Gun Digest 2011. Dan Shideler
the frontier and western eras on this continent, one floor houses a stunning array of weapons from Britain, a collaborative effort with the Royal Armouries in Leeds. The Frazier is one of the premier arms museums in this country and for anyone with an interest in history and the role arms played in this nation’s development, a visit there is an absolute must.
“Best Gun” double rifles are rightfully considered the very apex of the gunmaker’s art. While double rifles were and are made elsewhere, English ones are universally considered superior to all others; and H&H is acknowledged to be the “Best of the Best” maker of this unique type of firearm. The firm’s origins go back to 1848 when Harris John Holland set up shop as a gunmaker in London. By 1876, he had been joined by his nephew, William Harris Holland, and the new firm, Holland & Holland, was located at 98, New Bond Street, London W1—as fashionable a shopping district as could be found in Victorian times. Holland & Holland are still very much in business today. While the names of their clientele may be different, neither the quality of their guns nor their stratospheric prices have changed. They are still the “Royal Gun Makers” in every sense. TR’s “Royal” grade double, serial number 19109, was a product of the best efforts of the best craftsmen in the world, a monument to H&H’s artisans, their skill, and the firm’s traditions, as much as to its one-time owner’s passion for the hunt.
Scratches on the barrel show that this is a working gun and was used as intended.
The flip-up rear sight leaves, made to TR’s directions. Express-caliber double rifles are meant for close-in work onbig animals; a 300-yard leaf (especially for a man who admits “At long range...I never was really good for anything”) is pure optimism on someone’s part! Note also the barrel inscriptions. The Field was an important sporting publication of the day.
The elongated tang of TR’s double rifle, intended to strengthen the stock against the battering of the .450/.500 round. Note the cast-off of the stock, which brought the barrel group in line with TR’s right eye. (TR was blind in his left eye, the result of a recreational boxing injury he incurred while President.)
Working through the office of the Honorable Whitelaw Reid, Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, and with Mr. Buxton acting as liaison to H&H, President Roosevelt placed the order for the rifle in the Spring or Summer of 1908. It was, of course, stocked to fit his personal measurements, which had been taken in America in August of that year and sent to the firm. A copy of the original order is present in the Frazier’s records. It specifies:
A best quality .450 bore double Royal H’less non-ejector Cordite Rifle, long top strap cheek piece pistol hand stock recoil heel plate, loops for sling, pull to be light, say right 3-1/2 pounds, to measurements rec’d 21/8/08.
As you’d expect, the workmanship is flawless. According to the documentation, this rifle weighs over 10 pounds, but as with any fine double, it feels much lighter and is perfectly balanced. I took the very considerable liberty of raising it to my shoulder and found it pointed as fluidly and as instinctively as a shotgun.
TR’s special-order front sight.
It’s a hammerless sidelock with small floral and scroll pattern engraving on the locks and the receiver, all of which were left in the white. The engraving is elegant but subdued, and actually as functional as it is decorative: it effectively breaks up the highly polished steel with what amounts to a matte finish from a distance. Despite the profuse coverage, there is very little in the way of embellishment otherwise. The cocking indicators are inconspicuous bands of gold inset into the ends of the hammer pivots, and the word SAFE is inlaid in gold on the top tang but there is no other ornamentation. Per TR’s specifications, the “long top strap” tang extends halfway down the length of the stock, a way to strengthen the wrist against the very substantial recoil of the cartridge it fires. The heavily-engraved grip cap has a spring-loaded lid, inside which is a spare set of strikers.
The stock is a stunning example of the woodcarver’s art, although again, it isn’t ornate. The beautifully grained walnut has no cracks or splits, and its “London Finish” is a bit worn, but it’s completely sound. As with the barrels, the stock shows handling marks, especially on the wrist, whose left side checkering is noticeably worn. TR was right-handed; there is a cheekpiece on the left side and the proper amount of cast-off to bring the sights into alignment with his dominant right eye. The pull length is 14-3/8 inches to the front trigger, with a drop at the heel of 2-1/2 inches.
Inlet into the left side of the stock is a golden medallion bearing the Presidential Seal and the initials “TR,” which I believe to be a post-1909 addition. I’m certain the butt plate is a replacement: it’s an incongruous red rubber pad that would be more at home on a double shotgun from Sears, Roebuck than a London Best Gun. I contacted H&H about this matter of the butt plate because correspondence in the files indicates that it was sent back to H&H for work in 1986. (In 1989, a film was released “starring” the Roosevelt double: In The Blood tells the story of TR’s great-grandson and his hunting experience in Africa. The film, directed by George Butler, interweaves documentary footage from the original expedition with modern images, tracing the route TR followed and bridging the time span of four generations.) The medallion may have been inlet at the same time. I was told by a Mr. Guy Davies that H&H have no record of installing either the medallion or the butt pad, but I’m absolutely positive the latter isn’t original. I can’t believe that H&H would have put something like it on a gun like this one.
Load data was also engraved on the bottom of the rifle’s receiver.
The fore-end assembly isn’t original either. It too was replaced in 1986. The correspondence from that time indicates that the original was in very bad condition and couldn’t be salvaged. Not only did H&H replace the wood, they made new metal parts as well, later “distressing both to match the level of wear the rest of the rifle.” I never would have guessed this from my examination: H&H’s craftsmen matched the level of “distress” of the new and old parts perfectly.
The sights are an example of how a customer for a London Best Gun gets what he wants. The front sight is an elongated gold bead on a short matte rib. The bead is rather small to my way of thinking, but TR had specified the sights he wanted in a note (on White House stationery) to Mr. Buxton:
I have never used a peep sight. I do not know whether it is just a prejudice of mine, or whether it is really that my eyes are not suited to one. At long range, I am sorry to say, I never was really good for anything. I enclose you the type of front sight I like most. The rear sight I like very open, but with a little U that takes the bead of the front sight.
The rear sight, also on a matte rib, was made exactly to this description and the sketch provided in the note. It’s a 3-leaf type with one fixed leaf for 100 yards, and flip-up leaves for 200 and (with amazing optimism) 300 yards.
The blued 26-inch barrels bear H&H’s name and address and the inscription, “Winners of All The ‘Field’ Trials, London.” Despite coming from the workshop of the premier Bespoke Gun Maker and being as perfect an example of “Best Gun” standards as could be imagined, this is indeed a working rifle. Moreover, it’s one that has obviously been used as its maker intended: both barrels have scratches in the finish, the sort of wear-and-tear you’d get from leaning it against various dead mud-crusted pachyderms or carrying it in a scabbard. However, it’s still in remarkably good condition, fully functional, with the action crisp and tight. Although TR carried and used it extensively for a year in very remote places, where access to proper cleaning equipment was