doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com J. Blanch & Son Wilfowling gun

So since I work 4 10 hour days I get 3 day weekends which means I get my Friday's to myself. While I was enjoying my day off I went and did my rounds at the local gun shops. I found this little number I couldn't live with out. It's a J. Blanch & Son wild fowling gun. The engraving is beautiful and my photos don't do it justice. 12ga box lock with ejectors, 32" barrels with 3" chambers best part is its magnum nitro proofed. Weighs in at a hearty 9lbs 1oz. I'm not a fan of the poorly fit recoil pad so that'll get changed to a leather one at some point, but the gun is beautiful. It has the 29 Gracechurch Street London address on the barrel. I'm trying to date the gun. Serial number is 67xx if anyone can help with that. I'm guessing it's somewhere in the 1905-1925 range.

great find-

I can see why you could not leave it behind

Lots of juicy info on the J. Blanch & Son data base site:
http://www.jblanchdatabase.co.uk/page1.htm

I was looking at the website my gun is actually already pictured in the box lock section

That is a beautiful gun. Would love to shoot it.
Jeff

What a lovely old thumper of a gun! It even has the instructions (ducks) engraved on it!

Kwmpa, I don't have access to my approximate (very!) dating matrix right now but I'll have a look soon and tell you if I can offer any dating help. My guess is that it's about 1910 but I may be way out.
The 67** number range is often bad news as the owner at one time, a Frederick Woods, antique dealer and shooting enthusiast, imported a lot of Spanish barrelled actions (mainly sidelocks) in the white and had them finished (not particularly well) in the UK.
However, this looks like a standard wildfowling Birmingham boxlock albeit with nice, appropriate engraving. You didn't show the top lever but I would expect the simplified screw grip if not the full blown version.
If the latter, it most likely originated at Webley & Scott, if the former, it could have come out of any of the dozens of Birmingham gunmaker to the trade.

Was it typical for the floor plate to be blacked, with the rest of the receiver coin, Toby? It is very attractive that way, IMO.

SRH

A very nice gun indeed. Do be cautious of the proof marks as English 3" magnum proof does not equate to American 3" cartridges. Original English marks may say 1 1/2 oz. or later 3 1/2 tons per sq. in. These are really only now safe with 2 3/4 inch magnum cartridges. If re-proofed at 4 tons per sq. in. then it is o.k. but only with European 3" ammo. I may be telling something you already know and if so I apologise.

The engraving looks like widgeon on the right and mallard on the left. It looks like some I have seen on W.C.Scott guns depicting wildfowl and are possibly the work of the same engraver. A proper wildfowl gun and again, very nice. Lagopus.....

As said above about the proof!

Lovely gun, a very usable heavyweight there