doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Info wanted on WW Greener 10 gauge double barrel

I have a WW Greener double barrel 10 gauge shotgun that I received as a gift recently. I do not know very much about this gun, and I would like to learn more. The previous owner of this gun passed away in recent years, at the age of 90. His family knew that he had received this gun from another man many years ago. The gun appears to be in very good condition. The stock and forearm have very nice wood, with nice grain (almost like a walnut swirl grain)etc. The wood has a lot of checkering, on the forearm piece, and around the grip area on the stock. The gun has external hammers. There is a lot of fine engraving in the metal on this gun-- around and on the hammers, the trigger guard, the metal release lever under the forearm, and all around the receiver. The barrels appear to be in very good condition. They are very shiny with very slight pitting. The action of this gun appears to be very tight, and it open and closes very well. The hammers seem to work very smooth. There is a gold colored, oval shaped piece of metal on the bottom side of the stock, about 2/3 of the way back from the trigger guard. This metal piece has a slight indentation in the middle of it. I have not shot the gun, but mechanically it appears that it would be ready to shoot.
The gun has Damascus barrels. Information on the gun:
(1) There is some printing down the rib between the barrels-
(a) There is an oval-like circle with no.3084 and Wedge Fast
printed inside this oval.
(b) Also down the center rib is printed in the metal, WW
Greener St. Marys Works, Birmingham Winner at the London
Gun Trials 1875
(2) On the bottom of the barrels, under the forearm is stamped
12 B over the number 13 M, a few other symbols and Not
for Ball
(3) On the stock portion of this shotgun, on the bottom plate
in front of the firing pin area is stamped 16894
(4) On the metal plate behind the trigger guard is stamped
16894
(5) Under the forearm the metal is stamped 16894
I am curious as if the age of this gun is 1875, like it is
printed down the top rib. Also, does anyone have an idea of what the value of a gun like this may be?? I would appreciate any information that anyone can provide on this. Thank you.

Reason for edit was that I had a spelling error.

1876....according to the numbers in The Greener Story Book....you should send all info you can including pictures by email to Graham Greener who is great on giving you the history of the gun , including who did the engraving and other information. If the gun was ordered here in the US though Abercrombie and Fitch Bob Beach of Griffin & Howe might have further history . The Griffin and Howe web site provides a prompt to let you know , by make and serial number , if they have the info....during that period Henry Squires was a Greener importer out of NY....but Webley bought the Company in 1965 and repurchased by Greener in 1985.... Greener should have original info on the Gun, thereafter unless A&F has something your trail may stop.

Are you positive this gun is a 10 gauge? That 12b over 13m sounds more like a 12 gauge. This actually means it has a 12 gauge size bore (12b) ,which is choked down to a 13 gauge size at the muzzle (13m)

As stated by others you have a12G gun bearing proof marks in use between 1875&1887.The gun was made/shipped in 1876.
The 3084 # relates to a patent issued in 1873 covering Greener,s famous cross bolt action.
On the tang of the trigger guard there may be some letters or combination of letters and numbers that may give a clue as to the original grade and price of the gun.

Mr. Hebbes I have a question for you unrelated to this thread but concerning Greener guns. If you have a chance please PM me or E-mail me. Thanks!

Thanks for all of your help so far. After 2-pipers comment above,I did drop a 12 gauge shell into the barrels of the gun. The shell seems somewhat loose in the barrel, but it seems to seat into the groove cut into the top of the barrel, which holds the base of the brass. I will have to check into this further. A friend and I thought it may be a 10 gauge, due to the very heavy, thick metal in the back of the barrels etc.
Mr. Hebbes, I did check the trigger guard. There is a lot of very fine engraving on the outside of the trigger guard, from the front to the back. The number 16894 is engraved on the outside of the trigger guard, toward the back of the trigger guard - behind the screw which holds the trigger guard to the stock. I am not sure where the "tang" of the trigger guard is? Is the tang on the outside of the trigger guard??
I did see a short video, of a double barrel 10 gauge on the WW Greener website a few days ago. Someone was doing research on a 10 ga. gun for a client, and they had a you tube video on it. The gun in that video looked very similar to mine, and was about the same age. That gun was a 10 gauge, but it sounds like mine might be a 12 gauge. In this video, the guy doing the research gave some rough estimates of value for a 10 gauge gun. Just curious,is a 10 gauge gun more valuable than a 12 gauge gun?? Thanks again for all of your comments and help.

Post some pics....

There's nothing I like better than putting a value on a new found treasure.

Hello Coyote 1949, You will need an all metal, 100 % metal, empty 12 gauge shotgun shell from the 1890s or early 1900s to use to check your chamber. The dimensions of the all metal shotgun case that your gun was designed to use are slightly different then the dimensions of a modern 12 gauge shotgun. The length of the chamber of your W W Greener will also be very very different from what our modern 12 gauge shotgun chambers are. Good Shooting To You, Jent......As others have told you here, you have a 12 gauge shotgun according to the barrel marks that you have reported and posted here.

A modern 12 ga. shell will work fine if it's a 12 gauge.