James Woodward & Sons,
64 St James’s Street, London
True Pair of 12 bore Bar Action Sidelock Ejectors
‘The Automatic’
No’s 5166 & 5167
Date of Manufacture: 1897

Gun No. 5166
Click on image for more detail

Gun No. 5167
Click on image for more detail

Heritage Guns' Comment I have had the huge privilege to work on several of these Woodward ‘Automatic’ sidelock ejectors and have always been impressed by the shear, uncompromising quality of the gunmaking. Gun no’s 5166 & 5167 display most of the classic styling features of this marque such as the breech side-clips, bolstered tumbler pivots, classic Woodward engraving style and unique safety slide but have moved into the ‘modern’ era with wood ‘stocked to the fences’ and beautifully finished 9 pin, bar action sidelocks cocked by Rogers’ leverwork. A very unusual feature for hammerless guns are the ‘rebounding’ tumblers on the Stanton principle which ensure that the disc-set firing pins do not hang up. The original Whitworth Fluid Pressed Steel barrels have survived the 120 years extremely well as has the original oak & leather case and stock and forend woods. Engraving remains wonderfully crisp on locks, action and barrels, with around 50-70% of original hardening colour, and the main focus of our restoration has been to reproof the original 29” barrels for 2 ¾” cartridges, replace pins where necessary and refinish the wood. The only odd detail is the rechequering of gun No. 1 to a different LPI to gun No. 2 and we can only assume that this was considered beneficial in some way to the original owner. Presented in their original oak & leather double case, with its original trade labels and many accessories, these guns’ fabulous condition coupled with our light-touch restoration makes them a very useable, safe and highly collectable pair for either game or clays. WE REGRET THAT THIS GUN IS NOW SOLD. IF YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR A SIMILAR GUN, PLEASE CONTACT US.

The actions are of traditional sidelock design and feature:
Toplever opening, operating a double bite ‘Purdey Bolt’ via a ‘Scott Spindle’;
Double triggers bolted by automatic, top tang, Woodward-style safety slide;
Bar action, 9 pin sidelocks with bolstered tumbler pivots and rebounding tumblers;
Robertson style interceptor sears;
Gold lined cocking indicators;
Vented disc-set strikers;
‘Perkes’ ejector box;
‘Anson’ forend catch;
Much original hardening colour;
Rounded action bar;
Arcaded fences with side-clips.
Engraving style Very best foliate scroll.
Breech faces stamped ‘THE AUTOMATIC’ TRADE MARK’
and ‘JAMES WOODWARD & SONS’. Gold inlaid ‘SAFE’.
Top ribs, toplevers and forend tips with gold inlaid ‘1’ & ‘2’ respectively.
Top ribs engraved ‘MADE OF SIR JOSEPH WHITWORTH'S FLUID PRESSED STEEL’.
Gun weight No. 1: 6lb 15oz   No. 2: 6lb 14oz    
Trigger pulls measure approximately: Both guns Front 3 ¾ lb Rear 4 ½ lb
The original Whitworth steel chopperlump barrels are 29" in length and are chambered for 2 ¾” (70mm) cartridges with soft soldered ribs.
Top ribs are of the smooth, concave game type.
London reproof for 2 ¾” nitro powder cartridges in 2019.
Proof marks are etched into the barrels beside the forend loop.

Approximate barrel measurements at date of publication:

Approximate stock measurements at date of publication:
 (Gun No.1 / Gun No.2)

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;
 'Scott Spindle' patent no. 2752 of 1865;
Stanton rebounding lock patent no. 367 of 1867;
Perkes ejector patent no. 12176 of 1887;
Anson forend fastener patent no. 3791 of 1872.