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Used for seals with ball perhaps??

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Seals? Could be, Imperdix. In any case a curious addition, and we might never know why it was so modified.

Continuing on the subject of guns made by 'the trade', we have to move from the shores of France back to Birmingham. The Gun Quarter is a district of the city that was for many years a major centre of the world's gun-manufacturing industry, specialising in the production of military firearms, trade guns, and sporting guns. It was bounded by Steelhouse Lane, Shadwell Street and Loveday Street, and was close to the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal.

Historically Birmingham had many water mills, and starting in the 16th century mills originally used for grinding corn were switched over to industrial uses. By the 17th century mills were used for grinding blades, for both agricultural and military purposes. In time the aggregation of skilled metal workers led to gun production, and the mills were used for the grinding and polishing of barrels. Gunmaking gradually centered on the Weaman estate around Whittall Street, located near Kettle's Steel Houses, factories dating from the 1730s that processed steel (for which Steelhouse Lane was named). The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal was completed in 1789, facilitating the route from the 'Black Country' (the West Midlands region west of Birmingham known for its coal, iron and steel). In 1767 there were 62 workshops involved in gunmaking in the Quarter, but by 1815 there were 125, by 1829 there were 455, and by 1868 there were 578 gun firms operating in the Gun Quarter.

There were also quite a few trades associated with the gun "trade," as the parts, and putting together of the parts, requires specialist attention. In an 1861 directory for Birmingham, the following gun-related trades were listed: gun and pistol makers, barrel makers, barrel smoothers, barrel browners, barrel riflers, break-off fitters and forgers, breech makers, finishers, furniture makers, implement makers, implement and barrel filers, lock makers, nipple manufacturers, rib forgers, gun and rifle sight makers, screwers, stockers, stock dealers, stock finishers, stock polishers and varnishers, and gun wadding makers.

In the late 19th century, Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham (1885) summarized the following: "...it may not be uninteresting to enumerate the manifold branches into which the trade has been divided... till late years most of them being carried on under different roofs: The first portion, or "makers", include stock-makers, barrel welders, borers, grinders, filers, and breechers; rib makers, breech forgers and stampers; lock forgers, machiners, and filers; furniture forgers, casters, and filers; rod forgers, grinders, polishers, and finishers; bayonet forgers, socket and ring stampers, grinders, polishers, machiners, hardeners, and filers; band forgers, stampers, machiners, filers, and pin makers; sight stampers, machiners, jointers, and filers; trigger boxes, oddwork makers, &c. The "setters up" include machines, jiggers (lump filers and break-off fitters), stockers, percussioners, screwers, strippers, barrel borers and riflers, sighters and sight-adjusters, smoothers, finishers makers-off, polishers, engravers, browners, lock freers, &c., &c.

The bottom line is that myriad workers were required towards achieving the end goal of having a named "gunmaker" place a finished gun in the hands of a client, and most of those workers operated in and around Birmingham's Gun Quarter. A famous London firm, or one of any in Birmingham or the regions, could order parts, or a barrelled action, or a gun requiring final finishing work, or a finished engraved gun complete with the maker's name, address, and required serial number. All were available, made to any level of quality. Some craftsmen signed their work, leaving initials or other marks to identify their barrel or lock work, or the critical job of actioning and jointing. But mostly the work was anonymous, the craftsmen content to be paid a fair wage, building guns for social classes they would rarely encounter.

Today''s gun is one such gun "built for the trade." It carries no name or address, or any identifiable markings as to who retailed the gun, for a client probably happy to not pay a premium for a name. Was it sold through a provincial maker? A hardware/ironmonger's shop? Directly from a Birmingham back-alley workshop? Impossible to tell.

The gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun, with no serial number. The 30" damascus barrels have Birmingham proofs, and tight bores (measured as 14- and 13-bore). There are barrel maker's marks, "T.W" and "LC," which I've not been able to trace. The bar locks are unsigned, but together with the fluted action body, this was not a cheap gun and while the current condition is poor, when it left the workshop it would have been a stylish gun. The engraving is above-average, with breech ends with fine starburst detailing at the pinfire apertures, decorated serpentine fences, classic rounded hammers and shaped noses, and engraving in areas normally left hidden. It has the short top strap typically found on guns with bar locks. The stock is nicely figured, and the fore-end has an attractive horn inlay. Not surprisingly in a gun of this outward appearance, the bores are pitted at the breech. The gun weighs 7 lb 8 oz.

Now I know why so many books on antique guns use black-and-white pictures - colour shows off all the imperfections!

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Last edited by Steve Nash; 02/04/21 06:01 PM.
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When I was offered a Jeffery pinfire, I was very pleased. The Jeffery family of gunmakers, from Poole, Plymouth, Lymington, Dorchester, and Farnham has always interested me. Having seen examples of their early fine provincial muzzle-loaders, and their later London centre-fire guns, had me imagining what a Jeffery pinfire might look like, with great anticipation. To my disappointment, it turned out the gun was signed Jeffrey, not Jeffery. As I would later realize, confusing the two spellings is common in on-line gun discussions, and even in the 19th century the name caused confusion -- an early business record for a gun maker William Jeffrey in Farnham, Surrey, turns out to have been a misprint of his name.

The gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun of typical form, of the kind commonly made in the Birmingham trade in the late 1860s. It has a serial number, 483, which may be from the original maker, or the retailer. The gun has 30" damascus barrels, stamped "roses patent" and "No. 20," indicating they were made by the Rose Brothers of the Hales-Owen Mills & Forge, under their patent for making machine-forged damascus barrel tubes. These were a cheaper option than hand-forged barrels, and can be found on guns built for the trade appearing under any name. Knowing the Rose Brothers barrels were British-made might have had an appeal, as reportedly most gun barrel tubes in the trade were sourced from Belgium, though British-proofed. The barrels have Birmingham proofs and barrel makers' marks "HT" and "E.C." (the latter possibly for Edwin Cook, barrel maker 1867-1878). The top rib is signed "Jeffrey London", as are the back-action locks. The name is probably as close to London this gun ever got, and adding "London" was a common marketing ploy for selling lesser-grade Birmingham guns in towns and villages, for the big-city cachet. Was the Jeffrey name that of an ironmonger? Possibly. Or was it an attempt to trick a buyer by using a respectable-sounding name? Perhaps, but I suspect I'll never know. In any case there are no recorded gunmakers at the time with the name "Jeffrey", as far as I can find.

While an inexpensive gun with dubious markings, it is nevertheless adequately made, and typical of guns put up by the Birmingham trade. The fences are well shaped, the hammer noses curiously long and smooth, a radius has been cut to strengthen the action bar, and the form of the under-lever, lacking a central fixing screw visible from below, is oddly attractive. The generic "trade" engraving and overall plainness does mark the gun as a basic offering, though when new it must have looked quite handsome to someone with a limited purse. The gun has seen considerable use, the bores are pitted, and it weighs 7 lb 9 oz.

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If anyone has an actual Jeffery pinfire, I'd like to see it!

Last edited by Steve Nash; 02/04/21 06:02 PM.
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Steve, this is the most amazing line I've seen on DGS. I learn stuff every day and have to go back to read each post again. And am tempted to delve into the society, politics and war-fighting of the era from the newspapers just to understand the guns.

The problem with writing a book is the amount of information one has. IIs the book a story or an academic exercise? The nice thing about these posts is that they are both!

Please keep it up. This line is a must-have reference work.

Last edited by Argo44; 09/04/20 11:43 PM.

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Argo44, thanks for the kind words. I strongly believe the only way to understand the pinfire and early breech-loaders in Britain is by looking at the wider picture of society, class, politics, and current events. The arrival of the pinfire coincided with the boom in rail travel, product advertising, and industry, and a growing (but not distributed) wealth. This was wealth often made from the backs of powerless workers, and in some instances derived from slave labour on distant plantations. Against this grimy backdrop was the British desire for country pursuits, for which shooting, either for competition, sport, or the dinner table, was a major pastime.

The view count on this thread is steadily increasing, which I hope is an indication of interest in the subject matter, arcane as it is. I encourage readers that have been silent so far to join in, there must be other pinfires lurking in collections, all are welcome here!

Continuing with Birmingham guns, here is another marked "London," again.

The "London" address has always been the most desirable to have on a sporting gun. It speaks of wealth and prestige, and infers a degree of elitism that other addresses did not attain -- addresses that were a stone's throw from posh members-only clubs, and alongside shops catering to the upper echelons of a highly stratified society. For many gun makers, a London address was de rigeur, situated as closely as possible to their desired clientele, be they nobility, politicians, businessmen, professionals, officers, or just wealthy sportsmen. In truth though, very few "London" guns were actually made in London, or built from parts made in London. As I've covered before, the vast majority of component parts, and a great many of the guns themselves, were made in Birmingham. A London maker could order from a Birmingham supplier anything ranging from individual parts, to a fully finished gun engraved with the London maker's name, address and serial number, and decorated to suit. Some London firms chose to perform most of their own work on the highest grades of guns, with lesser grades built entirely for them in Birmingham workshops. This seemed to be a better use of the more expensive London craftsmen, but if required, the small Gun Quarter workshops could put up "Best" work as fine as any London firm, for a price.

Birmingham also made the guns sold throughout Britain, again supplying anything from parts to finished guns. By my count, over 500 gunmakers were in operation outside of London and Birmingham during all or at least part of the later 1850s and 1860s, all depending on Birmingham to some extent. It would have been tempting to provincial makers to exaggerate one's business credentials, especially if it would help sell wares. A spuriously London-marked gun was simply canny advertising, though untruthful. But then again, what do you call a Birmingham-made gun retailed by a London maker with their name and address on the rib? You could nevertheless argue that the London maker's reputation was on the line with every gun that carried their name, and high standards and quality control had to be maintained.

Today's gun presents what appears to be a white lie, a maker's real name but with what may be a spurious London address. James Bott was born in 1826, and he established a business first at 8 Great Russell Street, Birmingham (date unknown), and in 1853 he set up as a gun maker at 67 Weaman Street (this corresponds well to having apprenticed at age 14, serving 7 years as apprentice, then 5-6 years as a journeyman, before opening his business). His was a successful gun making business, going through various address changes in the 1880s and 1890s, becoming James Bott & Son, and finally being sold to Joseph Bourne & Son in 1903. Bott probably supplied parts and guns to the trade, and he marketed guns under his own name -- which he may have made, or ordered from others. The small-scale sporting gun business was very convoluted in nature at the best of times.

The gun is a 12-bore, and it has no serial number. I'm guessing it was made in the mid- to later-1860s. The 29 15/16" damascus barrels have Birmingham proofs, and the top rib is signed "Patent Damascus JAs. Bott & Compy. Strand London." Herein lies the problem, as there are no patent marks on the barrels or the gun, and there is no record of James Bott having an address in London at the time, never mind the fashionable Strand thoroughfare in Westminster, central London (though he did obtain a London address much later in 1890, at 38 Lime Street East in the Langbourn ward). There are also no business records of a company, though it is possible that Bott used a London-based agent or partner, perhaps a jeweller or other trader who could move his goods. If he did so, there are no records or evidence of such an arrangement, and furthermore, that level of business was probably beyond the capacity of a small operation employing at most a handful of men. The fact that other Bott arms have been similarly marked (a James Bott pinfire revolver was recently sold at auction, and it carried a "J. BOTT & Co,, PATENT STRAND LONDON" barrel inscription). This suggests it was a general practice to augment his sales, or there is more to the Bott business than has been recorded so far. However, no London business directory has ever listed a "James Bott & Co.," and if such a business had existed, it would have been widely advertised.

The gun has the ubiquitous double-bite screw grip action, and the back-action locks are unsigned. It has a handsomely engraved top strap and nicely shaped hammers, but is otherwise a standard-grade Birmingham pinfire without any remarkable features. The condition is poor and worn, with damaged and missing hammer screws, and the fore-end is missing its horn finial. The bores are pitted, and the gun weighs 7 lb 10 oz.

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Last edited by Steve Nash; 02/04/21 06:04 PM.
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Great post. Here are a couple of thoughts.

1) This is a letter to the editor (a personal sort of feud) to "The Field" 14 Aug 1855. The author states what was "commonly known": That London gun makers were essentially finishers:


2). However, re pin-fire breech-loaders, we have not yet established when Birmingham actually began to make a breech-loader. Steve, you previously mentioned early 1860's. I posted a census entry from April 1861 re Breedon advertising himself as a breech-loader action maker. But that's the earliest found. So who made those Lang, Reilly, Blanch breech loader actions and lump barrels in the 1855-57 period...or the H. Holland and Purdey pin-fire breech-loaders in 1857-58 etc. if not London?


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I think pictured earlier is a Richard Jeffery of Guildford. Dougall Lockfast action , actioned by J Wilkes. There were others with that "exact" last name.

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Originally Posted By: Daryl Hallquist
I think pictured earlier is a Richard Jeffery of Guildford. Dougall Lockfast action , actioned by J Wilkes. There were others with that "exact" last name.

Yes! Beautiful gun, and the real deal.

Spuriously named guns were enough of a problem that by the 1880s gunmakers collectively advertised and published the correct name and address formulations that should appear on their guns, to fight the scourge of mostly foreign counterfeits.

I will get to the subject of store-marked guns shortly, another source of confusing names.

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Originally Posted By: Argo44
So who made those Lang, Reilly, Blanch breech loader actions and lump barrels in the 1855-57 period...or the H. Holland and Purdey pin-fire breech-loaders in 1857-58 etc. if not London?

Argo44, I believe the first pinfires by Lang, Reilly and Blanch were made in London, as much as any gun was made in London at the time. The locks would have been sourced from the Black Country, barrel tubes from Birmingham or other local forges, or imported from Belgium, actioned in London, proofed in London, and finished by the aforementioned London firms, and possibly others.

It would not have taken long for Birmingham to start developing its own actioning skills, and perhaps the Field trials marked the point when the pinfire became a viable direction for the industry to take. On the basis there were so few pinfire game guns in circulation prior to the trials, maybe 1859 is the point from which the Birmingham trade started to take notice. It would have had to coincide with an increased demand for the guns from the sporting public, a demand that was being promoted first and foremost by the key London makers.

Here is a modern breech-loading action forging, probably not far removed from what the first action filers obtained from Birmingham forges. Perhaps someone knows how many hours of work with hand tools it would have taken to transform a forging such as this into a finished action?

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That action is powerful statement...which bring me back to the 11 Dec 2019 Gavin Gardner catalog, which offered a bunch of unfinished actions...including one identified specifically as E.M Reilly. Who made them? When? Why were they identified for specific makers? That was history; The seller knew who made them, where, under what contract, why. I never got an answer from Gavin.

Here are the actions he advertise at that auction
http://www.gavingardiner.com/bidcat/cata...&offset=120
-- Lot 143 - a T Bland & sons action casting
-- Lot 144 - Reilly 4 bore action
-- Lot 145 - Parts for a 4 Bore W Tolley action
-- Lot 146 - Parts for a 4 bore W. Tolley action
-- Lot 147 - Parts for a 4 bore Army-Navy action
-- Lot 148 - A pair of 20 bore actions for Henry Atkin type self-opening side-lock

Reilly 4 bore action:



Last edited by Argo44; 09/08/20 12:06 AM.

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