Does anyone know how prolific Bentley & Playfair of Birmingham was in producing guns? Were they on a similar scale as W & C Scott?
The reason I am interested in Bentley & Playfair is because my shotgun which is a Clabrough & Johnstone (circa 1925) was apparently made at the same premises according to Larry Shelton in his book, J.P. Clabrough Birmingham Gunmaker. In 1914, Douglas V. Johnstone who had purchased the JP Clabrough company in 1892, amalgamated with Hollis, Bentley & Playfair and from that date shared the same premises and workmen in Birmingham.
In correspondence with Larry, I had told him that my Clabrough & Johnstone shotgun had a very high serial # 102xxx; to which he was astonished because throughout his years of tabulation, he said he had never found a serial number over 20,000. He thought my serial number may have come from the retailer possibly the Hudson Bay Company in Canada. Well a little over a year ago Larry Shelton contacted me again and stated that he had found another Clabrough & Johnstone shotgun for sale in England with a serial # 102,258, made circa 1925/1930. So this indicated to me that my serial # wasnt likely unique to the Hudson Bay Company.
My theory is that possibly when Clabrough & Johnstone amalgamated their works with Hollis, Bentley & Playfair in 1914, that they started using their serial numbers also. The problem being I cant find a list of serial numbers relating to Bentley & Playfair. They were established early in 1840 about the same time as W & C Scott, and to my understanding made alot of guns. In 1914, W & C Scott had serial #s into the 91,000s, and by 1924 they were using serial #s into the 105,000s.
Anyone have knowledge about Bentley & Playfair's production?
Thanks.
Tim
