doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Interesting Samuel Allport / William Ford Gun

This gun is marked on the receiver with Sam'l B Allport and William Ford on the barrels. Below are some photos. Would anyone care to speculate if this is a new set of barrels on an older gun, or would Ford have marked barrels sold to Allport. This is a nice gun with pretty wood, ejectors and C/M 30" barrels. URL=http://s396.photobucket.com/user/Vol423/media/Allport%2012%20GA%20SXS/DSC_2697.jpg.html][/URL]

V surmounted by Crown on water table is London & Ford had the Birmingham marks added. As far as the little British Isles, few, if any, were on par w/ Ford.

Cheers,


Raimey

Vol423

I am no expert, but it seems more likely to me that it is as you first suggested, an older gun by Allport, subsequently rebarreled by Ford.

Looks to be an intercepting sear boxlock design. They may have been removed at some point, not all of them were well thought of.
Very nice gun.
Best,
Ted

Here's something I don't quite understand...

It's not specific to this gun, which is indeed a very nice find, but the photo certainly shows a perfect example.

Perhaps one our upperclassmen can tell me...

Why... do they find it necessary and desirable to stamp a mark on the barrel tubes that deep right on the underside of where the forcing cones would be?

That's a pretty high pressure point in the barrel. Talk about an invitation to have stress crack start.

A guy does a beautiful job making and striking his tubes, then somebody comes along with a punch and a hammer and beats the piss out of them.

What's up with that?

I have seen several guns that are marked with William Ford on the barrels that were re-barreled by him. All work was first rate.

I have a reasonably similar Allport with damascus barrels; they're a well-made gun, probably brought in from Scotts.

IGC has the following on Samuel Allport:

Name Samuel Allport
Other Names Samuel Blakemore Allport
Address1 Unknown address
Address2 3 Weaman Row
Address3 1 Weaman Row and 50 Whittall Street
Address4 50 Whittall Street
City/Town Birmingham
Country United Kingdom
Trade Gun, pistol, barrel, furniture & implement maker
Other Address London address: 12 Bell's Buildings, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street 1829-1831.
Dates 1830-1892

Notes

Samuel Allport was born between 1787 and 1791. He established his business in 1820 at an unknown address in Birmingham. He was recorded as having an office or showroom in London at 12 Bell's Buildings, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, from 1829 to 1831. He came to fame by introducing a circular percussion cap dispenser which was advertised in "The Sporting Magazine" in 1830.
He was recorded from 1833 to 1836 at 3 Weaman Row, and from 1839 at 50 Whittall Street. In the 1841 census he was recorded as a gunmaker living at 3 Weaman Row, he was probably working there as well as at 50 Whittall Street. At the time, he lived with Joseph (b.1821), Samuel Blakemore (b.1823), William (b. 1825), Henry (b.1827) and Hubert (b.1829). Samuel's wife had died between 1829 and 1841. In the 1851 census Samuel Allport was recorded as a gun implement, fishing reel and weaver's mail manufacturer at 1 Weaman Row, employing 28 pairs of hands. He was living there with his new wife, Eliza Ann (b.1807 in Armagh, Ireland). Eliza Ann appears to have been related to the Rigby family of Dublin (see below). Also living there were Joseph (clerk to gunmaker), and a daughter, Kate(b.1844). By the time of the 1861 census, Samuel had died and Samuel Blakemore (described as a gunmaker) had taken over the business. He was living at 1 Weaman Row with his stepmother, Eliza Ann(e), Joseph (described as a gunmaker), and Charles Rigby Allport (brother and gunmaker b.1842). In about 1859 Sanuel Blakemore had married but on the night of the census his wife and their daughter were not at home. At about this time the firm was re-named Samuel B Allport, they traded as gun, pistol and rifle manufacturers, gun and rifle implement makers, and makers of apparatus, fishing reels, tackle etc. In the 1871 census Samuel B Allport was living in Moseley Road with his wife, Frances M (b.1833), Lucy M (b.1860), Frank B (b.1868), and Beatrice (b.1870). On 23 November 1872 S B Allport registered patent No. 3518 for a top-lever. On 7 July 1881 he registered patent No. 2993 for a Lefaucheux type under-lever cocking action and safety mechanism to avoid double discharges.

In the 1881 census Samuel described himself as a gun and weaver's mail maker. By this time he had moved out of Moseley Road and lived at Pymore Cottage, Alcester Road, with Frances M, Frank B, Beatrice E, Lucy M and Jesse M (b.1872). On 20 February 1890 he patented an ejector mechanism (No. 2760). The firm was not recorded after 1892. From 1892 to 1899 when he died, Samuel Blackmore Allport was Birmingham Proof Master. He died on 23 October 1899.


And this on William Ford:

Name William Ford
Other Names William Ford Ltd
Address1 14 Whittall Street?
Address2 4a Weaman Row, St Mary's
Address3 Eclipse Works, 23 Loveday Street
Address4 Eclipse Gun Works, 15 St Mary's Row; 4 Price Street
Address5 10-11 St Mary's Row
Address6 96 Potters Hill, Aston
Address7 352 Moseley Road
City/Town Birmingham
Country United Kingdom
Trade Barrel maker & gun maker
Other Address Manchester.
Dates 1870?-1991

Notes

It is not known when or where William Ford established his business. He came to prominence in 1875 and 1879 as a barrel borer when he won awards at the "Field" gun trials (he bored barrels for W W Greener in 1875 and Lincoln Jeffries in 1879).
There are reports that the firm occupied premises at 14 Whittall Street in about 1879, but this has not been confirmed. Reportedly, it was in 1883 that William Ford introduced his "Eclipse" light weight shotgun (some say this was introduced in 1887 and this date may be correct). This gun weighed 4lbs and used 1oz of shot. In 1884 the firm was recorded at 4a (or 4 1/2) Weaman Row, St Mary's, Birmingham. In 1885 they moved to the "Eclipse Works", 23 Loveday Street. In 1885 the firm widened their sphere of activities into the manufacture of barreled actions. In 1887 William Ford was granted patent No. 8841 for a cocking and ejector mechanism, this was followed by two further patents on 22 February 1888 patent No. 2622 for a similar cocking and ejector mechanism and on 27 June together with J Clifford No. 9348 for a fore-end ejector. It was at about this date that they commenced trading as gun makers, selling retail as well as to the trade. In 1889 the firm moved to 15 St Mary's Row, which they also called the Eclipse Gun Works.

In about 1900 a company named Birmingham Gun & Cycle Co occupied part of 15 St Mary's Row, this may have been formed by William Ford to use spare capacity in his gun manufacturing business, it appears to have been replaced in about 1920 by Birmingham Gun Co. From 1906, workshops at the back of 15 St Mary's Row were occupied by Charles Chambers who did work for William Ford, an association that was to last until after the Second World War. On 4 June 1890 William Ford registered patent No. 8621 for his adjustable Try-Gun, the first of its kind. By this time the firm had opened shooting grounds at Small Heath in Birmingham and at Clayton in Manchester, and advertised their proficiency in gun fitting. On 7 February 1894 W Ford and R Hill registered patent No. 2658 for an ejector mechanism. In 1898 the firm moved to 4 Price Street but they retained the 15 St Mary's Row premises. The Price Street premises appear to have been used up to 1948 amongst other purposes, for cartridge manufacture, they were retained until 1953. In 1909 William Ford died and his son, A F Ford took over the business.

A F Ford died in 1946. Reportedly, the firm changed its name to William Ford & Co but this has not been confirmed. In 1951 the firm moved its principal office back to 15 St Mary's Row. In 1953 the firm amalgamated with James Carr & Sons, and in 1954 they became a limited company, William Ford Ltd, but James Carr & Sons appears to have continued trading under their own name. In 1955 William Ford Ltd moved to Carr's premises at 10 & 11 St Mary's Row. These premises were also occupied by Thomas Yates, William Woodward and Henry Morris. In 1964 re-development of St Mary's Row caused a move to 96 Potters Hill, Aston, Birmingham. A further move in 1972 to 352 Moseley Road was caused by development.

In February 1991 the company, then managed by Alan Thornton who wanted to retire, was taken over by Bailons Gunmakers Ltd which was owned by Sir Malcolm Guthrie Bt. Both firms closed in 1993. B J Horton Corcoran was employed by the firm when Alan Thornton managed it, he went on to buy the firm of Daniel Fraser and establish a business under the name of B J Horton in Cromarty, Scotland. The records of William Ford are held by Sir Malcolm Guthrie Bt.

Other Info
The firm sold cartridges under the names "Patent Ignition Tube" (post 1910), "Pheasant", "Eclipse", and "Fleet".
From about 1885 the firm often used a trade-mark of a solar eclipse.

Tim

Shotgunjones,
I too have seen deep punch marks in seemingly bad places...
Good question.
franc

All this makes one wonder if Ford was the reason Henri Pieper appropriated the name "Eclipse" for his line of later JABCs...