To all fellow vintage British shotgun enthusiasts,
Fantastic gun forums you have in the States. Nothing as good in the UK. I'd like to introduce myself briefly. I am directly descended from the London actioner and outworker E. C. Hodges who is probably best known for licencing his 1871 treble grip patent to Stephen Grant, and I am writing to enlist your help with my gunmaking research.
In the process of researching a book on E.C. Hodges and the other nine gunmakers in the family I am attempting to record all the details of the surviving Hodges-worked guns by English makers, Boss, Purdey, Lancaster, Grant, Army and Navy, Woodward, Lang and Atkin etc.
I have no doubt that many of your members will have guns by these makers and I would be extremely grateful if anyone could send me any relevant gun details through my website,
Hodges Gunmakers to build up a more complete picture of the full range of makers my family worked for. There are also so far only seven recorded examples of Hodges own-make guns which I'm extremely keen to improve on.
My website gives lots of information on my family and how best to identify Hodges worked guns as well as all EC Hodges' patents, and also allows gun details to be sent to me easily if desired.
I hope my project will be of interest and look forward to any comments on my project or site.
Best wishes,
Robert Hodges
Cambridge UK
