Barbara Winks

USA

Barbara Winks has a most unusual and rare shotgun.  It was made at 59 Broad Street which dates it between 1879 – 1892 but it also has ‘not for ball’ on the proof marks which were used between 1875 – 1887, so the gun was made in the 8 year period between 1879 – 1887.

If you look carefully you will see that there are no firing pins under the hammers.  It is actually a hammerless sidelock, with false hammers.  This makes it a very rare piece.

At this early transitional stage hammerless guns were regarded with suspicion by many.  They had been brought up with the understanding that the only safe gun was one where you could lower the hammers, to relive the spring tension, something which you couldn’t do with a hammerless gun.  The false hammers enabled the internal hammers to be lowered and made safe whilst also showed when the gun was cocked.

It is reported that the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) described a hammerless gun as "a spaniel without ears", and this may also have influenced the manufacture of these guns.

The gun is highly engraved all over the action and also has pheasants in an oval, which we have not seen before in a Perrins.  It is top leaver opening with a dolls head and a double bite lock. The rib is marked ‘Perrins & Son Maker 59 Broad St Worcester 3117 Patent. John Clements 14 bore has the number 3116 on the rib so is it the next gun sequentially or are the numbers referring to a patent?

The gun has nice Damascus barrels, with the typical Perrins head and toe cap to the butt and a button release to the forend seen in several other Perrins guns with the gold leaf engraved ‘push’.

Barbara, who lives in Indiana USA, inherited the gun from her Father in Law in the mid 50,s.  He was born in 1895 just a few years after Perrins were passing the business on to Pollard.  They don’t know how he came by the gun or how it got to America .