A couple of shots across the bows today.

[muffett.2008]

No worries Roger, that rifle once belonged to Bruce Gorton from the Shaky Isles, Pete would remember him.
Can't provide any Butt socket pics with butt removed, target rifle shooters don't have a use for screwdrivers that big, but here are what I've taken, all timber has S/N and dates in pencil in both rifles.
Attachment 56162Attachment 56161Attachment 56163Attachment 56164Attachment 56165Attachment 56166


This is the scope bracket from the second rifle, pic's don't do it justice, but if the Khyber Pass boys were into these, this would be a good example.
File marks, misaligned covers and a basically unfinished bracket, I guess it was made to fit the Israeli scope, it's centre casting is just as rough......are they all like that Warren?
Attachment 56169Attachment 56168Attachment 56167Attachment 56170

[Roger Payne]

Cheers Muff. You've triggered a few old memories there - Yes, I knew Bruce pretty well. When he came over to the UK about fifteen years ago as part of one of Ian's European tours I picked him up from the Pattern Room (in Nottingham as it then was), & he came over to mine to compare notes & for a general natter. IIRC I then chauffered him down to a certain armourer's place in the Abingdon area....... We used to chat on the phone a lot & exchange faxes (emails being in their infancy then) as well as doing a number of deals together. A great loss of a very knowledgeable & unassuming mate when he passed away. I'll always remember it; my dad, Bruce, & another good mate all succumbed within a three week period in June/July 2002.

Sorry, I've digressed. Thanks for the pictures. Most informative...........& if your pal ever does get to take a photo of the old lady's draws (sic) I'd love to see it - just out of curiosity.

Cheers.

[muffett.2008]

Attachment 56171Bit worn.

[Roger Payne]

Sorry, mea culpa for being ambiguous. I meant the 'male' parts - the downward projections on the rifle body that mate against the draw recesses in the forend.

But not important, so no worries.

ATB

P.S. Isn't there a market for 'worn draws'..........?

[muffett.2008]

Only if you sniff bicycle seats

[Roger Payne]

Bugger! My secret's out.......

[gsimmons]

I hear you can get them in vending machines in Japan. Allegedly.

[Peter Laidler]

While I was an apprentice, answering endless pedantic trade test papers, we had to refer to them as DRAWERS as they drew or would draw the body rearwards so to become firmly bedded against the butt socket. Pedantic nonsense but that's how it was. And I shudder to think what'd've happened if I told Mr Ayley that I was tightening the king screw. He'd have said '...... I can't repeat it on a family forum but some of the words would have ended in '........king'

Bruce wasn't an Armourer by the way. He told me that he was a 'tinkerer'

[Roger Payne]

Sorry Peter, I stand corrected; I should have said I was interested in photo's of 'worn drawers'..........