doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Help identify double shotgun!!

Here is a Gogswell & Harrison from the early 1930's and another view of my shotgun for comparison (also how the action is blued as well and not color case hardened - commonly seen at that time):

From which maker would you prefer the gun to have originated? If it will make you feel better to say that the gun is a London-made "Best" gun then just go right ahead and tell people whatever you want to tell them. Very few people will care enough to notice the difference, and likely none of those will be rude enough to mention it.

Surely you misunderstand my intentions my friend - I am not on a quest to make myself feel better in this way (fortunately I have developed better coping skills . Nor I am out to prove anything for that matter. Admittedly, I lack the broad span of knowledge clearly demonstrated in this illustrious forum...therefore, I cherish and hold in high regard any clues (even yours) and suggestions so kindly offered here and I am enjoying immensely participating in that seemingly endless process - and expanding on some of those notions...isn't that "the fun" when studying old guns? That lingering and sweet , however unsettling, sensation of questions unresolved

That could well be a W&S Model 400, made in different grades from 1900-46, and replaced by the 700. Earlier Scotts, at least from the photos in the Scott book, used either a doll's head extension or, more commonly, one with a piercing for a square crossbolt in the extension. The later ones, if they had a rib extension, used the type shown in the photo or the standard Greener with a round piercing in the extension. There aren't any photos in the Scott book showing a fork-like extension (metal above and below the bite) similar to the one on your gun. Or at least I think that's your gun. I've gotten somewhat turned around in this very long discussion. Might be that someone here is aware of a W&S with a rib extension like yours, however.

Thanks. Quite right - my gun, (in the previous comparison photo) does indeed have a fork-like extension (metal both above and below the bite)so in that specific respect it is unlike the W&S shown above. Have you ever seen this type of rib extension third bite?

I think your gun is a well executed copy of several English guns that were in a one or two man gunsmithing operation in pre-war Japan. There are a mix of features (the barrel rib extension, the lock screw on the lever screw, the raised metal sections near the detonators) that never seem to appear on any single model of English gun.
I would guess that the crew took some measurements, added a few refinements, and had at it, producing a boxlock. There used to be lots of one man shops in Japan, and some day I'll show you a photo of a custom 7mm magnum Remington my Dad had built when he was over in Okinawa.
My Dad had a hell of a time trying to explain to the guy that he couldn't blue the barrel-Dad finally held up his Zodiac watch band and asked the guy "can blue?" That's when the light went on in the guys head. He black chromed the barrel.
Dad said there were lots of little shops that did various levels of custom work, circa 1962. If I didn't tell you it was done in Japan, you wouldn't know.

Best,
Ted

Thanks Ted. What you just described certainly makes a lot of sense. The critical aspect : a handcrafted well executed copy of a typical high grade English boxlock with a mix of features - pre WWII - and likely even earlier 20th cent.
I always felt that the crown with cross and superimposed TM letters is the actual mark of the gunshop and not an attempt to imitate anything...

Yes. Some very common American doubles (Stevens, Lefever Nitro Special) use a fork-like rib extension. Expect some British doubles may as well, although I can't recall ever having seen it on a Scott, a Webley, or a Webley & Scott. But that's covering a lot of territory, and someone else may well have seen that particular type of extension.

My Webley & Scott made Army & Navy shotgun has a similar forked rib extension although not exactly the same. Made in 1902.





Sorry for the phone pics.

All the best

Skeeterbd

...very nice gun and indeed very similar to mine - I guess it essentially retorts the previous statement made by Ted "There are a mix of features (...the barrel rib extension, the lock screw on the lever screw, the raised metal sections near the detonators) that never seem to appear on any single model of English gun" because all of those features are clearly present here in one shotgun.