March
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online Now
5 members (SKB, Jeremy Pearce, Dave K, Borderbill, battle), 777 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums10
Topics38,374
Posts544,009
Members14,391
Most Online1,131
Jan 21st, 2024
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#174851 01/18/10 02:24 PM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,815
Likes: 4
Sidelock
**
OP Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,815
Likes: 4
I have acquired a very nice (I believe about Unfired) hammer double marked Fred Williams and IXL#9 on the locks and Laminated Steel on the bbls.Birmingham black powder proofs. The bbls are cyl and cyl. I have not seen a Fred Williams before. Any comments?




Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,260
Likes: 510
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,260
Likes: 510
Leighton,
I've seen several BLE and BLNE from Fred Williams. They all seemed to be the made to the typical Brummy standard, which of course isnt a bad thing at all. I can't recall seeing a "high" grade gun by this maker. I almost bought a heavy BLNE from Thad Scott, it was a medium grade gun (based on engraving) but it had pitted barrels so I sent it back. Your hammergun looks like a nice waterfowling piece. I really like the buttplate, kinda tells you exactly what you need to be using that old gun for.

Use it in good health.

Dustin

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,598
Sidelock
***
Offline
Sidelock
***

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,598
I found 2. There may be more.

1
Established in 1873 at 47 1/2 Whittall Street, he moved in about 1877 to 34 Bath Street. In the early 1880s the address was 33-34 Bath Street, and in about 1886 it was 34 Bath Street only. The firm appears to have closed in about 1886.

2
Frederick William Williams established his business in 1881 at 49-50 Weaman Street, Birmingham. Between 1886 and 1890 he moved to 32-33 Weaman Street, which became known as the Birmingham Gun Works.
Between about 1913 and 1917 the name of the firm changed to Frederick Williams, and in about 1937 to Frederick Williams (Gunmakers) Ltd. Prior to adopting limited liability, the firm claimed a London address, possibly Frederick Williams of 3 Broad Street Station, Liverpool Street.

The firm closed in 1947.

Pete

Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,815
Likes: 4
Sidelock
**
OP Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,815
Likes: 4
This is probably the Number 1 reference. It appears to have been made in the early 80's.It has one locking lug instead of two and
cylinder bore may denote early also. Thanks for the info.

Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,164
Likes: 11
Sidelock
****
Offline
Sidelock
****

Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,164
Likes: 11
Over the years I have owned several guns engraved, Fredrick Williams, they were as follows:
#5552 a 12 G boxlock,Engraved on the rib, Fredr,k Williams, Weaman Street, Birmingham.Both barrels cylinder.
#115919 a 12g Bar action Hammer,with Greener cross bolt. Cylinder and f/choke barrels.[Made after 1887]. Engraved on the rib; Fredrick Williams London and Birmingham, England.
#114153 a 12G ,B.L.N.E. Steel barrels by B.S.A.Profuse Engraving. Regret address not recorded.
The booklet"The gun trade of Birmingham"'published by the Birmingham City Museum, page 21 shows the,"F.Williams Gun Works,Weaman Street,printed from an old advertisement block.The picture depicts;A three storey factory with"F.Williams",in a mantel over the front entrance and on a plaque at the the building roof line ,"American Gun and Cycle Works".This building was still standing in Weaman Street in the 1960,s.[Adjacent to Webley and Scott]
The gun illustrated in this post is typical of the F.Williams guns that I have seen.Clearly Mr Williams was proud to announce that he was using the latest machinery to make guns and cycles; likely with the objective of reducing cost. This combination suggests that the date of this illustration was circa 1895.[ie; Fred Greener was in the cycle business at this time].


Roy Hebbes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 15,456
Likes: 86
Sidelock
*
Offline
Sidelock
*

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 15,456
Likes: 86
Looks like more common twist barrels ?

Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 184
Sidelock
****
Offline
Sidelock
****

Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 184
There was a group hosting a Fred Williams Appreciators shoot advertised on this site not too long ago:

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...true#Post137549

I've come accros several over the years, this one is curently one of my regular shooters.






Joined: May 2008
Posts: 68
Likes: 7
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: May 2008
Posts: 68
Likes: 7

Frederick Williams was an English maker of premium quality side-by-side shotguns with premises in Birmingham and London from 1884 to 1950. In 2008 a cadre of Frederick Williams aficionados has formed in the interest of studying and preserving these outstanding sporting arms. Some of the uninitiated have referred to this maker as Fred K. Williams. This is a misunderstanding based on the fact that some Williams shotguns are marked Fred'k Williams (note the apostrophe). "Fred'k" was, and is, an accepted abbreviation for Frederick. Mr. William's actual middle initial is reported to have been "W."

Some of the finest guns made by Frederick Williams were marketed under the names of prominent London firms. He was a respected source of guns for the trade. Williams made both boxlock and sidelock shotguns, as well as hammerguns. Every Frederick Williams gun which I have seen was of fine quality. I personally own one of the Williams firm's last shotguns proofed at Birmingham in 1950.

J.K.B. von Falkenhorst

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 419
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 419
Mark your gun looks a lot like a Thomas wild Austral

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 15,456
Likes: 86
Sidelock
*
Offline
Sidelock
*

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 15,456
Likes: 86
Could you post a pic of your Premium gun ?

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Link Copied to Clipboard

doublegunshop.com home | Welcome | Sponsors & Advertisers | DoubleGun Rack | Doublegun Book Rack

Order or request info | Other Useful Information

Updated every minute of everyday!


Copyright (c) 1993 - 2024 doublegunshop.com. All rights reserved. doublegunshop.com - Bloomfield, NY 14469. USA These materials are provided by doublegunshop.com as a service to its customers and may be used for informational purposes only. doublegunshop.com assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in these materials. THESE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT-ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. doublegunshop.com further does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials. doublegunshop.com shall not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including without limitation, lost revenues or lost profits, which may result from the use of these materials. doublegunshop.com may make changes to these materials, or to the products described therein, at any time without notice. doublegunshop.com makes no commitment to update the information contained herein. This is a public un-moderated forum participate at your own risk.

Note: The posting of Copyrighted material on this forum is prohibited without prior written consent of the Copyright holder. For specifics on Copyright Law and restrictions refer to: http://www.copyright.gov/laws/ - doublegunshop.com will not monitor nor will they be held liable for copyright violations presented on the BBS which is an open and un-moderated public forum.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.0.33-0+deb9u11+hw1 Page Time: 0.109s Queries: 35 (0.072s) Memory: 0.8484 MB (Peak: 1.8988 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2024-03-28 20:18:52 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS