Thanks to all you gentlemen for your help; I was able to contact Douglas Tate who supplied information on William Ford gunmakers in general, and from that I learned of the eventual fate of Ford which was sold to Bailons, Ltd. in Feb.1991 and then the ceasing of business by Bailons in 1993 as stated earlier in this thread. I have a Ford 20 bore Best sidelock, built in 1937, SN 1734x,with 25” Churchill ribbed barrels, orig. 2 3/4” Birmingham proofs, weighing 5 lbs. 6 ozs. Apparently, from the info that Mr. Tate supplied, Ford ran a full service shop, from rebarreling, repair, and custom built one-off guns to many guns for the trade. Anyway, I would love to find out who this gun was built for, as it has a 15 1/4” LOP straight stock with 25” barrels.Any clues as to the whereabouts of the sales ledger would be appreciated greatly. Thanks, Sandlapper
