James D Dougall & Sons,
23 Gordon Street, Glasgow, Scotland.
20 bore Boxlock Non-ejector
no. 4105
 Date of manufacture: 1884-1889

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Heritage Guns' Comment


John Dougall established his ‘Fishing & Fowling Tackle’ enterprise in Glasgow in 1760 and was succeeded by his son James in 1841. In 1864, the aforementioned James and his son, also James, opened premises in St James’s Street, London and with the success of the father’s patent for the ‘Lockfast’ action, the firm became very well-known and commercially successful.
Gun no. 4105 is an outstanding example of what Dougall did best: using his own designs to produce distinctive guns and finishing them to a very high standard indeed. The action is similar in design to the famous Anson & Deeley boxlock, the only significant difference is that it is cocked by the sidelever rather than the drop of the barrels. The floral engraving is really quite spectacular and with its replacement steel barrels and strong stock, it would make an excellent gun for clay target or upland game.
Presented in its leather & brass case, relined with ‘Cherry’ all-wool baize,
with Heritage Guns trade label and some accessories.

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

The action is similar in design to the Anson & Deeley boxlock and features:
Sidelever operating a Purdey Bolt and cocking the tumblers;
Passive ‘Dolls Head, top-rib extension;
Tumblers linked to mainsprings by anti-friction swivels;
Double triggers bolted by an automatic top tang safety slide;
Anson push rod forend catch.
The gun balances just in front of the action knuckle.
 Engraving style Finely executed Bouquets of flowers with scroll detail.
Action bar signed ‘JD DOUGALL & SONS’. Gold inlayed SAFE.
Action flats stamped ‘DOUGALL’S HIGHEST QUALITY’.
Gun weight 5lb 10oz     
Trigger pulls measure approximately: Front trigger 3 ½ lbs Rear trigger 4 ½ lbs
The Replacement Steel barrels (in 1956) 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 smooth, broad, flat type; the original damascus ribs were retained when the gun was rebarrelled. There is a small rosin bleed from top rib near the joint with the top rib extension piece, resulting is a loss of a small area of the blacking.
Birmingham reproof for 2 3/4” (70mm) nitro powder cartridges between in 2022.

Approximate barrel measurements at date of publication:

 
Nominal Proof Size L/R
Bore Diameter 9"
from Breech L/R
Minimum Wall Thickness
L/R
Choke Constriction
L/R


Right Barrel
15.6mm (0.614")
0.612"
0.032"
0.008" (IC)

Left Barrel
15.6mm (0.614")
0.612"
0.034"
0.012" (M)

The Replacement Straight Hand Stock and original Splinter Forend are crafted from lightly figured, straight grain walnut. The stock is cast-off for right handed use, features a vacant white metal oval, well defined drop points and is finished with a chequered butt.
The forend features a finely engraved steel forend tip and Anson pushrod.


Lightly Figured, Straight Grain Walnut

The 24 lines per inch chequering is freshened to its original 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 5/8 "
14 11/16"
14 11/16"
15 1/8"
Drop at Comb
Drop at Face
Drop at Heel
1 1/2"
1 11/16"
2 1/8"
Cast-off at Comb
Cast-off at Heel
Negligible
1/4" (approx.)

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:
 'Purdey Bolt' patent no. 1104 of 1863;
 Anson’s forend fastener patent no. 3791 of 1872.