doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Westley Richards droplock question

"Gun Trade" was area by area moving to country by country and now moving to global. Demand and demand for given quality grades is not constant. Neither is supply of materials nor supply of skilled labor. At any given time, WR might have been busy with high grade guns and bought-in a lower grade. Equally, at any other given time, they might have had a backlog of lower grade orders and had to send out higher grade work to the most skilled out-workers. The trade is constantly adjusting to demand. Learning to identify original quality grade is far more important than learning makers' names. Most makers supplied a wide range of OQ. So, you are ill advised to try to use maker's name as a surigate for quality.

True, "name" is often used as a crutch by those with little knowledge, but that observation usually draws some flack around here.

400NE,

So often we agree.

Curl

Westley ran an assembly line off the rack business.
Really very few quality Westley Richards pieces around.
They were the king of the boxlock following.

Almost ALL of the between-the-wars Birmingham guns were top quality. Compare a $10K current manufacture Spanish gun with a Birmy. Not quite up to the fit of the Birmy but not bad. Now if you want to talk about grade Birmingham certainly made some low grade guns - but still excellent quality. Those gunmakers were turning out many many guns and got really really good at their jobs.

Best,

Mike

Westley's guns went to the four corners of the earth(export no doubt). Not many played on the pricey moors, which were pretty much the domain of the London sidelock ejector.
Does a gentleman need to know his locks - I'ma thinkin' no, maybe his loader does, but not the gun.
Hell, thats what the help is for eh!

Lowell it's rumored you got badly burnt by a Westley Richards ?

A link to a powell with out a doll's head

http://www.gun-vault.com/pow20.htm

A beauty in my opinion!!!!!!!!!

H&H

That is the A&S made HDBLE for Powell on Gun Vault on Fox Hill

Sir Glenthorne was NEVER burnt by any Brit double. However, his heart WAS broken one time with the departure of his beautiful Lang, damscus tubes and all.

By the way , my 1890 Westley is top o' the line drop-dead gorgeous, from the damascus barrels to the retriever engraved trigger guard to the classic WR heavily engraved W-I-D-E top-lever. And yes, the doll's got a doll's-head rib extension. No droplocks, however - they were still 7 years away. No tears, though. I'm getting old, regrets are fewer with each passing day.