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Product Details
HOLLAND & HOLLAND
A .500/.465 NITRO EXPRESS 'ROYAL HAMMERLESS EJECTOR' HAND-DETACHABLE SIDELOCK EJECTOR DOUBLE RIFLE, serial no. 28554,
for 1929, 26in. nitro chopperlump barrels, matt sight rib gold-inlaid '2' and with open sights and folding leaf sights for 100, 200 and 300 yards, the breech end with flip-up peep-sight, ramp-mounted bead fore-sight with flip-up moonsight, tubes engraved 'HOLLAND & HOLLAND. 98. NEW BOND STREET. LONDON.', treble-grip action with hidden third bite, carved shell fences, removable striker discs, cocking lever return studs, toplever gold-inlaid '2', manual safety with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' detail, elongated top-strap, gold-inlaid cocking-indicators, chequered articulated front trigger, rolled-edge triggerguard, best bold Royal scroll engraving with beaded bordering and interspersed with floral motifs, retaining much colour-hardening and finish, 14 1/8in. figured pistolgrip stock with cheekpiece, engraved and colour-hardened steel pistolgrip-cap (with trap), sling swivels and including 1in. leather covered recoil pad, weight 10lb. 6oz., in its brass-cornered oak and leather case, the lid inscribed 'W. L-S. WILTON LLOYD-SMITH. KENJOCKETY. LLOYD NECK. HUNTINGDON LONG ISLAND. U.S.A. HOLLAND .465 D. RIFLE.'
Provenance: The makers have kindly confirmed that the rifle was completed on 29th July 1929 as part of a pair.
Wilton Lloyd-Smith was a Wall Street lawyer in the 1920's and a keen hunter and philanthropist. Much of his library of English literature and history now resides in the Princeton University library. He lived at his waterfront mock English Tudor estate Kenjockety in Lloyd Neck, New York, which was built in 1925 for him and his wife Marjorie.
He was one of the original investors in the fledgling American publication 'Newsweek' in 1933 and in 1936, he, along with nine other businessmen were responsible for the development of the Grumman G-21 (the "Goose"). Seeking a replacement for the Loening Air Yacht they used to commute from their Long Island homes to their offices in Manhattan, they approached aeronautical engineer and entrepreneur Grover Loening, who had designed the Air Yacht. Loening declined to build a new airplane for them, but he suggested that the group contact the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, for which Loening consulted and which he had helped finance. Leroy Grumman accepted and immediately went to work with designer and company co-founder William Schwendler, as well as hydrodynamicist Ralston Stalb, to build a G-21 amphibian "air yacht.". The 'Goose' (a nickname bestowed upon the G-21 by the Royal Air Force during WWII) was produced between 1937 and 1945 (with a total production run of approx. 345) and despite its luxury origins, it was adopted by the U.S. Navy as a general purpose transporter, ideally suited to work in remote areas. The U.S. Navy accounted for almost two thirds of the eventual production. It was also widely used by the RCMP and it saw continual use in small commercial airlines until the late 1960's. Very few examples still exist in flightworthy condition
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Estimate £15,000-20,000
S1 - Sold as a Section 1 Firearm under the 1968 Firearms Act