doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reunited True Pair - Input on Options?

"All the men around here shoot Horsley's"

I have the book, "Thomas Horsley Gunmaker of York" autographed by David J. Baker, fantastic book.

Well as requested I've managed to take some mediocre photographs of the pair.
They are classic border only engraving - the standard for many of Horsley's guns and typical of minimalist Yorkshire tastes. The engraving is rather well executed; is some ways simple border engraving is the most difficult since any flaw stands out because it cannot be hidden among multiple scrolls and flourishes.
The initials on each gun make it very clear they were originally E.A.H.'s pair. #2 has a dark patch on the heel of the stock that at first glance looks like a darker wood extension but is not. I think it must have been covered by some sort of add on pad for a period that sheltered the underlying finish of the wood.

'still pondering options on how to handle these, if at all.
By coincidence and a little careful tracking not long after reuniting these I "reunited" another pair that by great coincidence are a perfect fit for me so I don't have much pressure to modify these two to work as a functioning pair for my own dimensions. Perhaps I'll show the other pair if these photos work properly.

(trying a variation on dropbox- we'll see if this works)

Jeremy

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qvl0i26crzm3q7p/EAH-0-web.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/55klar61r6ufw3k/EAH-pair-web.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dod054xgfom5hm4/EAH-web.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dbcsxbtrx32s72e/EAH-2-web.jpg?dl=0

Good advice. Pay heed.
JR

The mania that people have for 2 3/4 instead of 2 1/2" is weird. It does not increase the proof pressure it just makes it easier to shoot longer shells in a gun which is not designed to handle the much higher factory pressures. I agree with others that removing more metal in the area of the highest pressure makes no logical sense. Proper 2 1/2" loads are easily found on the net or reloaded at your reloading bench. The thought of touching off a higher pressure, higher velocity, higher shot charge in one of those guns does not appeal to me or my fillings.

Wow, how lucky that is to re-unite a pair of guns. I agree with most of these guys.
I would concentrate on cosmetically making them match. As far as the stocks, send them to "The Stock Doctor" to have extensions made for both guns.
I would see if the #1 gun could be engraved to signify the "1".
Other than that I would just enjoy the pleasure of having a fine matched pair of English guns.
Oh and yeah there are several sources of 2 1/2" shells available here so that is a non issue.

The records for some Horsley guns are here http://wrichardsguns.co.uk/contact/w.richards-liverpool-ltd.html The also hold the name. Might be interesting to check a bit more into the history. Lagopus.....

Yes, thanks I've reached out to W Richards in the past with no success. I used to have contact with David Baker who also has that information (not surprisingly). I'll try both again now that I have a few other Horsley's it would be interesting to track down more detailed information on. One in particular is one of the "lost" transitional sidelocks reputedly destroyed, as discussed in his excellent book on Horsley. It turns out it wasn't and it has some interesting modifications that make the proposed failures appear more complicated .... but that's another story.

Jeremy

One more piece of information on this pair that I forgot to add to the original post which might amuse some.

Gun #1 dates from 1895
Gun #2 dates from 1901

So there you go. Two guns about as identical as can be, one is an antique the other isn't in BATFE eyes. Laughable really.

Jeremy

This is a pair only in that they were assembled sometime after the first was produced, by an individual who for some reason didn't order a pair of guns to begin with.

I can relate to that kind of constraint.

I have a composed pair of Mossberg 500s, in twelve gauge. They were produced about 30 pheasant seasons apart, and one is the dreaded "New Haven" version, and has been painted black, but, by golly, they ARE a composed pair. I expect the premium I'll be paid for selling this composed pair will compare favorably to the premium you will receive for the Horsleys. But, if the Horsley's had been built together, serial number sequentially, and cased together with tools and what-not, you would do better.

They weren't. Bummer.

Might be a good time to start looking for that generals decendants, and, hoping they have more money than common sense.

Good Luck.


Best,
Ted

I think that is true to a certain extent; however, it is a little more than just buying another gun later. These were ordered from the makers by the individual concerned to be exactly matching from engraving to stock dimensions. Horsley was a small enough business that they didn't appear to traffic much in over the counter generic sales. At least their surviving records contain no real evidence of such. As to value that's not of great concern to me. I don't expect it's much more than the isolated guns combined. I do think it's an interesting pair and story though. They are more a true pair than successive serial number guns sold to separate buyers from that perspective.
Jeremy