doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com William Powell

Hi folks, been a while since I posted but I have a quick question. Yesterday I stopped at the local black powder shop and they had a William Powell in the "junk" barrel. I think there might just be some life left in the old girl so I am going to do a little work and see what I can do to bring her back. Other than a couple moderate patches of rust the gun seems to be in relatively good shape with very good wood although the action is froze up and I still haven't been able to open it up completely. Locks are very good. I did a search and couldn't find much information. Question,is there a table of manufacturing dates for William Powell? The serial number is 7072. Thanks, Jack

Wm. Powell synopsis:
http://www.williampowell.com/History-of-William-Powell.htm

Send an e-mail to them with your gun's S/N and they'll e-mail you back a copy of the ledger sheet of your gun including the build date---at least they did for me.

That will be 1881.

Information from Nigel Brown's "British Gunmakers", Volume 2

Grampajack,
Powell No.7072 was sold to C.J.H. Marlow on 16 February 1880. It sold for �16 and had 30" Stub Damascus barrels. If you'd like more
information, e-mail me at steve@powellspatent.com

Wow, that was fast. I appreciate the information. I now have the gun substantially apart. Lots of color in protected areas and the internal parts seem fine so far. The only major problem so far is I have not been able to get the barrels off. I have the thumb lever off and the toggle that runs into the receiver but I can't get the block that slides to the left to release the barrels to move. I soaked the whole thing in penetrating oil over night but it has refused to move so far. Not easy to get to and slow and easy is the way especially since I have never had one apart before so I'm feeling my way. There is slight movement of the barrels and the small block that shows through the bottom of the receiver is also loose so hopefully it shouldn't be long. Got a granddaughter's birthday party today so I'm off. Thanks again for the information. Best Regards, Jack

Sounds like an interesting find ...your right to take your time n not force anything...hopefully she will let go soon!...Throw up some pics of the old girl, we'd all love to see what you have jack
cheers mate
Franc

Franc, I work kind of slow at the best of times but, as soon as I get things apart and cleaned up some I'll get some pictures up. The more I see, the more I like. Those locks are like a Swiss watch inside. It's killing me not to be able to see the water table and get a good look at the bores but it will come. Thanks, Jack