Steve, thankyou for your appreciation. I an so glad to have contributed something of interest to this exceptional thread.
Here is an image of the action table:
[img]
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tq8r...rlkey=basx63akxtsboo3jrymqz5ksq&dl=0[/img]
Re. "6 5 2" an assembly mark, or similar, does seem more likely. I haven't seen it repeated elsewhere on the gun, but it may be: so far, I've considered it more prudent not to disassemble the lever or trigger work, though I've no doubt a full service is called for.
The barrels and locks are initialled, however. I'm told the "JS" on the locks is John Stanton, inventor of the rebounding lock, who was based in Wolverhampton and did work for some of the top-end London names (Purdey, H&H, Boss). I found this article on him when researching the gun:
Castles of Wolverhampton . The author was not named, but perhaps someone on here (knows who) wrote it!
As for the "JP" on the barrels (see below), a conversation with Donald Dallas a couple of years ago suggested that this was the mark of John Portlock, one of several generations of Birmingham barrel-makers. Dallas noted the similarity between the Fuller and a Boss pinfire in his possession, noting that Boss had sourced barrels from Portlock.
[img]
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/693w...rlkey=8h1bj2h6lfyadl1z9qca64bmz&dl=0[/img]
I agree the lock marks indicate John Stanton, one of the best lock makers at the time, which is not surprising considering the gunmaker. Also, John Portlock was a supplier of barrels to the best makers, and I have two Boss pin-fires that carry Portlock's mark. The simple two-initial JP mark seems to be a stylistic continuation of his father's mark, TP, for Thomas Portlock, whose barrel-making business closed in 1864. Thomas also supplied the best London makers.
I would go one step further and suggest your gun was actioned by Edwin C. Hodges, the first and best of the London breech-loading actioners. He supplied actions to the biggest names in the business, and the inlet cuts on the action bar appear to be one of the identifying features of his work. If the stock is ever removed from the action, you might find a Hodges mark on the rear part of the action, behind the standing breech.
Many thanks for providing the action bar photo, that answered my question! And the lack of a radius between the bar and action face, and rather thin fences, would suggest a build date around 1863 or not much later. Just a guess, of course, but some pin-fire features are consistent with dateable guns.
Fuller is a mystery maker nowadays, but sportsmen and makers in the 1850s and 1860s held him in the highest regard. He learned his trade under Joseph Manton, and supplying guns to Prince Albert was no small thing.
In
The Field of January 27, 1853, there is a mention of Fuller in the following letter, about a muzzle-loading fowling piece:
RANGE OF GUNS. – A subscriber to your paper asks, At what distance ought a double-barrelled gun to kill? I have a gun 12 in the bore made by Fuller, which will kill game dead at seventy yards; snipes I constantly kill over eighty yards; and last year I killed one over a hundred yards, though, no doubt, it was by a stray shot. Fuller lives in the Strand, opposite Norfolk-street, and I believe him to be the best maker in London, perhaps in England. I have seen some extraordinary guns of his making. If your subscriber will call upon him, he will give him every information he may require. The price of a good London gun is 30£.
DEAD SHOTThis letter then provoked a discussion in subsequent weeks on the true range of shotguns on feathered game, one's ability to estimate distance, and supremacy (or not) of the London gun trade. No one, however, questioned George E. Fuller's ability to build a fine gun!
