Did you not notice the fit of the butt stock ?
I'd get it glass bedded before I shot it much.
Yep, I did see that. I figured it was the skills of whoever re did the stock? The is without movement in the back of the receiver, Do you think I could do it with a catalyst compound like "knead - it" it sets very hard?
I don't think I would use the 'knead' stuff. Acra Glass Gel and its release agent would be the ticket. You don't have a huge gap, but enough to cause damage with repeated firing. Acra Glas would be an easy repair. The small kit would last for years doing small gun and home repairs.
Thanks mate.
I am having trouble finding history on the early Vickers. Any one have a link or something?
I don't know of one specifically for sporting arms. They were huge and had several facilities that could produce something for every need. I think that they also imported steel and melted it down, adding elements to make their own brew. I would guess the steel came from the River Don Works, Sheffield but that's just a guess. They also had a Birmingham facility and I could dig up the other locations if need be(Barrow, Birmingham, Erith(other machine guns), North Kent(Crayford???(Maxium guns), Sheffield). The only mark I can find is on the tubes just forward of the flats. A better image capture may not be possible and the tube forger's mark may be that of Vickers or note the 1st pass thru the Birmingham proofhouse???:
Pfeil & co. may have been an steel agent or peddled Vicker's wares.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
Re history, I think that gun would date from 1925-54, as indicated by the chamber length which was not required under the earlier 1904 rules.
Post WWI they were deep into Aluminium/"Duralumin" and were in the dirigibles by 1920/1921:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/forgottenfutures/vickers/vickers.htmSome Crayford history:
http://www.crayfordhistory.co.uk/index/history-of-vickers-crayford/Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
Here's a 1924 Vicker's Reprint(maybe one of the 1st years of Vicker's Sporting offerings??) at Cornell Pubs:
http://www.cornellpubs.com/old-guns/item_desc.php?item_id=769So with the Crayford history and the 1924 catalogue(looks like Crayford-North Kent was the sporting weapons manufacturing facilities), and considering the Crayford facility was closed in the late 1920s, if only for a time, this might date the longarm between 1921 and say 1927?? That is if Crayford was the only facility churning out sporting guns or if stooped to sourcing weapons with their name roll stamped on them.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
ok, that fills in some of the gaps, thanks!. i had thought it was a little older than 1920's because of the nitro proof stampings. but i guess the 2 3/4 chambers mske it newer.
Very nice knockabout; I LIKE the restrained engraving--just enough for a hunting gun.
You will find cylinder bores work very well for most purposes. Shot size and/or hardness choices can somewhat replace chokes, as long as you aren't "sky scraping."
And the barrels are still long enough to swing through nicely. Many cut-off guns aren't very useful not because of the loss of choke, but because of the loss of proper dynamics/balance.
Another note is that if a longarm has "Vicker's Limited(Ltd.)", or some variant, it will date between the period of 1911 and 1927 when Vicker's absorbed Armstrong-Mitchell, who had previously merged with Sir Joseph Whitworth in 1897); hence, Vickers-Armstrongs.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
i dont know if this shotgun by vickers is the same maker. on gunbroker under sxs double barrel shotgun #235084766 there is a sidelocked vickers.
Yeah that side lock was the only non machine gun I got in my first image search.
FWIW, I have a rebarreled Parker PH, with a Vickers labeled barrel. Any connection? Randy
One in the same. Vicker's also had a 1931 catalogue and possibly a new name is stamped on the 1931 offering:
http://www.cornellpubs.com/old-guns/item_desc.php?item_id=770Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
OT
my mum n dad met at the vickers plant, in Erith or Crayford, Kent during WW11..I think it was Erith.
Does "Seven Oaks" ring a bell ,not in a gun sense.
Big Hop , as in Beer Hops region , if I recall.
I would love to have a gun marked Vickers,for.. well , just for a reminder of my roots....carry on ..those who know
sorry for the memory lane post
franc.
Randy: Atlas Arms in Chicago offered replacement barrels for Smith and Parker guns in the 50s and 60s using tubes made by Vickers (England) and fit and finished by Armaf in Belgium.
I think Franchi offered Vicker's steel on their autos and doubles.
Nice story Franc Otte.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
I've recently read about a scandal with Vickers and a Dutch order for some revolvers, which happened about 1919. The author claims that Vickers "unexplicably" outsourced the order, and the quality of the revolvers supplied was so awful, that many wouldn't even fire. Admittedly, this story has little to do with shotgun making, but it makes me wonder whether the gun in question was made in-house or oursourced?
I wouldn't doubt it a bit that after 1927, or when the Crayford-North Kent facility was downsized or closed, that they outsourced or subed the work. And it is possible even before then. Being somewhat devoid of maker's marks either they performed the tasks inhouse or subed the work to an "in the white state", or later in the process, and then worked off, or hid, the marks in the finishing. Liability/risk management and profit margins are the name of the game.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
They even made Luger pistols for the Dutch government.
