Look What....
 

....followed me home! I always wanted an English gun, so here she is. It is also my very first 'single select trigger' gun. It is an 'Emperor' by W.W. Greener. It was made in 1894 and is a real jewel. It is the first English gun I have ever seen in person. I can see how people fall in love with them. Plenty of cast-off for me, too. The measurements could not be more perfect. Mr. Greener is writing a letter for me, as the records are complete for this gun. Less than 50 were made before they were discontinued in 1899.

Roundsworth , great find....the side safety will get a little getting used to. The Greener was very popular in this country with the term " greener" being used in some areas of the country as a generic term for shotgun. You might want to check the chamber length to see if it is 21/2 . PGCA seems to be in love with RST 21/2s but you might want to check out B&P ...they are also excellent shells and at times slightly less expensive. Good luck with it. Please post pictures of back of stock...photos are great quality and almost seem like they are from Puglisi's site. Andy

The photos look okay if you do not attempt to zoom in too far. The stock has an old repair in the wrist, but was done up nicely. The barrels are really nice. I like to think they have been re-browned. Every swirl is vivid and the line where the ribbon was wound and welded is very distinct. The bores are perfect. Mr. Greener states that the record shows the barrels as 'Damascus', but that might be a generic term back in 1894. Drew Hause has a lot of info on these barrels. They look like 'Laminated' if you ask me! I am anxious to put a few rounds through her, as well as my new NH 10, seeing as how the snow is finally receding.

Nice what more can you say.

You will find that English guns are superb. And this one is in fine condition. Barrels may have been rebrowned. But who cares.

The key to Greeners is that they must always be maintained/fixed/cleaned by an expert in English guns - especially Greeners. Just any bodger at the local Grander Mountain will ruin them.

Good luck. You are now infected.

I measured the barrels and came up with a minimum of .045" at the halfway point. I ran a handful of RST 3/4 ounce loads through it today. What a jewel! The barrels have only ONE proof, the provisional BP proof. W.W. Greener's records show no retail price or customer. Graham Greener figures it was kept 'in-house' as a prototype of sorts. He recalls seeing it, here in the U.S., about 15 years ago, but does not recall the name of the owner. The gun's origin was a mystery then, but is somewhat solved now. It started life as an Anson and Deeley action, and was finished as an Emperor. I think I will keep her. Cheers!


Afterthought.....The single-select trigger works flawlessly, and does not require recoil/inertia to make it work. It worked fine with snap caps, so I was confident it would work with real cartridges!

Beautiful gun. Congratulations.

Dennis

lovely gun and a rare one to boot..them greeners are fine guns i passed on a 10 ga one time and ive always been sorry... charlie

Very nice.

Hi Mark,
I am 'between' Greeners right now but fully concur with the group. They swing beautifully and almost feel alive in your hands. Enjoy!

I had a Greener hammer gun that regretfully, I sold. Your gun is beautiful. I don't blame you for keeping that one. Any double gun lover would want that gun!

Thank you for the kind remarks! Mr. Greener highly recommended Kirk Merrington for any services on my Greener. I will remove the bottom plate and check out the workings and lubricate them, but will not dive into stock removal and such!

May I humbly suggest that you send the entire gun to Kirk for a proper English strip-&-clean? That way it will be inspected by a pro, and good to go for another 20 years... besides, there won't be much to make a difference under the bottom plate.

More than likely, I will send the gun to Kirk. There is not a lot to the action of an Emperor. The cocking levers are one piece with the main/hammer springs. That is really about all I would find under the cover.

:cheers:

Here are a few photos showing the proof marks and overall appearance.

The recessed top rib of this gun is a bit rare. I don't see too many of them. And overall, the gun is in excellent shape. Well worth Kirk Merrington's attention.

I really like the dogs head near the trigger plate. I have a scott hammer gun with a spaniels head on the lock plate that looks like the same guy engraved it. I have seen several english guns with similar dogs heads. Not sure if they were all the same engraver but they certainly are a distinctive and recognizable style from that era.

A gentleman by the name of Perry engraved the scrolls and dog, at a cost of 9 shillings.

I was told that english engravers were trained off the same templates so a lot of the dogs heads look similar. Dont no if it is correct but I have a dogs head that looks about the same as a lot of other english guns.

Much of the engraving work in the British gun trade was done as outwork. Hence an engraver's style of dog's head might appear on a Greener, W. & C. Scott, or other "brand" of gun turned out in the gun quarter. The good news is it's a convincing dog. Even looks like a dog.

I was looking at Graham Greener's new book, and thought, "What if the pictured Emperor is mine?" After spending some time under a lamp with a thick magnifying lens, and making comparisons, I discovered the gun in the book is mine! Mr. Greener does not remember the name of the collector who had my gun, so the provenance will have some gaps. I recently discovered that an outfit called Heritage Auctions, in Dallas, attempted to auction the gun in 2011, but there were no bidders!

Nice gun. Just wondering, does it have automatic safeties?

I too would like to own a nice English gun. Good for you!

The safety is not automatic. It has the standard 'Greener' safety on the left side.

Mr. Greener verified the photos in his book as being my gun. There is very little in the way of information on these guns. I would like to try my hand at a short article for the DGJ. It would be more of a pictorial presentation, due to the lack of information. I have searched the internet incessantly, but found only the above mentioned auction ad for the Greener Emperor. Here is a link to the auction:

http://historical.ha.com/c/item.zx?s...No=52549#Photo

She'll be a head turner, that's for sure...sorta like the gal who lost the top of her bikini.

Pretty colors too.