As mentioned earlier it does appear to be a Scott actioned gun with their proprietary screw grip third fastener, which time has proven to be very strong and wears well.

The screw grip action was proprietary to Webley not Scott.

I had a nice 3" 1970's William Powell SxS and wasn't at all impressed by it's patterns...this gun might pattern 3" shells quite well then again it might pattern like a 20 ga.

I am probably the dumbest one posting on this thread but what makes ya'll think it is a pigeon gun?

Doverham does it say "AA Brown" on the gun somewhere or is the stamp some particular cartouche, like HAL did with the crossed pistols?

Doverham,
The A.A.Brown stamp/trade mark is the Word; "ABAS"For further info;on the firm A.A.Brown & Son see my post on this forum today at 6.06 AM re;"Westley Richards question" origional posting,was by H.O.S.

Joe. Your looking in the wrong place (not the extension) look at the action and lever. It is NOT a Webley & Scott and it is NOT a screw grip nut. This gun is a Birmingham trade action. If I knew how to post pic's I would show you a Webley screw grip nut.

RedDot.

He doesn't listen very well. We tried to get that through to him a page or two ago.

Best,
Ted

You two don't know what you are looking at.

I for one would like to see some good pictures of a Webley Screw Grip compared to the for lack of the correct name "Trade Action w/extensinon & spindle actuated 3rd lock" that Wrights & others used for their heavy proof guns.

An alternative design to the Greener 'cross bolt' or Westley Richards Dolls Head was the Webley Screw Grip top extension patented by T. W. Webley and T. Brain (P. Webley & Son) under patent No: 3053 in 1882. The design made use of either the more ornate and complex Dolls Head type or a straight or blade type extension. The later dispensed with the Dolls head leaving a simpler straight slot cut in the top edge of the standing breech. Although the blade design would have been less expensive to produce the Dolls head variant seems to have been the preference of W R Leeson.

The design is based on an external screw or thread mounted on the vertical spindle of the top lever inside the standing breech. On the upper part of the spindle, inside the standing breech is also a cam mechanism. When the top lever is operated to open the breech, the screw mechanism rotates inside the spindle assembly and places an upward lifting force on the underside of the top extension. In effect its acts as an assistance to the opening of the breech. When the breech is closed, as the sliding bolts lock into the barrel lumps, the top cam mechanism places a downward force on a stepped lug forming part of top extension. This has the effect of pushing the top extension, whether of the Dolls Head or indeed the Blade Head extension design down into the slot on the upper face of the standing breech. Once home, both the sliding bolts lock into position in the cut outs of the barrel lumps and the third bite mechanism locks home the top extension, ensuring a very strong bolting.

The Webley screw grip satisfies both aspects concerning breech burst and breech/barrel flexing. Barrel flex is overcome when the head itself is located into the slot cut in the standing breech of the action, the barrel being held secure between the fences, as can be seen in the picture above. The second feature is to lock the breech closed in combination with the sliding bolts. This was achieved by a modification to the top lever spindle incorporating a screw thread or cam type mechanism. When the breech was closed the spring mechanism of the top lever ensures the cam exerts downward force on the top extension. The combination of the two design aspects produced an exceptionally strong breech to action joint as well as an aesthetically pleasing feature.

Doverham,

Thanks for the direction to the WR Leeson site.

During the austere period immediately after the war, when the steel tubes used to make shotgun barrels were unavailable, the Browns once again developed a strategy for survival. . . . .

The firm's record books for the 1950s and '60s are replete with guns made by A. A. Brown & Sons for other makers.

A recent visitor was shown entries for Holland & Holland, John Harper, and even Alex Martin "ribless" guns. Robin Brown explained that the Browns had made "many of the ribless guns for Alex Martin" and many of the XXVs sold by E. J. Churchill. . . . . Robin Brown explained how the Churchill firm would order guns of identical specifications from different makers Baker, Wrights or Brown that were engraved and finished except that the stock, though inletted and attached, remained in a rough and unfinished state. When a pair of guns was needed, Robert Churchill would select two likely candidates from the rack and have a stacker set about carving the wood to fit the customer. Robin's father, Sidney, said it was "pure hell" for the woodworker, but it meant finished guns could be ready in four or five weeks. On 9 January 1931, the Prince of Wales ordered a pair of Churchill "Premier" XXVs, and the guns were miraculously delivered five days later. Robin and Sidney Brown's explanation of how Churchill guns were made would account for the short delivery time.

Throughout the postwar period the Browns continued to build guns for the trade. Perhaps because they were industrious at a time when much of Britain wanted to rest after the exhausting task of defeating Hitler's Germany or perhaps because they had a mature highly skilled workforce dedicated to building the finest guns available they flourished where others had failed. When Joseph Asbury, which machined many of the actions for the trade went under, A. A. Brown acquired its machinery, giving Brown the capacity to machine its own actions from the raw forging. They also acquired the business and name of A. E. Bayliss & Co., a Birmingham Trade manufacturer who was pleased to pass his business over on his retirement. . . .

In the early 1960s, much of the gun quarter was redeveloped to make way for Birmingham's inner-ring road. It was a time of turmoil for the trade: Shooting was unfashionable, and apprentices were hard to find. Many well-known names R. B. Rodda & Co., Bentley & Playfair, and Clabrough & Johnstone disappeared rather than face the challenges of finding new premises, markets, and a work force. A. A. Brown's Sand Street premises became a multilevel parking structure, but the company found a new home within the Westley Richards firm out at Bournebrook. Westley Richards continued to build most of its own Anson and Deeley designed guns, particularly the hand-detachable lock model known to American collectors as the "droplock." However, for approximately fourteen years A. A. Brown built the Westley Richards best sidelock ejector gun together with a number of Connaught boxlocks using Brown's own thick walled replaceable hinge pin action which allowed for sleek rounded styling.

Hopefully gunman can confirm this but this is what I believe is a Webley Screw Grip action top lever:

If you think this is a Webley screw grip action.....I've got an opening in my hunting club in Death Valley (only 100 pounds).

plus replaceable hinge pin.

Not from what I'm seeing.

Is it still destined for some goose blind or is it your dedicated sporting clays gun?