In a post earlier I commented that the subject Alex Henry was what I believed to be the no. 1 value of the Holt's 21Sep2021 auction if it sold in the estimated range of £2,500-3,500. It actually sold for £3,800 which to my mind made the best value of the sale.

The details of this Alex Henry were:
Lot 1470 Alex Henry 12 bore best quality London pattern SLE of 1936 serial number 21899, 28 x 2 ½ inch barrels, 14 ½ inch LOP butt stock as original, 6lbs., 5ozs., ¼ and ½ choke; bores: .736” & .735” wall thickness of .029” & .029”. Estimate of £2,500-3,500, sold for £3,800 plus 1.25% = £4,750 x 1.37 conversion rate = $6,508,00.

This gun was in like new condition from a Birmingham maker and the barrel conditions are exceptional for a gun nearly 90 years old.

https://auctions.holtsauctioneers.c...++1470+&refno=++167063&saletype=

I was interested in the fact that the serial number of this Alex Henry is not in accordance with the range of the serial numbers (for the time frame) listed in Donald Dallas' book on Alex Henry, and therefore I sent a note over to Donald Dallas and asked him about this gun as well as the likely Birmingham maker of it.

I thought that my correspondence to and from Donald Dallas would be of interest to the readers here and therefore I created this new post for that purpose. I sent the following to note to him:

"I suspect that you have seen the below built (see internet link below)
12 bore SLE with Alex Henry name of 1936 at the Holt's current auction
website. It is interesting to note that the details provided by Holt's
state that there is only a "serial number" upon the short rib and that
number is 21899, which does not relate to any of the serial numbers
listed in your book for Alex. Henry. It appears to be in very good
condition for its age with .735" and .736" bores and .029" wall
thickness of each barrel. Have you encountered a Alex Henry named gun
of this era without a serial number on the trigger guard or action of
the gun?

I have just now looked through your Alex Henry book to see if you
referenced who was building such quality guns for Alex Martin/Alex Henry
in 1936 and have found no reference. Who in Birmingham would you
speculate likely built this 12 bore SLE?"

Donald Dallas replied:

........ "I did see the Henry in the sale. It is a late built Henry and the serial number on it is the serial number of the manufacturer in Birmingham. The later retailed only guns did not have Henry serial numbers. I don't know who Henry had build these guns. I suspect there were various makers depending on boxlock sidelock etc. The makers are not mentioned in the records. Hope to meet up again at this years event.
Regards,
Donald Dallas"

Just me offering up a guess….and this is only a guess…to my eye, it looks like it came out of AA Browns shop. The shape of the fences, action shaping, stock shape, etc.

What an exceptional gun. Top notch all around.

What did the Cogswell sell for a/

[quote=Daryl Hallquist]What did the Cogswell sell for a/[/quote

£4,000.

I was surprised, as so few people have any knowledge of the Extra Quality Victor and further that it had one barrel at .024" wall thickness. Still it was a wonderful value and having 30 inch barrels was a big plus.

Stephen Howell

The Alex Henry was a great value. Even after importing cost of 6-700 you will look a long time to find a gun in that condition over here for that money. But too many buyers seem more interested in buying a name rather than a quality gun. That’s fine for those of us who could care less what name is on the gun rather than what the gun is itself.

I saw it as well and it was fabulous. Probably should have bid on it. That bloom of color mid lockplate is very nice and the engraving is crisp and very fine. You can find Robin Brown on Best Gunmakers Facebook and ask him if this looks like one from AA Brown. I would like to know as well.