sestoppelman
AH ambassador
Members will know that one of our own, member Hunter-Habib is the proud owner of a Churchill rifle in 7x57, one that he has had much success in using as his stories here have shown.
Churchill rifles are hard to find and the history of the companies involved under the name is not easy to pin down, but the Churchill stamped on the barrel of this rifle is the same as that stamped on Hunter-Habibs rifle, Churchill Gunmakers Ltd with an address of 7 Bury Street, London. These same rifles were also made at another address, probably across the street!
At any rate, I found this one GB recently almost by accident though I have been looking for one for some time and would have taken one in almost any caliber but probably .243 Win, no thanks. This is one is in .30-06 Springfield. Likely made in the mid to late 1960's.
Only obvious difference between HH's rifle and mine is the checkering pattern and that this one has the swing lever on the floorplate, ( slick ), that HH says only came on the '06 rifles.
Bit of a fiasco at the gun shop yesterday trying to bring it home as they were overly concerned about the lack of a SN on the receiver. I explained that being foreign made and probably before 1968, that the SN was not an issue. There is a SN on the barrel and the bolt SN matches it so after pointing that out and explaining the difficulty in pinning down exactly what this rifle is, they finally acquiesced and let me do the paperwork and online background check which is changing yet again here in WA state and thus I had to wait until today to bring it home. So for WA shooters I was told yesterday that after the first of the new year, ALL guns will require a 10 business day wait for pickup, ALL guns. Basically with all the new laws passed here, the Fed, NICS, told WA, you're on your own, do your own BG checks so now the Washington State Patrol has to do it all and they aint prepared. for it.
But here is a couple pics of the rifle. True Mauser in that the left raceway is not broached thru to the chamber like many moder Mausers are, this leaves more steel in the area, making for a slightly stronger area than those broached thru.
Dont know the make of the receiver, no markings on it, but it has the left thumb slot like a military 98. Funny thing, the gun shop guy spent about 20 minutes on line trying to figure out what to call it. I told him Churchill called it the Regal model, but he found something he said that looked just like it, called the Aristocrat, so thats what the paperwork says, LOL.
I put an old Redfield 4X on it with the only rings I had that would work and clear the bolt handle, fugly but will work for now.
Churchill rifles are hard to find and the history of the companies involved under the name is not easy to pin down, but the Churchill stamped on the barrel of this rifle is the same as that stamped on Hunter-Habibs rifle, Churchill Gunmakers Ltd with an address of 7 Bury Street, London. These same rifles were also made at another address, probably across the street!
At any rate, I found this one GB recently almost by accident though I have been looking for one for some time and would have taken one in almost any caliber but probably .243 Win, no thanks. This is one is in .30-06 Springfield. Likely made in the mid to late 1960's.
Only obvious difference between HH's rifle and mine is the checkering pattern and that this one has the swing lever on the floorplate, ( slick ), that HH says only came on the '06 rifles.
Bit of a fiasco at the gun shop yesterday trying to bring it home as they were overly concerned about the lack of a SN on the receiver. I explained that being foreign made and probably before 1968, that the SN was not an issue. There is a SN on the barrel and the bolt SN matches it so after pointing that out and explaining the difficulty in pinning down exactly what this rifle is, they finally acquiesced and let me do the paperwork and online background check which is changing yet again here in WA state and thus I had to wait until today to bring it home. So for WA shooters I was told yesterday that after the first of the new year, ALL guns will require a 10 business day wait for pickup, ALL guns. Basically with all the new laws passed here, the Fed, NICS, told WA, you're on your own, do your own BG checks so now the Washington State Patrol has to do it all and they aint prepared. for it.
But here is a couple pics of the rifle. True Mauser in that the left raceway is not broached thru to the chamber like many moder Mausers are, this leaves more steel in the area, making for a slightly stronger area than those broached thru.
Dont know the make of the receiver, no markings on it, but it has the left thumb slot like a military 98. Funny thing, the gun shop guy spent about 20 minutes on line trying to figure out what to call it. I told him Churchill called it the Regal model, but he found something he said that looked just like it, called the Aristocrat, so thats what the paperwork says, LOL.
I put an old Redfield 4X on it with the only rings I had that would work and clear the bolt handle, fugly but will work for now.
I have NO love for the .243. I respect the .308 because I shot my first (rifle) buck with a very nice (borrowed) one (after having a 30-30) and scores of guys hunted w/ em in Asia long ago when the season was open. LOL I soon upgraded to 06 and 300 WM. As a teen, i worked on an antique car for a guy (fully custom '57 chevy panel delivery street rod)-he did the bodywork and I mechanical work. When it was complete, he first offered me a custom .300 WM and I took the bait! LOL It was a very good decision (110 gr for varmints/practice and 165 for deer/bear, which i later upgraded to 180 gr for bear). Decades later, 200 gr in Africa w/ my Son for PG. The 300 had a Japanese scope on it (foreign to me so long ago LOL) made by L.E.S. It was a copy of a Redfield (including the 40 mm lens but cut off top/bottom, squared off). It was exceptionally accurate! So much so, I kept it (and still have it to this day) to determine how well new guns shoot (or what mods they'll need to shoot properly!) It had a wide field of view. Just not if you're looking up a steep hill. What was Redfield thinking. It's def different, and if you like it, you'll only want that.? I can tell you they spilled too much pre-electroplating cleaner in the ground...and that may be the secret ingred in Coor's light.
