Newly Acquired Jeffery .333 Nitro Express

[The35Whelen]

I recently purchased a Jeffery rifle chambered in .333 Jeffery. Serial numbers on the receiver, bolt handle, and safety all match. It has a folding leaf rear site and lever release magazine floor plate. The forend tip and grip cap are either horn or ebony. The barrel stamping shows it was manufactured (finished) at the 26 Bury St. James shop sometime between 1914 and 1921.

I have no specific info on this rifle. I’m waiting on email responses from the seller and J. Roberts & Sons which I’m hoping will provide some provenance. If anyone here can date the rifle or point me to where I can date it I’d greatly appreciate it.

I’m ecstatic to add this rifle to my collection! I’m a medium bore junky and I’ve been looking for one of these for a very long time!

 

[Javaman]

Wow, what a find! Super cool!

 

[Muskox]

Stock is a replacement, I think.


I bought an old Cogswell and Harrison rifle 20 years ago that was in way worse shape, when I was home on leave.

I was in the military and stationed oveseas. Dad kept it for me, for a while but the guy is a freaking horse trader and he can't be happy not trading guns. So eventually it went on his gun show table with a bunch of other stuff I asked him to hold onto for me.

He got bottom dollar for it, as he had no money in it. I never got a dime for it, and it went out into the wilds of Wyoming never to be seen again.

There was a new 340 Weatherby Accumark, a bunch of 700's and a bunch of other really nice rifles he sold as well.

His only comment was that I had too many guns. He did the same thing to me with knives a few years earlier.

What really sucked is I bought him a Blaser k95 for his 60'th birthday, and he still pulled this shit.

 

[deewayne2003]

Beautiful rifle…. Waiting for a range report

 

[sierraone]

Stock is a replacement, I think.


I bought an old Cogswell and Harrison rifle 20 years ago that was in way worse shape, when I was home on leave.

I was in the military and stationed oveseas. Dad kept it for me, for a while but the guy is a freaking horse trader and he can't be happy not trading guns. So eventually it went on his gun show table with a bunch of other stuff I asked him to hold onto for me.

He got bottom dollar for it, as he had no money in it. I never got a dime for it, and it went out into the wilds of Wyoming never to be seen again.

There was a new 340 Weatherby Accumark, a bunch of 700's and a bunch of other really nice rifles he sold as well.

His only comment was that I had too many guns. He did the same thing to me with knives a few years earlier.

What really sucked is I bought him a Blaser k95 for his 60'th birthday, and he still pulled this shit.

What an A-hole!!!

 

[The35Whelen]

The stock could definitely be a replacement, or poorly refinished and the checkering was removed in the process. I may get it checkered if I can find someone within driving distance to do it.

I hate reading about the Cogswell & Harrison. That’s just terrible and shouldn’t have happened. C&H made fantastic rifles and I’d love to find one I could afford. Do you recall what caliber it was chambered for?

Similar thing happened to me when I was stationed in Korea. I came home and found my Mom had sold my Ford Bronco without even asking me. I guess the lesson to be learned was pay for storage. Don’t trust anyone to store something for you.

 

[318AE]

Super cool find. These seem to come up less often than the 318s or 350 Rigby magnums. If there is still a record to be found in the ledgers, it’s likely recorded by the 2xxxx number on the barrel. The 7xxx number was likely on the action when Jeffery received it. Let us know how it shoots!

 

[Green Chile]

That is a nice find...replacement stock as already stated. I always liked the latch on their bottom metal. If you ever want to get it back to original style stock work, Aaron Little does a good job on those projects.

 

[The35Whelen]

Super cool find. These seem to come up less often than the 318s or 350 Rigby magnums. If there is still a record to be found in the ledgers, it’s likely recorded by the 2xxxx number on the barrel. The 7xxx number was likely on the action when Jeffery received it. Let us know how it shoots!

I agree with the .318 WR showing up more often. I don’t see a lot of .350 Rigbys. If you know about a secret stash hiding out please share!

Thanks for the heads up on the numbers. I sent both numbers in the original emails asking for historical info so hopefully something comes through.

 

[The35Whelen]

That is a nice find...replacement stock as already stated. I always liked the latch on their bottom metal. If you ever want to get it back to original style stock work, Aaron Little does a good job on those projects.

I’d like to get the rifle back to as near original as possible. I’ll definitely check out Aaron Little and see what my options are. Thanks!

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

The wood on it looks like it could use a good clean, probably come up nice, I think I’m slightly jealous.
Gumpy

 

[jruby]

Beautiful rifle. I wish guns could tell stories I would love to hear while drinking a nice scotch and i would just listen.

Just curious how does this caliber compare to a 338-06. I know it's way cooler.

 

[The35Whelen]

The wood on it looks like it could use a good clean, probably come up nice, I think I’m slightly jealous.
Gumpy

Thanks! How would you recommend cleaning up the wood?

 

[The35Whelen]

Beautiful rifle. I wish guns could tell stories I would love to hear while drinking a nice scotch and i would just listen.

Just curious how does this caliber compare to a 338-06. I know it's way cooler.

Thanks! You and me both. I’m a history junkie and I can only imagine the lives these rifles have lived.

The .333 Jeffery and 338-06 seem to be ballistically similar. The .333 historically shoots a 250 grain bullet at 2500 FPS and the 338-06 shoots about the same. Of course, modern powders and bullets can shift things but apples to apples they’re close.

 

[RR 314]

Stock is a replacement, I think.


I bought an old Cogswell and Harrison rifle 20 years ago that was in way worse shape, when I was home on leave.

I was in the military and stationed oveseas. Dad kept it for me, for a while but the guy is a freaking horse trader and he can't be happy not trading guns. So eventually it went on his gun show table with a bunch of other stuff I asked him to hold onto for me.

He got bottom dollar for it, as he had no money in it. I never got a dime for it, and it went out into the wilds of Wyoming never to be seen again.

There was a new 340 Weatherby Accumark, a bunch of 700's and a bunch of other really nice rifles he sold as well.

His only comment was that I had too many guns. He did the same thing to me with knives a few years earlier.

What really sucked is I bought him a Blaser k95 for his 60'th birthday, and he still pulled this shit.

Oooooooof. That sucks!

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

Thanks! How would you recommend cleaning up the wood?

Depends on what the finish is, and how much you want to do. If it was mine, I would probably strip it back to clean wood and lightly apply an alkanet red oil to it to try and give it the old English look and make the grain stand out , then apply multiple coats of linseed oil over several weeks. But then some may say I’m excessive. You could try a restoring polish to see if it will bring back the lustre first
Gumpy

 

[Certus]

Depends on what the finish is, and how much you want to do. If it was mine, I would probably strip it back to clean wood and lightly apply an alkanet red oil to it to try and give it the old English look and make the grain stand out , then apply multiple coats of linseed oil over several weeks. But then some may say I’m excessive. You could try a restoring polish to see if it will bring back the lustre first
Gumpy

How do we strip it back to clean? You mean sanding or chemical?

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

How do we strip it back to clean? You mean sanding or chemical?

Again, depends on the finish, anything from metholated spirits, acetone etc to paint stripper
Gumpy

 

[The35Whelen]

Depends on what the finish is, and how much you want to do. If it was mine, I would probably strip it back to clean wood and lightly apply an alkanet red oil to it to try and give it the old English look and make the grain stand out , then apply multiple coats of linseed oil over several weeks. But then some may say I’m excessive. You could try a restoring polish to see if it will bring back the lustre first
Gumpy

Thank you for the info!

 

[John Telford]

Pull the stock off of the barrel and see if there is a serial number stamped into the wood. The serial number you see is the Jeffery number and not the Mauser number. Stock looks like it has been replaced as has the bolt release . It has a 43 not a 55 stamp. This is a very early Jeffery I have a .404 from 1912 that is very close to this in serial number.