doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A James Woodward prototype?

Text and photos by F. Neuberger
In summer 2000, at a remote and forlorn location in central
Europe I came across a sleek thoroughbred J. Woodward sidelock
16-bore, in the calibre of our grandfathers. Nr. one
of a pair, had the typical elements of a Woodward, the close scroll engraving, arcaded fences and english stock.At the given
environment and with my background in gunshows and auctions,
I have to admit that I have been taken in by this gun. It was
only a tiny element on the sideplate of the gun by which I
thought initially that my memory is weakening, but finally it
arose my suspicion. The linking letter between the words
Woodwards and Sons has not been "&" but the letter "A"
followed by a dot.
I took the gun apart and opened the locks.
The barrels had the Whitworth logo (sheaf of wheat) and what
looked like an English preproof. The final proof has been
Weipert-nitro from 1912, but no English one.
It had no typical 4 digit serial-nr, neither on the action
nor on the barrelflats nor on the triggerguard tang.
The lockplates had no Brazier/Stanton/Chilton script nor
any of the lesser known Wolverhampton gunlock makers nor
JW&S. One barrel had on the outside "JAMES WOODWARD A SONS
64 ST. JAMES.S STREET LONDON N.W.",
the other "MADE OF SIR JOSEPH WHITWORTH FLUID PRESSED STEEL".
The inside of the barrels were heavily pitted, in need
for rebarreling or sleeving.
When I left I told the owner that I have some doubts on the
authenticity of the gun. He answered that I am joking.
I asked Purdey's who own the Woodward name and records
if any pair of 16-bores up to 1912 went to central Europe.
Their answer was no.
We are now 16 years later and some changes to the English
guntrade have occured since then.
I recall a wellknown Birmingham gunmaker who introduced a
second product-line with the name of "Heritage". A word
which melts on the tongue and conjures pictures of guns
handed down from one generation to the next. In this case
a glorious sales pitch as it named a Birmingham gun
sourced from Spain. More recently even in the Holy-Grail
of London gunmaking is now a O/U sporter sourced from Italy. Lets go back one hundred years, before WWI. This part of
central Europe has been the powerhouse of the process- and manufacturing-industry and as well gunmaking.With that in mind there may be more alternatives to decipher this gun
1. This is the prototype of a Woodward heritage productline, the barrelsteel sourced from England and more cost-efficiently completed on the continent in Weipert than in London's mayfair. (Springer used many Kilby barrels,some even from Whitworth steel). Few months after the 1912-proof the
horror of WWI started and the project never materialized,
2. This is simply a straightforward fake. Purdey and
Holland were household items in the big feudal estates
of central Europe. Why not rather counterfeit the wellknown names than a relatively unknown Woodward?
3. This is a one-off exercise of an eccentric collector who commissioned a "home-made" pair to fool his hunting-buddies with a "rare English pair".
4.....
A scholar on gun-engraving may find that the scrolls show "continental stiffness", but otherwise a nice piece of
a gun.
As there is no timewitness anymore alive, the genesis of this gun will remain a mystery and has faded into history.

Sideplate with the questionable scriptlink "A."
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/50549

Sideview incl safety
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/50551

Bottom of action
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/50552

Barrelflat with final Weipert-nitro proof of 1912 and a Prague reproof of 1960
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/50553

Whitworth logo on underside of barrel
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/50554

"...Whitworth fluid pressed steel" script on barrel
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/50555

" ..Woodward ..St.James street ..." script on barrel,
the same "A." link in use here
http://www.jpgbox.com/page/50557

PS: Douglas Tate in his book "Birmingham gunmakers" has
on page 117 a James Woodward & Sons boxlock made by
Webley & Scott

Hello Felix,
Fake and "rechristened" guns abound...
I have a "Francotte" DR that never saw the Liege sun, being obviously German.
I also have a Purdey DR which had been rebarelled by Fraser, whose name was erased from the rib and replaced by a sort of fake "Purdey".
The "A." vs "&" sure raises the question.
Proof marks can usually tell the difference between a gross fake and a real gem.
Also my 2 Woodwards have the JWS touchmark on the bottom of the barrels.
The best in this case would be to double checked JW&S records vs the gun in question.
Fortunately, this is easy, just call Purdey.
The presence of a Woodward in Central Europe is very unusual. It seems like Woodward did not export much at all.
Unlike other vendors, such as Westley, Holland, Lancaster and Purdey, I have very rarely seen a JW gun that had not been sold in the UK to a British man.
The only exception I know of are US sold Over & Unders.

However, the War has been a great meddler of guns as the Germans took everything in sight, and those guns were later "liberated" by allied troops in 45. That one could certainly have been picked by an Eastern block soldier.
So I guess everything is possible...
Good luck in your research.
WC-

If it really said ""Sir Whitworth" the barrels are fake. It was always and would be correct to write "Sir Joseph Whitworth". There is no way Woodwards would have got this wrong back in their day.

Tim

I have edited above the barrel-script text as I can see it from the photo.
Its all uppercase.
Felix Neuberger

I've seen the odd T. Woodward changed to J. Woodward with a little extra to the 'T'. James Woodwards normally had a distinctive shaped safety catch. Lagopus.....