ITEM # 96
serial #2062, 300 H&H Magnum, 25" "HYKRO" steel barrel with an excellent, bright bore. This is a beautiful rifle which features a two leaf rear sight graduated to 200 and 350 yards, a platinum bead front sight with permanently attached flip-down hood, F.N. Mauser action, sling eyes, gold inlaid safety, and a checkered, pistol grip stock with rounded cheekpiece and red rubber recoil pad. The metal retains 95% plus of the original blue with some very mild fading along some of the projecting edges, most noticeably on the sides of the rear sight leaves, bolt knob and contact points along the bolt body. A Hensoldt Dialytan 4X scope with post and lines reticle is mounted on Holland & Holland single claw bases. The optics are clear and excellent. The nicely figured walnut stock exhibits a few small handling marks along the sharp checkering along the forend and some minor surface scratches just behind the cheekpiece. A slightly tarnished silver escutcheon is present on the belly of the buttstock engraved with the initials "S/H/A". The rifle comes in the original brown leather Holland & Holland travelling case, embossed "SHARIF HUSSEIN ALI" on the lid with the original certification label on the interior, complete with leather scope case, a Holland & Holland oiler, a non-matching .303 British hot water funnel (for cleaning barrels after shooting Cordite cartridges), .30 caliber bore brush, box of Parker-Hale cleaning patches, and a vintage toothbrush. The maroon baize lining is in fine shape and the factory labels are intact, but the exterior closure straps and clasp lock key are missing. A Holland & Holland letter is included with the rifle which lists the year of manufacture as 1951 and the original customer as King Faisal of Iraq. Faisal II was the son of King Ghazi and Queen Aliya and ascended to the throne on April 4, 1939, at the age of three, ruling through a regent. Sharif Al Hussein bin Ali was the king's uncle through his marriage to Badiya, Queen Aliya's sister, and probably received the rifle on or near Faisal's coming of age in 1953. Faisal himself was executed with most of his family and ministers in 1958 after a successful coup d'etat by radical Arab nationalists within the army, but Sharif Hussein Ali was able to escape to England where he lived in exile with his wife and children. This is a wonderful opportunity for the collector to own a fabulous British magazine rifle with a historical connection both to a doomed king and a country whose near constant political turmoil still affects us today. (1991-4) {C&R} (12,000/18,000) SOLD FOR $15525.00 |
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