doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com W.C. Scott

Are this maker's pieces of good quality? How do they fit into the hierarchy? What connection, if any do they have to Webley and Scott? Thanks.

Gerald, W.C.Scott made guns of all quality. They also made guns for a lot of highend makers, such as Holland, Purdey and so on. A large percentage of Army & Navy and I think Rodda guns were made by Scott. I do not remember the date, I am at work now, but they combined with Webley in the company's later years and became Webley and Scott. Most W.C. Scott guns that I have seen have been from good to best guns.

hierarchy...Poor mans Purdy.

W.C. Scott built lots of guns in lots of grades to serve lots of purposes. 1860 to about 1890 seems to be the nicer guns. I've got several all show lots of use with light abuse. Most you come across will lock up tighter than a bank vault. I've only handled a couple that didn't and they had issues caused by neglect and abuse.
Lack of cleaning over the years is the down fall of most of them.
If want a good working mans gun W.C.Scotts fit the bill...if you want to join the 'Hierarchy' and sit next to the King you better get a Purdy.
L.F.

Though I think the Scott Imperial SLE might have been at lest the same price of a Purdey.....I remember Jack "La Becasse" Dudley mentioning that fact on a Premier he had from around 1900...& they seem to have wonderfull engraving, loads of birds as well as lovely scroll...very tastey to my eyes.
I miss Jack & his Gunlist
I would kill for a good condition Premier:)
Cheers
Franc

Franc I came in second, (i.e. last) bidding on a 10ga premier at Greg Martins auction a couple of weeks ago. It looked like a very nice gun indeed.

I'll answer your questions as asked and then add a few comments. Scott made a wide range of Original Quality grade guns. The guns fit into the hierarchy appropriately for grade and the Scott name is of Brand Value level three. I believe Webley bought Scott in the early 1890's.

Now, some commentary. Brit gunmaking companies were usually headed by a master maker or, at least, the shop was. "Master" is strong evidence that they could make a "best" Original Quality grade gun. The trick was attracting commissions to make such guns. Remember, most "best" OQ grade guns were "bespoke" - very few would have been "bought off the peg." Since "best" gun commissions weren't easy to come by, almost all made lines of lower grade guns. But, even the lowest grade of Brit gun is still of sound construction. There was no Brit OQ grade equivalent to the "JABC" guns from Belgium (never forget, though, that many "best" grade guns were also made in Belgium!!).

Hopefully, you can now see that the maker's name on the gun is not an adequate indicator of the Original Quality grade of that individual gun. The maker's name does, for sure, impact price by virtue of Brand Value. Scott is a Brand Value three maker's name. For guns of equal Original Quality grade and equal Current Condition level, BV3 will price at half of a BV1 and 2/3 of a BV2.

Scott was indeed a very prolific maker. I have a pair of Army & Navy guns from 1933, made by Scott. If you're looking for a newer Brit double that's a pretty fair workhorse hunting gun, but still with game gun characteristics, the Scott 700 is a good choice. Not all that expensive either, especially in 12ga.

Franc, Jack Dudley is back in the gun business, running the Gun Library for Cabela's at their new Boise store.

Scott sold some 'live-pigeon' guns at the turn of the century that were considerably more expensive then the cost of a best Purdey or Holland, from memory; £120 as opposed to just under £100.

Have alook at Holt's on-line catalogue for a W& C Scott 16-bore live pigeon gun of this grade:

A VERY FINE W. & C. SCOTT 16-BORE 'THE VICTORIA' (2 3/4IN) TOPLEVER HAMMER PIGEON GUN, serial no. 74323, 30in. nitro 'W.S.' steel barrels with broad, raised matt rib, gold-inlaid at the breech-end with gold scrollwork, tubes engraved ''W. & C. SCOTT & SON. THE VICTORIA' and '78 SHAFTESBURY AVENUE. LONDON.', crossbolt extension with scroll engraving and marked 'SCOTT'S IMPROVED BOLT', 2 3/4in. chambers, bored approx. full choke in both, treble-grip action with side-clips, carved percussion fences with broad strikers, rebounding sidelocks, the whole profusely engraved with fine scrollwork, surrounding vignettes of pointers, retrievers and a variety of game birds and wildfowl, retaining traces of original colour-hardening, 14 3/8in. highly-figured pistolgrip stock including 1 1/8in. leather-covered recoil pad, sling swivels, weight 7lb. 3oz.
Estimate £2,500-3,000


It is arguably the case that Scott's best output at this time was the best that any English maker was producing, subtleties of taste notwithstanding. It certainly stands equal to any best London gun.

[quote=Small Bore]It is arguably the case that Scott's best output at this time was the best that any English maker was producing, subtleties of taste notwithstanding. It certainly stands equal to any best London gun.

Within this statement lies the possibility to shoot "best" grade guns (OQ1) for half price. The trick is that one must learn to identify the Original Quality grade (OQ) of individual guns as opposed to trying to assign quality based on maker's name. But, don't imagine that having identified a BV2 or BV3 gun of OQ1 you can get BV1 priceing for it.

W. and C. Scott merged with Webley on October 21, 1897.
Regards, Gordon