Shepard Shotgun Info?

tbaybmkr

tbaybmkr

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Thunder Bay, ON Canada
Hi all, my Dad just inherited this shotgun from a friend of his and was looking for some info on it (value, where it was made, etc...)

On the gun is E. L. Shepard Abingdon. It is a double barrel 12 guage side by side but has beautiful engraving! It also came with a wooden cleaning rod kit and a case. We were thinking England as origin and we think the barrel may be Damascus steel.

Any info would be greatly appreciated! Here are some pictures!















 
Very interesting gun! Definitely "Damascus" barrels, and London proof marks, from what can be seen, similar to what would be found stamped from the late 1860s to the late 1880s.
Probably not what would be considered a "best" gun, but reasonably high quality, definitely worth doing some serious research on! Be gentle and careful with it.
 
It would be worth getting a good double gun gunsmith that has English side lock experience, to do an physical assessment for you. A couple of hundred bucks, and you will know precisely what you have, and what you may need to do to preserve and/or shoot it (the proofs are for black powder).
(Just an aside, English screws use a very thin blade, often .020" thick, or less, so don't try to remove the side plates, or any other fittings, without the proper fully fitting turnscrew. A regular screwdriver will often slip, and damage the slot, which will devalue the gun and cost $$ to have a gunsmith repair! Disassembly further than breakdown, as you have done, should be left to a good gunsmith, for now!)
Please let us know how it works out!
 
Thanks again for the info!
No worries we aren't going to take it apart, no need as we won't shoot it anyways. So it used to take black powder cartridges?

The reason it was field striped is this is how it came in the case along with a separate case for the cleaning kit. Too bad I didn't get pictures of that, as me and my Dad live 8 hours apart it's hard to get follow up pictures..
 
You're welcome, and yes, it would have used black powder shotgun cartridges, smokeless powder only became common after 1890 or so, and for some time, both cartridges were in common use (not in the same guns, but guns that were designed and proved for either powder) with black powder cartridges still in quite common use through Edwardian times .
And just as a point of interest, the English side by side shotgun isn't "field stripped" to its component parts for storage in its case, the terms for assembling and disassembling the gun are how to mount, and dismount your gun. This is a bit confusing when the term gun-mounting is used to describe the action of bringing the gun from its ready position, to the shoulder... But there you have it!
If, and when, you can, please post some pictures of the case and accessories. Thanks!
 
Very nice sidelock with higher quality damascus barrels. The chambers in this gun will be shorter than the modern shell, likely 2 1/2" chambers. I know you intend not to shoot this but there are those out there who would hunt with this gun if it checked out safe, meaning barrel walls were still thick enough, no cracks in the barrels, no major pitting and the action tight. Just curious, do the bores have much internal pitting? Even then, companion tubes or inserts can be bought which allows you to shoot a smaller gauge and modern shells.
I couldnt find anything on E.L. Shepherd. However, if you go onto doublegun forum (under the BBS section) and post your info, I'm sure someone will come along who can give you some history.
 
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