Double rifles of the quality of this W.J. Jeffery, built between 1929 and 1939, do not come along every day. Just seeing and handling such a rifle is a privilege.
Such are the vagaries of gun collecting that a trench shotgun, made by one of the American gun companies for use by the troops in 1917, and was virtually new condition—indicating it had never actually been in a trench itself—hammered at close to the same price. It was like Secretariat selling for the same as the milkman’s cart horse, but them’s the breaks both in gun collecting and auctions. You just never know.
For those who are wondering, Wieland came back with just one gun—a Colt Woodsman Match Target born in 1949, same as he was. He notes it has held its condition better than he has.
