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I inherited my Grandfathers London Fine Twist double barrel side by side shotgun. I had to promise my father when he gave it to me that I would never shoot it. All I can remember as a kid growing up is that it always sat behind Gandpa's door, never saw him shoot it or touch it. I am now over sixty and he is long gone and Dad has passed as well. I have it on a custom built gun rack above the fireplace and was just wondering if anyone knew the approximate age and where it was made. It says London Fine Twist on the barrel and inside on the gun itself it has I assume 2 swords and an A and the numbers 349. On the sides it says W RICHARDS and a lone duck flying in the embroidery. I was told it was a 10 gauge but do not know if that is right. I would appreciate any information on this. Thanks Dave

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Copy of an English Westley Richards shotgun. Made by Henri Pieper of Liege, Belgium. 1880's to 1905 ish. Thats a pretty common black powder double. Not much value except the sentimental. $9 from Sears Roebuck in 1902. $100 as a decorative piece now. Great wall hanger. Yeah, don't shoot it.
 
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Sometimes you hit the jackpot with Grandpappies guns . Sometimes you don't. My great grandfather was a "gun collector". That's a euphemism for "L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy" . Pretty much nothing confiscated made it back to the cop shop back in the day. One of the first guns I ever shot was a Schnellfeuer Mauser broomhandle out in the hills around Los Angeles. BRRRRAAPPP. When he died his cop buddies came over and flat cleared the place out before the family could.
 
Thank you for the information, much more than what I knew about it. I did read that it is a Damascus style barrel where they made it of coils and heated it up to form a solid piece of steel. Do you know or how can I tell if it is a 10 gauge or 12 gauge?
 
10 gauge bore is .77" . 12 gauge is .73"

Yes , Damascus steel is hammer welded strands to make a whole barrel. Thats where the problem lays though as over time the steel delaminates and weakens the barrel.
 
Now your onto something interesting. Thats a goose gun or commercial fowling piece. William Ellis is a legit English manufacturer and you might have a little value depending on the gauge. . Whats the bore on it? They made them up to 8 gauge. Its one of the guns that removed the passenger pigeon scourge from North America. Don't drop it on your foot.
 
That Ellis shotgun ...is a nice piece.
I like those percussion "bar" locks...and it looks to to have a period repair on the wrist
( Which is common BTW )
Neat gun....If it were mine I'd check the breech and make sure the barrel , locks and stock are sound...clean her up a bit and go shooting....:D
Andy
 
I don't know if I'd classify the passenger pigeon as a scourge.. it was an endemic/native species of the Americas, like the Bison.. but way less meat.

Pile 400 on the BBQ and you got plenty of meat.





Hence to term, "buffalo wings".... DUH! :rolleyes:




I have a family heirloom just like the first DBL shown that was my Great Grand Father's. They were a common Belgian import "working man's" gun sold by the large department stores. My dad told me he remembers his grandpa shooting a fox with it, and when he was around 4-5 years old, that he pestered his grandpa relentlessly to shoot it. So the honery bastige set up some wooden milk crates in the back yard, loaded both chambers, cocked both hammers back and handed it to dad and said "have a go".

Dad said he emptied both barrels at once, but only remembers the loud noise and looking up at the sky because he was flat on his back... with his grandpa and dad laughing their arses off behind him... he missed the milk crates, too. Great family history, but the thing is worth $50-$75 (tops), and it isn't EVEN safe to attempt firing even black powder loads... I like my face too much.
 
Hello my friends, well I found out what I wanted to know about that gun how about another one. How about a William Ellis double? Thank you Dave


Your William Ellis shotgun was made and proofed in Birmingham, England, sometime before 1904. After that time it was easy to determine the date of proof from the lettering in and around the crossed sceptres.

The sceptres with BCP mean Birmingham Company Proof and those with the letter 'V' indicate the 'View' - a posh word of a close visual inspection.

Other numbers are assembly numbers, to keep the bits together during the final assembly process.

tac

 

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