Heritage Guns Update 14th July 2021
I hope you are all well, keeping safe and enjoying the summer weather wherever you may be.
It is almost exactly three months since I last wrote to you all, the Southern S/S Classic has been and gone (and a great success it was for those able to attend) and we are now mid-summer with the British shooting seasons only a couple of months away!
I have just returned from 10 days in beautiful Cumbria where is surprised us all by being mainly dry and sunny. As some of you may be aware, Cumbria doesn’t do much ‘dry and sunny’! At the start I had the chance to do a couple of days’ Roe buck stalking on the lovely Graythwaite estate, west of Windermere, and Tilly had her first chance to accompany me in her new role of ‘deer dog’. Rather than bore you with the story here, those interested in our escapade can read about it here.
Tilly pictured on a steep
clear-fell on the Graythwaite estate, Cumbria
So to guns!
I have just uploaded full details on three new stock items:
First up is a lovely damascus barrelled Holland & Holland Royal 12b SLE of 1890 vintage, presented in its leather and brass case.
H&H
12b Royal SLE no 12817 in its Leather and Brass case.
Next we have a 12b Stephen Grant backaction hammergun from 1875, also damascus barrelled and cased in leather and brass.
Stephen Grant 12b Hammergun no 3908
And last but very much not least, a 12b hammergun by Charles Boswell. This gun has many of the features of a Live Pigeon gun but there are no records to confirm or deny so we are left to guess at what its intended function was!
Charles Boswell 12b Hammergun no 11301
Meanwhile, Bob Nay of Macnab Fine Firearms has several items of mine in Virginia, USA waiting to find a new custodians!
Here is another sidelever hammergun by Stephen Grant. It has 30” TIG sleeved barrels and a vintage replacement stock with fabulous figure.
Stephen Grant 12b 1877 Sidelever Hammergun no 4247.
Stephen Grant 12b Sidelever Hammergun no 4247 in its Oak-lined case.
Next is a very pretty J Blanch & Son 12b backaction SLE with its original 2 ½” x 28” damascus barrels and boldly figured stock.
J Blanch & Son 1896 Backaction SLE no 5601
Then we have another Blanch 12b, this time a BLE from around
1900, complete with interceptor sears and replacement steel barrels by the
Maker.
J
Blanch & Son 12b BLE no 6135
Moving on we have a lovely SLE by J Woodward & Sons: ‘The
Automatic’ underlever SLE with original 29” barrels and replacement stock,
presented in a contemporary oak lined case.
1890
James Woodward & Sons 12b SLE ‘The Automatic’ no 4394
Recently returned to the USA after a little TLC in our
workshops is this extraordinary, unique Powell SLE with non-functioning
hammers, specified by the customer as a new gun back in 1893!
Unique
1893 William Powell & Son 12b SLE with non-functioning hammers no 9622
An extremely rare, un-messed-with pair of 1897
James Woodward & Sons 12b SLE’s complete with original barrels and stocks
and many accessories.
True
pair of 1897 James Woodward & Sons 12b SLE’s no’s 5166/67
Back in the UK, and hopefully to be exhibited at the Vintage Gunners Cup this September, full photos and details can be found on my web site for the following guns:
James
Purdey & Sons 12b Self-opening SLE no 15960
With lots of original colour, a classic Beesley patent gun, TIG sleeved 30” x 2 ¾” with 4 x interchangeable Teague thin-wall chokes and 14 ¾” highly figured stock.
Purdey
no. 15960 in its Oak & Leather case.
1891
Holland & Holland 12b Royal SLE no 12860
Lots of original colour, chopperlump Whitworth steel barrels and a very smart ‘Rifle Green’ relined case. 30” x 2 ½” x Cyl/IC and a 15 3/8” replacement highly figured stock.
H&H
no. 12860 in its Leather and Brass case.
1896
E M Reilly & Co 12b Baraction hammergun no 34585
Renewed colour hardening, replacement 30” x 2 ¾” x IC/M steel barrels and replacement, highly figured 14 3/16” stock. Maker’s trunk-style leather case.
And last but not least,
pre-1881
Baraction 20b Hammergun by Frank Hipgrave of Huntingdonshire.
Damascus 28” x 2 ½” x IC/Cyl barrels and 14 ½” well figured stock. Leather bound, canvas Brady case.
In the workshop, I have a pair of toplever Purdey hammerguns,
another sidelever hammergun by Grant and a RUL hammergun by Boss, all of which
recently passed 2 ¾” nitro proof.
All these are 12b’s and have 30” barrels.
Still at proof, I have another steel barrelled 1st Type H&H
Royal 12b, a scallop-back 12b BLE by Blanch, a 16b back action, lightweight
hammergun by Thomas Turner and a very pretty 20b boxlock by Dougall.
Well, that is about it for now.
Keep safe and enjoy the summer!
Very best regards,
Toby Barclay
Historic Guns For The Modern Sportsman
