Gunman

Amazed that oxfam would sell a book like this . Surely it goes against the woke agenda . I should offer to take it off their hands for free before it upsets their snowflake bosses .

Try a gunsmith . I replaced coil springs for obsolete guns and usualy managed to find something that could be adapted .Just had to go through the box of spares to find one suitable . By the By they are not firing pin springs ,these are main springs .

Simple answer is without seeing it NO BODY can say . There will be lots of comments like "put some oil on it" . It may well be that dried up oil or grease could be the problem .But. Without knowing some more info , such as ,has this just started or has it been ongoing and getting worse ? Does this happen when the gun is fired or when its empty ? With the forend on or off? Has the gun been " serviced/ fully stripped "and cleaned recently ? Is it just stiff or does it feel as if its jammed then releases ? There could be several reasons that without taking the stock off and looking at the lever/bolt connecting pin , the way the spring engages , as well as checking clearances between the barrel wings and the action etc. etc. that could all be a cause .

Sorry but from the photo quality no .

I've followed this thread with some interest .I know "Fil" and respect his opinions and I am not going to get into the whole debate except to say that that the reason the gun was bored up can be may be any one of several things . But as my own long standing gun trade experiences have shown > We may never know <!

The barrel is now scrap .It has what is commonly called a ring bulge . I doubt any one will be able to give a definitive answered as to why its happened . The Proof Houses will examine it if submitted but would want to see the last carried fired as well as the rest of the box it came from . Obstruction , oil in the barrel , faulty cartridge etc. As you do not know when the bulge occurred it will now be near impossible to pin point the exact cause . Speaking as a Gunsmith ,you may just have to accept it was just one of those things that defies explanation .

The "US" is most likely the maker , but I can find no reference to these initials . There were many unknown gunmakers in Spain , many would be independent "out workers " working for larger companies , very similar to the Birmingham trade as well as those through out Europe . This gun IMHO would have been either a special order or a show piece .Strange it is not signed if the latter .As for the gun itself it is very well finished and embellished (not to every ones taste ) but appears to be a fairly standard Spanish sidelock action that could have been made by anyone of several makers .

My two penny worth . Dont buy old Cogswell and Harrison guns without a full assessment from a competent gunsmith . They have a lot of issues .OK they were fine in there day but that time is long gone . Having said that there may still a few good examples of little used guns about , but very few and far between . The gun originally pictured is not one of them .

We as RFD/gunsmiths scrapped dozens of guns for people , we never charged anyone .Stripped anything good useful off , stocks burnt well on the fire and the rest was broken up went into the scrap bin .

Air line and a dewatering oil . Worked for me OK

If its a Black Powder Vintage Day , will you be allowed to use an non black powder gun unless its of the correct era ?

When new , a top lever, when closing the gun ( not slamming shut ) should finish just to the right of center , which should then with a gentle pressure come to center . After some use and the action has " settled or bedded down" the lever should then come to center on closing . There are a lot of " shoulds " here but thats in an ideal world which we all know is not always the real world .

Spanish choke sizes do not correspond to what we consider standard .Star makings were stamped at proof . Best advice is to get it measured .

Many guns seem to have some play in the action when the forend is off . Tightening an O/U action to take out side movement is not a simple job believe me . As long as the gun is on face and has sufficient bite to lock up without any movement then I would not worry too much . If you are concerned then a visit to a competent gunsmiths have it checked would be my advise so he could check the joint and that there sufficient clearances under the barrel wings and around the forend /action interface , as with age and use , these can close up which in turn lead to further problems .

In the 70's W& S did make 16 bore 700's but these were comparatively rare and would only be made to order as were 20 and 28 bore's , a lot of which were made for the US with 26" barrels . In 1970 there was a 26 week delivery wait as sales out stripped factory capacity . This time dropped in the mid to late 70's when guns were being made for stock , but as 16's were not popular at that time there were very few made .

As a former employee of Webley |& Scott , from the days when they actually made guns , may I say NOOOOOOOOO ! Sorry I just hate these and others who badge up imported guns with great old English names.

On most O/U's I have come across ,and thats a lot , the safe holds the inertia block back so it does not engage the hammers . Very few block the triggers as well or instead . There are a number of ways the safe is pushed back . I cant remember how the Laurona operates . Many guns will need some amount of stripping down to remove the push rod or activating mechanism , so its not always a simple matter of taking the stock off and pulling a bit off .

Depends on the part .A decent gunsmith can make any part you want but it will all come down to cost which will be based man hours .

Cheers Gordon , It was my job and my interest in the histories of shotguns for all my 48 year working life . Since retirement my interest has waned somewhat, but any advice I can pass on I will do so .

Really depends on the barrel thickness and steel . The force of the impact and the profile of the object hitting it . Some times a very minor knock with a sharp edge will dent but the same knock against a smooth or rounded object will causes no damage . As to your question how much pressure is required . I have actually had a set of barrels that were so thin I actually squashed them by hand by simply holding them to tightly .This was on a old gun that had be bored and struck off way past its safe limits , but was technically still in proof if only by .001"

Please define " stuck out " . Fully extended and wont go down .Or .Wont seat correctly . Was it OK prior to you removing barrels ? Is the forend in the open forward position as when removing barrels ,or locked position ? Have you removed the forend from the barrel ? Have the ejector tripped ?

As above . I dont think the gun will have any great value in the UK . Its not the sort of gun that your average RFD deals in theses days so taking to a gunshop /shooting ground will not really help . I would suggest contacting some one like Holts auctioneers , who sell a lot of guns like this .Selling a gun in an action is a risk as it will all depend on who is bidding on the day . Advertising and selling privately has its draw backs as you can get a lot of enquireis and a lot of time wasters who want endless photos and thats all . It does need to be checked for proof and overall safety before anything else though .

Always said you need to get lessons from a person who shoots and teaches the kind of shooting you want to do . Is it not often the case that game shooters can adapt to clays better than clay shooters to game ?Just watching the difference between the two waiting for the " bird "is amazing . One gun up tensed the other gun down relaxed .

A man I knew had a gun made and stocked to his requirements . He went to 3 different shooting schools and was measured , the results co-ordinated to a mean . The gun was stocked to these measurements . He could not shoot it as well as his old " standard gun" . Trouble was when finally analysed that the gun fit him , but he did not fit the gun having physically adapted to his old gun. So did he have his new gun altered to that of his old one , or just have to learn to shoot all over again ?

This is a subject that crops up time and time again . The number of times a novice/new shooter has come to me for a fitting ,who has been sold a gun which is far " to much gun for his needs " . Who has been to shooting ground and has had a lesson , been told he needs the gun fitting and has been so wrongly advised as to what he needs , > you need at least a 3/4" on that stock . When actually the left handed stock needs casting for a right hander and its to long now <. So here's my thoughts for the novice or inexperienced shooter .So here goes . 1 : You can not fit a gun to a man who can not shoot . 2 : You can not fit a gun to a man who will not listen . 3 : At least 70% of problems are stance , mount and grip . 4 : Dont chop and change , stick to one cartridge ,and for those that have a multi choke ,put in1/4 & 1/2 chokes in and lock the rest away . 5 : Beware the man at the club esspesially if he's trying to sell you something . Every one will gladly give advice ,not all of it good . 6 : It's not the gun. It's not the cartridges / glasses / the chokes . It's you . 7 : Some people will never be able to shoot well .Ever . Accept it . 8 :Expensive chokes and add ons will not improve your shooting, no matter what colour they are . 9 :A good instructor / gun fitter will tell you what you need , not what you want , what you think you want or what they like . 10 : Dont be swayed by adverts ,buy basic to start , you can always up grade when you know what you are doing and know how handle a gun .