doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Williams & Powell

Just picked up a Williams & Powell nicely engraved double, but need to find a few parts for the stanton locks can you point me in the direction of any new manufacturers repopping any of these parts? Stanton B 162062

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you'll not find any place in the world making suitable off-the-shelf parts for these locks. They were basically hand made with incredible precision and parts were never interchangable. Proper lockwork will be quite expensive but if it's a nice gun it may be worth it. There are several qualified gunsmiths but in my limited contact list I'd suggest Abe Chaber or Pete Mazur.

Joe where did you find most of your info on Williams and Powell I wanted to do a little research on the gun, The stock is not like any Ive seen, except on other brand trap guns. Still original Old premier english walnut with the pistol grip feature... I did a archive search on this site and pulled up all the info you guys had talked about before, but is there any sites dedicated to the guns?

This person holds the name to Williams & Powell and can still make guns to that name. http://www.wrichardsguns.co.uk/index.shtml I don't know how complete his records are but may be worth contacting for details. As above, Stanton locks were all hand made. I had a similar problem with a right hand Stanton lock recently which needed a replacement main spring and sear spring. My Gunsmith here in England is one of the old school and has a large store of old parts 'just in case' and I was lucky enough that he had some that would fit and work o.k. If you can find a similar old timer then maybe you could be in luck. Lagopus.....

Northup87, I have very little information on W&P. I did get some from the Internet Gun Club's historical database. It won't do any good to contact W. Richards, who owns the W&P name--all records were destroyed in WW2, courtesy the Luftwaffe.

Thanks Joe. I know he has got the W.Richards records but was unsure about the W & P ones. Hitler's boys seem to have wrecked a lot of old Gunmaker's records one way or another. Liverpool, the home of Williams & Powell was a favorite target. Lagopus.....

Northup, Lagopus and anyone else interested.
You may contact myself with a pm about locks. I can still get anything made for Wolverhampton locks by Mark Wallin of York & Wallin.York & Wallin is a dedicated lockmaker founded by Mark's late father Bob who worked and learned is trade at Stanton's, Braziers and finally Chiltons. They still make the locks for 'proper' Purdeys for Purdey ( not the Italian Purdeys).His work is not unreasonably priced, in fact we recently made a part for an English gun for an American collector who had been quoted a price seven times what Mark made it for, using the original jigs and fixtures for the original gunmaker. York & Wallin is a time capsule. I just love manufacturing intricate parts using those old 'Brummie' tools.

Salopian, that information is useful. Someone from the States contacted me via another site telling me of the price quoted by Purdey's for the replacement of two springs. The price quoted would buy a pretty good sidelock ejector here. I had to tell him that was just Purdey pricing and that they would send the job to someone in Brum and then load the extra. Does Mark Wallin have a web site or e-mail address I can pass on to him? Thanks. By the way, I showed that Murcott to Graham Greener and his workman. They think that the cocking method may have been the inspiration behind the Facile Princeps action. He is going to feature it in his next book. Lagopus.....

I have been in contact with Kevin Blackley of Blackley and sons for three days now, and came up with this for replacement triggers on the Williams and Powell.. If my eye serves me right Joe Woods. I think these are a real good match to your Williams and Powell posted a while back...

Lagapus,
Mark is slowly moving into the 19th Century.Pity we are in the 21st.I will gladly help anyone out using my contact details at no charge (really).