Update 9th
June 2015
Welcome to my June
2015 Update.
Now a month back
from the Southern S/S Spring Classic at Deep River Sporting Clays, Sanford NC
and deep into restorations for my next show in September.
It looks
increasingly likely that we will attend the ‘North American Shotgun Classic’
at the Beretta Shooting Grounds, Dover Furnace, NY on
24th-27th September. Accommodation is booked and I
just need to confirm our booth space before the end of August.
Bottle necks with my
long-term outworkers have held me up somewhat and I don’t really know which
guns are going to make it through in time but, over the next couple of weeks,
hopefully things will become clearer and I will have a (nearly) definitive list
of projects to concentrate on.
At this stage it
looks to be a selection from the following:
H&H 16b 30”
TIG-sleeved SL (most
recent project from our Accipiter Series);
GE Lewis 16b 29”
Damascus Hammergun;
Henry Atkin 12b
Toplever 28” TIG-sleeved SLE;
J Williamson RUL 12b
30” Damascus Hammergun;
John Dickson 12b 30”
TIG-sleeved Round Action;
H&H 16b 30”
Damascus Climax SLNE;
W Powell 20b 29”
Damascus Lift-up toplever Hammergun;
Another Henry Atkin
12b 30” TIG-sleeved SLE, with sidelever;
J Purdey 12b BiW 28”
TIG-sleeved Hammergun;
A Maloch 12b RUL 30” Damascus Hammergun;
Wilkinson & Son .410
RUL Hammergun (converted from a double rifle);
Charles Lancaster
12b 30” Damascus self-opening SLE;
And last but not
least a sleeved 20b Hammergun by S Allport (the novel
bolting and lever-work featured recently on my Facebook page).
All the above are
pre-1897 and nitro reproofed for 2 ¾”.
The top H&H gun
listed above references the
‘Accipiter Series’. As you will find if you follow the link, this is a
series of projects which has grown sort of organically from a few individual
projects into something more!
Starting as a
mixture of a solution to a customer’s needs, a pragmatic way of increasing the
Value Added for a border-line project and an experiment ‘because I could’,
these eight or so guns have turned out to be quite an eye-opener for those
lucky enough to shoot or own one.
The series borrows
its name from the genus of ‘True Hawks’ which include the Northern Goshawk and
European Sparrowhawk, and having hawked with both these beautiful, powerful and
fast predatory species in my younger days, I felt the parallel was appropriate.
Their defining
characteristic is that the original gun was made as a gauge at least one size
larger than it is now.
The benefits are an
increased weight from the gauge norm resulting in less perceived recoil, superb
balance, better swing and less punishment for antique wood; modern steel barrel
internals capable of handling most modern shot materials; modern chambering and
chokes and the possibility of interchangeable chokes for maximum adaptability.
If the idea appeals,
watch this space as I intend to produce further guns in this series built on
both hammered and hammerless actions.
The UK is enjoying a
high pressure system with sunny days and pleasant temperatures albeit pretty
windy in East Anglia where we reside. However the mornings have swung from fresh
to muggy and back again: for walking Tilly and Moss Barbour, flat cap and
wellies alternate with shorts and shirt sleeves! Today was somewhere in between
and as I write it is bright yet overcast and threatening rain in a rather
half-hearted way.
Tilly is still continuing
to be torn between growing up and remaining a puppy! Today, coming out of her
kennel mid-morning, she took off like a hare and, before I could get her under
control, had streaked through one of Chrissy’s favourite borders. Minimal
damage was done but if her precious peonies had been hit, I think my Pocket
Rocket would have been grounded for the whole summer!
Due to further
internal bleeding, Moss has gone back on the Metronidazol
antibiotics with immediate effect. It seems to have sorted the problem for the
time being but it does beg the question of just how much longer we will have
him for. I am firmly against keeping old pets going longer than one should
simply to cater to one’s feelings but in all other respects he is happy and
healthy: eyes, joints, appetite all healthy so I am not giving up on him yet.
Finally, Chrissy and
discovered a use for the dogs while gardening on a windy day. Question: How do
you fold up a large tarpaulin? Answer: Take two Labradors….!
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As usual I have left
several guns behind in North Carolina and these include:
Watson
Bros 28b Hammergun no 4606
Boss
& Co 12b RUL hammergun no 2717
Boss
& Co 16b RUL Hammergun no 1692
A
spectacular FT Baker Needham patent 12b SLE, a real sleeper;
A
very beautiful cased, toplever 12b SLE by Henry Atkin with ‘makers replacement
steel barrels;
A
Stephen Grant sidelever 12b SLE with lovely replacement wood;
A
Murcott 12b hammergun with 30” damascus barrels;
And last but very
much not least
A
damascus barrelled BLE by Perkes Adams & Co in
wonderful condition with some CH remaining:
Full details can be
found via links on the Stock Page.
Most of the guns
mentioned above are nitro proofed for a minimum of 2 3/4" cartridges and all
are pre-1897.
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.