R B Rodda Double Barrel 450#2 Nitro Express Rifle

[najeeb_khan]

We said Najeeb and thanks for the good wishes.

Talking about where to fire this rifle, well you can always go to some vast open field and fire a shot at a safe target with a backstop as a salute to your great grand father.

TC

I will try to do that after election

[sa_ali]

really well kept gun, congrats bro.

Its sad that you have lost the marking, now you cant find the manufacturer of the gun. But its a nice gun, relish it

[najeeb_khan]

really well kept gun, congrats bro.

Its sad that you have lost the marking, now you cant find the manufacturer of the gun. But its a nice gun, relish it

Thanks Ali bhai,

Marking of R B Rodda is still on the rifle, but as suggested by TC that this rifle might have been manufactured by webley scott, so their marking I was not able to find.

[tirpassion]

Hello Tirpassion,

Your welcome friend, love to see your precious weapons.

Hello Najeeb,

here is the link to my post on my ML weapons.

http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16739

I have recently acquired a .22 pistol and a prized .357 mag revolver . A post will follow shortly on the same.

best regards
tirpassion

[najeeb_khan]

Hello Tirpassion,

Your welcome friend, love to see your precious weapons.

Hello Najeeb,

here is the link to my post on my ML weapons.

http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16739

I have recently acquired a .22 pistol and a prized .357 mag revolver . A post will follow shortly on the same.

best regards
tirpassion

Hi Tirpassion,

After replying in your thread, now I am replying here.

Your's is a wonderful collection of beautiful handguns

Congratulation of your newborn babies , would love to see the pictures of your babies

[Grumpy]

You reckon that`s a .450 No2 Nitro Express ?
The rifle looks more like a .450 No2 BPE to me. The .450 No2 Nitro Express was introduced by Eley in 1903 and I will give odds your rifle is older than than 1903. If it is a .450 No2 Black Powder Express and you use nitro express cartridges in it you run a major risk of blowing the rifle up and severely injuring - even killing - yourself.

[mundaire]

Grumpy, I just took a look at the photos at http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=21687 and I do believe "CORDITE" is stamped on the barrel flats. So it's not a BPE...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[mundaire]

That's a very nice double rifle you have there Najeeb, congratulations & thanks for sharing it with us!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Grumpy]

Yes, you`re right .... Well seen Abhijeet.
The rifling looks good which is good news.
The only problem I can see is old rust underneath the breeches which needs killing but hopefully the gun is OK otherwise.
I`m pretty sure that Kynoch ( Kynamco ) loads ammunition for the .450 No2 NE using Bertram cases...... although importing a boz or two would be very difficult if not impossible I suppose.
Maker could be W.C.Scott .... could be Hollis.
I`ve been reading up on the .450 cal ban in India ..... which is, to put it mildly, interesting. It wasn`t a ban throughout the whole British Empire, Just Sudan and India ..... separately and at different times - but an ammunition ban in India was introduced locally in 1899 but didn`t apply to those of European origin and the specific calibres banned were the .303, .577 Snyder and .577/.450 Martini Henry but the Indian Civil Service interpreted the ammo restrictions as being a blanket ban on ALL .303, .577 and .450 calibre ammunition. Because the Governors ban only specified the three calibres the later ban was illegal but no-one picked-up the fact. I wonder how that relates to later calibre bans by the post-independence Indian government ?

[Kittu]

what about w.jeffry.didnd they made any guns for rodda?

[Grumpy]

Jeffery actually made very few guns. Certainly the vast majority of guns bearing the Jeffery name were built by Birmingham trade makers. Rodda would buy in whatever a customer ordered and I`ve seen a Purdey 12-Bore that was retailed by Rodda but Purdey were not trade makers so you won`t see an unsigned Purdey.

[Kittu]

najib bhai
it will be difficult to find original manufatures of your rifle.R B rodda is considerd as very good retailers of rifles etc.just enjoy and and safe shooting
regards ashok

[Grumpy]

Najeeb_khan, I contacted John Smith, the principal of the Internet Gun Club and whose grandfather, F.B.Prike, was the last owner of R.B.Rodda to ask if there was any means of identifying the maker of your gun and his ( abridged ) comments are as follows :

"Hi John,

I don’t think there is, ( a way of identifying the maker ) but W C Scott & Sons were Rodda’s biggest supplier. There might be a clue inside the gun but probably not if Scotts were the supplier.
Rodda bought guns from quite a few of the smaller makers, all in-the-white. I know the Leonard family made quite a few rifles for Rodda but so did Hollis, Bentley & Playfair (a little later)."

Frankly there is no greater authority on RB.Rodda`s guns so you are highly unlikely to glean any further information on the gun. I can tell you that some trade makers left a mark on the back of the receiver wall ( the rear of the action face ) or on the table of the action. Marks on the backs of the lock plates are most likely to refer to the lockmaker as locks were invariably bought in.
Quite interesting to learn that the Leonards built guns for Rodda - I didn`t know that.

JB.

[Kittu]

so we should call by byn ame of sir john

[Grumpy]

I don`t remember a trip to Buck House for HM to waft a sword about my shoulders so it`s just `John` - no `Sir`.