W & C Scott & Son Shotgun

T

TheTinMan

New member
I inherited a 12 gauge side-by-side shotgun from my father and know next to nothing about it.

"W & C Scott & Son. Makers & Patentees 10 Gt. Castle Street Regent Circle London" on rib between barrels.

"W & C Scott & Son
Patented Block Safety
Hammerless" on receiver, front left side.

It has a sliding tang safety and two triggers.

"W & C Scott Patent" on the top lever (nomenclature?)

"Patent Crystal Indicator" on both sides of receiver, around small glass (?) porthole into action. You can see whether or not each hammer is cocked through these little windows. Neat! :D

Barrels are damascus steel. Serial number 20923 on both receiver and barrels. The receiver is covered with engraving, including most of the top lever.

What do I have here other than a beautiful heirloom? Can anyone point me to some additional reference material?

Thanks in advance for any information you may have to share.
 
Your shotgun was built sometime between 1862 (when the company became known as W&C Scott) and 1897 (when W&C Scott merged with P. Webley & Son to become "Webley & Scott"). They made these shotguns in both pinfire and centrefire versions, but it shouldn't be fired in any event (shooting Damascus-barrelled shotguns is contraindicated, and it would have short chambers in any event). Number 10 Great Castle Street was the location of one of their show-rooms, where you could go to have your measurements taken for a gun of your choice. There are a number of good books available on British side by sides (but they tend to be on the expensive side), and at least one book dedicated solely to W&C Scott shotguns, but I don't know if you're $250 worth of curious about your shotgun to check it out.
 
The books are expensive, but reflect the value of the guns themselves, which is quite high. SDC is correct in his advice not to shoot the gun. Some will disagree but IMHO firing a Damascus barreled gun even with black powder could cause irreparable damage and the destruction of a fine gun, not to mention the possibility of personal injury to the shooter.

There are shops specializing in double guns and their prices may be a guide if a W&C Scott gun happens to be on sale. Google "double shotguns for sale" and you will come up with several sites.

Jim
 
SDC - thanks so much for the history!

Jim - seems like investing in the right book may make sense here.

I wasn't planning on shooting the gun, damascus barrels or not. I would like to clean it up a bit - any special concerns when approaching the barrels?
 
Here are a few pics. Sorry for the poor quality.

BTW there are several references to specific U.S. patents in 1878 and 1879 inside the breech. The Crystal Indicators were patented in 1875. The safety was patented about 1880, so that's the approximate date of the gun.

WC4.jpg


WC5.jpg


WC3.jpg


The barrels have some rust on them and I do not know the best way to clean and preserve them. The stock has some gunk on it too, so any suggestions or references on taking care of this baby would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Very nice gun, congratulations. :-) Small rust spots can usually be taken off with a small piece of ultra-fine steel wool and a couple of drops of light oil, then passing the wool over the spot 2 or 3 times; in this case, I would try a heavy/rough cloth with oil before the wool, and use the wool only if the cloth doesn't get results. Wood care can be tricky sometimes (a lot of gunstocks have a heavy layer of wax or grease built up on them), but a light spray of furniture polish and lots of rubbing with a clean cloth can do a lot. The downside to doing anything like this is that they can often end up highlighting the worst areas of the gun (damage or dings in the stock, etc.).
 
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