CHARLES WEBLY shot gun

[surfishingbob]

I have a double barrel shot gun with the name CHARLES WEBLY on it, it has a lot of nice engraving and a lot of ckering has ext hammers and fine london twist on top center of barrel. Its been hanging arround the house 60 or more years dont any thing about it, any help would be great. I have cked a lot of places on inter net and came up empty.

Thanks Bob

 

[Ricklin]

Damascus

Well don't fire it, or at least not with modern loads. The word twist usually indicates it has Damacus barrels. Sounds like it could be a nice old gun, but I don't recognize the name (not that that means anything) I'm sure some one more knowledgable than I will chime in

 

[Jim Watson]

Webley is a fine old name in English gunmaking.
In those days it was common to use a misspelled famous brand name to sell cheaper goods. Perhaps "Charles Webly" was meant to sound something like either "Webley" or "Charles Daly" to the unsophisticated buyer.

What are the proof marks on the gun? Any gun made in an industrialized country (except the USA) will have standard government applied proof marks that can be used to determine its origin.

 

[James K]

Twist does indeed mean Damascus. For those unfamiliar with the term, the barrel was made before deep hole drilling was feasible by wrapping iron or steel strips around an iron rod (mandrel) and welding them together by heating and pounding with a hammer. As you might surmise the strength of such arrangements varied; at best they were moderately strong, at worst they were an accident looking for a place to happen, and many have blown up with modern shells taking the shooter's fingers along for the ride.

It is a good bet that the gun is Belgian. As Jim says, it was common for makers of cheap guns (some sold for as little as $2) to put on a fake name that resembled that of a quality maker; deception was intended and often succeeded.

Another good bet is that any gun barrel marked "fine London twist" is not fine, and never was anywhere near London.

Jim