The Man With the Leather Rifle Case

Who was this man? Cloaked in mystery, hidden by history, We'll try to flesh him out a bit with some conjecture, deductive reasoning and even some flights of fanciful imagination. No clues exist as to his identity so we must make do with what we have. He walked out of # 13 King St in London with one of Mr Jeffery's better examples of the gun maker's art. Bundled up as he was against the chill of the London mist with his cloak around him, we couldn't see his face.

Stepped off the sidewalk and into a waiting carriage carrying a very special gift. One which his above average income allowed him to indulge. His new acquisition gives us even today a few clues as to his status if not his identity.

The Jeffery rifle #131XX in the case was a rifle in the historic, renowned 450-400 caliber developed less than a decade earlier. Nestled inside that leather luggage case's carmine-red, felt lining: a double rifle built on a sturdy Anson and Deeley box-lock action often provided to the trade by suppliers like Gibbs of Birmingham. Many of the finest doubles coming out of the prestigious London makers started out as unfinished, in-the-raw, in the white, Gibbs actions.

The hammerless box-lock action was designed and refined from its back action, hammer wearing predecessor by two former employees of Westley Richards---- Messrs Anson and Deeley. Another of their better known if less influential developments: the design of the fore-end latch for take-down guns in both shotgun and rifle form which even today bears their name. This was a refinement of the older lever actuated latch used for the same purpose. We may assume that rifle #131xx may be an early build as it wears the older, lever latching mechanism, pre-Anson and Deeley, though some makers would cling to the older version for some time after.

Let's examine the rifle in more detail to see if it can tell us something about it's new owner. The very fact that it is a box-lock rather than the more prestigious and higher priced side-lock gives us some clues we can work with. We may deduce that he was able to afford the finer things in life though he may not have been outrageously rich. The profusion of delicate English Scroll engraving on the receiver tells us however, he could afford this more expensive embellishment, a few steps above the standard grade guns.He seems to exhibit a fine sense of taste as well.

.The entire receiver is covered in the ornate but tasteful, delicate scroll exquisitely executed and seen on the best London guns of the day He was obviously not in a financial position to have to scrimp on his expenditures. His choice of a box-lock may also indicate not a financial constraint ; but a more pragmatic view that makes the box-lock even today the more practical, more robust version of the two types. This choice in itself may be revealing too. Does it indicate a result-oriented, practical, self-made and astute business man? A man more interested in the utilitarian than the arcane? Or he may have been a high level civil service official on a new assignment to Africa where his duties would leave only limited access to the rich game resources Africa had to offer. He might also be someone overseeing the operation of one of England's colonial enterprises. A coffee plantation or similar agricultural development scheme.

One requiring managerial duties as well as the use of such a weapon to defend the plantation and its residents and native workers from the dangerous wild beasts of the area.. In any case the man and the gun set off for Africa on a nameless steamship and disappeared from the pages of history forever. Not quite forever as it turns out. At least not for the rifle' ! After half a century no one knows what adventures the two may have had either together or separately.

It was post WWII [mid 1950's] in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Max Rosenfeld was in Salisbury (Harare] on a resupply shopping trip for his family's farm in the Matetsi region due east of Victoria Falls. It had been a profitable year for the farm and he decided to stop in at Feraday's Outfitter's and look around. This was the premiere gun-shop and outfitter in all of Souther Rhodesia.[ By the way, it is still in business though now marketing its wares to serve the needs of a more effete clientele] No serious intentions of buying anything but he might look around for a couple of safari shorts perhaps, or even a new hat! The Rosenfelds are an old pioneer family who settled in the area after making the Great Trek out of the Cape. We tend to think of that migration as a strictly Boer adventure, but there were other citizens of the Cape Colony other than the Old Dutch who were restless and very disenchanted with the regimentation and political intrigues of that area. There were many European religious refugees in the Cape at this time escaping persecution and even death, for exercising their religious beliefs, and they were coming from every corner of Europe: Huguenots fleeing France,Anabaptists fleeing southern Germany as well as Swiss and assorted other human flotsam and jetsam migrating to the Cape. Like many other migrations, The Great Trek itself was really populated by common folk with a desire for breathing room and fed by a hunger for individual freedom. The Rosenfelds were one of those families, originally from Germany.

Max browsed through the clothing aisles first; past the work shirts and pants tailored more for utility than fashion or appearance; for hard wear instead of looks. Then checking out the boots of heavy leather made to be comfortable as well as sturdy enough to resist the harsh conditions of the thorny, rocky terrain of the area's bushveld.' He always saved the best for last though, as one might set aside the tastiest morsel as a treat to savor at the end of a fine meal.. The gun racks! Ah, the gun racks! A lot of fine rifles went through that shop but not much of interest that day. In a land where an object's value was measured in terms of its utility, few really luxury items came through its doors. So when the shop manager caught his eye and pulled out something from a shelf below the counter he was curious. Out came a leather rifle case a bit shopworn around the edges with an interior lining of a deep carmine- red - felt; but oh, what was inside! Serial# 131XX by Mr Jeffery built before the great war,- that war that was supposed to end all wars! WWI. ]Now the man had his attention. Max always dreamed of someday getting a PH license. What better tool for such an enterprise! Of course Kynoch was in the process of discontinuing many old cartridges for these romantic rifles of yesteryear but why quibble with practical concerns! The price was right and it came with several red and yellow boxes of Kynoch ammo so he bought it.

For many years it was in sporadic if not continual, use at the family farm, where It apparently accounted for at least half a dozen elephant, plus other large game animals doing crop damage, or threatening the safety of the residents of the farm or its native workers. But the ammo was just too difficult to replace for use as an every-day tool. Still it was always available for its intended heavy-duty, serious work.

With the passing of the years things in Rhodesia were changing, and not looking very bright for a white minority. All through the late nineteen sixties and into the mid nineteen seventies following lan Smith's unilateral declaration of independence from England the indigenous people of the area began a civil war of independence from the predominantly white government. It began as an ugly guerilla war marked by bloodshed and brutal atrocities [terrorists are often celebrated as freedom fighters and patriots when they win] and ended in a full scale conflict known locally as the Bush War.

Max was conscripted and served on the side of the white Rhodesians forces. The bloodletting and brutality on both sides eventually ended, resulting in independence for the native faction and the re- naming of the country Zimbabwe. After his discharge sometime in 1978 Max went back to the family farm until he eventually gained his PH license in 1980. Again # 131XX saw some steady use as a back-up weapon, while Max was guiding clients.

Things went along peacefully for some time until the new government began confiscating farms and private property, including guns, from many of the white inhabitants. In an effort to conserve his beloved Jeffery he consigned it in trust to one of his clients from California who took it to the the USA. As well meaning as those intentions were; it turned out to be a tragic decision for serial #131XX; (at this point it needs to be named "the Rosenfeld Jeffery") for while in the possession of the client it went through a disastrous fire while stored in a safe. To 'compound the felony" as it were, it was left unattended for some time and allowed to rust with deep pits eating deeply into its beautifully engraved receiver and barrels; where a prompt cleaning and oiling would have avoided most of the damage. Perhaps as a gesture of compensation or sign of regret the client tried to have the rifle put somewhat right. He apparently had the gun checked out for safety in case the temper of the steel in the action was compromised by the heat of the fire. All well there! Then he had the gun re blued-•..-. right over the pits,oh my! He did one thing right however when he had the charred stock replaced by a very good stock-maker of some renown from ,Escondido California by the name of Fred Shaw, whose name is still stamped on the inside Of the splinter style forend of nicely figured California Walnut.

It was in this condition but with a fine new California Walnut stock that I bought the rifle from my good friend and African PH, and managing partner of horo Safaris, Gordon Stark, acting as agent for the Rosenfeld family. For a price less than that of a pre-64 M-70 Winchester I just could not pass it up. Useless to a collector perhaps, and needing much TLC and substantial financial output, I viewed it as a labor of love. It deserved to be brought back to life. For me,it was a diamond in the rough, needing a serious polish to bring out its inherent if hidden brilliance . Fortunately, for the gun's rebirth I saw that brilliance through the deep pitting and neglect of its surface. It will always show some of its scars but the restoration measures already taken and contemplated for the near future will allow that work of art which Mr Jeffery crafted more than a century ago to shine proudly again.

In the meantime I have taken it back to Africa on numerous hunts where it has performed admirably on several cape buffalo: and more dramatically against a huge, rogue bull giraffe which was killing the younger bulls of the area during the seasonal, ritual battles for dominance and mating rights. Thanks to the Rosenfeld family and my good friend Gordon Stark I've been privileged to restore and reclaim from neglect and abuse, a classic double rifle, in a classic caliber, with a story and a fine pedigree. I will leave to collectors and investors those pristine, safe-queens,untouched by human hands and never hunted with. The Rosenfeld Jeffery double with its rich history is not one of those.