Regular readers of my column in Gun Trade News may have noticed its absence in the last on-line issue.
Like a lot of print media, GTN has felt the pressure and stopped producing a paper version, instead altering to an on-line only format.
The immediate response from Simon Barr’s media group Time Well Spent (formerly Tweed Media) in launching Gun Trade Insider can’t have helped, as the new magazine is essentially a copy of GTN but retains its print copy format.
Having written for GTN for around fifteen years, I was disappointed to hear that they no longer have funds to pay for copy and asked if I might find a commercial sponsor for my page ‘Auction View’.
I declined, as a sponsor would expect loyalty and pay-back and I am fiercely independent in my writing and tell readers the state of the market as I see it, not as advertisers would like me to report it.
That being the case, I will no longer appear as a feature writer for GTN, which is a little sad as I enjoyed the opportunity to talk directly to the trade on these matters.
No matter, readers will continue to find my musings and observations on all subjects pertaining to gun auctions and markets here on the Vintage Gun Journal for the foreseeable future.
November is a good month for auction goers, with Gavin Gardiner holding his sale on 27th and Holt’s in action a week later, with a two-day sale and a sealed bids follow-up.
It remains to be a great time to buy a British sidelock or boxlock. For a perfect all-round duo, I would suggest a second model Holland & Holland ‘Royal’ for under £8,000 and a Webley & Scott Model 700 for under £1,000.
That way you have a best London side-lock for your driven shooting and to use in good weather and a solid English back-up to use on rainy days, for duck flighting, travel abroad, pigeon shooting or occasions when you are wary of taking out your best gun.
The Webley would also serve on any occasion when double gunning is required (let’s face it, for most of us we are lucky if that is once a year) or to lend to a visiting friend if needed. The 700 also makes a perfect starter gun for a late teenager ready to embark on his own shooting career, if you can persuade him that an English side-by-side is the way to go, rather than an Italian over & under.
Gavin Gardiner could provide both those options now. Look out for Lot 191; a 1905 Holland & Holland Royal with 30” barrels and a lot of original case colour, weighing a mid-weight 6lbs 8oz and choked Cylinder and Quarter. Priced at £4,000- £6,000, it may well be secured for under £10,000 even with the auctioneer’s premium added.
He has several Webley & Scott 700s including Lot 209, which appears unused. It has 28” barrels, 2 3/4” chambers, choked 3/8 and 3/4, a 14 1/2” stock and the name of the retailer on the rib (S.R. Jeffery & Sons). It has a 14 1/2” stock and even comes in a Brady case - yet is only expected to make £700 - £900.
These guns are cheaper now that at any time in my life and represent ridiculously good value for money.
Holt’s have a catalogue now on-line too and a full sale, including plenty of interesting collector’s items. The weird and wonderful is what seems to be selling well these days, including Section 58 antiques. Every time a new cartridge is listed as obsolete, its value increases, as collectors can buy them without a licence.
They have no fewer than fifty-eight side-lock ejectors, starting at £500. However, the best of them may just be a Westley Richards made during the Simon Clode era by the very best gunmakers of the day, with a Boss stye round body and Holland & Holland mechanics inside. Priced at £7,000-£9,000 is is less than 10% of what it would cost to build now and remains in very good condition.
Elsewhere, Harper Field has an auction on 6th November with a good number of lower priced guns, ammunition and accessories. Wilson 55 has an auction on 6th November in Crewe and Lonsdales also have one this month in Cumbria.
Published by Vintage Guns Ltd on
