W&C Scott 8 Gauge

[ArtS]

Looking for any info I can find on a single shot 8 Gauge W&C Scott & Son I purchased. It is scheduled to be delivered Monday. I found it on GI and really liked the overall look, condition and concept. I have always been a sucker for the odd ones. It was pretty pricey for a single, I thought, but I really liked it and have always been a fan and owner of quality single shot rifles. I mentioned this gunin the Reloading Forum a few days ago.

The problem is that I can find no info about it. I have a copy of the Scott book by Crawford and Whatley, but there is only one mention of a single shotgun in the entire book. It is a picture of the Model 100 marketed by Webley and Scott for many years but that is a rather plain and in my opinion lower grade gun than the earlier W&C guns.

According to the serial number, this was a 1872 gun. That was the first year they opened the Great Castle St. office in London. According to the book, only the top two graded guns were marked with that address from 1872 to 1897. This gun is either an A or B grade gun. It is an 8 gauge single barrel gun, 32" that weighs 9-3/4 pounds. Condition is very good. It came from a home in Boston where the family had owned it for 100 years or so. 8 and 4 gauge production was low compared to 10 gauge and below, and ended soon. There were four 8-bores built after WWI and no 4's.

I obtained a copy of Scott's 1872 Breechloader Catalog. It goes to great lengths explaining their patents, their styles of locks, actions indicators etc. It includes their double express rifles and their Martini based single rifles. It also contains numerous endorsements. In the entire catalog there is no mention at all of single barrel shotguns. It is interesting that all the U.S. based endorsements were addressed t0 Wm.Read and Sons in Boston who was believed to be the sole US importer at that time.Two of these endorsements came from here in Lexington KY. It is also interesting that this gun came from an old family in Boston.

I have not been able to find any references to a gun like this. None listed for sale that I can find, none mentioned in the contemporary literature, and non discussed on Discussion Boards. I would appreciate any info someone could add. I am posting some pictures from the dealers website for information.