Black powder Wesley and Richards 2og single bore with Damascus barrels

[Rabid]

I agree.

If it has all the bits, then £1500 is not out of this world, even for such an oddball calibre, although, being a muzzleloader, is not that important.

In these cases, condition is everything.

Is it in proof? If not, factor that into the deal - figure on £100 or thereabouts. Is the vendor selling it a a shooter or a wall-hanger? If as a shooter, then HE is responsible for the proof, not you. It is an offence in UK, and any of the other CIP signaturee nations, to sell a shooting gun that is not in proof.

tac

Thanks,

Condition, it was exceptional, so much so it was the condition that made me doubt its authenticity.

The stock was obviously old, but in excellent order, age related bruises, but no gouges, holes, big dents, wood missing or anything, all was sound and solid, the action felt tight and solid on the hammer.

The barrel looked unbelievable, , in the best condition going, not a mark on It, only place any wear could be seen and that was the lock-in lug into the stock, even inside the barrel looked good.

The powder flasks looked in very good but old condition.

The loading rod was also in excellent condition, but had age related grubbiness to it like it had been used for 50 yrs.

The cleaning rod, looked new if I am honest, didn't seem to match the style or from the same wood as everything else, and looked far too clean like it hadn't seen inside a black powder barrel.

It had a wad cutter, this looked like it had just been machined from a solid lump of stainless.

The oil well, looked an old style design, but in excellent condition.

The case was in pretty good condition, it did look like it had been around a hundred years but looked after. bar the front carry strap had come disconnected on one side, the label inside was in good readable condition with the old patina look to it.

Now my concern is, the stock looked original, the rest looked almost tooo good to be the age it was supposed to be, I know you can make repros look older than they are, the serial numbers were correct, the one on the stock had almost worn away and was legible, but you had to look to read it, the serial on the barrel looked as good as some of the guns on the shelf nowadays, could easily be read from a quick glance at a distance.
Now I understand these guns were highly prized, and not our average 'knock around' gun in the day, so my guess it would have been well looked after as an expensive purchase back then, but would it still have looked that good.

It had 3 proof marks on the underside of the barrel, I have no idea what they actually were though, I did photograph everything described above.

It was been sold as a decorative item, not requiring a licence, is that right ?