Charles Osborne & Co, 7 Whitehall Place, London
28 bore Back-action Hammergun
no. 18867
 Year of manufacture: 1885-92

 

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Heritage Guns' Comment

This gem of a hammergun represents a very good example of the small bore sporting hammerguns that were marketed primarily for young persons and ladies in the last quarter of the 19th century. Made in Birmingham for this respected and prolific gunmaker, it is a nice quality gun.
When the gun came to us, the 20b barrels were badly pitted, dented and beyond repair. However, the petite nature of the gun lent itself to sleeving down to 28b and we feel that this has been a great success, combining the slightly heavier action of the 20b with the light but very swingable 28b barrels.
The original dark walnut is highly figured, internally the gun is well finished and this coupled with the sensitive restoration makes it a very pretty and highly 'shootable' gun for either game or clays.

Wonderful value at only £5790

The action is of traditional design and features:
Double triggers;
Stanton patent rebounding back-action locks with low level hammers (when cocked);
Nicely carved percussion fences; Sprung strikers;
Rounded bar & long top strap;
Top lever opening, operating a 'Purdey’ type bolt by way of Greener style leverwork;
Hacket type snap forend fastening.
Engraving style Border and scroll with game scene on the lock plates.
Locks signed ‘CHAS OSBORNE & CO’.
Gun’s number stamped on knuckle and forend loop and engraved on trigger guard.
Some traces of original hardening colour and overall patination.
Gun weight 5lb 8oz
Trigger pulls measure approximately: Front trigger 3 ½ lbs Rear trigger 4 ½ lbs
 The sleeved steel to 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 concave, game type.
Birmingham reproof for 70mm nitro powder cartridges in 2024.

Approximate barrel measurements at date of publication:

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


Right Barrel
14.1 mm
(0.555")
0.555"
0.034+"
0.007" (IC)

Left Barrel
14.1 mm
(0.555")
0.555"
0.034+"
0.017" (IM)

The original straight hand grip Stock and Splinter Forend are crafted from highly figured walnut,
the stock is lightly cast off for a right-handed shot (almost dead straight)
and is finished with a ¾” leather covered recoil pad.
The forend has an engraved steel tip.


Highly Figured Walnut

The 20 lines per inch chequering has been freshened to its original design.
 
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 1/2"
14 5/8"
14 3/4"
15 1/4"
Drop at Comb
Drop at Face
Drop at Heel
1 1/2"
1 11/16"
2 1/4"
Cast-off at Comb
Cast-off at Heel
Cast-off at Toe
Negligible
Negligible
 Negligible

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,
 'Purdey Bolt' patent no. 1104 of 1863,
 Greener's leverwork patent no. 3090 of 1874.