shotgun information needed

[private pike]

Hi does any one know of a shotgun from gun-makers horace & sunny co London my friend has one of these it is a S/S non ejector it is an old gun but i cannot find out any thing about it any help on this would be appreciated

[JJsDad]

As the wife is hogging the TV, watching all the soaps; I have spent half an hour browsing through `British Gunmakers` Vol 1-London, by Nigel Brown.

 

This book is almost certainly the definitive work covering the British gun trade. Regretably for your friend, there is no mention of Horace or Sunny, either individually or as a partnership. This is not unusual; there are a lot of old guns still out there bearing the name(s) of a hardware shop or ironmongers etc who never made a gun or a part of one in their lives; they bought in what are commonly referred to as Trade Guns; normally from the Birmingham gun trade and put their name on it. Adding the address of "London" suggested to the inexperienced buyer that the gun had a better pedigree than one made in Birmingham or elsewhere. Any well known and reputable maker would normally put the street address along with the name, which instantly makes its history checkable.

 

The proof marks will tell you where it was proofed (London / Birmingham) and give you some idea of when it was made. But as far as identifying Messrs Horace & Sunny I am afraid I cant help.

Edited March 17, 2014 by JJsDad

[Gunman]

Could be an Iron monger or ships chandlers London being a port . Could also be an outfitters who sold to officers and those on the way to the colonies .