Originally Posted By: Lloyd3
Greg: 1887 was a transitional year at the London Proofhouse and is the only year that used the specific combination of proofmarks that are on your gun. Normally, Blanch guns are very hard to date because of a German bomb through the roof of the business in 1940 that destroyed their records. There is an online Blanch database now (maintained by Toby Barclay @ Heritage Firearms), and using that, in combination with proof marks and patent-use numbers, you can at-least extrapolate a period of production for most Blanch guns (excepting yours). Per your description of her a "class gun", Edward Paddison at Boss agreed strongly with you and built Perke's Patent guns for a long period before John Robertson took over in 1891. You probably already know this, but Perke's guns are easy to operate because they only cock one hammer upon opening and then the second on closing. Another tidbit: the closest Blanch serial number to 5519 (that I could find) was 5517, which is a sidelever hammergun. Your gun is a very early hammerless action (perhaps the earliest of its type?) built when hammerguns were still very much mainstream. A period-correct English Best in every way. I'm pleased to know that she went to a good home.


Thanks Lloyd for all the additional info. About all I learned about this gun was from the J. Blanch web site you mentioned. Most other sources didn't provide much info.

Thanks again, and rest assured that I'll take good care of her!

Best!

Greg

Gregory J. Westberg
MSG, USA
Ret