doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com W. Richards Marked Shotgun, trying to identify age

i also have a sxs belgium made hammer gun marked A RICHARD [no s]it appears to be of decent quality the butt plate and grip cap
are buffalo horn all screws are timed the engraving is fine and well done on the side plates of dogs in the field at point the trigger guard is eng. with a pheasant in the field the bottom of the receiver is finely scroll engraved. the gun is belgium proofed also the stocks are of extreme nice burled english walnut. the top barrel rib is marked fine damascus belgium. not being an expert on what makes a fine gun a fine gun this one appears to be of very fine quality. the greener crossbolt is also eng. the hammers are also finely engraved. i bought the gun years ago because it appeared to be of high quality. any info. would be appreciated.

My little 16 has a horn plate on the butt as well, but she was made in Preston, not Belgium. Nigel Brown's three volume series on British Gunmakers makes the identification and dating of these W. Richards guns fairly simple. While there are certainly many decent Belgian guns out there, I'm not aware of how one goes about identifying much about them. As I tend to buy fit and quality, and not necessarily the "name", I'm not the guy to ask. Use it and enjoy it, as I do. Make the days count.