WHE BRigd Srl oor LUPUS by: David Johnstone With this article the author, a Seotsman resident in England, and member of T.G.C.A.. continues his series on unusu al British arms of yesteryear. Previous articles covered The Arcane Air Cane (Fall 2000) and The Bullet Crossbow (Spring 2001). In this article he discusses the development of the weapons used to combat the menace of the Rook, a pest as ubiquitous in Europe as the groundhog is in America. Introduction Linking in with my last article on the bullet crossbow, where I noted that it was particularly suited to shooting rooks at toost in a tookery, I have managed to move forward a century or two to a mote modern method of despatching these pesky birds! Why, I can hear some of you ask, have you British got so much against rooks? One explanation is that, in a coun- ‘try where so much land is given over to sheep rearing or game shooting, rooks and raptors were once high on a gamekeeper’s ‘est control list, Then of course, rook pie ‘was, within living memory, very much part of country fare, admittedly, most ‘often made with young taken from the nest None of this i strictly relevant howev- <8 the use of these rifles in rook roost shooting was probably minimal, the name resulting from a contraction of the orig- nal teem "Rook and Rabbit Rifle.” The range of cartridges widely accepted to be within the "Rook" classifcation varies from those suited only for rabbits, to heav- {er types which could he used on small deer such 9s Muntjac or Roe. Some rifles falling into the category were made with Jadder or tangent rear sights and used for target competitions under the general ‘name of "Miniature Club Rifles”. Purpose made malitary cadet training rifles, where their special calibre cartridges were adopt- ced for use in Rook Rifles, can fall (albeit uncomfortably) into this category. (Picture 5) So, when ve talk about "Rook Rifles," wwe are refering to a class of light, rela- tively low powered, single shot breech- loading rifle made mainly for British users, between 1870 and 1930, In the US, prob- ably the Stevens range of .32 rimfire rifles. comes close t0 this definition, but these tend to be smaller and more into the "Boys" category. ‘The Cartridges (Picture 1) ‘The original Rook Rifle cartridge can be claimed to be the .22 rimfire, but in its early black powder days, even in the long version, it was recognised as being just too ‘much of a pipsqueak to hack it as a good general purpose rifle cartridge. One of the earlier cartridges used in rook rifles was in fact a bottle necked centre fire version of the .22 known as the 297/230 in both short and long versions. This cartridge hhad been developed as a training round in connection with military 450. or 303 rifles, reduced in calibre by an inserted device known as the "Mortis Tube’. Another cartridge often accepted as being in the "Rook" category but deriving from a military background is the 310 Greener, designed by W.W. Greener around 1905 as a military training round, and adopted by the Australian Government which ordered a large num- ber of rifles (rom greener and BSA) in this calibre for cadet use. The calibre was very successful in Australia where it became the standard kangaroo. rifle round. It was the first, and only, of the "Rook" category cartridges to start its life asa nitro round. Some of the larger ealibres were popu lar for shooting small deer at home or in ‘other parts of the British Empire, includ- ing the .380 and .360 (No.5) which are virtually interchangeable, and the 300 Sherwood. In the UK, by far the most popular was the 295(300), more common- ly known as the 300 Rook. The 320 (hort and long) was also widely used. The last of the true Rook cartridges was the bottlenecked 297/250 (250 Rook) which achieved a high level of popularity. Both 300 and 250 Rook started life as black powder cartridges but were eventually loaded with nitro until they ceased pro: duction around the 1960s, (One of the rarer Rook cartridges is the bottlenecked 255 Jeffrey, which was cou- pled with a similar cartridge, the 275 Jeffrey. The principle was that, if the rifling became worn, it could be and used with the slightly greater diame- ter round. The Rifles Almost every type of single shot action was utilised in the manufacture of Rook Rifles, the most popular being the Martini and the side lever centre hammer (Pictures 2 & 3) The most desirable for collectors and shooters is the hammerless top lever (pictures 2 & 4), as thes usually of high quality, Almost every gun- maker, national o provincial, had Rook Rifles in their inventory, often made in Birmingham by Webley or Tranter, or indeed Belgium where many cheap Martini or Rolling Block action rifles were produced. The best makers howev. duced their own top quality guns, inclu ing Holland & Holland, Charles Lancaster, Jefirey, and W.W. Greener. The hammerless Holland & Holland is partic: ularly sought after today. Barrel styles were generally either ‘octagonal or ovate witha top flat. The topure 1 A selection of Rook Rifle caridges. LtoR, 22LR, -320 Shor, 30 Long. (Moris Tube), 297/250 (250 Rook), 255 lffey, 360 5 (300) oF 300 Rook, 300 Sherwood Picture 2A selection of Rock Riles. Tp to Bottom ~ Hammers topTever 30 Raa —_‘Pietune 3~ Cise up ofthe Holland @ Holand side vey, ret by Army & Navy, Centre Hanmer side lever 250 Rook by Holland & Holland, crea Martin action 310 Grener nfl by C.G. Boneil, London Picture 4 » Close up ofthe Army & Navy retailed hammner-_"Piceure 5 Martnd ton Cet Ris calibves WEN ware peed oR WOR AAC TOP les top lever action 297/230 by A.G. Parker. Bottom 310 Greener made for the Australian goverment by WAW.Greenex Picture 6 - Rook Pistol in 300 Rook by Charles Lancaster, Landon. Barvel & 10 1" long, oval hore, and tips up bythe leer forward ofthe trigger guardflats were almost always machine pat- temed to produce a matt surface, Rear sights were 2 or 3 stand-up leafs, typically sighted at 50, 100, and 150 yards. To reduce fouling, shallow rifling was the norm, Holland & Holland calling theirs "Semi Smooth Bore" and Charles Lancaster using his patented "Oval Bore’ in many of his Rook Rifles (Picture 6), ‘which reputedly worked well most of che time although, I am told, prone to the ‘occasional “yet” Jeffrey's answer to wear ‘on the shallow rifling is noted above, whereas Alfred G Parker (later Parker- Hale) developed a e-lining process called "Parkerifling’ to give target rifle accuracy to small calibre rifle. This was used as an inexpensive way of converting military rifles to .22 rimfire calibre, for training during WW1. The British never adopted the 310 Greener Cadet which was to prove so popular in Australia (Picture 5) ‘or even commissioned a rifle for their own "Morris Tube" 297/230 in military style, although some countries, Australia included, bought them in small numbers (Picture 5). Exotics As with all areas of collecting, exotic variations were thrown up which are now highly desirable collectors items. First of these is the Rook Pistol, of which I have only ever had one through my hands (Picture 6) but | assume they must be out there somewhere as they appear quite reg ularly in old gunmakers’ advertisements. Mine was made by Charles Lancaster in 300 Rook, oval bore. It has a detachable stock and a 10 ¥" barrel which tips up by a lever forward of the trigger guard. It is a very nice, fine piece and, although. it ‘would seem to be much suited to a poach- c's craft, Ican hardly suppose that such a rascal would be able to afford the price of fone, [rather assume that it was made to ‘accompany a gentleman on a tour of his estate, thus reducing the burden of a full rifle, Another rare bird which has collectors lusting isthe near mythical top lever ham- ‘metless double. Yes, they do exist and I Bibliography did once see a double .22 rimfie, which I seem to remember had once been a 300 Rook, and a douible 300 Rook where one barrel was bored out to .410 shotgun. Surely an act of great vandalism! But, however, the way a great number of Rook Rifles went. These were both very nice rifles, although 1 do not remember the makers. Buoyed up by the popularity of the round, WIW. Greener certainly made a double 310 for which he beefed up the cartridge form 5 ¥ to 6 ¥ grains of cordite and called it the "Miniature Express’. This he claimed was suitable for small buck and ‘other animals not more than 120 Ibs ‘weight at ranges up to 300 yards. The ‘weight of his double was 5 % Ib! The 310 Greener could therefore be had in three styles - 80 grain bullet for rooks and rab- bits, 125 grain bullet for small game, cadet and target work, and 125 grain bullet with higher cordite for larger game. A versatile round indeed! I have yet to come across cone of these double rifles, and suspect the place to find one would be either Australia or South Aftica. Finally, perhaps not quite so exotic and certainly found quite regularly is the dual purpose rifle/shorgun made with two interchangeable barrels, one usually 300 Rook, and the other .410 shotgun. These are invariably quality cased guns made by the berter London makers. ‘The Rise and Fall - and Rise Again! In its first life, the popularity of the Rook rifle peaked towards the end of the 19th Century, but continued to be used, and made, tll the 1930s. Two factors ended its period of dominance. First and foremost, the development of the 22 Long Rifle in nitro pushed its muzzle energy to around 150 ft. Ib., comparable with the 250 Rook at 165 ft Ib. and 300 Rook at a little over 200 ft. Ib. And it was so much cheaper! This replaced most of the uses for Rook calibres - small game, target, and cadet training. The further decline of the Rook Rifle ‘came as @ result of the constant enemy of the British shooter - legislation. In 1920 a Firearms Act was introduced which required police permission to keep a rifle, This meant, as always, that a number of people simply gave up their shooting, and ‘quantity of the poorer quality guns were probably destroyed. Another option was to convert the tip-up types to -#10 shot- guns, perhaps a slightly less drastic action, but only just! Finally, some simply disap- peared "below the floorboards’ and we probably have such lawbreakers to thank for a great many good quality rifles survi ing today. Strangely, it was legislation, or rather de-legislation which allowed the revival of the Rook Rifle, initially as a collector's piece. For the collector, the calibres used in Rook Rifles have gradually been declared “obsolete” by the British, Home Office. The last release took place on January 2001, and now rifles made for all the calibres mentioned in ths article, are, with the obvious exception of the .22 RF, permitted to be held without a license as collectibles. Provided they were made before 1939, and one holds no cartridges for them. Yes, it does get complicated! With the interest generated by the collec- tor's market, now more shooters are returning to using these rifles in classic arms competitions, although to be strictly legal they have to apply to the police for a license and put them back on ticket’. The problem is that some police forces choose to make this difficult on the basis that the .22 RF should be sufficient forall the purposes to which the Rook Rifle was applied. This is the “Rook Rifle Rip Of?” referred to by Cadmus in the article below. However, despite these difficulties, it can be seen that this designation of ca bres as “obsolete” for the purpose of col lecting isa step in the right direction after the Draconian restrictions of the end of the 199s, and will help prevent the fur- ther junking of our once glorious gun making heritage. ‘Truly, our cup runneth over!! ‘There isa dearh of information on British Rock Rifles, a subject surely crying out fora book! However the following have been used in the preparation of this brief stammary, and contain more information for anyone seriously inerested. 1) The Gun and its Development (The Classic Collectors Eilon - 1988. New Orchard Editions Ld.) by WW. Greener. 670 et seq. 2) Glasic Arms Vol Isue 4. "Rook Rifle Rip-Of by Cadmus pp12-13. 3) Booty’ Revised Diectory of Brish Guaomahers (Sand Lake Press) The Tow Com Cane Sn 2002