Guys, I'm gad there is buzz about this rifle. It was my actual brain-child and it started life hand-drawn in pencil, life-sized, on 3 stapled-together legal sheets, which I sent to the Uberti factory in 2017. The idea was to build a classic-looking stalking rifle of British flavor around an action we already made. I obsessed for quite a long time about the proportions, which is one of the parts with which I'm happiest.
Now, the first issue we had to get around was chambering. Originally, I had asked for .303, .30-06 and .270 Rigby. The hurdle was that Uberti would have had to pretty much reengineer the action to design a reliable extractor for rimless cartridges. So we decided to go with .303 only the first year, and to add .45-70 subsequently (with more to come depending on sales).
The other issue was the sighting. Did we want a rifle ready to be scoped AND with open, adjustable sights? Yes. Originally I had asked for simple drilling and tapping for a commonly-available base. But this turned into a nightmare due to the barrel contour. So, as a compromise, I went with a rib that was slotted for Weaver rings, which are commonly available, and that still contained the fully-adjustable rear sight. As a purist (which I am--look at my avatar), that made me aware that it was a compromise, but I wanted a rifle that was immediately usable. I also instructed the factory to provide me with an accessory plain rib that did not have the slots.
The price was already going up, so I stopped there without asking for more custom touches (e.g., a hammer with a spur wide enough to contain a screwed-in extension to be used with the scope mounted). All except the action was already 100% new--stock dimensions, barrel contour, sighting, sling swivel attachments, etc.
I was happy to see that a) writers loved it when I first showed it at SHOT 2019, and b) we can't keep it in stock.
I can assure you that there are many more coming. The Uberti factory is working at (some would say beyond) full capacity and they know that the Courteney is one of our "babies" that we want and we want done well.
If you have any suggestions on how to make it better, please don't hesitate to ask.
Best, and good luck
Tom