With that admission made, I would like to thank the client both for his most generous commission and also for his patience whilst we made the gun, I know his fuel bill for visits during the period were huge that I even, at one point, offered him an apron and full access to the workshops to supervise the job!
The 'Ovundo' is a special gun for us and we only 'give one out' very rarely. The gun is a hand detachable lock, single selective trigger gun which has been engraved by Paul Chung.
The Opening side ports of the gun, showing the single trigger working parts.
jens leibenlichen von hunnos on October 9, 2015 at 2:07 pm
to say it all in one word,MAGNIFICENT
this is a high art of gunmaking
do you make ovundos today?
Simon Clode on October 9, 2015 at 2:08 pm
Thank you! Yes we do, but very very slowly!!
Larry on October 9, 2015 at 6:30 pm
This is a beautiful gun. I have always loved the over/under having grown up with them as an American. This is the most wonderful example I have seen to date. Tell Mr Chung he is wildly talented! I hope it's fitted in an equally wonderful case!
vance daigle on October 9, 2015 at 7:19 pm
Evening Simon,
When one sees a gun like this gun, what else can be said.
BREATHTAKING!!!!!!!!!
In Christ
Vance,
tim wilkes on October 10, 2015 at 7:37 am
I am in admiration of all the craftsmen who have contributed so wonderfully to this interesting and technically superb sporting gun. It encompasses much that we admire in true British gunmaking ability.
I'll bet the spirits of Westley Richards craftsmen past are equally proud of the tradition carried on and displayed with this gun.
herbert gustavius schiebert on October 10, 2015 at 11:44 am
to westley richards my high compliment,no gun is more beautiful than classic over under guns,this should have been a 2 gun set, a pair of guns for two centuries of westley richards gunmaking,i have seen old ovundos from 1920s and i can say they are made for hunting,i hope to see more ovundos in future
thank you for sharing this wonderfull blogg
sincerely
herbert
berlin
Neill Clark on October 10, 2015 at 1:04 pm
Ohhh, if only I could say "I will have a matched pair please, in 12 bore".........this is gun making of the absolute finest quality, all the craftsmen (and ladies) are to be warmly congratulated.
steve joseph fouriey on October 11, 2015 at 3:49 pm
beautiful gun made by a true english gun company
i was just visiting a friends gun shop and was shocked to death when my buddy showed me a 100% copy of your shotgun
this copy was a rip off of your s&s guns and was made by connecticut shotguns,
i mean is this legal??
they cant just copy other peoples guns
this was their christian hunter model
i dont know why people use their money on cheap copies
why not invest in a real working westley richards
vancedaigle on October 12, 2015 at 10:19 am
Morning Steve,
I am not sure if Simon will respond to your comments, he is quite a gentleman. but the words that comes to my mind is "Bottom feeders". This is just my humble opinion Steve, I have many more about the above said company that I will keep to myself. but I will say again very strongly..... Bottom Feeder's!!!!
In Christ
Vance,
Gary Duffey on October 15, 2015 at 11:48 am
Stunningly beautiful gun! The black mineral streaking looks wonderful with the black engraving background. The colors in this gun are about as good as it can get and the gold lettering and WR banner set it off. The snipe/woodcock is marvelously done and I like the single line border forward of the forend latch. It really adds to that part of the gun. Great result for all involved.
Woody Cotterill on October 16, 2015 at 7:41 am
Dear Simon
As with all these posts on this excellent blog, I greatly enjoyed reading back into the history of these guns and the personalities that built and used them. This includes the three articles some months back on O/U at the start of this year - especially on the two Ovundo rifles [9th Feb 2015] and the essay by Vic Venters republished in his excellent book [29 January 2015].
Westley Richards' Ovundo stand apart as the icon combining all those qualities that defined the crux of gun craftmanship in the halcyon years: aesthetics, durability, performance, and last but not least, innovation. The Ovundo is arguably the greatest tribute to all these attributes, which the late Mr L Taylor and his experts at the bench combined into the superlative elegance and capabilities of the sporting gun.
Considered against stiff competition of the period, this a hard won accolade, but it can be defended. The Ovundo drew on the suite of gunsmithing patents registered through Taylor's tenure at the helm of Westley Richards. Perfecting the Ovundo brought together many of these innovations - including some entirely novel patents - into a single melding of lock, stock, and paired barrels.
My order for a matched pair of Ovondus in .425 and .318 WR will be forthcoming when I win the lottery :-) Thank you very much for continuing to pay much deserved attention to the Ovundo, the sporting gun that stands apart.