Hughes of bermingham SxS.

One shot on kill

I was on the prowl for another deer permission closer to home today. When I went into one farmer.

Lets just keep the story short and sweet but I came across this little beauty today. Hugh's of bermingham SxS.

I said I'd try get a value on it for him its a nice little gun. Twin trigger the stock isn't original I think but the fore end is. In my guess its about 100 year old.

If this makes sense it has a twisted barrel. I seen a design up the full length of both barrels.

Over all the gun needs tidying and general cleaning but its not in bad shape its in good general condition. There is a lot of detail on this gun infairness. Also my knowlage of the gun is limited.

My question is. Is it worth selling/keeping or trading it in.

I've a couple of pics but wasn't allowed to many as you could imagine.

Thanks guys.

rowa

Probably Belgian, with the Damascus barrels I wouldn't fire it unless a gunsmith gave it the all clear and you can get suitable shells .

EWQuinn

Good News: The farmer has a nice wall hanger, I would clean it up a little and find a place to display, or sell it. Careful how you clean it, if it has any collector value, just a basic cleaning with mild stuff. I have no knowledge of its worth as I am not a collector, but someone here or one of your gun shops may be able to estimate value.

Bad News: Not really safe to shoot in my experience. The only loads recommended, and I personally would not recommend it, would be black powder. The Damascus barrel structure has a tendency to develop internal flaws, sometimes visible by inspection, sometimes not. I have an old Remington, and over the years it developed a crack in the barrel. Careful in handling it too, they can be somewhat brittle. All in all, shooting one can be like pulling the pin on a hand grenade, not really worth the risk.

One shot on kill

It's obviously a hammer less model. It was only fired last year or that normal 12guage shell I think.

EWQuinn

The construction of the barrel allows for hidden flaws in the joints or seams of the steel ribbons. Hammerless doesnt necessarily mean it will shoot smokeless loads safely. It is common to limit them to black powder or pyrodex low pressure loads, for those that are still shot. It is possible that this one was proofed for smokeless or "nitro" loads back in the day, perhaps an expert can tell. Still, that doesnt mean its safe to shoot now.

From what I can see there could be some deep rust in places, perhaps into the barrel which could get into the seams, but I cannot see the barrel or the inside.

By all means have it checked by an expert gunsmith. If a gunsmith clears it for shooting with modern smokeless shells, that would be very interesting to know. Some were designed for 2-1/2 shells vs 2-3/4. (Past performance is no guarantee of future results.)

One option some folks take is to have them lined with 20 or 28 ga briley or similar steel tubes. I have one similar in construction and time period as that, and researched it some time ago.

EWQuinn

A little more after some research (since I own one I have some interest in these, a local chap near me restores them):

Back in the day, Birmingham England and Liege Belgium were leading manufacturing centers for Damascus barrels. Belgium exported many of them. John Hughes & Sons formed in Birmingham in 1885-1890 at 10 St. Mary's Row, moved to another street, and closed shop around 1927. Mr. Hughes worked for John Reeves & Sons before opening his shop and made guns there. A collector or person who specializes in these can give you an approximate price.

There are folks shooting Damascus barrel guns today, guns that were kept in good condition. There were high end rifles made from Damascus steel. There have been a very fews shops make Damascus steel barrels in recent times. Low pressure smokeless shells are available, and if its cleared by a gunsmith regular (non-magnum) loads might be fine, but again strong caution on that. There are also high tech non-destructive testing methods available to evaluate the internal condition of the steel, no idea of the cost.

One shot on kill

I Believe they do X-rays of the barrels. Thanks for the info I've been trying to read up a bit more on them myself. Although I gave very limited knowledge on this sort of a thing.

What's the general thinking would it be of value to the owner or is it only of value if its in working order.

Double Barrel

One Shot
Nice old gun. Depending on how it was cared for it may be a wallflower. Have Peter McGee in Newport give it a looksee.
BTW - Not safe for use with modern over the counter ammunition.

Robert Hughes Universal Firearm Works Birmingham, gun and pistol maker . Established in about 1855, the Birmingham works survived until after WWII. He made military and export arms mostly.
Addresses he did business at : 1855-1858 22,Morland St,1859-1872 at 100 Morland St,1873 -1900 traded under the name {Universal Fire Arms Works} in 1868

Also at 10 St Mary's Row, Birmingham. Between about 1895 and 1897 they moved to 18 Bath Street. The firm closed in 1925.


Birmingham proof house marks, crown over crossed sceptres over a V.

One shot on kill

Got another look at the gun this evening it's a lovely bit of work.

The man is going to keep it and hand it down to his son. I have to say I was delighted to hear this as his grand father got the gun gave it to his dad and his dad to him so 3 generations and possibly a 4th there is enough history in that alone.

I did advise him to get it examined and get it looked at. He told me that he only fired it a year ago. Tryed to get me out to show me it was working fine but but I refused to fire it He needs to be sure its safe especially if its going to his son.