Not necessarily as William Powell probably used an out worker in the trade to do the engraving.
Once an engraver makes a mistake it is very difficult to reverse successfully.
I have seen a modern hand built muzzleloader with “Michael” spelt “Micheal” and said nothing in case the owner and builder had never noticed.
Well, we supposed.
Standing around taking pictures of them, I recalled that Westley Richards was doing a bunch of sleeving and barrel work in the 1950s, or so I read somewhere, back in the day. That was my lone guess, but, my knowledge of the markings on the flats of English guns is limited to the pertinent information of what ammunition they can eat, mostly. Some guns have little marks that identify where the barrels were produced, but, I didn’t see much that would help with identifying that.
I didn’t get pictures of the entire gun, and the owner may not have wanted to see it here, but, it is a hell of a looker. I’m guessing it hasn’t seen much use since the new barrels went on in the 1950s. I looked hard at the gun, but, didn’t see any red flags for refinish work, and I would guess it was used and cared for by people who knew what they were doing.
Best,
Ted
