Frederick T Baker, 88 Fleet Street, London
12 bore Rotary Underlever Bar Action Hammergun
no. 2660
Date of manufacture: 1875-1887

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Heritage Guns' Comment

Guns by FT Baker are noticeable in being finished to a very high standard and this example is no exception and, most remarkably for a gun of this age, it remains in very fine condition.
We suspect that the barrels were shortened at some point from the more usual 30" to 28" but the work has been done to a very high standard: the barrels reset at the muzzles and the ribs carefully re-laid. We suspect that the work was carried out by experts in the English guntrade possibly as long ago as the turn of the century. Furthermore, we think that the locks were converted to rebounding, maybe at the same time, with replacement tumblers and main springs. This is an expensive, labour intensive job and has been done little since the late 1800's when Stanton's rebounding locks became popular.
The Jones Rotary Underlever offers a vault-like lock up and this combined with the beautiful old French walnut, generous barrel MWT's and bold damascus add up to a beautiful and strong gun that is a joy to shoot and should give many years of service on game or clays with normal maintenance.

WE REGRET THAT THIS GUN IS NOW SOLD. IF YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR A SIMILAR GUN, PLEASE CONTACT US.

The action is of traditional hammergun design and features:
Rebounding bar action locks with high hammers,
Finely chiselled percussion fences,
Foliate Scroll engraving,
Jones Rotary Underlever,
Double triggers,
Wedge forend bolt.
Gun weight 6lb 8oz
Engraving style Foliate Scroll.
Trigger pulls measure approximately: Front trigger 3 ½ lbs Rear trigger 4 lbs
The original damascus barrels are 28" in length, chambered for 2 ¾ " (70mm) cartridges and are of brazed dovetail lump construction with soft soldered ribs.
Top rib is of the smooth, concave game type.
London reproof for 70mm nitro powder cartridges in 2014..

Approximate barrel measurements at date of publication:

 
Nominal Proof Size
Bore Diameter 9" from Breech
Minimum Wall Thickness
Choke Constriction
Right Barrel
18.7 (0736")
0.735"
0.026"
0.005" (Skeet)
Left Barrel
18.8 (0740")
0.739"
0.025"
0.008" (IC)

The Straight Hand Stock and Splinter Forend are crafted from dark, well figured French walnut. The stock is lightly cast-off for a right-handed shot, features an engraved white metal oval, well-defined drop points and an engraved iron 'skeleton' butt plate secured with engraved screws.
The forend features a finely engraved steel forend tip.



Well Figured walnut

The 16 approx. lines per inch chequering is cut to a normal sidelock pattern.
The stock is finished with a traditional linseed oil based preparation as used on best guns by one of the top English makers. This finish uses no grain fillers to achieve its deep, smooth lustre, only many hours of alternate build and flatting off of the surface.

Approximate stock measurements at date of publication:

Pull to Heel
Pull to Bump
Pull to Centre
Pull to Toe
14 3/8"
14 5/8"
14 5/8"
15 1/8"
Drop at Comb
Drop at Face
Drop at Heel
1 1/2"
1 5/8"
2 1/16"
Cast-off at Comb
Cast-off at Heel
Negligible
1/8" (approximate)

For the purposes of these measurements, 'Drop at Face' is the 'drop' measurement taken on a line perpendicular to the
line joining the trigger and centre of the butt at approximately 8" from the trigger (front trigger on a double trigger gun).

Patents Exhibited include:
Stanton's rebounding lock patent no. 367 of 1867;
Jones rotary underlever patent no. 2040 of 1859.