Let's see some pic's of your SxS's & O/U's

[Pinfire]

Provincial quality

One of the most famous provincial makers was Thomas Horsley of York. His guns rivalled those from the best London and Birmingham makers, and while most provincial makers used Birmingham-made parts, it appears that Horsley only bought barrel tubes from the forgers, and his firm employed its own barrel borers, action makers, stockers and finishers. The guns were of high quality, made with quality materials, and finished to a very high degree. For over 25 years I have sought a Horsley pinfire, and the best I could manage, and only fairly recently, was to acquire an incomplete, converted specimen. The better the original quality, the more likely the conversion to centre-fire will be both successful and aesthetically pleasing, and Horsley guns are an example of guns that do not lose their looks in the conversion process. Finding a Horsley in its original pinfire configuration is a big order to fill, and I’m still searching.

Thomas Horsley was born on 17 July 1810, in Doncaster. Horsley reportedly worked for Richard Brunton, a local gunmaker, from about 1825 to 1830. In 1830 Horsley bought the Brunton business, and in 1834 moved his home and business to 48 Coney Street, York, while retaining part of the business in Doncaster. In 1851 Thomas was recorded living at the address with his wife, six daughters, his son Thomas, and an apprentice, Richard Dawson. At the time Thomas Horsley was employing four men. In 1856 the firm moved to 10 Coney Street, and in 1861 he was recorded as employing eight men and three boys (his son Thomas was an apprentice).

On 12 February 1862 Thomas obtained patent No. 374 for a sliding-bolt single-bite snap-action, with a push-forward lever acting on a sprung bolt. On 1 October 1863 he obtained another patent, No. 2410, for a pull-back top-lever or slide. The operating lever was located on the top strap instead of the trigger guard, operated in reverse on the same locking bolt. Patent No. 2410 is the one for which Thomas Horsley rightfully developed his fame. While superficially similar in operation to Westley Richards’s patent No. 2506 of 1862, already covered in this thread, the locking mechanism is quite different.

On 17 April 1867 Thomas Horsley obtained patent No. 1138 for levers which forcibly withdrew the strikers after firing, indicating he was an early proponent of the centre-fire system. On 2 March 1868 Horsley patented indicators to show whether a gun was loaded or not (patent No. 710), again for centre-fire guns, as with pinfire guns the pins indicate the state of loading. While he built snap-action pinfires starting in 1862, and his pull-lever actions from late 1863, he may have stopped building them by 1867, unless a client specifically wanted one. In any case, the time period in which Thomas Horsley built pinfire sporting guns was probably short, making my chances of finding an intact one that much harder.

By 1871 Thomas was employing 22 men and four boys, making him one of the largest provincial gun makers in the country. In about 1874 the firm became known as T Horsley & Son. Thomas Horsley died in 1882, but the family firm continued at various addresses until 1959, when it closed its doors for good.

Today’s gun, number 1450, was made in 1866. It is a bar-in-wood 12-bore sporting gun with the patent pull-top-lever, and it started out as a pinfire. At some point it was converted to centre-fire and fitted with an extractor for rimmed cartridges (something that is not necessary in a pinfire gun), and the pinfire hammers replaced with centre-fire hammers. The 29 15/16” damascus barrels have London proofs, and the top rib is signed “Thomas Horsley Maker York, Patent 2410”. The action bar has an unnumbered “Horsley’s Patent No.” cartouche, meaning the patent use number was not recorded on the gun. If a Horsley action was sold to another gun maker the patent use number would be added, essentially a licencing mark. Horsley might not have numbered the actions he used for his own guns, though some makers did. Without seeing more Horsley pinfires, I have no way of telling which practice he chose. If he only marked licenced actions, there is no way of knowing exactly how many pull-top-lever guns Horsley built in total.

The gun is a bar-in-wood construction with non-rebounding bar locks, signed “Thos Horsley Patent”. The pull-top-lever is signed "Patent” within a banner, and fine scroll engraving decorates the gun. The conversion is a serious affair, the pin holes have been filled and hidden, and it looks like the standing breech has been strengthened with a slab of steel and re-engraved, and fitted with centre-fire strikers. Look closely at the pictures, remarkable work. The thin fences of the pinfire needed reinforcing, something obviously desirable, but I’ve never seen this level of work in any other conversion. As the gun still has non-rebounding locks I’m guessing the conversion was done around 1870 or before, and from the standing breech work I would also guess the conversion could have been done by Horsley (the mismatched hammers with incorrect engraving might have been a later repair). Sadly this example has lost its fore-end, and the barrel fore-end loop. Complete, it would be a stunning, stunning gun – even as a conversion. The bores are pitted, and the gun weighs 6 lb 14 oz. (minus the fore-end).

10 Coney Street, York, where this gun was made, as it is today

 

[Pinfire]

The lock-down continues, so to pass the time here's a double gun signed Fidele Primavesi, but don’t try looking him up in the usual references.

First things first, Fidele Primavesi was not a gunmaker, and nowhere in any reference lists of gunmakers and gun trade workers will you find his name or those of his sons. He’s not in Nigel Brown’s books, or in Geoffrey Boothroyd’s. This is because he was a general china, hardware and leatherware merchant, and not a guild member of any sort. He was also a wealthy landowner, and an active member of Welsh society. An immigrant born in Italy in 1839, he settled in Cardiff, Wales, around 1850, and built up his business in Cardiff, and eventually to Swansea, Newport (140 Commercial St.), and London. The business was initially named Primavesi & Son, changing to Primavesi & Sons, and it was active until 1915. His wife, Sarah, was the sister of Alfred Thomas, 1st Baron Pontypridd, Mayor of Cardiff and MP for East Glamorgan. Primavesi’s main business was located in at 6 James St., Docks, Cardiff, and he sold anything a person might need, from nautical instruments, to Welsh and Staffordshire pottery, to carriages, to serviceable arms, and much more. A Google search on the name brings up myriad items marked with the Primavesi name, including china dishes of every description, telescopes and ###tants, the Royal Carriage made for the Princesses of Surakarta, Java, and a 12-shot pinfire revolver sold at auction some years ago. As a well-to-do merchant, he did not live in a tiny gunmaker’s shop, but rather in a grand house, Penylan House, in the fashionable Penylan district of the city (the house cost £5000 to built, a very large sum in those days). The coal trade was the main source of commercial prosperity for Cardiff (with Newcastle second – which begs the question why the British idiom for futility, ‘carrying coals to Newcastle’, didn’t mention that city instead), and in 1881 the 250-ft cargo steamship named the SS Fidele Primavesi was launched, to carry coal – a pretty good indication of the influence and regard the man held in the business community.

As befitting a hardware-store gun built to order from a Birmingham workshop, today’s example is very plain. The original quality would have been serviceable, but it was not the status object that so many pinfire game guns were in high British society. This was the kind of gun that you added to your order of household goods before you boarded a ship in the Cardiff docks for distant horizons. As this particular gun was unearthed in the USA, it may well have been carried over by a new immigrant, where having an English-made gun had a certain cachet. I have no idea how many guns Fidele Primavesi might have sold, as no records have survived, and only a handful of Primavesi-marked arms have surfaced to date – none of them shotguns. Ironically, a low-grade British pinfire is more uncommon than the higher-grade pieces, as they were built from lesser materials and more likely to be shot out and discarded at some point during the last 150 years, rather than kept, treasured and preserved.

The gun is a 16-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun, serial number 3335 (which may be Primavesi’s numbering system, or that of the actual Birmingham maker). The 28 7/8” damascus barrels have London proofs, and the barrels are stamped “Roses Patent No. 20”. The Rose Brothers of the Hales-Owen Mills & Forge were barrel makers located in Halesowen, Worcestershire, operating between 1860 and 1892. They developed, and were known for, a patented method for machine-production of damascus barrels. These barrels were undoubtedly cheaper than hand-forged barrels, even at the low wages paid to the craftsmen of the day. The top rib is signed "F. Primavisi & Sons Cardiff" (note the different spelling), and the back-action locks are signed “F. Primavisi & Sons”. While some trade goods marked “Primavisi” are known, what is unclear is whether this is an alternate spelling, or an engraver’s misprint. The wholesale cost of the gun would have been low, and certainly not worth sending it back to the engraver to be corrected! I did consider whether it was a counterfeit, but all other marks are genuine, and if you’re going to cheat you are hardly going to use an ironmonger’s name to sneak your goods! I’m guessing it was an engraving error.

The gun has plain line border engraving, plain but well-proportioned rounded hammers, and the fore-end has a simple horn inlay. However, the under-lever lacks the graceful fitting to the curve of the trigger guard bow that is found on better guns. With the passing of time wavy lines from the forging process have become apparent on the action body, perhaps as a result of insufficient hardening or inferior steel. It would have been an inexpensive gun, and yet it is not without a certain degree of charm, and the machine-forged barrels are quite attractive. Victorian guns were made for all tastes and all purses. The bores are pitted, and the gun weighs a light 6 lb 2 oz.

As an aside, general merchants have had a long history of putting their name on guns made by others. Hudson’s Bay Company-marked guns are collector items now, and a quick look at the EE turns up guns marked and sold by the T. Eaton company, and Sears & Roebuck (JC Higgins), all built by others.

 

[Pinfire]

Well, no one's telling me to stop, so I'll just keep going.

How did one become a gun maker? There have been a small number of self-taught gunmakers, persons with an affinity towards guns and shooting, and who were inventive and skilled with tools, but these self-taught makers were the exception. In any case, these “gunmakers” might have been more concerned with the business side of things, rather than the actual making of guns or gun parts. Guns were generally built of parts made by specialist craftsmen, and assembled and finished by different specialists. These skills had to be learned, and this was usually done through apprenticeships.

A typical apprenticeship to learn a trade was for seven years, though in some cases could be longer. Such apprenticeships were bought and paid in advance, a welcome source of money for the master. Pay was minimal and might only be in the latter years of the training, a sum less than that for a journeyman (daily paid worker) [Note: a journeyman was a craftsman who although had successfully completed an apprenticeship, could not employ other workers; they were often called jack or knave, and this is where the expression “jack of all trades master of none” comes from]. Masters would be obliged to provide room and board, which is why so many gunmakers had an apprentice living with them at their work address. A typical age to start an apprenticeship was 14, but could be younger depending on the trade. During the 7-year period the apprenticeship could not gamble, or go to the theatre or a public house, and certainly could not marry. Some kept apprenticeships very much in the family, and in the gunmaking business, training their sons who were expected to learn and continue the business. There were other incentives for completing the apprenticeship, for instance an apprentice who had not completed his term would not legally be able to work in his trade for another master.

The first years would involve tedious, repetitive work until a sufficient level of skill was achieved. An apprentice would not be let anywhere near finished parts or a complete gun, lest he make a mistake that would require parts being discarded or work re-done! An apprentice would typically start by making the tools they would be using throughout their working lives. After completing an apprenticeship, the worker would usually continue as a journeyman for four or five years or more. They could then become a Master in their own right by applying to the Guild (The Worshipful Company of Gunmakers, a livery company of the City of London established by Royal Charter in 1637), a process involving a fee and the presentation of a “masterpiece” to be judged by the Guild (now you know where the word ‘masterpiece’ came from).

The inter-linkage of master and apprentice, and apprentices becoming masters, means that the educational lineage of gunmakers can be traced through the apprenticeships they went through, and the apprentices they in turn trained. It can be said that British gunmaking as we know it started with Joseph and John Manton, in their style and pursuit of performance and quality. Apprentices of Joseph Manton include such names as James Purdey, Charles Lancaster, Joseph Lang, William Greener, and Thomas Boss. They in turn trained the next generation, and so on. When a former apprentice finally made it on their own, who they had trained under was proof of credentials and often emphasized in their advertising, and on the guns themselves. For instance, when James Purdey started out marking his guns with his name, he added “From Manton”.

Frederick Gates was born in 1838. He was apprenticed to Harris J. Holland (of Holland & Holland fame) in about 1852. After his apprenticeship he continued working for Holland, and in the 1861 census Harris J. Holland and his wife Eliza were recorded living at 6 Harlesden Cottage, Willesden, London, and Frederick Gates lived next door at Rose Cottage. In 1863 Gates moved from London and bought the business of Orlando Smith at 14 London Street, in Derby. All of this follows the general practice described earlier, a 7-year apprenticeship, followed by a period of work under the Master, then setting out on their own. In 1868 the business moved to 4 Market Head. An advertisement in the Derby Ram dated October 10th 1868 stated "Frederick Gates, Gun and Rifle Manufacturer, 4 Market Head, Derby, (Late Mr Steel, Jeweller), begs to announce that he has removed his business to more convenient premises as above, where by attention to all orders entrusted to him, he hopes to continue to receive the support which has hitherto been so kindly accorded to him. Breech Loaders from £9 to £35. Every description of sporting apparatus". Shortly after the business was sold to R Dobson, who continued the business under the name Frederick Gates. In 1877 Charles Rosson joined as a partner and the firm became known as Dobson & Rosson. Frederick Gates meanwhile had emigrated to California, where he established a business at 37 Sutter Street, San Francisco. In 1878 he moved his business to Monterey, closing in about 1900.

Today’s gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun by Frederick Gates of Derby, and it has no serial number. I am presuming it was sold in the latter years of Gates’s business, made by him or the Birmingham trade, but it could also be a gun made or retailed by Dobson. Output could have been small enough that no serial numbers were assigned. The 30” damascus barrels have Birmingham proofs, and an indistinct maker’s mark “M&P”. The barrels are stamped “roses patent No. 20”, so this is another set of machine-forged barrels coming from the Rose Brothers’s Hales-Owen Mills & Forge. The top rib is indistinctly signed “F. Gates Derby,” and the back-action locks signed “F. Gates”. The foliate scroll engraving is quite worn, as is the chequering. From the advertisement information I would guess this would be a 9£ gun, and not a more expensive offering. For a provincial gunmaker, a 35£ gun would be of 'best' quality, not the standard trade gun like this one. The gun has been heavily used and the bores are quite pitted. It weighs a hefty 7 lb 9 oz.

 

[straightshooter]

The lack of responses is because we're all stunned and awestruck by the length and breadth of the information and images presented, not due to lack of interest.

PLEASE, keep 'em coming!!!

 

[canvasback]

The lack of responses is because we're all stunned and awestruck by the length and breadth of the information and images presented, not due to lack of interest.

PLEASE, keep 'em coming!!!

Exactly Straightshooter.

Pinfire, I'd say it's almost too much. LOL You could go to every second day and its still overwhelming. Just fantastic.

 

[bluedcanoed]

I am saving up to buy the book when it comes out.


Bob

 

[Falconflyer]

Please don't stop, I'm only checking in once in a while so not always responding!

 

[Ashcroft]

A feast for the eyes and a banquet for the mind. Pinfire, you keep causing me to dig into my library, sometimes in vain, you are my new library I think. I guess this is the result of many years of dedicated pusuit, I'm ashamed now that I let myself be sidetracked this way and that.

 

[Pinfire]

Thanks, Guys. I will run out of 'subjects' at some point, but not just yet.

Today's gun is one with secrets.

There are amazing reference works on British gunmakers and gunmaking Some focus on histories of single makers, while others cover the entire range of makers and craftsmen employed in the dizzying variety of trades associated with the gun trade. Nigel Brown’s three-volume set British Gunmakers is an invaluable resource of the latter type, as is Geoffrey Boothroyd’s Revised Directory of British Gunmakers. Essential on-line resources include the Internet Gun Club database in the UK, records of official censuses, business directories, and birth-and-death records, and the collective knowledge of experts scattered amongst many discussion boards, such as this one. You would think that between all of these there are few surprises left, but every so often some new information turns up, like an address not previously recognized. It really shouldn’t be surprising, as especially in the early days of breech-loaders, businesses were often small affairs where few guns were made in a year, and businesses could move location in between years that business directories were compiled or censuses taken. Barrel rib inscriptions and printed case labels might offer some tangible proof, but these are only as common as surviving guns and cases, and engraving and printing errors did happen to help confuse matters.

Today’s gun, a 12-bore by George Fuller of London, is an example of a gun that doesn’t quite fit existing knowledge, and is more than what it first appears. I believe it is a muzzle-loader-to-pinfire conversion, and I suspect past owners of this gun might never have noticed all of the scattered clues.

George Fuller was born in 1793 in West Ham, Stratford, London. He started his gun making business at 2 Dean Street, Soho, 1832 to 1834 (after working for or serving an apprenticeship under the great Joseph Manton). From 1835 to 1841 Fuller was at Caroline St, St. Pancras, and in 1845 he was recorded in business at 104 Wardour Street, Soho, where it appears he shared premises with John Evans & Son, Engine Lathe and Tool Manufactory (known to be a supplier of a percussion cap-making machine). George Fuller then moved to 30 Southampton Street in 1846, with additional premises in Maiden Lane. Around this time his son, William Charles, joined him in the business. In 1853 he took over the business of Joseph Wilbraham at 280 Strand, with additional premises at 404 Strand (Wilbraham had himself bought the gunmaking business at 280 Strand from William Child, in business 1826-1850). George Fuller’s trade labels from 1857 to 1861 stated "Gunmaker to H R H The Prince Consort", so he was evidently a London gunmaker of reputation and quality to have obtained a royal warrant.

In 1857 and 1858 George Fuller advertised in The Field: “George Fuller, gunmaker, 280 Strand (having heard of the decease of Thomas Boss, the celebrated gunmaker of St James's Street) begs to inform noblemen and gentlemen, that he, having learnt the business of a gunmaker from the school of Joseph Manton, will be found equally competent to carry out every part of mechanical power as well as shape, weight, etc. to the precise model of T Boss's guns."

In 1872 the business moved to 15 Wynch Street, and in 1874 to 6 Newcastle Street. His final move was in 1878 to 3 Waterloo Road, but he continued living at 280 Strand where he died on 28 September 1881. The business was sold to Alfred Woods. Nigel Brown notes only three George Fuller guns are known, numbers 368 and 383 from the 1850s, and gun number 1068 dating somewhere from the 1860s to 1871. So, for your viewing pleasure, here is a fourth George Fuller gun, number 245, converted to pinfire.

On the face of it, it is a standard-looking double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun, of typical form. Look more closely, and there is much, much more to this gun. It is number 245, much earlier than the three known Fuller examples (assuming his numbering system was sequential by date). The shortened 26 1/2” twist (not damascus) barrels have London proofs, and the early-style wide top rib is clearly signed “Geo. Fuller. 10. Wardour St. Soho. London.” Already this poses a problem, as Fuller is not known at that address. There is a gap in knowledge for the period between 1841 and 1845, and he could have set up at number 10 before sharing premises with Evans at number 104 – but that’s just a guess. Number 10 is close to Leicester Square and is a much more exclusive location, and perhaps it proved to be too expensive to maintain, considering his next address was a shared occupancy with a machine tool business. The absolutely magnificent stepped back-action locks are signed “Geo.E Fuller”, with acanthus engraving and the tails of the plates flawlessly chequered (imagine doing that with hand files!). The only other examples of similarly 'stepped' back-action locks plates I can recall have been on percussion sporting guns by Thomas Reynolds, who either apprenticed with, or worked for, Joseph Manton, which further helps connect Fuller to Manton. The trigger guard bow has a worn game scene engraving, and the iron heel-plate has an extended tang and another worn game scene. There is an abrupt mismatch in border engraving where the lock plates abut the breech, suggesting slightly cut lock plates (it may have originally been an 'island' lock). The style of engraving on the action body and top strap does not quite match the style of engraving on the lock plates, trigger guard and butt plate tang, with the latter parts exhibiting more wear. As a conversion the breech parts are very good, with percussion-style fences, a long upper tang, a marked radius (curve) between the vertical breech face and horizontal action bar, a handsome under-lever, and nicely shaped hammers. The figured stock has a silver escutcheon engraved with the letters “F.L” in elegant script, but this is insufficient to trace an owner, which could date from the original gun or the conversion. The bores are pitted, and the gun weighs 7 lb 3 oz.

The twist construction of the barrels, their shortened length and wide sighting rib, the trimmed lock plates, the mismatched engraving styles, a game scene covered by the under-lever, an 1840s-era Fuller serial number, early styles such as a long butt tang, and a Wardour St. address all point to the conclusion this gun began as a George Fuller muzzle-loader and was converted to the pinfire system, by him or someone else with considerable skill. I have to say it is the best such conversion I have seen. Conversions of muzzle-loaders to pinfire, and even centre-fire, do exist, some makers specialized in such work, and the ones that have survived to this day often exhibit superlative smithing skill. I encountered this gun on a table at a southern Ontario gun show, and I expect it had changed hands several times previously as a ‘wall-hanger’ before I came along. The seller did claim to having fired it, and I’m grateful it survived the ordeal. From a collector’s standpoint I consider this gun a real ‘sleeper,’ and it goes to show how much interesting information can be gleaned from just another gun-show curiosity. London in the 1840s, so different from the modern age!

 

[Ashcroft]

It's hard to grasp the full extent of the difficulty of these kinds of conversions. The complete action must be added for a gun that originally had none and every original component, barrels, stock, locks, trigger guard and new hammers must be fitted to it. And all with hand tools. Much more difficult than building a complete new gun from scratch I would think. And to do it in such a way as to produce a gun that not only is sturdy but also graceful and attractive is truly the work of master craftsmen. It seems obvious that a great set of barrels and fine locks made up most of the value of a gun, basically this gun was built around those parts.

 

[Pinfire]

Indeed. And one of the reasons I marvel at back-action locks is that the plates are always slightly convex in cross section, to follow the shape of the hand of the stock. Remarkable to do this without modern machining tools! Plates on bar locks tend to be completely flat - though perhaps achieving that is just as difficult.

 

[Pinfire]

A “plain” W & C Scott & Son

By 1865 Birmingham was producing most of the country’s pinfire game guns. The larger operations wanted in on the action, and W. & C. Scott & Son was one of these, starting in that year. They might have produced some 2000 pinfire sporting guns in all, but today’s gun is the only W & C Scott & Son pinfire I have ever encountered.

William Charles Scott was born in 1806. William reportedly worked on the farm with his parents until he was 21 years old, and then obtained an apprenticeship as a gun finisher in Bury St Edmunds, possibly with Benjamin Parker or William Young. The reason his apprenticeship started late (instead of at the age of 14) may have been due to having been needed on the farm. His brother, Charles, may also have been apprenticed to Benjamin Parker. In 1834 when his apprenticeship finished, William married Mary Susan Middleditch and moved to Birmingham where he established himself as an outworker (gun finisher) at 11 Lench Street. In 1840 Charles joined William in the business, and the firm of William & Charles Scott was established as "Gun and Pistol Makers". In 1835 William and Mary had a son, William Middleditch Scott, and 1836 they had another son, James Charles Scott. In 1842 the firm moved to 33 Lench Street and took additional premises at 21 Loveday Street, and in 1849 the firm moved again to Court, 4 Shadwell Street. According to the 1851 census William Middleditch Scott (aged 15) was working in the firm as a gun finisher, James Charles (aged 14) was employed as a gun engraver. In 1855 the firm moved into larger and more prestigious premises at 94-95 Bath Street.

In 1858 William Middleditch Scott was made a partner and the name changed to W & C Scott & Son. In the 1861 census, William Scott was recorded employing 18 men and two boys. By this time, James Charles, aged 24, was employed as a gun engraver and another son, Frederick M Scott, 22, was employed as a gun engraver and gun stocker. In 1861 William Scott was appointed a guardian of the Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House, a position he held until 1865. In 1864 the firm opened a showroom in London at 7 Dorset Place, Pall Mall, which is where today’s gun was sold. From 1864 to 1895 the firm occupied premises in Bagot Street, in Birmingham. To give an idea of the size of the company in the 1860s, they were producing about 2000 sporting guns a year, dwarfing most other companies. London makers such as James Purdey and Harris Holland bought guns from W & C Scott & Son, for grades lower than their ‘London best’. In 1864 and 1865 Westley Richards joined Moore & Harris in a partnership established to save the manufacturing business of Moore & Harris from closure, but this was not successful. Moore & Harris had a fairly substantial business exporting to the USA and this attracted the interest of W & C Scott & Son, who bought the business at auction. The business kept growing, as did their access to distant markets.

On 25 October 1865, William Middleditch Scott obtained his first patent (No.2752) for the famous Scott Spindle. This patent was used by Purdey in conjunction with their double bolt (Patent No. 1104 of 1863) and this combination soon became the world-wide standard opening mechanism for double barrelled guns. In 1866 William Middleditch Scott was appointed a guardian of the Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House, he retained this position until 1894. In 1869 William Scott retired and William Middleditch Scott took over the running of the business. In 1871 the Dorset Place showroom in Pall Mall, London, moved to 10 Great Castle Street, Regent Circus (now Oxford Circus) where it remained until 1899. In 1883 William Scott, founder of the business, died. In 1887 William Middleditch Scott retired (aged 51) and James Charles Scott took over the running of the business. By this time the company employed about 200 men. In 1897 W & C Scott & Son amalgamated with P Webley & Sons to form Webley & Scott Revolver & Arms Co Ltd.. William Middleditch Scott died in 1916, and James Charles Scott died in 1917.

Today’s gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun by William and Charles Scott and Son of Birmingham, number 11617 made in 1866, the second year the firm had been making pinfires. The 27 7/8” damascus barrels have London proofs, and a barrel maker’s mark SP (possibly Samuel Probin, a gun barrel maker at Court, 11 Loveday Street). The top rib is signed “W. & C. Scott & Son 7 Dorset Place Pall Mall London” and the back-action locks are signed “W. & C. Scott & Son”. The gun has beautifully chiselled hammers (the same hammer design appears on other Scott pinfires, evidently a house style), an elongated top strap, thin percussion fences, a trigger guard bow with prominent raised clips for the under-lever, and attractive 30%-coverage foliate scroll engraving. W & C Scott & Son pinfire sporting guns were made in three qualities, A (fine), B (medium) and C (plain), and within these were differing grades. “A” guns combined the best workmanship and materials and often incorporated patented features, such as the Purdey thumb snap-action and the Dougall Lockfast action. Such guns generally had a gold name escutcheon and full coverage engraving. “B” guns had a sterling silver escutcheon and could also incorporate patent actions, 22-lines-per-inch chequering, and 50 to 75% engraving, often with game scenes. “C” guns had a silver or nickel-silver escutcheon, somewhat less-figured wood, coarser 20-lines-per-inch chequering, and less than 50% engraving coverage. Today’s gun represents a higher grade of the plain “C” quality. If only plain-quality entry-level guns of today had this degree of fit and finish, let alone wood figure and engraving! The bores are pitted and the gun weighs 7 lb 2 oz.

For those of you with an extensive collection of the Double Gun Journal, I can direct you to Issue 2 of Volume 14, Spring 2003, for excellent photos and descriptions of two other Scott pinfires, including one with a Lockfast action.

 

[Ashcroft]

Those are very graceful hammers on that early Scott. Even in pinfire form the W&C Scott pattern hammers is evident. I'm also impressed by the lever detents on the trigger guard. It seems to me that W&C Scott guns, although frequently of superlative quality, seldom get the respect they should. Perhaps because of the high production numbers the name appears too 'common' for some.

 

[Pinfire]

Joseph Lang, no Birmingham or Country Guns admitted!

Joseph Lang was born in 1797 in Bedhampton, near Portsmouth. Lang started his apprenticeship in 1812 when he was 14 years old, to William Henry Wilson or Alexander Wilson, at Wilson's Gun and Pistol Warehouse at 1 Vigo Lane, London. Lang became manager of William Henry Wilson's gun dealing business at some time, probably in about 1820, when he would have been 21 years old. By 1823 Lang started to trade as "Joseph Lang, Gun and Pistol Repository" at 7 Haymarket, and advertised in The Times newspaper: "From Wilson's old established Gun and Pistol Warehouse, Vigo Lane (retired from the business) - J Lang, begs to inform the Nobility, Gentry and his Sporting Friends that he has opened an establishment for the Sale of Warranted Town-made Guns by Manton, Purdey, Forsyth, Smith, Moore, Nock, and all the London makers around half their cost, and to be exchanged within twelve months if not approved. An excellent assortment of duelling, holster, and pocket pistols; a great variety of apparatus of every description; powder, shot, copper caps, etc. An assortment of plate and superior Sheffield plated goods on the very lowest terms for ready money. 7 Haymarket, adjoining the Little Theatre."

In May 1826 Joseph bought the bankrupt stock of Joseph Manton, and in June he advertised in the Morning Chronicle: "Manton's Guns, at reduced prices – The Nobility, and Sporting Gentlemen are respectfully informed, that owing to particular circumstances, the entire STOCK of highly finished DETONATING and FLINT LOCK GUNS of JOSEPH MANTON, in cases complete, are now removed for SALE to LANG'S Town-made Gun and Pistol Repository, No 7. Haymarket, where an extensive Assortment of Double and Single Guns, Rifles, Duelling and other Pistols, by all the first-rate London Makers, are always on sale (no Birmingham or Country Guns being admitted); also a large Stock of Joseph Manton's Copper Primers, Copper Caps, improved safety Powder Flasks, and Apparatus of every description."

In September 1826 he again advertised the fact that he was the only gun dealer in London who did not deal in "Birmingham and other Country-made guns". At this time he bought second-hand guns from James Purdey under a sale or return agreement. Purdey and most of the other “Best” London makers did not want to sell second-hand guns themselves, so as to remain in their clients’ eyes gun makers and not gun dealers. In 1828 Joseph Lang married James Purdey's daughter Eliza, further cementing his links with the family. At that time Lang described himself as a gun maker, so guns may have been made for him by a number of London makers, including James Purdey. In 1852 the firm moved to 22 Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, the year before he started making/marketing his pinfire gun. In 1854 Joseph’s wife Eliza died.

Lang’s pinfire guns might have been slow to attract attention in Britain, but he achieved acclaim and popularity in France, and Lang was given a First Class Medal at the 1855 Paris Exhibition for the quality of the workmanship of his pinfire guns. He was also given a medal at the 1862 International Exhibition in London, again for his pinfire guns. Also in 1862 Joseph, then aged 65, married his domestic servant, Hannah Stevens, aged 30. While Joseph Lang was appointed gun maker to His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia), he never received a royal appointment in his home country. On 21 December 1868 Joseph Lang died aged 71, leaving the business to Hannah and his son James. The name of the business did not change until 1874, when it became Joseph Lang & Son, rather a long time after the fact. There were a number of subsequent changes in ownership and name, too many to include here, and the firm continues today under the name Atkin Grant & Lang.

Of all the gunmakers involved in the evolution of the pinfire game gun in Britain, the most important has to be Joseph Lang, for it was he that introduced a British-influenced version of Casimir Lefaucheux’s invention. Whether it was Lang or Edwin Charles Hodges that designed it is a matter for debate, but it was Lang who put his reputation on the line by offering it to the British shooting public and it is he that should reap the credit for it. French pinfire guns had been in circulation since at least the 1840s and Lefaucheux’s exhibit at the Great Exhibition of 1851 presented the invention to the British public, but it was in 1853 that Lang’s version became available to his customers. Several of Lang’s competitors started making their own by 1856, usually copying Lang’s single-bite forward under-lever design, but it wasn’t really before the early 1860s that most makers started building guns of the pinfire system. When Henry Jones’s patent for the double-bite screw grip action lapsed in September 1862, any maker could build it royalty-free, and they did so in ever increasing numbers. The double-bite action was definitely stronger than the earlier single-bite design, but the single-bite action was certainly strong enough for the black powder cartridges of the period, and some makers continued to make effective use of single-bite designs.

Today’s gun is one such example, a 12-bore single-bite rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun by Joseph Lang of London, serial number 3245, made in 1867 for J. M. Hasel Esq. (delivered on 7 August). The 29 7/8” damascus barrels have London proofs, the top rib is signed “J. Lang 22 Cockspur Street London,” and the bar-action locks are signed “J. Lang”. It is interesting that a single-bite action would have been offered in 1867, considering the double-bite Jones action was available. Perhaps Lang continued to make single-bite guns on the premise they were sufficiently strong. Being a gun with bar locks from a renowned maker, this was hardly a cheap gun, but without seeing more examples of Lang pinfires it is impossible to know if this is a typical Lang gun for 1867 or not. This particular gun has seen a lot of use, it has a broken hammer screw and a broken cross-key, and the bores are pitted. A later owner ("Gammon") stamped their name on the stock, I suppose a fore-runner of electro-pencilling a SIN number on the trigger guard, a horror we've all seen!. It weighs 6 lb 12 oz.

Joseph Lang , gun maker to His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia. From the hands of craftsmen to the world of high society and nobility!

 

[Falconflyer]

Lovely gun Pinfire, too bad that Gammon had to put his name on the stock, in one way it adds history and character to the gun but I'd certainly prefer not to see things like that done. Lang must have been quite the entrepreneur fostering a relationship with Purdey and obviously had some power of persuasion, marrying a 30 year old when he was 65 but I suppose in those days she was probably considered an old maid by then!

 

[Pinfire]

A Jeffrey gun. No, not Jeffery.

When I was offered a Jeffery pinfire, I was excited. The Jeffery family of gunmakers, from Poole, Plymouth, Lymington, Dorchester and Farnham has always interested me. Having seen examples of their early fine provincial muzzle-loaders, and their later London centre-fire guns, had me imagining what a Jeffery pinfire might look like. To my disappointment, it turned out the gun was signed Jeffrey, not Jeffery. As I would later find out, confusing the two spellings is common in on-line gun discussions, and an early business record for a gun maker William Jeffrey, in Farnham, Surrey, turns out to have been a misprint of his name.

The gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun of typical form, of the kind commonly made in the Birmingham trade in the late 1860s. It has a serial number, 483, which may be from the original maker, or the retailer. The gun has 30” damascus barrels, stamped “roses patent” and “No. 20”, indicating they were made by the Rose Brothers of the Hales-Owen Mills & Forge, under their patent for making machine-forged damascus barrels. These were a cheaper option than hand-forged barrels, and can be found on guns built for the trade appearing under any name. The barrels have Birmingham proofs and barrel makers’ marks HT and E.C. (the latter possibly for Edwin Cook, 1867-1878). The top rib is signed “Jeffrey London”, as are the back-action locks. The name is probably as close to London this gun ever got, and adding “London” was a common marketing ploy for selling lesser-grade Birmingham guns in towns and villages. Was the Jeffrey name that of an ironmonger? Possibly. Or was it an attempt to trick a buyer by using a respectable-sounding name? Perhaps. But I suspect I’ll never know. While an inexpensive gun with dubious markings, it is nevertheless adequately made. The fences are well shaped, the hammer noses curiously long and smooth, a radius has been cut to strengthen the action bar, and the form of the under-lever, lacking a central fixing screw visible from below, is oddly attractive. The generic ‘trade’ engraving and overall plainness does mark the gun as a basic offering, though when new it must have looked quite handsome to someone with a limited purse. The gun has seen considerable use, the bores are pitted, and it weighs 7 lb 9 oz.

 

[Cow Town Bill]

1878 purdey bar in wood hammergun



This Purdey has original steel (Joseph Whitworth) barrels that were nitro proved many years after manufacture. It works perfectly and I even have some Purdey paper shotshells should I want to shoot it, which I rarely do.
For your viewing pleasure
Bill

 

[canvasback]

View attachment 370434

This Purdey has original steel (Joseph Whitworth) barrels that were nitro proved many years after manufacture. It works perfectly and I even have some Purdey paper shotshells should I want to shoot it, which I rarely do.
For your viewing pleasure
Bill

Spectacular Bill. IMHO Bar in woods are the most beautiful of all. I knew you had one lurking around.

 

[Pinfire]

View attachment 370434

This Purdey has original steel (Joseph Whitworth) barrels that were nitro proved many years after manufacture. It works perfectly and I even have some Purdey paper shotshells should I want to shoot it, which I rarely do.
For your viewing pleasure
Bill

It takes your breath away. Absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Cow Town Bill]

Purdey hammergun



Thanks you Pin Fire and Canvasback for your kind comments.
At the last Holt's auction, there was a Purdey hammergun made the same year as mine but it had island locks; presumably the buyer had a choice.
At the same auction there was a pair of Purdey hammerguns WITH EJECTORS made in 1889 for the Paris Exhibition; the ejectors may have been retro fitted.
Bill