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Vintage Westley Richards .425 Magnum Express At The U.S. Agency

I relish in offering up second hand guns and rifles that are fresh to the market. With the Westley Richards & Co. name and reputation, we are in a very good position to find these gems that have stayed put away and haven't languished for sale on-line with some other dealer or been tossed around the various auction houses. A few recent examples are the Holland & Holland 'Royal'.410 and Westley Richards A&D 8g, both exceedingly rare and unique guns, sold here at the U.S. Agency. As luck would have it (and a lot of hard work) I have come across another very interesting rifle, in all original and near new condition, acquired from the original owner’s family.

Solid wall Mauser based action.

The rifle is a Westley Richards .425 Magnum Express Best Quality Mauser bolt action built circa 1955. The rifle is still paired in its original maker’s case with the original accoutrements still wrapped in their tissue paper. During the 1950’s, Westley’s was supplying a rifle of a similar format, albeit with much less finish, to Game Scouts in Kenya and Rhodesia. However, this rifle was bought by a sportsman, is engraved and has a Monte Carlo cheekpiece, a stock shape that rose to prominence in America after World War II. Many of the top tier English makers adopted this stock shape to cater to the U.S. market that was now the largest sporting gun market in the world. This was also the time period when rifles were increasingly fitted with telescopic sights, especially those built for American clients. It is unusual that the rifle was never drilled and tapped and quite remarkable that it has remained unaltered for all these years.

Lever release floorplate with elegant house scroll engraving.

Westley Richards classic and distinctive combination foresight with patent flip over protector.

As if the lovely condition of the rifle isn’t enough, there is another interesting part of this rifle’s story. In the early 1970’s, the original owner used the rifle to successfully take an elephant that body size eclipsed the world record at the time. The gentleman’s record can be found in various record books of the period and you can still see his name, written in pen, on the boxes of ammo. One box includes a few empty brass cases; 6 to be exact. It would stand to reason these are the same 6 rounds Mr. Nielsen mentions in his retelling of the fateful trip. Remarkably, the rifle shows little to no signs of its travels and remains in top form, making it a very viable candidate for anyone’s next dangerous game hunt.

Contained in its original case the rifle is one of those wonderful finds.

3 Comments

  • David Hodo on April 16, 2019 at 10:18 am

    Another beautiful rifle that looks as if it just came off the maker's bench in Birmingham! Almost hard to believe it has actually been on a successful elephant hunt!

  • neil mcveigh on April 17, 2019 at 1:54 am

    I hope my wife is reading this!

  • Peter Buckley. on April 17, 2019 at 10:19 am

    Hi LD

    What a surprise that must have been, opening up just another rifle case and seeing that rifle begging and pleading to be picked up handled and ‘shot’, I guarantee you couldn’t contain yourself !

    Isn’t the rifle a credit to its original owner Mr Neilson, so finely kept in as new condition, you couldn’t have walked away from that one ! I wasn’t even born when that was built.

    Best regards

    Peter.

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