Rook rifle

An 1892 advertisement for rook and rabbit rifles by the Charles Lancaster company.

A rook rifle is an English single-shot dropping block or break-action small calibre rifle for shooting rooks and rabbits, developed in 1883 by the gun-makers Holland & Holland. The original rifle was .295 bore, with an 80 grain bullet, but slightly larger bores of .300 and .320 were also made at the time.[1][2]

Because such shy game would scatter immediately after a shot, there was no disadvantage to a single-shot action. Rook rifles remained single-shot, rather than magazine loaded, until they disappeared after World War II.

References

  1. ↑ Fremantle, T. F. The Book of the Rifle. New York: Longmans, Green, 1901. OCLC 192111886 p.153 link
  2. ↑ Greener, William Wellington. The Gun and Its Development. New York: Cassell and Company, 1910.link


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