doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Strange Boss & Co. without serial number!

I reached out to Dig. I showed him the pictures and he did not know either. I like obsessed-with-doubles answer. But in reality, we will probably never know. It is an interesting and speculative topic of discussion. Lunch box Colt 19911's happened quite a bit. So I would presume the same kind of thing could have happened over the pond.

I reached out to Dig. I showed him the pictures and he did not know either. I like obsessed-with-doubles answer. But in reality, we will probably never know. It is an interesting and speculative topic of discussion. Lunch box Colt 19911's happened quite a bit. So I would presume the same kind of thing could have happened over the pond.

I am assuming Ed was joking or perhaps he has never seen a quality double in his life.

Did they determine that it was a "pinfire conversion" based on the "serial number" correlating to a 1859 production date? It doesn't look like a pinfire conversion to me.

Not a pinfire conversion. Made as a centerfire. The auction botched the description. There is no serial number. The auction company incorrectly assigned the patent use #1664 on the water table as the serial number in their description.
I guess it's hard to find good help these days even at the high end auction houses!

12boreman, it is a nice gun. I agree with Dan, does not appear to be a pinfire conversion. I have 4 Boss hammers from 1870’s -1880s and this looks straight out of that era. However, I don’t think I have seen the water table of a Boss hammer of that era with Brazier’s mark directly on the water table. I do see Brazier’s Mark internally when disassembled. I have seen the water table marked that way by other makers. Also, the rib engraving looks a little bit different than standard to my eye. Still, an elegant gun.

The Proof marks equate to the 1855 to 1868 period and if the serial number is 1664 then that would fit in that period. No indication of it ever have been a pin-fire conversion in my opinion. As English guns are hand made and each is unique as a result it would be virtually impossible to smuggle out in pieces. One Colt revolver would be much the same as the other and would be easy to do that with but most certainly not in the case of an English gun especially a Boss. Looks okay to me. Best to contact Boss and quote that number and see where it leads. Lagopus.....

The engraving looks of less quality than I would expect from a Best Grade. It's certainly not anything special as far as the scroll cut quality/style nor the additional cuts like the border(s), fine line shading and the accent cuts around the scroll groupings. The latter is very crudely & quickly done.

The one thing that really stands out to me is the bbl address.
Two things about it:
#1...The lettering is to be kind, not of professional quality. Certainly not something for a Best Quality firearm.
Letters are mishappen. If the engraver put down guide lines to letter, they certainly weren't followed closely at all.
#2,,, and this is an Engraver's thing,,it looks like the person that did the engraving of the lettering orig lettered it as :
.....73St James Street
Then realized or was informed of the mistake and
added/squeezed in the 's on to James to form James's
The way out of wack spacing betw the James's and Street is almost a sure sign of correcting a mistake in the lettering.
The other thing it can point to is that it was done by a #1.

By comparison, the lock plate lettering looks better. But there is little of it and it is harder to see in the pic.

Just some things that I see. Simple observations.

I contacted Boss. Serial number 1664 is a pinfire gun made in 1859. This gun was never a pinfire. The auction company incorrectly assumed the patent use number on the water table was the Serial number. ( see pics) Rookies! Boss can't tell me anything as it has no serial number. My friend at my gun club has a Boss from the same era and the engraving and lettering on the locks is spot on match. The engraving on this gun us actually deeper and nicer than what shows in the pictures. Diggory Hadoke was stumped as well. The gun also has heel and toe plates. The locks are wonderful inside.

OK, so tell us how well it shoots.