Which rifle do we crown as the best looking ever?

[Lungshot202]

 

[Tidbit]

I find the forend really defines the look. I like a slim forend as it seems to accentuate the line of the barrel. It also makes a rifle look sleek. With the curves to the wrist and a flared butt with nice grain and I am lost!View attachment 392843

What caliber & manufacturer? Beautiful...

 

[Pheroze]

What caliber & manufacturer? Beautiful...

I pulled that from the Westly Richards website. I am not sure what caliber it is although the box of ammo says 318 WR

 

[rookhawk]

Among American rifles I will add another vote for Ruger No. 1. Here is mine with a fresh Elk track and a .375 H&H round for scale.

View attachment 478097

Understated beauty. The WORST looking firearms are the ones that try to overdo themselves at a low price point. If you can't be a $50,000 best gun, for crying out loud don't do acid-etched engraving of a duck that looks like a bowling pin please!

Here's a shotgun example that mirrors the Ruger #1. Where "less is more" and it doesn't cost five figures.

 

[baxterb]

Understated beauty. The WORST looking firearms are the ones that try to overdo themselves at a low price point. If you can't be a $50,000 best gun, for crying out loud don't do acid-etched engraving of a duck that looks like a bowling pin please!

Here's a shotgun example that mirrors the Ruger #1. Where "less is more" and it doesn't cost five figures.

View attachment 516163

which beretta is this?

and I agree on the ruger #1 elegance. The rifle i kick myself most for selling is a #1A in 7x57. Just the worst decision ever as far as rifles go. It was a lovely little tack driver and I miss it.

 

[rookhawk]

which beretta is this?

and I agree on the ruger #1 elegance. The rifle i kick myself most for selling is a #1A in 7x57. Just the worst decision ever as far as rifles go. It was a lovely little tack driver and I miss it.

This was a beretta custom made for orvis in the 1980s and 1990s. They were basically Black Onyx models with minimal engraving. They then put very nice wood on them, a leather recoil pad, cut them to length and correct drops, cast them, and delivered the customer a bespoke gun experience that was understated in beauty and affordable at the time. The 20 gauge I have weighs a mere 6lbs 4ounces and is one of a handful of O/U guns I've ever handled that didn't feel like a pig on the end of a shovel. They usually came with lengthened forcing cones and extended briley chokes so they were really a lot of gun for the money. ($2000-$3000 bucks, fit to the original owner)

Best of all, they don't look disgusting, don't have polyurethane finish, and they are satin oiled stocks with black matte metal surfaces. More is less. Don't make copies of high end guns at a low level of quality. (Spain, I'm talking at you)

 

[rigbymauser]

A hammerless Holland & Holland with jones underlever I find as one with the most graceful lines. I have such gun.
One of the finest boltactioned I have held(owned) was a cased .303 Rigbymauser. "Life is too short for ugly guns"(words to live by).

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

A hammerless Holland & Holland with jones underlever I find as one with the most graceful lines. I have such gun.
One of the finest boltactioned I have held(owned) was a cased .303 Rigbymauser. "Life is too short for ugly guns"(words to live by).

Please can you post a pic of it Rigbymauser?

 

[rigbymauser]

Please can you post a pic of it Rigbymauser?

 

[rookhawk]

A hammerless Holland & Holland with jones underlever I find as one with the most graceful lines. I have such gun.
One of the finest boltactioned I have held(owned) was a cased .303 Rigbymauser. "Life is too short for ugly guns"(words to live by).

I might argue a purdey auto-opener double rifle with the bottom lever is a stunning example of this style with really nice lock design. I've only handled one once, it was a 360NE that was ruined by conversion/rebore to 9.3x74r due to lack of brass availability in the 1980s. Naturally, that handy gunsmith took about $40,000 off the value of the gun with his vandalism.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

View attachment 516253View attachment 516252

Beautiful old girl.

 

[geoff rath]

LOVE to see a well-made gun/rifle, we're very lucky here on AH to see examples, time and time again. My only "pick" with the beloved Ruger No1 (by some!) is the line of the stock top dimensions relating to heavy-hitters. I'll try to post an example ...

 

[rookhawk]

Just sharing an understated beauty for the group. I’m all for showing $100,000 guns with best engraving, but there is nothing uglier than a tried-and-failed gun. For the economy minded, I do like British understated elegance. The 1951-1953 batch of London made Cogswell & Harrison 375HHs are very understated in their beauty. The most accurate rifle I own and they all had beautiful wood and silky-smooth actions.

To think 25 years ago you could have bought these for $200 at a pawn shop!

 

[gcbailey]

For regular deer hunting rifles, I have always been partial to Steyr Mannlicher Schonauers. But the rotary action of George Hoenig or Bailey Bradshaw are something else.

 

[baxterb]

Just sharing an understated beauty for the group. I’m all for showing $100,000 guns with best engraving, but there is nothing uglier than a tried-and-failed gun. For the economy minded, I do like British understated elegance. The 1951-1953 batch of London made Cogswell & Harrison 375HHs are very understated in their beauty. The most accurate rifle I own and they all had beautiful wood and silky-smooth actions.

To think 25 years ago you could have bought these for $200 at a pawn shop!

View attachment 516188

C&H 375's always remind me of the opening of Death in the Long Grass ;-)

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

For regular deer hunting rifles, I have always been partial to Steyr Mannlicher Schonauers. But the rotary action of George Hoenig or Bailey Bradshaw are something else.

I guess Bailey Bradshaw’s rotary action is his own design then? I didn’t know if his was a copy of George Hoenig’s or what was going on

 

[baxterb]

I guess Bailey Bradshaw’s rotary action is his own design then? I didn’t know if his was a copy of George Hoenig’s or what was going on

Based on what I see, George's patent expired in 2015 so I guess Bailey is making his own based on George's design.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

in factory original form the Colt Sauer fits the bill for a rifle that was prices so almost anyone could afford back in the 70's or early 80's except me I had to go with a Weatherby Mark V

 

[rookhawk]

in factory original form the Colt Sauer fits the bill for a rifle that was prices so almost anyone could afford back in the 70's or early 80's except me I had to go with a Weatherby Mark V

no offense intended, but you chose wrong.

 

[D.M.V]

Anything Holland and Holland