doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 11 ga W. Morse & Co. SxS

Seeing the Webley & Scott post prompts me to update this thread and seek more input on my two remaining questions concerning this family heirloom 11ga SxS.

First, who was W. Morse & Co.? My working assumption is that it was an American importer who then retailed British made guns under their W. Morse brand name. So far, I have found other guns branded with this name but nothing regarding who W. Morse & Co. was.

The second question is who built these guns for them and here I may have a lead that I�d appreciate more help from the DG fraternity on.

In DGJ Vol 14:2 is an article by Sherman Bell (p. 18f) on W. & C. Scott Co. of Birmingham (formed about 1835 and merged in 1897 with P. Webley & Son to form Webley & Scott). Quotes in the article relative to the period of my gun have piqued my interest.
�...Scott aggressively marketed his guns outside of Great Britain. Between 1860 and 1886 he made many trips to America to visit firearms dealers to promote Scott guns and organize a network of importers.�
�...there are probably more Scott guns in this country than those from most other British makers.�
�...the Scott company would make a gun to a price...�. �The ever practical Americans bought these plain, but very good guns by the thousands.�
�...Scott made many guns for other makers.�

The first Scott gun (from 1862 or later) that Bell features �...is a plain grade, percussion 14-gauge with no serial number.� He later mentions that �...the majority of percussion guns were not assigned serial numbers.� My gun, which bears Birmingham proof marks that came into usage in 1868 and does not have a serial number, has many similarities to this gun.

I would be grateful to any here who know W. & C. Scott guns and/or have a copy of �The History of W. & C. Scott Gunmakers� by Crawford & Whatley and could tell me whether, or to what degree, you think my gun may be a Scott made gun.

Thanks for your help.

There was the US hardware firm of Fairbanks-Morse, but the partner was C. Morse.......

Thanks, DmC. I, too, looked down that street. It was a dead end but I�ll keep looking.

As to maker, it seems I may have a solid lead. Because of it�s strong similarities to Scott guns I�m hopeful that a knowledgeable Scott fan, particularly of their guns during the Scott & Son era (1862-1897) when �America was Scott�s primary market...� will be able to provide some definitive help.

Having come to the end of the year and the end of my efforts to confirm the W & C Scott and Son origin of this legacy double, I've pulled the locks and am sharing pictures with the hope that someone here can confirm if they are indeed Scott locks. Sherman Bell mentions in his DGJ 14:2 article on W & C Scott and Son guns that he pulled and examined a lock on the 14ga percussion double that very nearly mirrors mine but unfortunately he does not include a picture of the internals. The size, shape, pin positions and engraving layout on mine are identical to his which is built after 1862 when the name W. & C. Scott & Son came into being and is engraved in the same manner and location as W Morse & Co is on mine which bears 1868 proof marks.






Would anyone with knowledge of this era design or a similar gun for comparison be able to confirm if this is a Scott lock?

Thanks again to all of you for your interest and help.

During the holidays I corresponded with some of our members across the pond regarding W. & C. Scott & Son and while none were able to help with these specific locks, amazingly, one of them had a personal copy of the Crawford & Whatley book. He was nice enough to look through it but unfortunately his report back was that there was next to nothing in it on the percussion era Scott doubles. So I believe I'll start a new thread with just the pictures of the locks with the hope that someone might have a Scott double from this period (1860's through 1875) who could compare theirs with mine.