R. Hanbury 10 bore Sidelock

[William Shirah]

I purchased this gun last week off of GI. She's a 10 bore SxS manufactured by R. Hanbury...Just a hair over 9 lbs, 32" Damascus Barrels (St. Bernard Damascus), with double triggers. I've gone thru my library & done every internet search I know to do...but have yet to locate a single reference to R. Hanbury. I assume this gun is English, but also am unable to identify what type of action this. Can't find any other gun with the pin configuration this one has, not to mention the shape of the sidelocks. If anyone can help shed some light on this gun origins...I'd be most appreciative.

[William Shirah]

Additional Photos

[William Shirah]

more...

[William Shirah]

more..

[William Shirah]

These pics really don't do the gun justice. In addition to looking quite smart...It's very well balanced & throws up like a much lighter upland gun.

[William Shirah]

Sorry...I posted this in the wrong section

[Mark Landskov]

Very nice! I like the cocking levers. Are they actuated by the top lever, or, does the rear barrel lug press down (or lift) on the piece adjacent to the rear bolt?

:cheers:

[William Shirah]

As the barrels fall, the hook on the rear lug lifts the lever, cocking the hammers. It's a neat little set up.

[Eric Eis]

To me (with very little knowledge) the gun does not look English, I think Belgium... Maybe someone else like John Campbell or others that know will chime in here

[George Stanton]

Looks like English proofs. Very unusual. The patent mark with number should give you info. American patents are on Google. I don't know if the British patents are available.

The easy thing to do is foreward your photos to Toby Barclay at Heritage Guns. He'll know the answer.

[William Shirah]

Thank you Sir! I have sent an e-mail to Mr. Barclay....Hopefully he will have a little time to shed light on the subject. Last evening I spent a little time looking at British Proof marks...Feel fairly certain the barrels are Birmingham Proofed.

[William Shirah]

Question answered!

Dear Wesley,

Your gun’s lock plates are reminiscent of the Murcott Mousetrap but this is a red herring as the lock & action work can be identified by the Crudgington & Baker book volume 2, page 91, to a Richard Ellis and Henry Scott of Birmingham. The photo of the action flats show their patent mark of ‘RE & Co. Patent 2816’. The date of patent is 1879. Apparently, this was used quite commonly by mid-tier gunmakers of the time but only for a short while until better designs appeared.

I have no doubt that the gun was made in its entirety within the Birmingham guntrade in 1879 or 1880 and I can also find no reference to a ‘R Hanbury’ so must assume that he was a provincial hardware retailer who bought in a couple of guns to put on the shelf alongside nails, soap and rat traps!



Very best regards,

Toby Barclay

Heritage Guns

Historic Guns For The Modern Sportsman

[Dean Romig]

This is the first gun I have ever seen with Bernard Damascus barrels. We are accustomed to seeing the more typical (to students of the Parker anyhow) Bernard barrels seen on Grade 4 Parkers.

We know Bernard made various designs of pattern welded steel barrels and there are examples of each in salesman's sample kits we have seen. Perhaps Dr. Drew Hause can show examples for us.




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[edgarspencer]

This is the first gun I have ever seen with Bernard Damascus barrels.

What do you mean?

[Dean Romig]

Travelling right now. I'll address it later on when I'm home.






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[William Shirah]

The name of the Damascus as engraved on the rib is "St. Bernard Damascus". This could account for the difference between these barrels and the Bernard I & II patterns that we are more accustomed to.

[Dean Romig]

I should not have identified the barrels as "Bernard Damascus" but rather as Bernard Crolle Damascus or more specifically as Leopold Bernard. However, in my opinion they look even more like the Rubans Royal Extra as shown in the fourth illustration.
These illustrations are from the Manufacture Liegeoise D'Armes a Feu salesman's case photos I found in Austin Hogan's files. I don't know who owns the case or the pictures and apologize if I have overstepped any bounds by showing them here.

Furthermore, I think you all will agree that the Bernard I is the pattern we regularly associate with Parker Bros Grade 4 Bernard Steel barrels.





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[Todd Poer]

I swear I am constantly amazed by the combined brain trust on this forum.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

That's why the 40,00 membership is a steal, knowledgeable folks on this forum!

[Eric Eis]

Gary, I think you need to correct that to $40.00, don't want to scare anyone away......:rotf: