Heritage Guns Update 19th August, 2026
We are now nearly 4 months since my return from the Southern S/S Championship and Exhibition at Deep River Sporting Clays in April and life has been very full of demanding developments, some quite scary, others joyous!
My wife Mandy and I ‘completed’ on the purchase of our new home in May and taking possession of it and dealing with the multitude of challenges that became apparent once the previous owners had moved out, has been daunting! We can see the light at the end of a very long tunnel but it has been a hard slog. The secure storage for my workshop to-be, is pretty much complete but with no sign of a serious buyer for my old home, moving the workshop to the new house is not happening any time soon.
However, the house is lovely: an unusual mix of open-plan, modern living with huge patio doors and a timber framed cottage. The upstairs is in a similar vein. The garden is a joy with innumerable shrubs and trees dotted around a formal lawn, a small wildflower meadow interspersed with native trees, a well-stocked orchard, kitchen garden and all located off a quiet ‘green lane’. Whether we should have taken on this 1 ½ acres of heaven at my advanced age is quite another matter but it is done!
We have been sweltering with a series of heat waves since May that has left the countryside burnt to a crisp. Farming is in crisis and we have had severe restriction on water usage as the reservoirs have dried up. Very early dog walks have been necessary and poor sleep at night and a sweaty workshop in the day have made life particularly trying.
Tilly the matriarch
became very lame about a month ago and investigations showed good hips (a
common weakness in Labradors) but severe arthritis in her lower back which must
have been causing her great pain. One epidural later, she is much better,
albeit weak in her rear end and subject to getting very stiff if laid down for
any length of time. However this is a
temporary fix and we will have to make the big decision soon: to keep her going
or let her go.
Kiwi, the labrador with very little brain, bumbles along happily but has really
suffered in the heat. She is blessed (?) with a proper Labrador double coat and
although she shrugs off cold with ease, she struggles on the warm days.
Little Pips, aka ‘The Terrorist’, is coping just fine and doesn’t seem to notice
the weather.
While all the above has been going on, I have been making progress with some guns for export this autumn to my good friend and colleague, Bob Nay of MacNab Fine Firearms. They include a matched pair of Woodward 16b’s, built one year apart in 1904 & 1905. These will be available to buy singly or as a pair. They sport lovely replacement stocks and 28” x 2 ¾” reproofed sleeved barrels.
Also a very unusual 1899 Holland & Holland 16b 2nd Type Royal with border engraving and the most spectacular replacement stock. We have sleeved the sadly very thin and cut-down barrels back to their proper 30” length and nitro reproofed for 2 ¾” cartridges.
Guns by Stephen
Grant are a great favourite of mine so I couldn’t let this batch slip by
without one in the mix!
Gun no 7346 is a classic sidelever SLE with replacement 28” x 2 ¾” barrels by
Thomas Turner and a lovely figured stock, possibly a vintage replacement.
And last but not least, a sweet little 1905 20b BLE by the famous Westley Richards. Border engraved but with lovely old fashioned French walnut, rebarrelled in 1937 by William Ford, famous for his fantastic choke bored barrels, and then sleeved, possibly by the Makers, in 1991. We have had it reproofed for 2 ¾” cartridges so it looks good for another 100 years of service!
What is noticeable about all these guns is the very high quality of there stocks. All but one have probably been restocked but whoever commissioned the work, they went the extra mile to find lovely wood and have it fitted by an expert.
Oil finished
stocks from J Woodward & Sons 16b SLE’s no 5770 & 5880
Stocks from (LH)
Stephen Grant & Sons 12b SLE no 7346
(RH) Holland & Holland 16b Royal no 22185
Stock from
Westley Richards 20b BLE no 8876
As to guns already
on consignment with Bob, the following are still looking for good homes!
1888 Stephen Grant & Sons 12b Sidelever SLE,
30” x 2 ½“ nitro damascus barrels, original highly figured stock, relined oak
& leather case.
And in its case:
1870’s J Blanch & Son 12b Thumblever
Hammergun, 29” x 2 ¾” nitro damascus barrels, highly
figured original stock, relined canvas and leather trim case.
And in its case:
A very nice 1906 boxlock ejector by J Blanch
& Son: 12b x 29” x 70mm x SK/Mod with a very
nicely figured 14 7/8” stock.
..and in its
leather case.
1891 12b toplever SLE by Stephen Grant &
Sons: 30” x 2 ¾” nitro sleeved barrels, lots of
original hardening colour on locks and action, 14 ¾” highly figured original
wood including a 1” leather covered recoil pad and presented in a relined oak
& leather case.
1898 James MacNaughton12b Roundaction
Ejector, 28” x 2 ½” rebarrelled by Dickson around
1959, beautiful wood, relined leather case.
And in its case:
1887 J Rigby & Co 12b Underlever SLE 30” x 2 ½” nitro damascus barrels, highly figured replacement wood, oak & leather case.
And cased:
1891 Holland & Holland 1st
Type Royal 12b. Nitro reproof 30” x 2 ½” x Cyl/IC and a 15 3/8” replacement highly figured stock.
And in its case:
And coming through the workshop for next Spring, we have:
Circa 1890 J Blanch & Son 12b Backaction SLNE, a classic Blanch back-action
sidelock in fantastic original condition.
1893 Holland & Holand 12b 2nd Type Royal SLE, Teague chokes, lovely wood.
1879 Joseph Lang & Sons 16b Hammergun, 30“ x 2 ¾“ sleeved barrels, beautiful semi pistol grip stock.
Pre 1887 EM Reilly 20b Sidelever Hammergun, pretty little gun with 28” x 2 ¾” sleeved barrels.
1894 J Woodward & Sons 12b SLE, Teague chokes, great engraving, lovely wood.
Well
enjoy the rest of the summer, not long until the shooting seasons begin!
Very best regards,
Toby Barclay
Historic Guns For The Modern Sportsman
