Incredible! I have almost the same gun, #56,464 which is a number 2 of supposedly a matched pair, however it has some very minor and sparse line engraving, with "Midland Gun Co."in a banner, which was not very extensive. The gun has a hidden third fastener without a slot in the action top, but a recess for the fastener below the top of the action, which I could not make out on the guns shown on Old Farmers catalog. However, interestingly this gun has a gold initial oval engraved with a rampant Lion which appears it was reserved for sitting Scots royalty. Same proofs 13/1, 30" barrels, bored .44 left and .07 right. Only a frugal scotsman, and a royal to boot, would have a matched pair of Birmingham box locks. A knowledgeable friend has told me that there are more #2 guns made than #1 guns, so that a shooter could appear at the grouse butts and tell the shoot master that his #1 gun was in the shop so he could only shoot his #2 gun and therefore would not require (or pay for) a loader. When I bought the gun a few years back, the seller referred to it as a "Harding" with a build date of 1938. As the seller had bought the gun at auction I assume that this was "puff" from the auctioneer. I had a problem with the triggers as they were tightly radius-ed "C" shapes and hurt my fingers especially when I fired the rear barrel. I had a smith heat and bend the triggers into a more user friendly and traditional shape. Please tell us more about these Midland guns. Thank you, Mike Cross
