John Rigby & Sons No. 1 Mk.III Sniper

[Promo]

I didn‘t get a PM asking for a sale yet ... but would not part with it anyway! And for sure noone would had recognized it, even Ian Skennerton didn‘t describe it properly during his rifle writeup of the Faris collection!

Next unobtainium I‘m hoping to get will be an Ainley rifle. Do you know where the rifle of Etherington ended up?

[bigduke6]

Really interesting thread. I would love to hear the story of how you managed to get your paws on this item (who you bribed and blackmailed basically). At the same time I'm wondering what the hell we (relatively young / junior Enfield types) are going to do when the likes of Roger / Peter etc pop their clogs and take their brains and knowledge with them.

Think there is plenty of life left in them yet, They are very friendly and approachable regarding there knowledge and one has certainly put pen to paper and a small price to pay to read about it...... also lot of the info is on this site from both and others, there are only a hand full of collectors in the world who have items such as in this thread ( in this case just one), but they are willing to post and share information, obvious the drawing Promo shows has no dimensions, as if it did I can ashore you the chances of seeing another very shortly in Scotarms or similar would be a dead cert........

[Roger Payne]

I shall be expecting an email from you if you ever do decide to relinquish it

[Promo]

Geoff, I had removed the dimensions from the drawing. Someone talented might be able to make a similar reproduction based on my pictures or even without dimensions, but I think with this mount it would be nearly impossible. There is a difference between a reproduction (for me a fake) and a tribute - I did a tribute myself with the P.14 and the No. 32 scope mount what I had wanted to show off as a reproduction to forever mark it as one so it can never be passed on as an original, even after my death.

Roger, I had considered of making this world better and throw all of my collection in the shredder ... so sorry, can't offer it to you (wait, where are my pills???)

[Roger Payne]

Before I realised that there was one rifle of this type left on the planet I had intended to do a similar job to yours with the P'14/No32 mounts, & have a very small number of reproductions (or 'tributes' if you will - I don't want to get lost in semantics), based on the surviving drawings (which came from the Armouries/NFC/Pattern Room Collection) many years ago. However, these drawings are incomplete, although with a degree of measuring, extrapolation, calculation, & maybe just a hint of inspired guesswork, I think the project is still do-able. A bigger question might be 'should it be done?' Personally, I've no objections, so long as copies/reproductions/tributes change hands with both parties knowing full well what they are dealing with. And some years down the road I'd rather deal with the dilemma of assessing whether something is original or a good copy, than not having either to look at because none exist at all. Mind you, people have been known to think differently.......!

[bigduke6]

Geoff, I had removed the dimensions from the drawing. Someone talented might be able to make a similar reproduction based on my pictures or even without dimensions, but I think with this mount it would be nearly impossible. There is a difference between a reproduction (for me a fake) and a tribute - I did a tribute myself with the P.14 and the No. 32 scope mount what I had wanted to show off as a reproduction to forever mark it as one so it can never be passed on as an original, even after my death.

Roger, I had considered of making this world better and throw all of my collection in the shredder ... so sorry, can't offer it to you (wait, where are my pills???)

Georg, I'd of done the same regarding the sizes, understand the tribute compared to fake and was very impressed with the P14 set up, yep someone with the sizes at hand could produce a fake or tribute and turn it around with some form of providence, you only have to look at some of the German and other "Snipers" at Scotarms in the past, one day the forger will understand the difference in metals and finishing...........

[Promo]

Roger, I fully agree with you. With so little rifles around and the high demand for those resulting in high price which most can‘t pay (German WWII snipers), or with rifles such as this where there simply is only one or a handful out there a reproduction is a good way. And as you said, as long as its identified and sold as what it is, all is fine. I simply only don‘t like those who fake rifles and sell it as originals for a personal profit (moneywise).

Geoff, sorry but what the British gunsmiths produce are rather easily identified as fakes. But forgers in continental Europe aswell as some in the US are really talented! I‘m starting to keep the secrets to identify fakes now for myself, to avoid them to get too good!

[Roger Payne]

My last post was in part a little tongue in cheek. I've been collecting for more years now than I care to remember, & I would not condone the passing off of reproductions as originals - that is quite simply fraud. However, I cannot help but smile inwardly a little when I read some of the posts on forae like these (usually written by newer collectors) that contain just a tiny bit of moral puritanism, if I can call it that; you know what I mean - we've almost got to write our name in full, date of birth, inside leg measurement, & the prevailing weather conditions, all in the barrel channel if we've restored anything!

[bigduke6]

Geoff, sorry but what the British gunsmiths produce are rather easily identified as fakes.

The problem is we don't really have any proper Gunsmiths anymore and the ones we do have are all involved with sporting guns etc.......

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Promo:

Of the SIX made, I don't know exactly how many "loose" Ainley's there are, but ONE came to Australia in the 1980's, as a part of a fairly sizeable collection of goodies from "somewhere" in North America .

WAY over-budget for me, but at least I have the memories of fondling it. That particular rifle is, I understand, the very one featured on page 95 of Ian Skannerton's "British Sniper" book.

The only other "one-off" that I remember from that haul was the BSA SMLE in .276 Pederson, (single-shot only; basic SMLE mag). Apparently it was used as a ballistic test-bed for the VIckers Pederson programme.