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

[Ashcroft]

A little basic history for you guys east of Lake Superior.
In 1860 the total population (not counting natives because nobody counted them in those days) of what is now British Columbia was less than 50,000. Most of this was concentrated in Victoria and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and New Westminster and Fort Langley along the lower Fraser River. There was a large number of gold seekers scattered along the Fraser and it's tributaries in the interior, many of these came from California. Vancouver was a small logging camp. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba had even fewer people, mostly near the trading posts at Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. No railroads, no substantial agriculture, no real roads, although the Royal Engineers were pushing crude roads north and east in B C. Gold, Silver, furs along with Coal and endless timber on the coast were the commerce of the day.
Things moved fast, by 1890 the west coast was joined to eastern Canada as a country by the railroad although what is now Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were not yet full partners as provinces. The railroad, which soon spawned branch lines, opened up the west to travel, commerce and settlers from all over the world who soon spread far and wide, lured by vast mineral, forestry and fishery wealth in BC and deep rich soil on the prairies, free to all.
By the beginning of WWI, 1914, there were small villages towns, and even the beginnings of what would become cities. In BC people, mainly from Britain, settled on Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley from Vancouver to Chilliwack with a few intrepid pioneers, many again from the US, settling in river valleys farther inland to exploit the vast grazing lands. Interior timber would gain importance much later. By now the vast bread basket of the prairies could get their grain to world markets either to the east or west, the prairies was being populated mainly by British immigrants and eastern Canadians with a few French Canadian communities. The war, starting in 1914 emptied Western communities of able bodied men, they enlisted in droves. Many did not come back. Many communities never recovered from this, some became near ghost towns.
Now, the guns. 1860-1890 most guns in use would be caplock muzzleloaders at first, slowly being replaced by an international hodgepodge of cartridge guns. Powder, primers, lead and shot were readily available, fixed ammunition for the gun you brought from 'the old country' not likely. However, with so few people there were of course few actual guns in circulation. Original western Canadian guns from this period are very rare but some samples have survived in museums like Fort Langley. During the major expansion years of 1880 through 1915 the flood of settlers brought guns with them, the vast majoity being rifles. The factories in Ontario and eastern US were churning out millions of guns and these flowed across the west for those that needed to buy one here.
So today, pinfires are almost never encountered in the west, there probably never was more than a handful and were quickly dicarded in favour of something more practical. Quite a few fine English guns ca 1870-1900 continue to surface on Vancouver Island, brought here by succeeeding generations of British immigrants to this day. By 1900 and on there were a few wealthy entrepreneurs who ordered fine guns from respected British makers, many of these were rifles. Makers like Gibbs and others had retail stores and their guns often have a British Columbia address on the rib or barrel. On the prairies the sky literally went black with waterfowl in the spring and fall, shotguns were king. But the shotgun of choice was normally an American repeater or an inexpensive European import.
Bottom line, fine quality vintage guns, especially shotguns are scarce in most areas in the west and interest in these today is low. Our history here is different, most westerners can't understand the English/French animosity and frankly don't care. All the early history of eastern Canada is just dusty pages in school history books for most westerners. Grandparents and parents of people my age broke the land and cleared the forest out west, we grew up with the true pioneers, they aren't distant ancestors.

 

[Pinfire]

Great history, Ashcroft. Aye, the pinfire was the plaything of the British rich in its earliest days, along with a few ardent sportsmen. With the railroads there was much more access to the countryside, but shooting, and especially driven shoots, was mostly a landowner's pursuit. The pinfire was never a meat gun as it was to be in France, Belgium and Sweden, and it was overtaken too quickly by the centrefire to be much of a export item. It remained a status symbol of the upper classes, a toy to fawn over in between pheasant drives and multi-course lunches. Those few guns that made it to Canada were mostly as heirlooms, and ammunition was always going to be a big problem. And as you point out there were so many percussion guns already in circulation, and a growing number of American guns.

Today's gun is a W W Greener, and it is one of the guns carried over from Britain at some point in the distant past. It is also the only Greener pinfire I've ever known of, in print or in person - except for a low-grade "William Wellington" offered for sale in the US (more on those later). You would think Greener pinfires would be out there, but in fact the firm in the 1860s was not the behemoth it would become. I have no idea how many, or how few, the firm might have made.

But first, a note on agents.

n the 1860s you could walk into a British gunmaker’s shop and order a gun made to your specifications and measurements, and a few months later your gun would be ready. This can still be done at the firms still in business, though the wait will be much, much longer. But a gun could also be bought ready-made and “off the rack”, if the maker had a stock of such guns, as well as any second-hand guns that might be available, obtained as trade-ins or re-sold to the maker. Some firms also sold second-hand guns of other makers, perhaps taken in as trades or part payment. In some cases, this trade in ready-made guns and second-hand guns were a very large part of a firm’s business, and this was reflected in the trade labels affixed to gun cases, in the use of the terms “gun repository” and “gun warehouse”. In addition, some other businesses, such as silversmiths and jewellers, devoted part of their trade to dealing in guns, and a Birmingham maker wishing to sell guns in London could do so through a well-situated London agent, at a lower cost than opening and maintaining a London shop themselves.

In previous posts I might have mentioned that Harris Holland started out as a tobacconist, and Benjamin Cogswell started as a pawnbroker (and later advertising himself as a “gun and pistol warehouse”). Westley Richards’s London agent, William Bishop, aka “The Bishop of Bond Street”, was a jeweller. And William Wellington Greener used Edward Whistler. Edward Whistler was a silversmith, pawnbroker, and dealer in guns and pistols at 11 Strand, London, from 1844 to 1875. In 1867 his business was advertised as “Edward Whistler, Gun and Pistol Repository”, offering new and second-hand guns from “the most approved London makers.” Whistler was one of two London agents used by the Birmingham maker William Wellington Greener.

Greener was an early promoter of the pinfire system, which put him at odds with his father, the eminent Birmingham gunmaker William Greener, who had nothing good to say about the newfangled breech-loaders. The elder Greener wrote in 1858 in his book Gunnery that "the French system of breech-loading fire-arms is a specious pretence," adding "there is no possibility of a breech-loader ever shooting equal to a well-constructed muzzle-loader," and "the gun is unsafe, and becomes more and more unsafe from the first time it is used." Perhaps to cement his point, three W. Greener muzzle-loaders were entered in the 1858 Field trial, and all out-performed the competing pinfires. Ouch.

However, the tide of history was on the side of breech-loaders, and William Wellington Greener looked to the future, not the past. W. W. Greener would go on to author several important works, invent (co-invent?) choke-boring, develop the cross-bolt fastener (his “Treble Wedge-Fast”), put forth various other patents and improvements, and build one of the country’s largest gun factories. But that is all much later than the period I’m interested in. W. W. Greener built two grades of pinfire guns: lesser guns and export-market guns were signed “William Wellington”, and higher grade guns carried the Greener name. Greener had his own proof mark, an elephant’s head, that appeared on his barrels (and sometimes actions). This might have been an evolution of his father’s earlier “elephant and castle” trademark.

The gun today is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary-underlever pinfire sporting gun by William Wellington Greener, retailed by Edward Whistler, 11 The Strand, London, and probably made in the mid to late 1860s. The 30 1/8” damascus barrels have Birmingham proof marks, and a barrel maker’s mark “SP”, which I believe to be the mark of Samuel Probin of Loveday Street. The top rib is signed “W. W. Greener 11 Strand London”. The gun has unsigned bar-action locks, nicely sculpted hammers, a beautifully figured walnut stock with drop points, and the fore-end has a horn or possibly ebony tip. The bores are slightly pitted at the breech, and the gun weighs 6 lb 15 oz.

A fine quality gun overall, but here is where it gets interesting. The gun is lacking a serial number, and the barrels lack the elephant mark. The story I was told was that when the gun was brought to Canada from Britain, the barrels were still “in-the-white”, without a finish, and were rust-browned locally (correctly, I might add). Graham Greener, of the current company, W W Greener (Sporting Guns) Limited, confirmed the gun was a Greener, but could not explain the discrepancies. All of which lead me to speculate that the gun was re-barrelled in Britain during its working life. Greener guns of the period carried their serial numbers on the barrels and not the action bar or elsewhere, so a re-barrelled gun would lack the Greener serial number and trademark. The original rib might have been retained and put on the new set of tubes, or the name and address could have been engraved on a new rib – I can’t tell for sure, but suspect the latter, from the somewhat awkward lettering. The fact that the gun was not converted to centre-fire suggests the new barrels were put on at a time when pinfires were still in common use (or it would have made sense to change the hammers, drill strikers and add barrels with centre-fire chambers). Why the new barrels would have been left in-the-white is a mystery, though the barrels could have been re-struck for some reason before making the voyage across the Atlantic. So much of these guns’ histories will never be known.

The Greener family has quite a remarkable history. William Greener was born in 1806 near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He apprenticed with John Gardner in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and for a short time he worked for John Manton in London. In 1829 he returned to Newcastle to open his own business. In 1835 he wrote his first book, "The Gun”, or "A Treatise on the Various Descriptions of Small Fire-Arms". Around this time he invented the first bullet designed to expand in the barrel in order to seal the bore. In 1841 William Greener wrote "The Science of Gunnery". In 1844 he relocated to Birmingham, with three men, the rest of the work done by outworkers. In 1848 the firm was appointed gunmaker to HRH Prince Albert. In 1851 William exhibited at the Great Exhibition, and his guns were awarded prizes. However, his irreconcilable views on the new breech-loaders were the cause of the split with his son William Wellington, who set up his own business in 1855, probably with his financial help. The new firm was named W Greener Jnr. It was recorded in Lench Street from 1858 to 1863, but in 1863 the name changed to W W Greener and he moved to 61-62 Loveday Street, the premises being named the "St Mary's Works". Continuing the family’s inventiveness, William Wellington patented in 1863 a sliding bolt single-bite snap-action breech-loader (patent No. 2231). The patent also covered an extractor for pinfire guns. In 1867 William Wellington Greener registered patent No 1339 for a top lever locking mechanism, with a cross-bolt through an extension of the top rib, which eventually became his treble wedge fast grip. He went on to obtain many, many other patents, but these are beyond the pinfire period I’ve looked at.

William Greener died on 23 August 1869, and shortly afterwards William Wellington bought his father's business, and his operation at St Mary’s Works at 61-62 Loveday Street was expanded to St Mary's Square and St Mary's Row. In 1874 William Wellington acquired the business of Joseph Needham. In 1878 he took over the firm and premises of Theophilus Murcott at 68 Haymarket to use as a London base, and opened a shop in Paris at 8 Avenue de l'Opera. On 25 July 1921 William Wellington Greener died at the age of 86. The firm continued and went on to be the largest sporting gun factory in the world. In 1965 the company was sold to Webley & Scott Ltd., which continued making Greener guns until 1979. In 1985 the W W Greener name was revived and the firm re-established at 1 Belmont Row, Birmingham, and guns carrying the Greener name are still being built.

William Wellington Greener surpassed his father as an author. In 1871 he wrote "The Modern Breech Loader", followed by "Choke Bore Guns and How to Load for All Kinds of Game" in 1876. In 1881 he wrote "The Gun and Its Development," which went on to nine editions and reprints in the period up to 1910. In 1888 WW Greener wrote "Modern Shotguns," and in 1900 he wrote "Sharpshooting for Sport and War". In 1907 he and Charles Edward Greener published a book entitled "The Causes of Decay in a British Industry" under the pseudonyms Optifex and Artifex. Finally, in 1908 William Wellington Greener wrote "The British Miniature Rifle".

 

[Ashcroft]

That Greener is a very elegant gun, the only pinfire Greener I've heard of. That carefully shaped and inletted forend tip is a work of art and would require more skilled work than goes into making some complete modern guns. Replacement barrels, finished in Canada could account for the lack of serial number and trademark if done by other than Greener but I believe the original rib or maker's name and address could then not legally be used. If Greener did this work I would expect that they would brand it. This would bolster the idea that the gun came here with the barrels in the white, an unfinished project and perhaps finished here and safe from lawsuit action.

 

[Pinfire]

The Big Three

Ask most aficionados of British SxS guns which are the Big Three, and you would almost always get the response “Purdey, Boss, and Holland & Holland,” with apologies to Woodward, who somehow gets squeezed out of such lists for no good reason. But for me, the Big Three names are Lang, Blanch, and Reilly. Joseph Lang, John and William Blanch, and Joseph and Edward Michael Reilly were the first real proponents of the pinfire system. Lang began in 1853, Blanch in 1856, and the Reillys probably around the same time. All of the early guns were of the single-bite, forward-underlever type, with the gradual appearance of Mr. Beringer’s lever-over-guard design towards the end of the decade. While others eventually joined the party, these three businesses put their reputations on the line for the newfangled pinfire system, and should be recognized for their forethought.

John Blanch worked for John Manton between 1807 and 1809. In 1811 John became a partner with Jackson Mortimer, and Mortimer & Blanch traded from 39 Fish Street Hill, London. In 1813 Mortimer withdrew from the partnership to focus on other concerns, and Blanch continued the business under his own name. In 1826 John moved the business a short distance to 29 Gracechurch Street where it was to remain for 89 years. In 1843 John’s third son, William, was brought into the firm and it was renamed John Blanch & Son.

The weekly sportsman’s newspaper The Field of 2 May 1857 carried the following advertisement: "BREECH-LOADERS. -JOHN BLANCH and SON, Gunmakers, 29 Gracechurch-street, London, beg respectfully to call the attention of their friends and the sporting world generally to the above guns, which are much admired for their rapidity of loading, and the numerous safe-guards against accident which they possess. They would earnestly request those gentlemen who intend favouring them with orders for these guns for the ensuing season to do so as early as possible, that no delay or disappointment may be experienced. A large stock Single and Double guns and rifles and revolving pistols always on hand."

The 1861 census lists William Blanch as a gun maker employing 4 men and 1 boy, and living at 29 Gracechurch Street with his wife and three children. It is easy to forget that in most instances, a gunmaker’s address appearing on the top rib of a gun was usually their home, as well as their workshop! At the time his father was living at 25 Hanover St. in the fashionable Mayfair district, but though 77 he had not retired from the business. John Blanch died on 5 December 1868 aged 84, and William continued the business - though he had probably been running it himself for some time. William died on 8 October 1899 and the business continued at the same address until 1914, when the lack of materials, demand and workers meant the firm had to move to a less expensive location. Over the years the firm moved and was sold several times, most recently in 2010, and now operated out of 16 High Street, Cheddington, Bedfordshire.

Today’s gun is a 12-bore rotary-underlever pinfire sporting gun by John Blanch & Son of London, number 4696, made around 1864, after the Henry Jones patent for the double-bite screw grip action had expired. Gunmakers knew a good thing when it happened, and they were not going to pass up a royalty-free simple and strong action design! The 30” damascus barrels carry London proofs and are signed “J. Blanch & Son, 29 Gracechurch Street, London” on the top rib. The barrels also have the barrel maker’s initials “TP,” which I believe to be for Thomas Portlock, who was in business from 1860 to 1864 at Riley St., Bermondsey. Thomas was the father or brother of John Portlock (there is little information on their origins), and both of these London barrel makers provided barrels to the top London makers. The gun has back-action locks signed “J. Blanch & Son,” the dolphin-style hammers have stylized cap-guards, a hold-over from the percussion days, now purely ornamental. Features which seem to be part of a Blanch house style are the fences carved with acanthus-leaf sprays, and the under-lever with a concave finial. The stock has heel and toe caps, a nice touch, and the barrels still have mirror bores. The gun weighs 6 lb 13 oz.

 

[straightshooter]

WOW! The fine details on this gun are inspiring. The hammers, with the retention of the cap guards and the engraved eye, have the appearance of a goose head (especially in the last image). The round action would have been a joy to carry.

 

[cjdawe]

Yep ,that Greener is top shelf -wicked condition

 

[Pinfire]

Here's to breaking the quarantine tedium with another daily gun to look at, this time with an Irish link.

In the 19th century Belfast was a major port and a big player in the Industrial Revolution. It was the biggest linen-producer in the world, and a major centre for tobacco-processing, rope-making, and shipbuilding. With this kind of industrial might came wealth, and the rich class could pursue outdoor leisure activities such as shooting, fishing, and golf. Joseph Braddell started his business in 1811 at Castle Place, Belfast, Ireland, around the corner from the Ulster Club, popular with the local gentry. The firm probably became Joseph Braddell & Son in about 1825, but the actual date in unknown. In about 1850, possibly due to the death of Joseph Braddell, the business was reportedly sold to a Mr. Playfair, who may have been Charles Playfair of Bentley & Playfair, Birmingham. The gun below may in fact have been made by Bentley & Playfair, as the firm of Joseph Braddell & Son is more likely to have been a retailer of guns made for them by the trade, rather than a maker themselves. The firm continued, a seller of guns, fishing rods and tackle, and golf clubs (sort of a Cabela’s of its day), until 2014 when it closed for good after a fire. Unfortunately a previous fire in 1895 destroyed the records prior to that date, so no early guns can be traced. It is therefore unfortunate that what is decidedly a fine gun can tell us so little about how it was made, and for whom.

The gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary-underlever game gun, retailed by Joseph Braddell & Son of Belfast, number 2500, probably made in the mid to later 1860s. The 29 15/16” fine damascus barrels have London proofs (Ireland did not have its own proof house, so all Irish guns had to undergo proof testing in Birmingham or London), and the top rib is signed "Joseph Braddell & Son Improved Bar Lock Breech loader 17 Castle Place Belfast." One of the more interesting features of this gun is that it was made for a left-hander, where the under-lever swings to the left instead of the right. The bar-action locks are signed “J. Braddell & Son,” the action bar has fluted edges, the flat-sided hammers are nicely sculptured, and the trigger guard bow has a slight indent fitted to receive a tiny bump on the under-lever. As with all guns of the period the fore-end is fixed with a cross key, but in this gun it pushes out from the left side, a nice touch. The gun has quality foliate scroll engraving throughout, and there are still traces of colour on the lock plates and the fore-end iron. The gun has mirror bores with only slight pitting at breech, and it weighs a solid 7 lb 5 oz.

Bar locks, the fore-runner of the modern hammerless sidelock, were preferred by some over the more frequently encountered back locks. Some have argued that bar locks, by the positioning of the mainspring, are ever so slightly quicker though the difference in reality might be irrelevant. Bar locks require a squared action frame, and much inletting and fitting of metal. Back locks require significant removal of wood in the crucial hand area of the stock, but allow for gracefully rounded actions. Some considered bar locks as more traditional (and closer to muzzle-loaders in general appearance), and somehow fancier – while best-gun maker Boss & Co. built all their pinfires with back-action locks. Guns with bar locks tended to provide a greater canvas for the engraver’s artistry, while others (and I include myself here) simply preferred the lines of guns with back locks. To-may-to, to-mah-to.

 

[Pinfire]

More? OK.

The Masu Brothers – Bringing Belgian influences to the London gun trade

Perhaps one of the peculiar aspects of the Field trials of 1858 and 1859 is the absence of any French pinfire guns in the competitions, considering that the pinfire breech-loader was a French invention. However, all six of the British pinfire guns in the 1858 trial used French cartridges, which might be a reflection on the source and availability of commercial pinfire ammunition at the time. The only foreign-made pinfire guns to compete in the trials were of Belgian manufacture, a 14-bore by Adolphe Jansen of Brussels in the 1858 trial, and a 14-bore by Auguste Francotte of Liège in the 1859 trial.

Belgium has had a very long history of arms making. The Liège region in particular was renowned for its metal work since the 5th century; cannons were made there from the mid 14th century, and wheel-lock guns from the mid 16th century. Liège gunmakers had a very high reputation in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, building beautifully made and decorated sporting guns, and turning out large quantities of military weapons and lower-quality trade guns. Having two Belgian-made pinfire guns competing in the Field trials suggests that foreign-made guns were available on the market, or that sportsmen brought them back from their travels on the Continent. The only illustration of an actual gun used in the trials is in John Henry Walsh’s 1859 book The Shot-Gun and Sporting Rifle, of a single-bite, forward underlever pinfire of classic Lefaucheux type by E. M. Reilly & Co., so we cannot know if the two Belgian guns were highly ornamented or more conservative in their build and decoration.

The Belgian gunmaker Gustave Masu is recorded as a gunmaker in Liège, Belgium in 1845, and in 1864 he established his business in London at 3a Wigmore Street, when the demand for pinfire guns was increasing. The firm became Masu Brothers in 1865, and in 1869 the firm was renamed Gustavus Masu, and moved to 10 Wigmore Street. It appears from examples seen that Masu guns were built in Liège (by another brother?) and retailed in London by Gustave.

Today’s gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary-underlever sporting gun by the Masu Brothers of London, number 2030, made 1865-69. The 28” damascus barrels have Liège proofs, and the top rib is simply signed "Masu Brothers London." This would have been from the 3a Wigmore Street address, and while this gun lacks the street information, guns are known with the rib inscription "Masu Frères à Liège & 3a Wigmore Street London," a detail which might have come along later than when this example was made. The gun has an elegant elongated top strap, unsigned back-action locks, pleasant open scroll engraving, a very attractive damascus pattern, and a lightly rounded, not flat, action table that fits the contours of the barrels. The barrels have mirror bores with minimal pitting, and the gun weighs 6 lb 14 oz.

However, what is most noticeable about this Belgian game gun built for an English market, is the non-removable fore-end, articulated with the action. This fore-end design gives no particular advantage that I can see, other than you can’t drop it or lose it! The decoration has a faintly Continental look about it, while trying to fit in with English guns of the period. Wigmore Street is in London’s fashionable West-End Marylebone district, and a stone’s throw from Cavendish Square. Gustave Masu was aiming for a well-to-do crowd, and appears to have been successful at it, with the business closing in 1892.

 

[Ashcroft]

Pinfire I find it fascinating that so many of your guns have one or more very unique, unusual and facinating features. I've never seen engraving like that on your Masu, very attractive. Also I've never encountered a captive forend like that although at least one British patent action used this system. Beautiful barrels. Wonderful stuff, my education continues, thank you.

 

[Londonshooter]

Pinfire, as you know I have a Masu center-fire hammer gun, also with underlever and captive fore-end. I believe though that at least some Masu manufacture did occur in Britain, since my locks are by Stanton of Wolverhampton. Its one of my favourites and was made to a very high standard with fantastic inletting. Also unusual about mine is an atypical checkering pattern on the wrist and an odd jog at the front of the lock plates where they meet the action body and fence.

 

[Pinfire]

Londonshooter, yours is a mighty fine Masu, a real gem. And Ashcroft, in my earlier collecting days I tried to only add guns that would add knowledge to the collection, either new actions and patents, or examples that marked the evolution of the breech-loader. It meant passing on guns that were too similar to what I already had. While it kept me to spending only slightly more than what I could afford, I had not yet realized a Great Truth: every pinfire adds something, even if it isn't immediately obvious. That mistake cost me several guns I dearly would like to own now, as I'll never see another. Oh well.

Today's gun is an example of a 'typical' pinfire I might have passed up, but is in reality a rare gun, while still being 'ordinary'. I am much obliged to the very kind gentleman who decided to part with it!

In the mid 1860s there were over 500 gunmaking firms operating in the Gun Quarter of Birmingham. Most are names little remembered today, yet these workshops probably built the guns the more famous firms got the credit for. When not filling orders for such firms, they could put up sporting guns under their own name, and increase the recognition of their work. But it is worth remembering the annual output will be small, in the tens of guns, not hundreds or thousands.

George B. Allen established his business in 1828 as a lock maker, furniture forger and filer, and from 1838 advertised himself as a gunmaker. In 1848 he was recorded as occupying 15 Weaman Row, St Mary's Square, in Birmingham. Thomas Birkett had a lock making business at 31 1/2 Whittall Street, having begun in 1855. In 1864 George Allen retired or died, and Henry Allen (presumably his son or a relative) went into partnership (as a junior partner) with Thomas Birkett, trading as Birkett & Allen, from 15 Weaman Row. In 1866 Thomas Birkett left the partnership to open up as a lock and action maker at 2 Whittall Street, and Henry Allen continued to run the business, but under his name. In 1880 Henry Allen appears to have closed, and Thomas Birkett continued his business until 1894.

Today’s gun is marked Birkett & Allen, so this alone dates the gun between 1864 and 1866. It is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary-underlever pinfire sporting gun, with no serial number. The top rib is signed “Birkett & Allen St. Mary’s Square Birmingham”, and the back-action locks are signed “Birkett & Allen”. The 30 1/8” damascus barrels have London proofs. Both hammers have tips as stylized cap guards, and the sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed that the right hammer is a replacement, possibly a period one. The gun has an elongated top strap, and bold foliate scroll engraving throughout. While the owner had his initials added to the silver stock escutcheon, these are now too worn to be read, and the owner remains unknown. On the face of it, this is a standard quality mid-1860s pinfire game gun made by skilled - but not famous – hands. The actioning work and the locks may have been done by Thomas Birkett, no need to hire outworkers when this work is your speciality! The gun was probably never in royal company at any of the great shooting estates of the day, but it was certainly someone’s pride and joy.

As to how many sporting guns Thomas Birkett and Henry Allen may have built together in their two years of operation one can only guess, but it will have been small, and not worth the effort of numbering. How likely is it to see another Birkett & Allen gun? Not very.

 

[Ashcroft]

Possibly the only surviving Birkett and Allen gun from the handful likely made. If that isn't truly rare, what is? I like the unusual engraving on that long delicate top strap.

 

[WR1894]

Not sure why someone would sell that gun must of been a weak moment for them

 

[Pinfire]

For today, a gun built for ‘the trade’

The Gun Quarter is a district of the city of Birmingham, England, which was for many years a centre of the world's gun-manufacturing industry, specialising in the production of military firearms, trade guns, and sporting guns. It was bounded by Steelhouse Lane, Shadwell Street and Loveday Street, and was close to the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal. In 1767 there were 62 workshops involved in gunmaking there, but by 1815 there were 125, by 1829 there were 455, and by 1868 there were 578 gun firms in the Quarter.

There were also quite a few trades associated with the gun ‘trade’, as the parts, and putting together the parts, requires specialist attention. In an 1861 directory for Birmingham, the following gun-related trades were listed: gun and pistol makers, barrel makers, barrel smoothers, barrel browners, barrel riflers, break-off fitters and forgers, breech makers, finishers, furniture makers, implement makers, implement and barrel filers, lock makers, nipple manufacturers, rib forgers, gun and rifle sight makers, screwers, stockers, stock dealers, stock finishers, stock polishers and varnishers, and gun wadding makers.

In the late 19th century, Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham (1885) summarized the following: “...it may not be uninteresting to enumerate the manifold branches into which the trade has been divided—till late years most of them being carried on under different roofs:—The first portion, or "makers", include—stock-makers, barrel welders, borers, grinders, filers, and breechers; rib makers, breech forgers and stampers; lock forgers, machiners, and filers; furniture forgers, casters, and filers; rod forgers, grinders, polishers, and finishers; bayonet forgers, socket and ring stampers, grinders, polishers, machiners, hardeners, and filers; band forgers, stampers, machiners, filers, and pin makers; sight stampers, machiners, jointers, and filers; trigger boxes, oddwork makers, &c. The "setters up" include machines, jiggers (lump filers and break-off fitters), stockers, percussioners, screwers, strippers, barrel borers and riflers, sighters and sight-adjusters, smoothers, finishers makers-off, polishers, engravers, browners, lock freers, &c., &c.”

The bottom line is that myriad workers were required towards achieving the end goal of having a named ‘gunmaker’ place a finished gun in the hands of a client; most of those workers operated in and around Birmingham’s Gun Quarter. A famous London firm, or one of any in Birmingham or the regions, could order parts, or a barrelled action, or a gun requiring final finishing work, or a finished engraved gun complete with the maker’s name, address, and required serial number. All were available, made to any level of quality. Some craftsmen signed their work, leaving initials or other marks, to identify their barrel or lock work, or the critical job of actioning and jointing. But mostly the work was anonymous, the craftsmen content to be paid a fair wage, building guns for social classes they would rarely encounter.

Today’s gun is one such gun ‘built for the trade’. It carries no name or address, or any identifiable markings as to who retailed the gun, for a client probably happy to not pay a premium for a name. Was it sold through a provincial maker? An hardware/ironmonger’s shop? Directly from a Birmingham back-alley workshop? Impossible to tell.

The gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun, with no serial number. The 30” damascus barrels have Birmingham proofs, and tight bores (measured as 14- and 13-bore). There are barrel maker’s marks, “T.W” and “LC”, which I’ve not been able to trace. The bar locks are unsigned, but together with the fluted action body, this was not a cheap gun and while the current condition is poor, when it left the workshop it would have been a stylish gun. The engraving is above-average, with breech ends with fine starburst detailing at the pinfire apertures, decorated serpentine fences, classic rounded hammers, and engraving in areas normally hidden. It has the short top strap typically found on guns with bar locks. The stock is nicely figured, and the fore-end has an attractive horn inlay. Not surprisingly in a gun of this outward appearance, the bores are pitted at the breech. The gun weighs 7 lb 8 oz.

Now I know why so many books on antique guns use black-and-white pictures - colour shows off all the imperfections!

 

[gunsaholic]

Color might show some imperfections but it is still a gun that survived the ages. Nice!

 

[Ashcroft]

You know, I really like that anonymous gun, the barrel pattern is fantastic. Unidentified lockplates are not too unusual, but a completely unidentified original gun is unusual. We'll never know of course, but a possibility would be a gun made on spec for the trade, to have the potential vendor's ("maker") engraved on the rib at a later date when the gun was sold. It may have been in unsold dead stock for some time and passed through several hands before finally finding a home. If this scenario continued into the declining years of the pinfire it may have been sold off cheap to clear shelf space??? The Rodney Dangerfield of the Victorian gun world.

 

[straightshooter]

In the late 19th century, Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham (1885) summarized the following: “...it may not be uninteresting to enumerate the manifold branches into which the trade has been divided—till late years most of them being carried on under different roofs:—The first portion, or "makers", include—stock-makers, barrel welders, borers, grinders, filers, and breechers; rib makers, breech forgers and stampers; lock forgers, machiners, and filers; furniture forgers, casters, and filers; rod forgers, grinders, polishers, and finishers; bayonet forgers, socket and ring stampers, grinders, polishers, machiners, hardeners, and filers; band forgers, stampers, machiners, filers, and pin makers; sight stampers, machiners, jointers, and filers; trigger boxes, oddwork makers, &c. The "setters up" include machines, jiggers (lump filers and break-off fitters), stockers, percussioners, screwers, strippers, barrel borers and riflers, sighters and sight-adjusters, smoothers, finishers makers-off, polishers, engravers, browners, lock freers, &c., &c.”

That's an amazing array of specialists. While I'm sure there were individuals whose skills spanned several specialties, each process obviously required dedicated equipment and thorough knowledge of the "tricks" of the trade. With this many processes involved in a single gun, it makes sense for the tradesmen to coalesce into "districts" and to tool up and set up for one, or a few, processes.

This explains why tinkerers - modern day amateurs such as myself - find no end to the insight that can be gained from reading or experience. The history of the gun trade is fascinating. While your knowledge no doubt extends to earlier and later periods as well, it's surprising that all these variants are from a relatively short period of time.

 

[brybenn]

That Birkett & Allen gun has very attractive engraving. That tang is something special

 

[Pinfire]

Captain Singer’s gun, what’s left of it

In a perfect collector’s world, antique guns would all be in near-pristine condition, in their original cases with labels, and with complete sets of tools and loading implements. Oh, and with the original bill of sale, and copies of the maker’s order books and sales ledgers. It’s nice to dream.

Interesting guns in high condition do turn up, but affording them is another matter. For a limited-budget collector focused on a theme, a period, or a specific maker, you have to make do with what is available, and sometimes ‘interesting’ and ‘condition’ are at polar opposites. While it is easy to walk away from an antique gun purchase, it could well be the only one you will see in your lifetime, and putting up with blemishes might be worth it in the end. Today’s offering is a case in point. “Rode hard and put away wet” doesn’t begin to describe the state this gun is in. It might have been worn out before it was converted to centre-fire, and then used for decades more, repaired when necessary. Then it got neglected, and eventually stripped of useful parts and relegated to the proverbial junk pile. But to prove the point that all pinfires deserve a second look, let’s have a look at this one.

This converted pinfire is from Theophilus Murcott of London. Let’s stop here for a moment. That name should be recognized by any modern side-by-side fancier, as the inventor of ‘Murcott’s Mousetrap’, the first successful hammerless double gun (while remembering that Jean Samuel Pauly and François Prélat together developed in Paris around 1808 the very first hammerless double - firing a central-fire cartridge no less – but it was a commercial flop).

Theophilus William Murcott was born in 1816 in Birmingham. He appears to have moved to London in about 1837, and managed a wholesale ironmongery (hardware) business in Oxford Street on behalf of his father. There is no record that he served any gunmaking apprenticeship, but later in London as an ironmonger he would have sold guns, wadding, and powder and shot, and probably was a keen live pigeon shooter. Around 1851 Theophilus Murcott acted as a London agent for the Birmingham gunmakers Tipping & Lawdon, although they had their own London shop (at 26 Bartlett's Buildings, off Holborn Circus, in an area frequented by lawyers). He probably bought guns for his own shop and as part of his wholesale ironmongery business. In 1854 Murcott opened his own gun shop at 16 Essex Street, Strand, and by 1861 he had moved to live and work at 68 Haymarket, under the business name Theophilus Murcott & Co. The 1861 census records Theophilus and his wife Mary living at that address with his children Charles, Elizabeth, Mary and Theophilus, and Charles and Sarah Hanson. Theophilus Murcott, his son Theophilus, and Charles Hanson described themselves as gun makers. On 15 August 1861 Theophilus Murcott senior and Charles Hanson registered patent No. 2042 for a hinged and rising/falling chamber block operated by an under-lever. In 1866 Theophilus changed the name of the business back to Theophilus Murcott. By this time he was known for his conversions of muzzle-loaders to breech-loaders, skilled work indeed.

On 15 April 1871 Theophilus Murcott patented the first successful hammerless gun (patent No. 1003), a under-lever cocking bar action sidelock with either a single bolt engaging with the rear lump or a Purdey double bite, which was nicknamed "Murcott's Mousetrap" by one of his competitors, a name that stuck. Theophilus advertised his gun in The Field and Field and Water magazines as "THE LAST GUN OUT- Theophilus Murcott, Gun-maker, 68 Haymarket, invites the attention of the nobility, gentry and the sporting world generally to the new GUN he has recently patented. The advantages offered by it are rapidity of action, perfect security, nonliability to accident, extreme simplicity of construction. The first is attained by the lever, which opens the barrels to receive the cartridge, also cocking the gun, the second is insured by the bolt on the top indicating whether or not the gun is ready for discharge, the third is exhibited in the entire absence of all external projections, while the fourth is shown at a glance at its mechanical principles. Its shooting powers are guaranteed to be second to none. An inspection of the gun is respectfully solicited by Theophilus Murcott, Patentee and Maker, 68 Haymarket." In 1878 the business was sold to W W Greener. Theophilus Murcott died on 19 May 1893, aged 75.

Today’s gun is not one of Murcott’s patent actions, and while it is lacking hammers right now (and looking decidedly naked), is not one of his hammerless designs. The cut-off centre-fire hammers the gun came with are sitting in a drawer, as I would rather focus on the gun’s origins as a pinfire. It is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun made around 1870, serial number 1194. The 29 3/4” damascus barrels have London proofs, and carry indistinct barrel-maker’s marks. A one-piece extractor has been added and fitted to the barrel lugs, with corresponding grooves cut into the action bar (this was no small alteration, and with the pin holes superbly filled in and disguised, the conversion was done with some skill). The barrel rib is signed “Theops Murcott 68 Haymarket London SW” within a scrolling banner, and the non-rebounding bar locks are signed “Theops Murcott,” also within banners. The locks are marked “J.S.” on the inside, for John Stanton. Stanton, together with Joseph Brazier and Edwin Chilton, all from Wolverhampton, were the best and most famous lock makers in the world. While difficult to see now, this gun was quality. There are two raised clips on the trigger guard bow, and the serpentine fences are well shaped – though now drilled and tapped for centre-fire striker assemblies. It has the short top strap in keeping with its bar locks, and the starburst detailing at the breech ends where the pin holes were (now filled-in and re-engraved) is particularly attractive, as is the general pleasing quality of the engraving. The stock has a good figure, but the chequering of the stock and fore-end has long since been worn away. The bores are seriously pitted, and what is left of the gun weighs 6 lb 13 oz. It was once a beautiful and resplendent sporting gun.

A bit more information can be gleaned from the initials “T&L” on the barrel flats between the lugs. I believe these to be for Tipping & Lawden, Murcott’s old employer, who may have performed the conversion. Thomas Tipping and Caleb Lawden were in business since 1837, and in 1877 the firm was sold to P Webley & Son.

Finally, the silver stock escutcheon has the initials “RBS 28th Regt”. The gun was owned, and perhaps first ordered, by Captain Robert Burn Singer of the 28th (The North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot. He became an Ensign in September 1858, purchased his first commission as Lieutenant in February 1864, purchased his second commission as Captain in October 1868, in all serving 19 years in the regiment, notably in India and Gibraltar. A Murcott of London pinfire with Stanton locks would have represented a big financial investment for a Captain, so he may well have had the conversion work done to keep it in fashionable working order.

The gun may be a bit of a wreck, but in more than 25 years of searching I have never seen another Murcott pinfire, heard tell of one, or seen one mentioned or illustrated in print or on-line. I wasn’t about to wait for another to come along.

 

[Pinfire]

A Non-Lockfast Dougall

Around 1840 at the age of 22 James Dalziel Dougall inherited his father’s business at 52 Argyll Arcade, Glasgow, with the firm then described as gunmakers, fishing & fowling tackle makers. In 1844 James was admitted as a burgess and guild brother, and in 1845 he was admitted as a fish-hook maker.

By 1848 the firm had acquired additional premises at 51 Argyll Arcade and James described himself as a fishing tackle maker and practical gunmaker. His business offered "an extensive assortment of Fowling pieces" and "in the workshop department every care is taken in the manufacturing of guns, the best material only being used and superior workmen only employed"; "Guns restocked and bored to shoot close and strong". From 1850 the firm occupied 23 Gordon Street and traded as gun maker and fishing tackle manufacturer. An advertisement at this date stated "Fowling pieces. Rifles etc. made to order to any style or pattern. and their shooting warranted, being bored and tested on an unerring principle." In 1851 the gunmaking part of the business employed 6 men. In 1854 James described himself as a gunsmith and fishing tackle manufacturer.

James Dalziel Dougall is said to have been one of the first English gun makers to recognise the potential of the breech loading guns exhibited by Casimir Lefaucheux at the Great Exhibition in 1851, but not without reservations. In his 1857 book, Shooting Simplified: A Concise Treatise On Guns And Shooting, he wrote:

“Another novelty is the rapid introduction of breechloading firearms. These have been in common use in France for the last fifteen years, and are said to have stood the test of that period. It is yet immature to decide upon their merits. They are strongly advocated as excellent by many sportsmen, but the strength of our powder is so much greater than that of the French or Belgian, that they have still to pass through a severe ordeal before receiving the full confidence of British sportsmen. How long the jointing at the breech end may continue to withstand the tremendous vibrations of our heavy charges, time alone can shew. It is far from the author's wish to attempt giving an ipse dixit opinion upon these new arms; his only desire is to place the question before his readers. He will not be the last to give his free adhesion to a movement when there is really an increase of quickness or power. It is this word, "quickness," on which the whole question hinges. Is this great quickness desirable in sporting as well as in war? And is it quite an improvement to deprive the pursuit of game of those little rests, while loading, to men and dogs, which preserve their strength throughout the day, and add a zest from the incidental conversation during these pauses? In grouse and partridge shooting can the dogs be so handled, after firing and killing, as to render the quickness in loading advisable ? Were extermination of game the purpose of the sportsman, the use of a gun which can be loaded in a few seconds would certainly be a desideratum. The author is informed by an experienced sportsman that he can raise a hare from her form, place his cartridge in his gun while she is running, and kill her afterwards. On the other hand it may justly be argued that great rapidity of loading is an advantage in many cases, for instance where birds after long unavailing pursuit are suddenly fallen in with. All sportsmen must know what is here meant,—the huddling up as it were of game in a corner, where only one or two shots can be obtained, and the remainder of the birds go off before the guns can be reloaded. Such tantalizing incidents must be fresh in the memory of most sportsmen. For the wilder kinds of sport, as duck-shooting, that of rock pigeons on the coast, and of golden plover, rapidity of loading is much to be desired. For woodcock at certain times, when they are found in wisps, breechloaders will also be in request. The reader may desire to know something of the formation of this novelty. Instead of being closed behind with a breech, the barrel is an open tube, working on a hinge at the extreme forward end of stock. The false-breech is a solid mass of iron, with the front perpendicular surface of which the breech end of the barrels, when in position for firing, is in close contact. There is a small notch in the top of each barrel. An apparatus below rapidly fixes and unfixes the barrels. The ammunition is made up in cartridges, containing powder, shot, and the means of ignition, all in one. To load the gun, the barrels are removed from their seat, and playing on the hinge expose the open breech ends. Into these the cartridges are placed, and the barrels restored to their seat. A wire connected with a detonating cap in the cartridge comes through the notch in top of barrel, where it receives the blow of the hammer when fired. Of course no powder flask, shot pouch, wadding, caps, or ramrod are used. When fired, the process is repeated, only withdrawing the empty shell of the cartridge. Many of these shells are so little injured as to be fit for refilling. The barrels are said to keep wonderfully clean during the hardest day's shooting. One of the very best judges of fire arms, a gentleman of scientific attainments in these matters, for whom the author has had the honour to make many guns, writes to him in these terms, " In a few years muzzle loaders will be, as flint locks are now, in the category of things that were." Nous verrons.”

He changed his tune rather quickly, perhaps prodded by the business opportunity the breech-loader presented, as in the same year he published in The Field an advertisement which read "BREECH-LOADING GUNS.-In addition to the manufacture of the very superior Fowling-Pieces which have gained the Advertiser so great celebrity as a gunsmith, he has now respectively to state that he is preparing to take Orders for BREECH-LOADING FOWLING PIECES. A few excellent light Double guns on hand, of best quality, will be sold at a very moderate price, as he is now working entirely to order against next season.-J. D. Dougall, 23 Gordon-street, Glasgow. Established 1760." Curiously, Dougall always insisted that his clients call pinfire cartridges “douilles”, the French term.

On 7 May 1860 James Dalziel Dougall registered patent No. 1128 for his famous "Lockfast" action, where the barrels, rotating on the hinge pin which turned by means of a downward moving lever also acted as a cam, sliding the barrels forward before dropping down, and locking into bosses on the action face when closing.

The 1861 census listed his son, John, aged 19, as a gunsmith. In 1864 John was left to run the Glasgow business while James moved to London and opened a shop at 59 St James's Street. John Wilkes worked for the London business from around 1867, he was also working for Edwin Charles Hodges, the famous actioner. In 1868 James described himself as a "patent lockfast gun and rifle maker and fishing tackle manufacturer", but by 1871 he described himself as a breech loading gun and rifle manufacturer, having dropped the fishing tackle business. In 1872 James Dalziel Dougall was appointed Gun and Rifle Manufacturer to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), who ordered a Lockfast gun. The firm was also given an appointment to Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh. As a side note, St. James Street in London is very short in length, yet at some point it housed some of the best gunmakers of the day: Dougall (number 59), James Woodward (number 64), Stephen Grant (number 67a), John Rigby (number 72), Boss & Co. (number 73), and Charles Moore (number 77). Locke & Co., the famous hatters (and inventor of the bowler hat in 1846, originally for gamekeepers) were at number 6, and they are still in business at the same address (since 1686 – and that’s not a typo).

James Dalziel Dougall died in 1891, aged 72. James left behind a number of written articles (under the pseudonym "A Glasgow Gunmaker") and books, including "British Rural Sports", "Scottish Field Sports", "The Shotgun and Sporting Rifle ", "Shooting Simplified", "The Rifle Simplified", and "Shooting: Its Appliances, Practices and Purpose".

I’ve already covered a Dougall Lockfast pinfire game gun in this thread, so today let’s look at a cheaper and less desirable model. It is a standard 16-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun, serial number 1486, likely made in 1863, around the time Dougall ceased making percussion guns. The 30” damascus barrels have London proofs and a barrel maker’s mark "W.H.", which I’ve yet been unable to trace. The top rib is unsigned, and the back-action locks are signed “J. D. Dougall”. The gun was probably ordered from “the trade” as a less expensive offering than the proprietary Lockfast, with James and John Dougall concentrating on making the Lockfast action for themselves and other gunmakers (I have seen photographs of Dougall pinfires with bar locks, which may or may not have been done in-house, but this is the only back-action Dougall that I know of). The rounded hammers have forward flanges, a trigger guard bow with a round stud to fix the under-lever, and a long top strap. The figured stock has old repairs at the comb and toe, and the chequering is almost entirely worn off (as is almost all the foliate engraving on the action bar). The bores are pitted, and the gun weighs 6 lb 11 oz.