Hi Imperdix
While I have spent a few days in the Cambridge University Library going through the Vickers and Vickers Armstrong Company Archive, i found nothing that even mentioned their distribution set-up. Nor did I find any sales registers or shipping ledgers for sporting guns & rifles. I think they are long gone unfortunately.
In reality it was really the .22 martini target rifles that were the main seller for Vickers from the early 1920's to 1940. They certainly gave BSA and its Martini target rifles some real competition.
Vickers did have a showroom within Vickers House in Broadway in Central London. However this was to showcase all there many different products. I expect they would have had a case or display of their shotguns and rifles but doubt they would have sold to anyone walking in off the street.On my last UK visit I walked the length of Broadway but the building must have been demolished at some time and a newer building erected.
They advertised in magazines like The Field and no-doubt gun shops that wanted to order from them would write for the various catalogues that Vickers produced which had retail pricing only. In view of the vary modest sales of their boxlock and side lock shotguns, I don't think they had a full time rep on the road. The only shotgun they sold in quantity was the Vickers Vanguard single barrel, which competed with the Webley & Scott single barrel gun. Sales of the Vickers Vanguard bearing in mind Vickers seemed to start serialization at 1001, seems to have been about 6,000 guns looking at various gunmaker ledgers over the years where sales are recorded in 1940/41 period for this gun, when production finished. So 6,000 units in around 20 years is OK but we are not exactly setting the world on fire. I would love to see an estimate for the Webley & Scott single barrel from 1920 to 1940.
My next task is to try and find someone who really knows their 20th century British boxlock shotguns like the back of their hand, so I can forward photos and try to work out who in the trade made what for Vickers.
I am pretty sure Baker made the sidelocks with his patent using a coil spring, not sure about the more traditional sidelock they also sold. The boxlocks follow two made serial number ranges but with different patterns of gun within these, very confusing. I am certain Vickers made the single barrel Vanguard as it was designed to be manufactured by machine. Although the checkering was hand done and Vickers even did away with this in latter production, using stamped of pressed-in checkering which looks cheap. I expect they were trying to save a few bob.
Regards
Alan David
Sydney