

Quite the gun & quite the story. Red Leg, thanks for sharing.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Ah, right up my street! A trip to WR when in the UK is an experience in soul replenishment.

 

[Wheels]

Neat article about a neat rifle.

 

[Randy F]

Quite a story, Thank you for posting it.

 

[deewayne2003]

Thanks for posting this Redleg, I've read his book and the picture of the WR advert you posted made me curious about the "85 Guinea"

Maybe some of you elder statesmen of the forum can double check my math on this....

The advert has "85 Guineas" I take that to mean the price of the rifle as shown; which if I'm not mistaken 1 Guinea = 1.05GBP converted to decimal

1.05GBP X 85 = 89.25GBP

Now 1GBP adjusted for inflation from 1906 - 2021 = 124.73GBP

89.25 X 124.73 = 11,132.15GBP in 2021 & Converted @ 1.42:1 for USD =

$15,807.65 USD modern price equivalent

I know there were more hand craftsmen back then, but it still looks awfully cheap to me for the quality; or was that simply the "getting what you paid for" back in a day where you had to compete with many other quality shops?

 

[Wheels]

In many of the older English language hunting books about Africa, the following terms are used interchangeably.

Pound
Pound Sterling
Sterling
Guineas
Quid

I feel I am leaving something out. At some point Guineas became worth more than 20 Shillings since they were gold and the pound devalued against gold.

In the last couple of decades I have asked numerous people in England, Wales and Scotland what Guineas were. Virtually no one knew. It is a term that no longer seems used. Probably since no "Guineas" are still in circulation since their value in gold greatly exceeds their face value.

 

[Tra3]

7000 ft/lbs!! That is throwing some lead

One can only wonder how many hours that double was carried in the bush.