Update
11th January, 2017
I
have just uploaded full details and photos of two new stock guns:
J.
Coster of Edinburgh 20g Boxlock NVN
Julius Coster (1850-1927) was a noted Scottish
gunsmith and inventor. His father was a German gunmaker in Niedermeister, under
whom Julius studied before he immigrated to Britain in 1869 and by the
following year had found employment with Alexander Henry. By 1886 he had become
the foreman of Henry’s workshop and had patented am improvement to the Martini
Henry rifle. Soon after, he went into business with a Mr Hunter and then worked
for himself. He moved to Glasgow in 1898.
This sweet little gun is unusual in that it
carries 30” barrels, quite rare in a 20b, excellent minimum wall thickness and
very useful choke constrictions. With its lovely Damascus barrels and great
stock dimensions, this lovely gun would be ideal for upland game or clays.
Presented in its Maker’s canvas and leather
case with Maker’s trade label.
G.
Thorpe Bartrum of Braintree 12g G&P Patent Bar-action Sidelock no 1001
George Thomas Thorpe Bartrum was first seen in business under his
own name in Ipswich, Suffolk around 1878 but by 1883 he was at Bank Place in
Braintree, Essex which, with its proximity to London and the military barracks
at Colchester, was probably a more profitable location. This gun is built on
the highly successful Gibbs and Pitt design of lever cocking action, one of the
first hammerless designs to be welcomed by the shooting public in the gradual
changeover from hammerguns. Use of this action by Thorpe Bartrum reflects the
high esteem the Gibbs & Pitt action design was held in by the buying public
at the time. It was well designed, solidly built and retailed by nearly all
gunmakers of the period. The action cocks on the movement of the toplever and
then this is aided by the dropping of the barrels as the front barrel lump cams
the Purdey bold rearwards, which in turn works upon the tumblers to bring them
to full cock. This makes it quite impossible to reload the gun without
recocking the locks and resetting the safety, a useful safety feature.
Furthermore the tumblers have an additional bent, like a modern Browning OU,
which can prevent the tumblers falling unintentionally. Unusually for a gun of
this age, the barrel wall thicknesses have survived the attentions of the
gunsmith’s lapping machine and although the barrels may have been shortened,
this has been done in the correct manner and the muzzles properly brought
together and ribs re-laid. The original English damascus barrels have been
re-proofed for 2 3/4" nitro cartridges and this all adds up to a beautiful
gun that is a joy to shoot and should give many years of service on game or
clays with normal maintenance.
I
very much look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones at the
Beinfeld show at the Westgate Resort & Casino, Las Vegas 20th-22nd
January. Space permitting, we will have a good range of antique and modern
accessories for sale so swing by and have a rummage!
Lastly
a reminder that we now have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heritage-Guns/1456166597974211.
Facebook is not everybody’s cup of tea but we will post photos and news there
that are not relevant to our main web site pages.
Enjoy
your guns and shooting wherever you are!
Toby Barclay
Links
to our show venues can be found on our Home page.