Joe,
The London on the gun is for London, Ontario. One of his guns is in the Royal Alberta Museum.
http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/human/govhist/_shotgun.htmJulia's had a 20ga marked with London and Melbourne. See the article below...
This 20ga sold for $8,625 at a Canadian Auction.
Jan. 4, 1982, in Western Ontario Business, page 7. © 1982 - Bowes Publishers Limited:
Produces shotgun for Prince Charles
Skill and patience trigger growth
for Melbourne gun craftsman
By Barry Hoch
It took just two years in business for word of Frank E. Malin’s craftsmanship to span the ocean and reach the discriminating ear of a lad named Prince Charles.
The proprietor of Frank E. Malin and Sons (Gunmakers) Ltd. of Melbourne, 25 miles west of London, Ontario, is busy today handcrafting a 16-gauge shotgun for the bonny prince, a testament of the success that has seen the young firm increase its annual sales eight times over its first-year receipts.
Working in a trade that requires patience and skill, Malin’s firm is the only producer of hand-made, side-by-side shotguns.
In 1979, the company’s first year in business, it recorded sales of $50,000. Now starting its third year, Malin and Sons is projecting sales of close to $400,000.
The sales projections reflect the growth in demand for Malin’s work. When he started he planned to produce about 20 guns a year, but Malin, 38, now finds himself with orders for more than 50 guns, including some for three years down the road.
The shotguns are meticulously hand-engraved and finished and range in price from a little more than $7,000 up to $25,000. An appointed member of The Guild of Master Craftsmen based in England, the firm also completed an order for the Eaton brothers of Toronto earlier this year.
The shotguns produced in the 1,500-square-foot shop at 19 Union St. in Melbourne combine practical function with an investment potential similar to antique cars. The first gun Malin made sold for $2,800 and was recently resold for $7,800, he sold.
The business is developing better than Malin had originally thought and his guns are now sold across North America with sales in England increasing steadily. "Kind of like shipping coal to Newcastle," he said.
In fact, the business is growing at such a rate that Malin is contemplating putting on an addition to the recent company-purchased facility on Union Street to increase the production space to 3,500 square feet.
Malin said he has three more skilled gunmakers coming from England in the next year and other production increases should result in a doubling of the present staff of five people in that time.
Malin, who has 22 years experience in gunmaking, including seven years apprenticeship training in Birmingham, England, with Webley and Scott, came to Canada in 1976 from his native England specifically to set up his own gunmaking operation.
Malin said it took a long time to set up his business since it required a search across Canada and the U.S. for equipment and parts.
A lack of opportunities in his homeland spurred Malin’s decision to come to Canada. When he was finishing his training under the old apprenticeship program, of which he was one of the last graduates, the gunmaking market was saturated with shops. But since coming to Canada the number of gunmakers in England has dropped sharply to only a handful, Malin said.
A small community, such as Melbourne, is well suited to the gunmaking craft. If it were located in a larger centre, even nearby London, the flow of people off the street could cause costly distractions.
One of Malin’s hand-made guns requires between 500 and 1,000 hours of painstaking and attentive work, the sidelocks take about six weeks to produce.
The engraving on the metal parts such as the sidelocks and the rich French walnut stock are typical of the fine detail of the guns which lends them their value and uniqueness.
Blanks for the gun’s stock can cost more than $1,000. The French walnut has been air-dried for at least 30 years and some of the wood has been drying since it was cut at the turn of the century.
Most engraving is tailor-made for the individual purchaser. It features finely detailed patterns such as scrolls, roses, animals, including pheasants and hunting dogs, and even 24-carat gold inlays.
Most of the engraving is supervised or handled by Malin’s partner, Ron Collings. The pair met while apprenticing together in Birmingham.
Malin wanted to produce the finest guns possible so in the beginning he sent pieces for engraving back to Collings in England, since he considered him a better engraver. Eventually, Malin convinced Collings to come to Canada in 1980 and join him as partner.
And as the name of the company suggests, Malin is looking to the future, although his son is still too young to start learning the craft. There are also plans to start an apprenticeship program when the staff has doubled to 10 people.
Both Malin and Collings are pleased by the general renewed interest in craftmaking in this country in the last decade. They feel they can attract enough people to the trade with the patience and devotion needed in working by hand.
The gunmakers may have to set up their program on their own though. Both lament the lack of apprenticeship programs and the lack of emphasis on a skilled trade as a worthwhile career in the country.
This was reflected in initial discussions with a federal government department to ascertain if there were funds available to start an apprenticeship program. The best the government could offer was a six-month assistance program.
Malin said an apprentice would not even be close to earning his own keep, let alone working on his own after six months. It takes considerable time for the apprentice to become confident enough in his own abilities.
The government department said they would look around for other possible programs, "but we may have to proceed (to an apprenticeship program) on our own," Malin said.
Pete
