Can someone please explain the difference between the Daw and Woodward forward under lever action.
Thanks

Which Woodward action are you referring to? James or Thomas?

The Daws patent just withdraws a single central circular rod from what looks like a third underbarrel similar to the rifle barrel in a drilling; if that makes sense. The Woodward withdraws ordinary Purdey bolts as far as I know. Lagopus…..

The James versus Thomas Woodward thing always hung me up too. Easy to confuse.

I have owned enough Thomas Woodward guns that the difference always stood out to me. T Woodward guns are also known as the "spiral spring Woodward", main spring are contained inside a tube. Most of them appear to be sidelocks, I had one that looked like a boxlock. The safety is distinctive as well being a relatively large "T" shaped bar that pivots as opposed to sliding in order to engage or disengage. I have owned a considerable number of very early hammerless British designs over the years. I eventually settled on more standardized designs for my personal shooting. I would dearly love to own a James Woodward "automatic" someday though.
Steve

Exactly. T. Woodward spiral spring is unlike any other action and is easily identifiable.
It’s actually considered a “striker” fired action. Like SKB said...the strikers and coil springs are contained in a tube, a protruding pin engages the under lever and the tubes are cocked when the under lever goes forward. Not really another action like it when it comes to Brit guns.

SKB...could you please describe the boxlock version of the T. Woodward action? I’ve read through the patents on the action and have never seen the action you described. How would the cylinders that have the strikers and coil springs be mounted in an action like that? Not doubting you, just curious.

Dustin,
the tubes were mounted on the rear of the action and inlet into the wood. I owned that gun a long time ago and forget exactly how it was accomplished. I think the tubes threaded in to the action but could be mistaken on that detail, That gun had the barrels refinished by Oscar Gaddy in black and white. It had been owned by a member of our Rocky Mountain Vintagers club, I knew the former owner and the gun when I went in to the small local shop that had it for sale. I explained to the gunshop owner several times that the gun was not a James Woodward. I eventually bought it for 2500$, a pretty big mark down from the 10K he had on it when I first came across it in his shop. I think it took me the better part of a year to get him to understand what it was and the real value of the gun. I never did shoot that one very well, too much drop if memory serves.
Steve

I was told the Purdey action photo 1 was a Daw, it looks the same to me as the other two early 3 digit serial number Henry Atkins. (yes, the Purdey was sleeved by Westly Richards, that's the only way I could afford a Purdey) Can someone please identify these actions. Thanks
fallout history

SXS 40: The Purdey terminology for the snap underlever as seen on your BiW gun is a 'Daw Lever'. This does not refer to the mechanism inside the body of the action, just to the lever which is in the style used by Daw for his early 'Daw Patent' actions described very well by Lagopus above. The double under-bite is clearly visible in your photos which is the Purdey patent.
If your gun cocks by moving the lever then the mechanism inside your action is very likely a 'Woodward Automatic'
As you can see from the photo below of a 'true' Woodward Automatic, the bolstered tumbler pivots are very similar but the lock pins are in a different pattern so without opening the gun up it is impossible to know for sure what lies inside!






If the gun cocks on the fall of the barrel it may be a standard Purdey patent but with a 'Daw' underlever rather than the more common sidelever or thumb lever, all work the same way.
Here is a Purdey self opener from 1881 with the 'Daw' lever:




And here is an Atkin BiW hammerless with the 'Daw' lever that uses the Woodward Automatic mechanism from 1876-1880.





However since this a gun built on the Woodward Automatic patent it is a Woodward underlever not a 'Daw' underlever! Confused? So am I!

Toby, thank you for your explanation, it actually makes sense to me. How do the above actions relate to a Joseph Lang forward underlever, that does indeed cock the action with the lever? I've been told that it is a "trigger plate" action.

Yes, quite correct and very different from all of the above. I have one in bits, if I remember I'll send you a photo of the internals. They were based on a patent by James Lang as I remember.

I pinched this link from another post on this site which shows a picture of a Lang triggerplate action with dummy side plates; https://shootingsportsman.com/pressure-vs-recoil/ Just coincidence. Lagopus…..