March
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online Now
6 members (Marc Ret, Argo44, LGF, Ian Forrester, Ted Schefelbein, LeFusil), 823 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums10
Topics38,374
Posts544,009
Members14,391
Most Online1,131
Jan 21st, 2024
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#532541 12/31/18 11:53 AM
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 84
Likes: 1
PL Offline OP
Sidelock
**
OP Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 84
Likes: 1
I am looking for information/history on an English gun maker named John Foster. The Shotgun in question is marked

J. Foster, 7. Duke St Darlington.

thank you
PL

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,264
Likes: 196
Sidelock
***
Offline
Sidelock
***

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,264
Likes: 196
John Foster was a long time gunmaker/gunsmith/barrel sleever. I have seen a few rather nice guns with his name on them. Well finished from probably a Birmingham start, or similar. He retired a few years ago and someone else took over the business.

This should get you closer to him, if you wish.

http://www.johnfostergunmaker.co.uk/

Last edited by Daryl Hallquist; 12/31/18 12:12 PM.
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 84
Likes: 1
PL Offline OP
Sidelock
**
OP Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 84
Likes: 1
Thank you Daryl.

I did find the link you provided in my initial google search and sent them an email but did not receive a response. I also found reference to a "John Foster" in Vic Venter's book about the "Scales" Purdey. I was hoping to find out more about this gun maker as I am researching a small bore that he apparently built in 1981 that is quite nice.

PL

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,960
Likes: 89
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,960
Likes: 89
Met him several times at the Vegas gun show and always the gentleman. Great visits and I loved and appreciated his comments and critiques of various arms at the show.


When an old man dies a library burns to the ground. (Old African proverb)
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 532
Likes: 1
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 532
Likes: 1
One of the things he did beautifully was seamless stock extensions with well-matched figure and grain. When he retired, there was no one who could do his quality work on stock extensions, until Mark Larson (now in Vancouver, Washington), a professional artist as well as a lover of guns and hunting, got into this line of work. Now Mark is the man for anyone who wants a beautifully done stock extension with matched figure and grain.


Rich
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 16
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 16
Foster Gunmakers were (are?) a licensed UK firearms exporter. I used his services to import a Harkom 16 a number of years ago. No problems.


C Man
Life is short
Quit your job.
Turn off the TV.
Go outside and play.
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 915
Likes: 243
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: May 2008
Posts: 915
Likes: 243
Originally Posted By: RichardBrewster
One of the things he did beautifully was seamless stock extensions with well-matched figure and grain. When he retired, there was no one who could do his quality work on stock extensions, ....


The Birminghanm gunmaker who more than 40-50 years ago allowed John Foster to visit his gun shop and observe and learn the proper way to sleeve shotgun barrels (and who apprenticed as a stocker at S. Wright & Sons, or Churchill's I cannot remember,60 plus years ago) continues to work well into his mid seventies producing stock work the quality and beauty that others (both retired and still working) in the gun trade tried and try to emulate. From time to time some of this Birmingham gunmaker's shotguns (BLE's) with his name engraved on the action appear at auctions in the UK.

Last edited by bushveld; 01/11/19 07:33 PM.
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,264
Likes: 196
Sidelock
***
Offline
Sidelock
***

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,264
Likes: 196
Here's a nice John Foster gun.




Last edited by Daryl Hallquist; 01/12/19 10:18 AM.
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,688
Likes: 31
Sidelock
**
Offline
Sidelock
**

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,688
Likes: 31
Bushveld ,
Pray , who may that be?

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711
Likes: 730
Sidelock
**
Online Content
Sidelock
**

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,711
Likes: 730



Originally Posted By: salopian
Bushveld ,
Pray , who may that be?



I was wondering the same thing.

Best,
Ted

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Link Copied to Clipboard

doublegunshop.com home | Welcome | Sponsors & Advertisers | DoubleGun Rack | Doublegun Book Rack

Order or request info | Other Useful Information

Updated every minute of everyday!


Copyright (c) 1993 - 2024 doublegunshop.com. All rights reserved. doublegunshop.com - Bloomfield, NY 14469. USA These materials are provided by doublegunshop.com as a service to its customers and may be used for informational purposes only. doublegunshop.com assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in these materials. THESE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT-ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. doublegunshop.com further does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials. doublegunshop.com shall not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including without limitation, lost revenues or lost profits, which may result from the use of these materials. doublegunshop.com may make changes to these materials, or to the products described therein, at any time without notice. doublegunshop.com makes no commitment to update the information contained herein. This is a public un-moderated forum participate at your own risk.

Note: The posting of Copyrighted material on this forum is prohibited without prior written consent of the Copyright holder. For specifics on Copyright Law and restrictions refer to: http://www.copyright.gov/laws/ - doublegunshop.com will not monitor nor will they be held liable for copyright violations presented on the BBS which is an open and un-moderated public forum.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.0.33-0+deb9u11+hw1 Page Time: 0.109s Queries: 35 (0.078s) Memory: 0.8445 MB (Peak: 1.8987 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2024-03-28 22:10:31 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS