Good day Quaticman and others,
1.
If you have satisfactorily vetted this rifle and are buying it, congratulations, it is a beauty.
2.
I agree with others here that, the receiver was made about 7 years before Ely Brothers ammunition company, released the 3.5 inch, .45o No2 NE, to the world.
3.
The flats marking of 80 gr Cordite / 480 gr bullet is correct for this cartridge.
However, the marking of .450 Express seems suspicious but, only a tiny bit so because:
Indeed 80 gr Cordite / 480 gr Ball was the standard load for this huge volume cartridge, back when boxing was still taught in high schools, instead of Socialism and Earth Worship.
It is probably just the way Tolley (or whomever barreled it) marked their .450 No 2 rifles.
No doubt Cal can dispel my doubt here, when he chimes in.
4.
Again, as others have already mentioned, the fancy grained stock looks too fancy to have been original (unless special order) for those times.
5.
In regards to the strength of a Jones Patent under-lever, Red Leg is correct.
It is extremely strong compared to the top lever system, popular today for doubles and hinge frame single shots.
I generally tend to be in agreement with Ol’ Red Leg on things, especially when it comes to firearm topics.
(Not so much on the topic of Rome, as a fun/not fun place to visit hahahahaha).
6.
Last but not least, a tattered old Dog (me) once owned, hand-loaded cartridges for and hunted with, a very similar rifle (shown in my avatar), same caliber, outside hammers, Jones under lever, etc.
Mine was however marked “Army & Navy Cooperative Society, London and Calcutta” or some such very similar words and had 28” barrels.
Supposedly 28” barrels were for shooting from the backs of Asian elephant (big game hunting in India), in an effort to keep the sportsman from shooting holes in the walls of the “Howdah” (basket) he rode in.
Unknown if that is fact or folklore but I suppose it might have been so (or not , whatever).
Anyway...A&N was not the maker but the retailer.
Not unlike FN Mausers, Model 70 Winchesters and others, marked “Sears & Roebuck” or, “Montgomery-Ward”.
I suspect my rifle was made by “Joseph Manton”, because on the Internet, I had seen photos of a Manton rifle for sale that, appeared identical to mine, except that one was a .470 and mine as mentioned, was a .45o No 2.
7.
Thanks to Cal’s advising me on where to begin with DuPont IMR 4831 and Federal 215 Magnum primers, spacer material between bullet and powder, etc., etc., I was able to eventually develop a very accurate load for my rifle.
Surprisingly, although satisfactory, nonetheless it didn’t regulate as well with Woodleighs (480 or 500 grainers either one) as it did with Hornady 480 gr softs and solids.
These were the dreaded first version of their DGX and DGS, well known to have had a low velocity threshold.
The softs reportedly did anyway.
(Hornady now bonds core to jacket for these).
Nonetheless, they held together for me very well for my African critters, including a very good buffalo.
There is posted two of these recovered softs in my Photos, here within the world’s best forum.
I’m rambling so, please forgive me regarding the length of this rant and now I’ll be quiet.
Cheers,
Velo Dog.
