Obscure gun maker
 

Anyone ever hear of thomas king, william ford, or Edward gale? Old Birmingham makers. Any info would be appreciated.

William Ford is a very well known Birmingham maker of beautiful guns, especially his sidelock side by sides. Equal to any best London maker.

Ford
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/...rue#Post335256

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/...rue#Post193934

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/...rue#Post137995

King

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/...rue#Post401389

Gale

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/...rue#Post171238

Thanks. How do you guys know all this? There's so much information overload

I don't know anything :rotf:

but - in spite of the in fighting over there - so many guns get discussed that a search on that site is normally worth a shot

I have a Wm. Ford hammer gun in 20ga. with 30" barrels. An absolute delight to shoot.

My 28" Ford 20 was possibly the nicest English gun I ever owned.
Amazing what you retain relating to your hobby after 70 years.

[QUOTE=edgarspencer;215496]My 28" Ford 20 was possibly the nicest English gun I ever owned.
Amazing what you retain relating to your hobby after 70 years.[/QUOTE

I agree. It is a wonderful, fun gun to shoot. Do you still own it and was it a hammer or hammerless?

Truth be known, a LOT of the guns sold in London by respected "London makers" were actually sourced from Birmingham. Virtually all Westley Richards guns were.

And as stated above, a Best is a Best, as long as the craftsmanship is such. Geography aside. And I assure you that the precision of even an average Birmingham gun will astound most Parker or Fox owners. Proof? Just take a decent Birmingham gun to bits...

It's simple - We're old!!!

I don't think that anyone who knows anything about English guns would dispute that the Birmingham makers were all capable of producing "Best" work. Even their average quality guns were very well made guns. In fact the Birmingham makers had quite a long arm. Prior to the passage of the McKinley Tariff some were building guns for American companies and shipping them here. I believe that C.G. Bonehill was building SxSs for Colt and shipping them here.

I have a J. Venebles & Son 16ga back action hammer gun with a Jones underlever. There isn't much I have found on them and what I have found is limited. The only other one I have ever seen was a matched pair of hammer less 12's that Kirby Hoyt had at a shoot last year. It's a quality gun by any definition of the term.

What a wonderful configuration -- hammers, 20 ga. AND 30 " barrels! I assume Damascus? Got any pictures?

Have you seen Hadoke's new book, Hammer Guns in Theory and Practice? A great source of information (and opinion...he really dings Parkers, of course). Worth reading if you've got an English hammer gun.

Here ya go Garry. Yes they are damacus.

That's a beaut!! Thanks for the pictures. I really like back action hammer guns -- the original round action. The top of the frame is unique, a style I've not seen before. The really neat thing about many English guns by obscure makers is the quality of work that is frequently found.

Again, neat gun...thanks for taking your time to share those pictures.

Wm. Ford is not that obscure. I've seen/handled a number of Ford guns. This one is very nice as a 20-bore. And... hopefully you'll find a cap screw for that right hammer before shooting the gun. Otherwise, that hammer WILL loosen and fall off.

Daryl's gun is even better in person--and he shoots it well. .i have a liitle J. Manton 20 ga hammer gun( Belgian) w/ 30" twist barrels and it is my. favorite gun to shoot sporting clays with--and I have taken several limits of grouse and pheasants with it also

I have a Thomas Bland 28 gauge (back action) that I use for woodcock, a Cogswell and Harrison 16 gauge (back action) -- 30 inch barrels and under 6 lbs, and two Whistlers 12 gauges. I use them for quail, but I've not perfected hammer cocking for the grouse woods. :-) (Here's the C&H. It's a great quail gun!)

That's a nice hammer gun. I have a W.R. Pape back action 28ga hammer gun that I used on a Quail hunt this January. In addition I tried the RST 2" 12ga shell in a 3/4oz load in a Stephan Grant back actioned gun. I'm not a 12ga guy but that was fun :)

Here is the Pape.

Rich, Your Pape is a knockout! Tell me more about it...barrel length, chambers, chokes, etc. Do you know when it was made? I assume you've dated it with at least with the proof marks. To have a gun like that in 28 gauge is something special.

Good eye John. I had removed the screw to degrease it and the internal threads so as to apply some loc-tite to keep it in place.

Some day I will add a 28 ga. hammer to the fold.

Gary the Pape dates to the early 1900's. It has 28 inch barrels choked IC/M. I never measured the chambers but as it's fluid steel I would assume they are 2 3/4. I generally only shoot 2 1/2 inch shells in all my guns anyway.
The gun weighs a mere 5lbs.:rolleyes:

Rich, Thanks for the details. I'll bet your gun is a real pleasure to carry on an all day hunt.

I'm not big on hunting with a hammer gun but I did use this and the Grant in January on a plantation Quail hunt and it was a lot of fun. I did manage a double on a covey rise with it. Next year I'll take the J. Venebles & Son 16ga back action gun and some 2 inch paper shells I've been hording.