My Graham Greener book has re-surfaced and I’ve had a quick look at a few chapters. First of all, Graham Greener is quoted in an early post above saying the model shown, Serial No. 65291, is an FH25 from 1920, so there is no dispute. To answer various queries/comments in earlier posts, the following might help.
The year 1920 places it in the Fourth System of Grading, 1902 – to date. This was a refinement of the previous system, and used the price in guineas instead of a number to indicate the grade. Thus the G3 of the Third system became the G 45, the F1 became the F20 in the Fourth, etc.
WWGreener’s serial numbers and model classification are not very clear, with some numbers being allocated to three different guns. For example, the no. 65291 could indicate that it was a Greener hand-made gun from 1919, or a Greener gun made by Webleys in 1967 or in 1968 by Webley and Scott. In producing the serial number tables for his book, Graham Greener admits to approximating the date of manufacture when data is missing and as a yardstick used the average number of guns made each year. He also says that identifying the model, grade type and quality can be difficult, sometimes necessitating the removal of the cover plate on the underside of the action to differentiate between Anson & Deeley and Facile Princeps.
The Third grading system had the following classification:
A is a Dominion hammer gun
B is a Trap hammer gun
D is an Anson & Deeley gun
E is a better quality hammer gun
F is a Facile Princeps gun
G is Greener self-acting or Unique ejector gun
M is the Monarch fore end ejector gun
These grading references would appear to have been carried on to the Fourth system, with the addition of L for sidelock guns.
After WW1, inflation increased the prices by about 50% so the the FH 45 and FH 50 became the FH75, the FH 25 became the FH50, etc.
For Larry B
It would seem that all G grade guns had ejectors and where ejectors were used on other grades the letter H superseded the grade letter. To distinguish between Facile Princeps and Anson & Deeley Monarchs, the designators were FH for Facile Princeps ejector and DH for the A&D ejector. Why H for ejectors? GG sys the only explanation he can provide is that it follows on from G, which denotes the Greener self-acting Unique ejectors.
For Raimey, who asks, “Would R.F.H.T. be Rifle, Facile Princeps, Hammerless, T??”
Yes, R=rifle, F=Facile Princeps, H=ejectors, t=double barrel rifle.
Other rifle codes are A=treble wedgefast hammer gun; L=sidelock ; U=falling block; G=Unique ejector, D=Anson & Deeley; OF=choke bore ; CY=doublegrip underlever; B=smallbore (.310 or less) ; s=single barrel
Great book, most of the little I know about gun technics comes from it. Hope this post sheds some light on matters.
K.
Last edited by Kerryman; 04/11/08 07:20 AM.
