doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com funeral model pictures

I would consider this a "very fine" funeral gun.

http://www.bullseyesportingarms.com/images/Shotguns/6-3-fabrir.htm

revdocdrew's post rings a bell to me. Im pretty sure I read that somewhere, but cant think of what book it was in. I also remember reading that sometimes the gunmakers would send the guns to their clients before final finishing and engraving to test them out, see if they liked it, etc, and then they never sent the gun back. One hypothesis to "funeral" guns I suppose. I also remember reading that some of them may have soft actions because they didnt get sent back to the factory to be case hardened? Ill have to do some digging for the book this was in.

I've always thought it mean an otherwise fancy gun (make and craftsmanship) that was devoid of much embellishment. In other words, you can have a funeral grade H&H but it would be tough to have a funeral grade Stoeger.

Some links:

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...=true#Post44561

http://www.bullseyesportingarms.com/images/Shotguns/6-3-fabrir.htm

http://www.shootingsportsman.com/index.php/page/issue/sku/SSM2006_0506

http://julia.hanovercomputer.com/firearms/oct04/highlights/index.htm

OOPS... Deleted pic

Pete

Uh Pete, brother, that black Purdey sure looks like the 1923 20g DeLuxe Third Style LC Smith on the PictureTrail album

Jerry those are both 100% factory original finishes. Tobin called it pyro-oxidized and in addition to their "Black Diamond" grade on which it was standard, they would put it on any other grade instead of the color case hardening. Savage/Fox just called it "black gun-metal finish" on their SP-/SPE-Grades.

I do believe that "funeral model" really applies more to British guns than any others, and may be, like the Ithaca "sunburst" pad, a term applied by later year collectors, and never used by the companies themselves.

The DLX LC was a real jewel. Bummer about the vise marks on the TG. Evidently, this gun saw some actual use as the cracked stock reflects.

The "Never sent back for final engraving or finishing" doesn't hold water since many if not most of the best quality funeral guns had gold names inlaid indicating a "final finish". My friend MM would disagree with the "Never sent back" opinion since his Purdey funeral gun has about fifty gold inlaid letters in amongst the blue, indicating that it has truly been final finished. Get serious, these guys aren't going to send out soft finished guns to be used and abused while their engravers and hardeners look for work.

Thanks for catching that. Copied the wrong link. Deleted it. Now I can't find the original link I intended to post. A few more cells every day... soon just an empty ringing.

Pete

I have always thought that it was an American slang term for the plain black guns of English makers. This is most often seen in Purdey and H&H guns.
Considering that the finish on the actions had to be perfect and free from any flaw that engraving would hide, it is understandable that much care went into their being built.
I have also heard that they were a tribute to Queen Victoria's death, but don't put much stock in that.
Best,
John
PS---I don't think of the guns as the Black Diamond Tobin as a funeral gun.

I never suggested that it was done often or even done at all, but rather I thought I remembered reading of it somewhere, possibly in the shooting sportsman article posted earlier. I agree that they are made for a purpose, as youve noticed, many of them have a very classy touch with the gold inlays and lettering.