I have an English Wm Lee 12 bore hammerless
sidelock. Does anyone have any information about this maker?

any address?

William Lee, Gun and Rifle makers
5 1/2 Fleet Street, Birmingham 1860-61
Ct. 9 Lancaster St. Birmingham 1862-71
21 Weaman Row, Birmingham 1872-75
28 Lancaster St. Birmingham 1876-1905

Thank you. No, no address. Appears to have been re-barreled at one point in it's life, as it now has nitro proofed barrels. Gorgeous gun, beautiful walnut, ebony tipped Schnabel splinter forend and buffalo horn butt plate with widow peak. Hoping to get as much info as possible to have when I offer it for sale.

How do you decide it has been re-barelled ?. Unless its marked as such. Could well be original nitro proof ?. The proof marks will tell the story.

I was told that it most likely was because there are no details stamped on the barrels. Maybe this person was wrong? How can I tell?

Many, many guns were produced and sold with the 'makers' name marked on the action only. The absence of barrel or rib markings in no way signifies rebarrelling.
You need to post some good close-up photos of the marks on the barrel flats and also the action flats and go from there.The proof marks for Nitro generally started in 1896 and were altered in 1904.For example if your gun has barrel flat markings from 1896 or later and an action flats marking from an earlier period then it may well have been rebarrelled but I would say there is very little chance of that.

I have a couple of photos, how do I go about posting them on here?

Don't have a clue about posting pics but I think thee must be instructions somewhere on the site

Posting pics is easy to this site.

Step 1) Google ‘imgbb’ free web hosting site.

Step 2) Click on the ‘start uploading’ blue tab in the middle of the screen.

Step 3) choose which file you have the pic(s) saved to.

Step 4) select the pic you want to post.

Step 5) hit the ‘green upload’ tab.

Step 6) click on ‘embed codes’ select ‘bbcode thumbnail link’

Step7) click on ‘copy’

Step 8) paste the copied link onto the reply box of this site, then hit submit.





They appears in thumbnail size, just click onto the pic to view full size. This tutorial works with your computer or with, what I’m using Apple product iPad and or iPhone. It’s fee and you don’t have to save pics to imgbb. Easy Peazy…

Posting pics is easy to this site.

Step 1) Google ‘imgbb’ free web hosting site.

Step 2) Click on the ‘start uploading’ blue tab in the middle of the screen.

Step 3) choose which file you have the pic(s) saved to.

Step 4) select the pic you want to post.

Step 5) hit the ‘green upload’ tab.

Step 6) click on ‘embed codes’ select ‘bbcode thumbnail link’

Step7) click on ‘copy’

Step 8) paste the copied link onto the reply box of this site, then hit submit.





They appears in thumbnail size, just click onto the pic to view full size. This tutorial works with your computer or with, what I’m using Apple product iPad and or iPhone. It’s fee and you don’t have to save pics to imgbb. Easy Peazy…

Hope this works.

https://ibb.co/album/bJmKyv

Only took me three times!!!


Thank you for your patience with me! Much appreciated

Pics do the job !. Firstly are you sure these pics are of a 12b, the second pic shows proof marks of a .410 ?. Anyway I would say that the gun was originally proofed, probably for Black Powder only, some time prior to August 1904 and was subsequently re-proofed for Nitro sometime between 1904 and 1925.(The action flats show the pre and post 1904 View marks).
Maybe not relevant to the original question but the wood looks like its been replaced with a qualty piece of walnut. Finally is the r/hand cocking dog misaligned in some way ?

410? That's interesting. It's a 12 bore. Choked tight and wide open. I imagine it was built for driven bird hunting. Based on the condition of the wood when I got it, it was original to the gun. You couldn't even see the grain through the grime. The checkering was nearly smooth, filled with gunk. I have seen no evidence of it being replaced. I do not know what you mean about the cocking rod. Overall the gun functions fine. I used to use it with low pressure loads that I made up. Great gun. PS: any idea what it may be worth? Does the fact that it was re-barreled have effect the value? I'm going to sell, along with all the rest of my meager accumulation of firearms.