Hi RA,
I do not claim to be an expert on the British gun trade. And the more that I learn, the more complicated it seems to get. Apparently a gun might go thru any number of specialist workers to the trade on its way to completion.
I do have a number of guns with the initials "J.A." stamped under the barrels, just forward of the barrel flats. On my guns these initials do not appear to be a prefix to any serial number, though. And although I understand that stamp indicates that Joseph Asbury supplied the barrels, and perhaps machined the actions, any number of other Birmingham outworkers or gunmakers to the trade may have had a hand in finishing these guns up, for yet another gunmaker who actually sold it.
