doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com speculations about the 2" chambered gun

My Birmingham boxlocks weigh 5# even, 5 # 2 oz and 5 #4.5 oz, all three were made in the early-to-mid-1930s.

Not sure that they are really better in the field than a 20b of similar weight, but they sure are interesting, and I am glad to have them.

Austin, it would be a couple of days before I could check the wall thickness on mine as I have to use a friend's gauge. Maybe Redoak has an idea about his. The 5 pound one is a very light example. Lagopus.....

No speculation, from my conversation with Frank Wiseman who now owns the Skimmin & Wood brand or his sons now own the brand because Frank was quite advanced in years when I talked with him.
Sam Skimmin was a marketeer, he marketed guns all over the world in places such as New Zealand. He also developed tooling for the 2" 12 gauge action and marketed the gun. Those actions were jobbed out in Birmingham where the trade had gun makers that would specialized in stocks, barrels or what have you. Purchase the action, engrave and mark, put barrels and stock and sell.
I have an A&F 2' 12, have an original 1939 A&F catalog listing the gun in two grades, so listed in A&F records and made for A&F by Tolley.
Frank Wiseman's father worked fro Sam Skimmin off and on over the years and Sam gave him work when things were tough. When I asked Frank about Skimmin & Wood records, he replied, "You know, we had a War"! Lost in the Blitz.
I asked Frank if he could make me a new 2" 12 and he replied that the tooling was lost.
Rumor is that barrels may have been proofed and then honed to lighten the gun further, who knows?
What I do know is that the 2" Brit boxlock 12, will not pass this way again.-Dick

http://www.fjwiseman.co.uk/about.html

Austin & Lagopus,

All 3 of my 2" guns have 26" barrels.

They spec out as follows:

A. Sanders, Maidstone, gun wgt. 5# 0.2 oz, bbl wgt. 2# 2.8 oz, min. wall @ end of chamber (@ start of forcing cone), Rt. .093", Lft. .088", 9" from breech, Rt. .030", Lft. 0.030".

H. Monk, Chester, gun wgt. 5# 1.7 oz, bbl wgt. 2# 3.5 oz, end of ch., Rt. .088", Lft. .090", 9" from breech, Rt. .035", Lft. .036".

W. Hodgson, Ripon, gun wgt. 5# 4.5 oz, bbl wgt. 2# 4.8 oz, end of ch., Rt..090", Lft. .092", 9" from breech, Rt. .039", Lft. .035"

These wall thicknesses were measured on a homemade device, but I believe that they are reasonably accurate.

The Sanders may (or may not) have been assembled by Skimmin & Wood, but I have reason to believe that the Monk & the Hodgson are by a different Birmingham maker.

Does anyone have a Brit 2" gun proofed under the 1954 ("tons") rules? Those guns were supposedly given a reduced level of proof, but I can't recall what the service pressure limit was other than that it was less than 3 tons. Thanks.

Redoak, Henry Monk is still in business in Chester http://henrymonkltd.co.uk/ I wonder if he has any information? Lagopus.....

Larry,

That would be interesting, wouldn't it? One would think that those 2" guns proofed under the 1954 rules that you mentioned could have been made even lighter yet. But perhaps the demand for lightweight guns had started to wane by then.

As I mentioned, my 2" guns are all proof marked in the 1930s.