The T&T Woodward patent of 1876 was known for a time as the 'Acme' and was retailled by a number of makers other than T. Woodward. I have seen them by Adams and others.
They are generally not finished as 'best' guns, rather as third or fourth quality guns and they generally do not make very high prices in the UK. You occasionally see a better quality example but I think it was conceived as a lower-priced gun as it is quite easy to manfacture and assemble the parts.
A decent example for £200 plus commission at Holts a couple of years ago comes to mind. I sold one by T. Woodward built on his modified coil-spring patent of 1884 for £400 last year. This may well have been a prototype. There are photos of it dismantled in my book.
The original patent is quite confusing as father and son were both called Thomas Woodward.
However, it is believed the son moved to London to manage the H&H factory. You can see a photo of him on the factory floor in the H&H book by 'the Donald'.
Smallbore,
I just received my T. Woodward 10 bore. The first thing that comes to mind when you have this gun in your hands...is high quality. Everything about the gun is very nice. Along with the very nicely fitted heel and toe clips, it even has a compartment in the buttstock that holds 2 extra fire blued strikers and a set of coil springs. I have not had the locks off of the gun yet. The other thing I like about this gun is the shape of the action, it is rounded and feels very trim and petite for a 10 bore...it is very well balanced as well...it feels more like a medium weight 12 bore fowler than a 10 bore bruiser.
Why was this gun not more popular? The shape of the action combined with its (as you say) simplicity to manufacture, its obvious robustness, etc. I would think the gun would have more appeal.
Dustin
