doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com London made barrels, Birmingham proofs?

Do these barrels appear wonky to anyone else ??
Note: NOT sleeved.
Best regards,
JBP

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Not an expert but, reproofed to 2 3/4? And done in Birmingham? I remember some gunsmiths were getting barrels re-proofed in Birmingham because London was doing the re-proofing to strong and blowing up the barrels.

Those barrels do not appear to have any issues. I can see from your first photo that they are Birmingham dovetail lump barrels, not London made chopper lump barrels and since they are have Williams Evans engraved upon them were likely made by Scott as most of Evans guns were made by them.

Maybe rebored or maybe had the chambers opened. Those are the normal 1-1/4 oz proofs I believe. Maybe they are simply the original proofs.

I am not sure as to the concern. You can submit a gun to any proof house you want. My understanding was that B'ham was cheaper. The gun could have been remarketed and originally proofed in B'ham.

My guess is that it is a Birmingham gun bought in the white and finished at Evan Williams. I have a similar H&H. H&H bought in guns to finish; guns to regulate/adjust/finish; and built in house. All were marked differently. Evans, as I understand it, was not a gun builder or mechanic ran the front counter for Purdey and H&H. I don't believe he actually built guns but purchased the finest available guns and had them finished by outsourced providers of services.

As an addendum,
the gun has no other manufacturer name indications, other than those appearing on top of the barrels.
Every WE gun I have seen, has his name engraved on the sides of the receiver in some manner, and usually on the bottom with the “ William Evans from Purdey” moniker.
Is this a Birmingham un named “ trade” built gun with WE made dovetail lump barrels attached?

I cannot answer all your addendum questions, but not having Williams Evans engraved upon the side plates of the action is questionable. Is this a boxlock gun or a side lock gun? The barrels were proofed in the 1904-1925 time frame. However, I can say with nearly complete certainty that they are not WE made dovetail lump barrels because Williams Evans is not not known to have ever made any barrels.

While we are talking about barrels made by Birmingham barrel makers, both chopper lump and dove tail lump were made in Birmingham.

That’s what led to my “ wonky” conclusion…
Odd duck- in all appearances a well made SLE , very nice 90% engraving , No through lump, stocked to the fences with very nice lumber, third fastener , but no bushed strikers —
>>>>>but no name on receiver and questionable barrel makers name/ address…..
I always judge the gun & not the name, but this one is a puzzle.
Best regards
JBP

Not sure if this is relevant, but I have W J Jeffery double with a London address but proofed in Birmingham. Pretty sure it was made by Webley & Scott.

All the best

Skeeterbd

A fair chance that a customer/client of W Evans requested that they rebarrel a gun for a number of reasons.

Not uncommon to see Birmingham made boxlocks without a maker name on the action and new barrels fitted and named by the firm commissioned - althogh quite possibly the said firm does not actually make the new barrels.

The gun SN is marked on both the receiver and barrels ( same number) as 1474 which according to WE dom charts would place it - 1885... I really doubt that this H&H action SLE , stocked to fences, no thru lump, third fastener- is a WE gun.
I think it may be a quality build no-name low SN Birmingham gun with counterfeit maker name and address inscribed on barrels. The 1885 SN would make WE unlikely to mark the barrels as their own .
Did fraudulent marking of guns occur or been documented?