The JUREK rifles
and one of his pistols - with associated articles.

It can be seen that the receiver top has been chamfered even more heavily than rifle no. 5, and that the rifle is capable of being loaded from either side is evidenced by the symetrical cut-outs each side of the bolt body.

The knox-form has been stamped with Dr. Jurek's oval logo, below which is stamped "UNIQUE", an unusual marking for one of his rifles, some of which he described as "universal" models when interviewed in 1979 after his retirement. The interview is covered in an article at the bottom of this page.

We have been made aware that toggle-actioned rifle No.10 has recently been sold out of a well-known London auction house.

This rifle appears to differ little from its immediate predecessors, and is shown below.

The first example of the four understood to have been built by Dr. Jurek is shown next. It is set up for right-handed use, and carries serial number 18. As it is the earlier rifle with this serial number we have notated it as 18(a).

These images can be zoomed

The engraving affording the address of Jurek's earlier workshop

at St. Mary's Row is very clear, with his oval motif above.

To the left above are the original proof marks and later BNP stamp.

The date and place of proofing is indicated by the numbers and letters "sword dancing" between the very small crossed swords mark.

The "M" relates to 1962, and the "B" to the Birmingham Proof House.

The number 3 identifies the Proof House inspector.

See "Date your Rifle"

The bolt handle and rear-sight components are symetrically machined. This permits reversal of each item between hands.

The rear of the round section receiver , and the adjacent stock woodwork are slotted on either side for the bolt handle, which can be removed from the bolt body by slackening the single large slotted cheese-head machine-screw.

Occasionally, Allen hex screws will be seen on many of Dr. Jurek's guns, usually with the cap-heads recessed in counter-bores for neatness.

Below, the action is shown from both sides with the bolt-handle raised.

Obviously, the rear-sight receiver mount would need to be reversed

to adjust the rifle for shooting in the opposite hand,

and the sight itself either changed, or perhaps, at a pinch, it could be

reversed on its forward mounting arm and have the eye-piece

screwed in from the opposite side of the windage arm slide?

.........

Next: the rear-sight from above.....

....... and from directly behind, showing the rear of the bolt,

and the bolt-handle retaining screw.

... and, finally, the fore-sight, believed to be made by Jurek,

with a wide and neatly recessed slot for what are presumably

the standard Parker- Hale elements.

The earlier example shown next is set up for left-handed use, and also carries serial number 18. As it is the later rifle with this serial number we have notated it as 18(b) for our own benefit in the imagery files.

The bolt handle and rear-sight components are again symetrically machined. This permits reversal of each item between hands.

The rear of the round-section receiver is slotted on either side for the bolt -handle, which can be removed from the bolt-body by slackening a single hexagon allen cap-head machine-screw.

Again, such Allen screws will be seen on many of Dr. Jurek's guns, usually with the cap-heads recessed in counter-bores for neatness.

Close examination of this rifle shows that, whilst the action is ambidexterous, the stock is not. There is no cut-out in the woodwork for the bolt-handle on the right hand side, initially suggesting that perhaps the stock had been changed by an owner wishing a pure left-hand stock. However, the rifle was almost certainly ordered direct from Dr. Jurek in this configuration, in view of the facts that the ebony style fore-end cap is very similar to that used on other rifles by Dr. Jurek, and that the action of this rifle is marked specifically "FOR J.L. SCOLTOCK" beneath the address.

John Leslie Scoltock was director of the JLS & Company (1959) Ltd., West Bromwich arms dealers in the West Midlands. John Scoltock founded the Wednesbury Marksmen Club in 1982, their range being constructed that same year in the heart of the town. The building also housed the JLS company and a shop retailing both their imported and U.K acquired firearms and accessories. The premises and business were taken over in 1994.

This rifle carries the serial No.18, along with the later address for Jurek's workshops at 180, Bradford Street Birmingham, where he was based between 1965 and 1974; although, oddly, it has come to light that there is another similar ambidexterous bolt-action rifle, also Serial No.18, by Jurek, but that example is stamped with the earlier address at 10/11 St. Mary's Row. The stock of this latter rifle has cut-outs for the bolt-handle on both sides, but does not have the ebony-like fore-end cap of the rifle here illustrated.

As with Jurek serial no.18(a), 18(b) has a Birmingham Proof House date mark beside the proof marks. The "B" date letter is for 1951, which is confusing, in that the earlier rifle 18(a) built at St. Mary's Row has a date letter of "M" for 1962.

In search of an explanation for this, we could only conclude either that Jurek had a stock of barrels, and occasionally selected one that had been proofed years earlier, or that the 18(a) barrel had been re-proofed later.

____________

Not the best photographs of the top of the action, but illustrative of the layout, and indicating how the bolt-handle can be reversed.

When Dr. Jurek was interviewed by Californian Jerry Evans (see Evans' comprehensive 1981 article reproduced at the bottom of this page) in what must have been 1979 - as Jurek was born in 1904 and was 75 years of age when interviewed; four years after the Bradford Street workshop was closed - he then advised that he had built just eleven toggle-action target rifles and four ambidexterous turning-bolt models. The sequencing of his serial numbering remains something of a mystery yet to be resolved. Perhaps his records mixed numbering of rifles with those of his more significant production of pistols? We will probably now never know, unless his personal documentation has been kept safe somewhere, and is newly discovered.

Here the bolt is open showing the cut-out in the stock.

The receiver and chamber, with the rear-sight mount viewed from behind.

The receiver from in front, showing the bolt-head with its recess for the cartridge-rim, the firing-pin aperture, the extractor, and the ejector in the loading platform.

That the receiver is substantial is evidenced by the thickness of the walls.

These rifles are heavy!

The trigger and guard viewed from beneath.

And the underside of the fore-end, with an accessory rail and another hand-stop from a BSA martini International.

While Jurek sometimes made his own rear-sights for these rifles, he also modified variants of the No.25 model Parker-Hale sight as usually fitted to the BSA Martini International rifles

The foresight used was often the Parker-Hale PH-1 model also fitted to the BSA Martini Internationals.

Below are two images of Dr. Jurek's own rear-sight fitted to the bolt-action target rifle that is here under discussion.

We have been afforded the opportunity to photograph one of Dr. Jurek's free pistols. We show this single-shot .22 rimfire model as a matter of interest. Jurek made in excess of three hundred pistols, mainly single-shot, but including various centre-fire calibres such as .38" also used in free-pistol competition; not to mention a few revolvers with exchangeable calibre barrels.

Below is a trial "Rotate & Zoom" image of the pistol.

When the imagery is shown as loaded, use a scroll-wheel to rotate it, or click and slide your cursor left & right across the image. Click the magnifier on the image to show a high-resolution picture of the chosen position. The arrow icon at the top right will take the image full-screen, where the same controls apply.

Zooming into the images showing the pistol from above, it will be seen that the Serial stamped on the receiver is "No. 25". Dr. Jurek's personal stamp is also there in the form of "MJK" within an oval cartouche. This stamp was used on almost all of his products, often including any of his specially manufactured rifle sights.

A close-up of the markings illustrates that Dr. Jurek may perhaps not himself have been an accomplished engraver, or he preferred to stamp the required information himself to save the time and/or expense that must have been expended on a few of his products; notably Rifle No.4 at the top of this page.

This pistol is built as a right-hander, and, without altering the grip, the left hand could be held above the action, and the left thumb used to depress the spring-loaded slide release lever (shown on the RHS of the action) before pulling the slide rearwards to extract the fired cartridge case prior to reloading. Simple but effective ......... and trouble-free.