doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Unknown BP Side-Lever 12 ga

I would like to identify a double barrel SxS side-lever shotgun that I own.

This gun has no markings other than the British proofs [1813-1904 type].

It is tight, has checkered walnut stock, 30 inch barrels and engraved steel (going to plum color) with a very light peppering of scattered surface rust.

Following the thousand word theory, attached are pics.

Anyone recognize this piece or have and hints that would lead me to the pedigree?

Wow. A left handed side lever. I am interested in the answers to you questions.

Possibly one of the many Belgium guns imported into England and proofed in Birmingham? Or fake proof marks that the English trade had such serious problems with. Not a high quality gun IMO. Figure on barrels may be fake, applied with acid soaked thread wrapped around plain iron barrel that may have been drawn in a rolling mill from a short blank, similar to how musket barrels were made in the 1860's. All this is just a guess and I'll be equally interested in others comments.

Enos James (left) sidelever in the 1881 Folsom catalog



My ancestors only recently evolved opposable thumbs, but the left position is more comfortable for me The very few Belgian fake proofmarks that I've seen are much more crude, and these look legit. And the barrels appear to be genuine stub twist, though I agree with Joe's observation regarding the 'browning' rubbing off at the breech end of the right barrel.
If one of our English correspondents could identify the 'AB' barrel maker, possibly it might be a hint as to the gun maker.

I've seen other, very similar guns that carried the Greener name. The last one I saw that looked like this gun was marked "W. Wellington". Not best quality by any means, but definetly not a low quality gun. Has a couple very nice features that could've been skipped to save on cost.

Looks like the Enos James 430 might be it. Certainly a close relative. This does have rebounding hammers, and yes, I too find the left lever to be easier to use on account of how my right thumb is on that same side of its respective hand.

Looked through my files for a (not great) example of suspect proof marks. This is a "John Buckingham" with rib marked "England Laminated Steel" and sure appears to be JABC.
I could certainly be mistaken.

Looks to have several Birminham features . As it has been restocked I wonder if the steel heel plate and pistol grip cap is original .

I have an E.James from Birmingham that's very similar as well

I have a 12ga hammer double marked W Richards which has a left hand side lever. Whether they are real or faked I really don't know but this gun has Birmingham proofs. It is definitely "Not" either a Westley or William Richards made gun. Although in rather poor condition it appears it was likely just a bit better built than most of the Belgian proofed guns I have seen carrying this W Richards mark. It also appears to have been proofed prior to 1887.
The finish on the bbls of this gun are long gone, but the spirals of "Real" twist are still quite evident.

I'm still pointing my finger towards Belgium. The gun exhibits even lower quality than the plainest English guns I've run across. Possibly real proofs but for a period of time I understand that wasn't uncommon. Doesn't anyone else see the clues in the twist pattern that seem suspicious? Maybe my old eyes are failing me.......

2-piper,
W. Richards was one off the names applied to guns made by J.P. Clabrough.
The available models were described in an 1886 job sheet from John P. Moore's Sons of New York.

Steve;
Thanks for that info. My gun may well be one of these Clabrough models.

Any gun imported into Britain that was not Proofed would have to go through one of the two Proof Houses before it could legally be sold. So, the Proof marks don't alway correspond to the country in which it was made; although they are a reasonable indication in most cases. For example I have an Ithaca pump action with London Proof marks and an L.C.Smith with Birmingham marks. Neither made here. The gun looks like one that was made in Belgium but imported part finished and proofed here. Guns like that do turn up and can have all sorts of names on the top rib. It could have been made in Belgium then imported into Britain where it was engraved, hardened and the barrels browned; sent for Proof and sold on. Not an uncommon practice with lower value guns. Lagopus.....

Nigel Brown lists Alfred Bruton, Barrelmaker in Birmingham circa 1890, a bit late for this gun ? although he could have been in business earlier.
Littlegun.be lists an Alphonse Bernard and there is something about him using AB in an oval. Document dated 1855 but its written in a foreign language. Don't know if he was gunmaker or barrelmaker. Had another look at the document and it certainly seems to refer to a type of damascus.