I understand how the Birmingham guntrade worked/works; my interest is in who did what. It seems William Ford could build a gun, but his strength was as a barrel borer. He was part of the trade that relied on the contract system and he probably paid more attention to finishing the barrels than most since that was his specialty. My question about William Evans had more to do with what did the customer get since Evans was “from Purdeys “. If his guns were sourced from the trade what did he do to them that reflected his Purdey training? Or was it just marketing?
It was just marketing. Evan's training never went further than front of house, he was a salesman, nothing more.
