James Woodward & Sons, 64 St James's Street, London SW
12 bore Bar Action Sidelock Ejector
'The Automatic'
no. 5242 (No. 2 of a Pair)
Date of Manufacture: 1898
Click on these images 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 5242
displays some styling features of earlier guns such as the
bolstered tumbler pivots, classic Woodward engraving style and
unique safety slide but has moved into the ‘modern’ era with wood
‘stocked to the fences’ and no breech side-clips. A very unusual
feature is the ‘rebounding’ tumblers which ensure that the
disc-set firing pins do not hang up. New stock and forend have
been fitted by a highly experienced professional, probably within
the last 50 years, and they did a beautiful job, removing only the
bare minimum of material from behind lockplates and action to
maintain maximum strength. The original ‘Special Gun Barrel
Steel’ barrels had become painfully thin by 1972 which explains
the additional steel barrels by Chaplin of Winchester. Engraving
remained wonderfully crisp on locks, action and barrels and the
main focus of our restoration has been to TIG sleeve the original
29” barrels, replace damaged pins and have interchangeable long-series
Teague chokes fitted.
Presented in a leather double motor case, blocked for either sets
of barrels and fitted with reproduction case label, spare Teague
chokes, Teague choke key and some accessories. This gun’s fabulous
condition coupled with our light-touch restoration makes it a very
useable, safe and highly collectable gun for either game or clays.
Note: The pair to this gun (no. 5241) is nearly identical and they are currently offered for sale as a true pair or as
individual guns.
WE
REGRET THAT THIS GUN IS NOW SOLD. IF YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR A SIMILAR
GUN, PLEASE CONTACT US.
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The
action
is of traditional sidelock design and features:
Two barrel sets: 28”
fixed choke & 29” Teague choked;
Toplever opening, operating a
double bite ‘Purdey Bolt’ via a ‘Scott Spindle’;
Double triggers
bolted by an automatic, top tang, Woodward-style safety slide;
Bar
action, 9 pin sidelocks with bolstered tumbler pivots;
Robertson
style interceptor sears;
Gold lined cocking indicators;
Rebounding tumblers;
Vented disc-set strikers;
‘Perkes’ ejector
box;
‘Anson’ forend catch;
Arcaded fences.
Engraving style
Very best foliate scroll. Very probably engraved by Sumner.
Breech face stamped ‘THE
AUTOMATIC’ TRADE MARK’. Gold inlaid ‘SAFE’. Top rib, toplever and forend
tip gold inlaid ‘1’. Action flats stamped ‘JAMES WOODWARD & SONS’. Top
rib engraved ‘MADE OF SPECIAL GUN BARREL STEEL’
Gun weight
6lb 13oz (29”) / 6lb 10oz (28”)
Trigger pulls measure approximately: Front trigger 3 ¼
lbs, Rear trigger 4 ¼ lbs.
The TIG sleeved steel barrels are
29" in length with 4 x Teague chokes, the additional steel barrels by BE
Chaplin are 28" in length and have fixed chokes. Both sets of barrels
are chambered for 2 ¾” (70mm) cartridges and are of dovetail lump
construction with soft soldered ribs.
Top ribs
are of the smooth, concave game type.
Birmingham reproof for 2
¾” nitro powder cartridges in 2019 (29”) & 2018 (28”)
Approximate barrel measurements
at date of publication:
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Nominal Proof Size
|
Bore Diameter 9"
from Breech
|
Minimum Wall Thickness
|
Choke Constriction
|
28" Brls Right/Left
|
Both18.6mm(0.732")
|
Both
0.736"
|
0.019"/0.018"
|
0.020”/0.030” (Mod/IM)
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29" Brls Right/Left
|
18.5mm (0.728")
18.4mm (0.724")
|
0.729"/0.727"
|
0.031"/0.032"
|
Teague Sk/IC/Mod/IM
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The replacement Straight-hand Stock and Splinter Forend
are crafted from highly figured walnut and the stock is lightly cast-off
for a right-handed shot, features well defined drop points, a vacant
white metal oval and a chequered butt. The forend has a finely
engraved steel tip.
The
approx. 22 lines per inch chequering has been refreshed
to its original pattern.
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
|
15"
|
15
1/4"
|
15
3/16"
|
15
1/2"
|
Drop at Comb
|
Drop at Face
|
Drop at Heel
|
1
5/8"
|
1
11/16"
|
2
1/4"
|
Cast-off at Comb
|
Cast-off at Heel
|
1/8" (approximate)
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1/4" (approximate)
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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;
Perkes ejector patent
no. 12176 of 1887;
Anson forend fastener patent no. 3791 of 1872.