Update
4th September 2016
Welcome to my
September 2016 Update.
Safely back from our Isle of Mull odyssey,
Chrissy, Tilly the Pocket Rocket and I had a lovely time stalking, fishing and eating
glorious fresh seafood, venison and organic beef and pork from Pennyghael
Estate, not to mention local ale and the odd wee dram of malt whisky to wash it
all down.
We had some lovely hikes including ‘doing’ Ben
More from the beach to the summit accompanied by some rather scary cross winds
and two youngsters who scampered up the steep bits while their elders gasped
for air in their wake! The views from the summit, stretching from Iona, Ulva
and the Trishnish peninsula to the Scottish mainland in the west, were quite
breathtaking.
Stalking was somewhat frustrated by bracken
beds that were ‘going over’ early and announced one’s presence to all and
sundry as you attempted a ‘silent’ stalk into your chosen beast. However, I did
get two young stags for the Estate larder and a 10-12 year old 8 point which
will go off to the game dealer: a healthy set of jaw muscles will required to
deal with that one!
8p Red Stag shot above Killunaig Farm House, Pennyghael
Estate, Isle of Mull
I invested in a new rifle before the trip, a
Shultz & Larsen Victory in 7 x 57 topped with a Zeiss Conquest DL and the
moderator by Barton Gunworks and have been very pleased with the result.
Although a bit longer than I am used to, the silky smooth bolt, clear optics
and lightweight mod kept the rifle balanced and very user friendly. The
barrel’s rifling is ‘cut’ and then hand lapped which results in a
recommendation from the Maker that it only needs cleaning every 300 rounds! Now
there’s confidence for you, presumably born of many decades of target barrel
manufacture.
As some of you may be aware, I was diagnosed
with Lyme’s Disease just before leaving for Mull and have been on some vile
antibiotics ever since. I have just commencing a second four week course of
meds as the infection has turned out to be ‘historic’ and will not be shifted
easily. I must admit my symptoms are fairly unspectacular and some suffer far
worse. I sometimes wonder if the side effects of the meds are rather worse than
my symptoms but I am told they can get much worse so I am continuing as
instructed.
There is still no sign of the much anticipated
US visa so I definitely will not be attending the Vintage Gunners Cup in
Maryland later this month. A real shame.
However, I am tentatively planning a trip over to
North Carolina to collect a few stock items that need some TLC and deliver
fresh stock to my hard working agents, MacNab Fine Firearms and New London
Arms. Subject to the visa being issued,
mid-October seems the favourite time for this jaunt.
With my return to the workshop, I am
starting the final finishing jobs on the new stock guns.
I have just finished relining an oak & leather
case for the lovely Woodward hammergun no 3417. I am very pleased with the dark
green baize I have used, quite unusual to find this colour used on a Best
London gun but we discovered traces of something similar under a poor reline
job and decided to give it a try.
This gun remains something of an enigma. It uses a
possibly unique bolting mechanism that no one I have approached has ever seen
before. Unprotected by a patent as far as we can see, it was presumably an
attempt to circumvent the Purdey Bolt patent which was still in force at the
time but only for another few years.
If anybody can shed any light on this, I would be
most grateful.
James
Woodward & Sons Hgun no 3417, Cased in Oak & Leather
Other guns that I hope to have
finished in time for this Fall include:
James Purdey & Sons 12g BiW
Hammergun 28” x 2 ¾” TIG Sleeved
James Woodward & Sons 12g
Thumblever SLE 29” x 2 ¾” TIG Sleeved with set of 5 Teague Interchangeable
chokes
Holland & Holland 16g Climax
SLNE 30” x 2 ¾” TIG Sleeved
J&W Tolley
16g Hammergun 30” x 2 ¾” Damascus
Wilkinson & Son .410 RUL
Hammergun 27” x 3” Steel, converted rifle
Henry Atkin (From Purdey’s) 12g
Thumblever SLNE 30” x 2 ¾” TIG Sleeved with set of 5 Teague Interchangeable
chokes
John Dickson & Son 12g RAE
30” x 2 ¾” Damascus
William Cashmore 12g Pigeon Gun
BLNE 30” x 2 ¾” Whitworth Steel
Thomas Johnson 16g BiW Hammergun
30” x 2 ¾” TIG Sleeved
And finally
James Lang 12g SLE 28” x 2 ¾”
Sleeved
Of the 4
post-1898 shotguns that finally made it over to the USA in June, only one remains
unsold: the lovely little Cogswell & Harrison 20g BLE. I must admit that I
find this a bit mystifying as it is an excellent little shooter without
pretension. Maybe there is a glut of nicely balance, 20g x 2 ¾” chambered
hunting guns out there and I am just not aware of them all!
Latest Additions to the Stock List
Holland
& Holland 20g SLE with TIG sleeved 26” barrels no 11971 On consignment with Macnab Fine Firearms
Lovely, early Royal gun with baraction locks. This gun has had an eventful life
and now sports a well figured replacement stock and completely new forend
equipped with Southgate ejectors.
Henry
Clarke & Son 16g Backaction SLE with 30” TIG sleeved barrels.
4th in our ‘Accipiter’ series. On consignment with Macnab Fine Firearms
Originally
built as a 12g, this has been my very own ‘go-to’ gun for game and clays over
the last 12 months while I explored the proposition of having my late father’s
Blanch SLE rebarrelled as a 16b. I have to say I have been won over by the
delightful, steady handling of this gun and my clay scores and game shooting
averages have been a revelation. There is no doubt now that I will get the work
done on the Blanch to mimic the Clarke.
Other guns on
consignment in the USA are:
Henry Atkin
12g SLE #397 On consignment with Macnab Fine Firearms
Henry Atkin
12g SLE #434 Cased On consignment with New London Arms
Holland &
Holland 16g SLNE #8787 On consignment with New London Arms
Holland &
Holland 12g SLE #14908 On consignment with New London Arms
Charles
Lancaster 12g SLE #7776 On consignment with Macnab Fine Firearms
T Murcott 16g
Mousetrap SLNE #2446 On consignment with New London Arms
James Purdey
& Sons 12g SLE #11368 Cased On consignment with New London Arms
R Roper 12g
SLNE #30540 On consignment with New London Arms
AJ Russell
12g BLE On
consignment with Macnab Fine Firearms
Details of
all the guns can be found on our stock pages with links to the person holding the
gun on consignment.
Most
of the guns mentioned above are nitro proofed for a minimum of 2 3/4"
cartridges and all are pre-1897 unless otherwise described.
Lastly
a reminder that we now have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heritage-Guns/1456166597974211. Facebook
is not everybody’s cup of tea but we will post photos and news there that are
not relevant to our main web site pages.
Enjoy
your guns and shooting wherever you are!
Toby Barclay
Links
to our show venues can be found on our Home page.