This exceptional rifle was completed in 1909 for H.H. Prince Youssouf Kemal of the Egyptian ruling family. In the Holland and Holland records it is described as 'A best quality .600 bore Hammer Ejector Cordite Rifle', sighted 'to 25 metres only' and so built as to be well balanced and rather butt-heavy. It took eight months to build and was dispatched to arrive in Cairo no later than October 15, 1909. It is clear that whilst it was designed to be built as a hammer ejector, the production only went so far as to cut the slots in the action-body and forend-iron for the ejector work, leaving it as a non-ejector, but with provision for rapid conversion to ejector if needed. This is, perhaps, the most realistic approach to the building of a rifle designed to be used under the most extreme and dangerous of circumstances; it has been argued for many years that the use of ejectors in large-calibre rifles is an unnecessary and potentially hazardous addition as the noise of the spent cartridges being ejected could provoke a charge.
Rifle No. 19285 was built at this relatively late stage with hammers on the specific instructions of the client, who wished to be absolutely certain of avoiding any circumstance that could lead to a double discharge
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