David Smith

UK

I was just trimming the front garden hedge this afternoon now the baby blackbirds have flown and this chap pulls up and asks me if I know someone called john Clements - the chap who knows about Perrins - I denied all knowledge - but he persisted!! That was it for the hedge trimming for the afternoon!!!!
David takes out this Perrins hammer gun from his car boot.
As you see it has seen better days but fortunately it has not been neglected beyond sensible restoration.
From the proof marks it can be no later than 1875 so it looks like it will have been made between around circa 1865 and 1875. While it possibly has the look of a pin fire there doesn't seem to be any evidence of barrel notches and there seems to be original raised bosses where the firing pins go through the breach. I think it is an early centre fire gun with just the styling of earlier guns.
Under the varnish and grime there are traces of what looks to be a well figured stock. The non rebounding hammer action seems to work well.
On the down side there is a piece of metal missing from the front end of the hinge hook (sorry Lew - I can feel you cringing as I am sure I have the terminology wrong!!!) This means that when you open it it does tend to fall apart. There is a bit of wood missing from the side of the forend and some chipping of the wood where it meets the action on one side. The barrels are covered in a black goo so it is difficult to tell what is underneath but it looks like it has protected them from the worst of the rust - just a little surface rust here and there which should clean up without much trouble.
Now the dilemma - what to do with it?
David is considering a sympathetic restoration. First get the hook repaired so the gun is fully functioning. Get the stock stripped, repaired,

re-chequered and oiled. Get the forend repaired and refinished. Clean up the action. Get the barrels re browned. It will be a project taken on for the love of a nice old gun rather than for financial gain - so watch this space as it has the makings of a really nice gun because under the grime it looks there is a high quality gun in its day.
If he does decide to restore the gun it will be great to have a set of before and after photos for comparison.