WW Greener sidelever

[Harold Pickens]

A few years ago, I posted pictures of my friends sidelever WW Greener hammergun w/ 30" Damascus barrels. I have been trying to get him to sell it to me,and today he brought it to me on a "permanent loan". It's yours to do whatever you want--except sell it, he said. The action is extremely tight still with absolutely no play when the fore arm is removed. The 30" bores are in great shape and look plenty thick, despite rather open choking. There are several cracks in the wrist of the stock that I will have looked at and hopefully repaired. This gun could be a real beauty if the wood was refinished and Damascus redone, well actually they may be twist, hard to see pattern.
The rib reads "W.W. Greener, St. Mary's Works, Birmingham".
The serial # is 13095, if any records exist.
Whoops, that 3rd picture is a 10 ga Parker lifter action--don't know how to remove a picture, so will leave it be. Trying to get that off him also.
I am really jonesing to shoot this gun next weekend at a Vintage shoot at Hunting Hills in SW Pa., I have a bunch of 3/4 an7/8 oz. low pressure loads so the recoil will be minimal

[OH Osthaus]

Harold - thanks for posting that one

you should contact Graham Greener - i found the interchange with him to be educational and enjoyable

mine is number 12694 and he could give me some information and supplied the correct trade label for it - mine has the same rib address

http://wwgreener.com/


PS to remove the picture - go to edit and simply backspace over that one and save

[Harold Pickens]

Thanks Rick, I figured if anyone knew about them you would-any idea as to approx. date of manufacture? This is the other picture I meant to post of the underside. The gun is tastefully, but not overly engraved. Are your barrels Damascus or twist steel? If I cant get the stock looked at locally, I will take it to the Southern or Housmann's and have our own B.D. look at it

[OH Osthaus]

Harold- The barrels on mine are damascus, I do see a difference in the profile of the lock's curve at the breach, but the engraving looks very similar. the location of the release lever seems to be the biggest difference

a link to my album
http://parkerguns.org/forums/album.php?albumid=720

here is an excerpt from my letter

"W W Greener gun no. 12964 was made in 1873. It is a double barrel, shotgun with external hammers and push-down breach opening lever. Proved at 13 bore in Birmingham, England and stamped with proof marks of the period 1955 – 1875 the 13 bore is nominally a 12 bore and as such is chambered for standard 2-1/2 inch 12 bore black powder cartridges. It is not suitable for modern nitro cartridges which burn much faster creating greater pressures in barrels and action.

The gun appears to be a ‘Snap-action’ breach loader with one holding down bolt within the action – I will be able to confirm this on receipt of a side view of the barrel lumps. It has bar-in-the-wood side-locks and is very similar to many side-lock hammer shotguns made by W W Greener between 1870 and 1874. Several thousand of guns of this type were made and so they are fairly common, however, you gun has one feature I have not seen before in the design of the push down lever which is partially wrapped around the trigger guard. In this respect it is rare, if not unique since I have never seen one exactly the same as this before. The normal push down opening lever is fashioned so that it is positioned on the side of the gun alongside the right lock (for a right handed person) and not underneath the trigger guard – photo of similar W W Greener gun attached showing the normal configuration of the breach opening lever."

[Harold Pickens]

Very nice Rick, my gun is also stamped with a 13 on each barrel with the same proof marks. Unique opening lever on your gun. I put 2 12 ga shells with primers only and they fit perfectly, and fired. The gun is probably a little older than I expected. As you can see I'm excited to get this old gal back to field.
Owe you a drink buddy, hope you are at Hausmann's, maybe we can get them together.

[High Brass]

According to Graham Greener's book, #13095 was made in 1875.

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by Harold Lee Pickens

Very nice Rick, my gun is also stamped with a 13 on each barrel with the same proof marks. Unique opening lever on your gun. I put 2 12 ga shells with primers only and they fit perfectly, and fired. The gun is probably a little older than I expected. As you can see I'm excited to get this old gal back to field.
Owe you a drink buddy, hope you are at Hausmann's, maybe we can get them together.

the 13 is the diameter of the bore- no effect on the chambers being a true 12 gauge -

[Harold Pickens]

Thanks George, she's older than I thought. The stock is the only issue, and am sure it can be fixed. The barrels are in great shape, no dents, no pitting. Looks like I may need a short kit for the Mec 600 jr, I have a tool to cut shells to 2 1/2. I do have plenty of low pressure 2 3/4" shells in 3/4-7/8 oz.

[Kensal Rise]

Originally Posted by Harold Lee Pickens

Thanks George, she's older than I thought. The stock is the only issue, and am sure it can be fixed. ... . I do have plenty of low pressure 2 3/4" shells in 3/4-7/8 oz.

If the stock of this gun is cracked/split, it might be prudent NOT to shoot it until the stock is properly repaired. That wood is at least 142 years old, and the "next" round it fires just might be the one that does big damage.

My choice for best repair of English guns is The Stock Doctor. Others may be good, but this shop is proven top drawer. Chris Dawe is another superb choice.

If you simply must take the shooting risk, I'd say stay with 3/4 oz. loads.

[Harold Pickens]

John, you are absolutely right on that. Just like a kid with a new toy, I'm anxious to play with it--will have it checked out first