Swamp double

[Ben Rawls]

Certainly wort the effort to repair the stock and freshen it up. Beautiful old gun.

[wayne goerres]

I have reopened this thread to share some additional pic's with John Cambell (kensel rise). He is helping me research this fine old gun. If anyone spots something they think is unusual please feel free to chime in.

[charlie cleveland]

thats sure is a good looking gun...the fellow was right when he said you would miss lots of ducks looking at this beauty....charlie

[Bill Murphy]

I haven't seen the broken stock yet, and better pictures would help us with the birds and dogs. What a great gun. Have you fixed the stock yet?

[wayne goerres]

The stock was fixed 5 years ago and thrse are the best pic's I have.

[Kensal Rise]

Wayne:
I got a bit of insight from my associate in the UK:

"That mention of 'St. James's' intrigued me the more I thought about it. St. James is an 'upscale' London parish/district but as we know guns are usually engraved with a numbered street address. Webley did have a London address in late 19th century, but it was 78, Shaftesbury Avenue, in central theatre-land, Soho parish, not St James's. I've found no advertisements for Webley with a St James's street address , yet.

The proof marks are indeed Birmingham proofs but as Webley production was based in Birmingham those marks would not arouse suspicion. However the attached cutting indicates that a lot of cheaply made Brummie guns were flooding the States in the early 1880's. The British writer had spent a lot of time in the States and was a rifle expert. I know the inscription he quotes is very slightly different as he says there is the word 'street' on the rib but I think caution would be very wise on this gun particularly as regards safety.

The cutting is dated 23rd April 1881, from 'The Field'."

[wayne goerres]

Received a 1877 Webley & Scott reprint catalog this week And thought I would post a couple of pages for those interested. Keep in mind that this gun was made between 1868 and 1875. This is as close as I have been able to get thus far. I find it interesting that even tho you bought a best gun they were willing to sell you extra's. These are also wholesale catalogs. If I figured it correctly the gun cost 47pounds and 11 shillings. that is roughly 240.00 in US Dollars. 1 pound equals 5 us dollars in 1870. The first photo shows the grades and prices in pounds and shillings ( example 440/- 44 pounds and 0 shillings). The second pic is the price list of the extra's.

[Mike Franzen]

I see only birds and a few scrolls.

[Bob Brown]

Love that English scroll engraving. The W&S and flying bullet on the action in the last set of pictures look correct for Webley and Scott's registered trade marks. The thing that I find unusual is P. Webley and Son and W&S Scott didn't amalgamate until 1897. Doesn't really fit with the proof marks and date of manufacture that you're thinking for it. Do you have a picture of the barrel flats?
There are a lot more P. Webley and Son shotguns out there than most people think. According to Webley and Scott's 1914 catalog, 90% of the P. Webley pre 1897 shotguns were not marked with their name. They had the retailer's name that they were made for. I'm pretty sure the Army and Navy CSL was a large buyer of P. Webley and Son shotguns.

[wayne goerres]

Mr Brown . The winged bullet that you are referring to as a Webley & Scott trade mark is most probably a Webley and Sons trade mark. I have an 1877 P Webley and sons whole sale catalog that has the trade mark all through it. That predates the merger of Webley and Scott by 20 years. ( just discovered this about a week ago ). The barrel flats only have the winged bullet logo on them. All other stampings are on the bottom of the barrels. Mike you have to look a little closer. ( lower left hand corner of the locks ).