Old Spoon ID help
 

I know nothing about this spoon other than dad had it for a long tome and never shot it.

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nice old percussion gun.
are there any other markings on it anywhere?

great wallhanger if nothing else.

Without marking or proofmarks, it would in all likelihood fall into the great mass of Belgium made low quality guns specifically made for the US.

Since the US never had a proofhouse system, while all of Europe did, the Belgium firearm manufactures could produce very cheap and low quality firearms for the American market and make huge profits. They shipped them over by the hundreds of thousands.

In Europe every firearm had to be proofed by government inspectors. These standards were very well known and regulated. These allowed European makers to design the gun to the specifications which resulted in the exquisite shotguns they are renown for and explains why America could not produce the same quality.

Proof marks tell all. Can you take pics of the barrel bottom or any marks you see anywhere? I would guess Belgian myself as Frechy sez.

Thanks guys I will look tomorrow and see if I see any marks and get pics.

proof marks = ?? a company or a name

could be symbols, numbers, letters, anything. Take pix of -any- markings you see at all.

Like the fox head on Fuchs.

LOTS more info than that even. Origin, strength, proof house, chokes, some barrels read like books in code. I'm blueing a set of Parker barrels that literally they ran out of room they had so much info on the flats. They have been sleeved and reproofed in England etc. Somebody spent a LOT of money on this gun, and it's all there if you know the codes.

Sorry it has taken so long for me to get back. Theses are the only markings my untrained eye has found.

Peppy, you will have to remove the barrels from the stock to see more. On the forearm is a fitting. It is a barrel wedge that is pushed (only one way! looks like left to right in your photos) to release the barrels. Look at it closely and you will be able to detirmine which way to push it. Use a small peice of wood and some light tapping with a smal hammer. It should only go about half way to one side.

Then using your hands to hold the stock/action in an upright position (like you were holding it to shoot from your waist) and a pillow on a table to cushion the barrels, strike the barrels downward on the pillow. This should break the barrels loose. Be careful! Guard against the barrels flying off. Once loose the barrels will come off, they are hooked into the action at the breech-end.

The markings (proofmarks) if any will be on the underside of the barrels. If need be you can highlight the marks with typing "whiteout" to assist in clarity in pictures.

Thanks Frenchy you saved me a tutorial.

My pleasure. You're quite wellcome.SmileWavy

I suspect this is not a cheap "Belgian" gun.

Look at markings on the barrel. By the looks of that the whole thing was made by hand by hammering lots of small pieces of iron together.

I'm betting it's of English origin.

It may have an English name or english sounding name as a lot of english guns were made in belgium and proofed in birmingham. they're still belgian. They were then exported to the U.S. as "British". The "markings" are damascus twist,(go here for more info http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfg2hmx7_8gmzs6hck ) those may have a bit of a crollel look to them, so they are a better grade of twist, but the belgians were very creative about their knock offs. think Japan electronics in the 50's and 60's. The belgians even went as far as "stealing" names of fine english makers like W.C. Scott and W. Scott, hell I've seen belgian " Parker Bros" yeah right. I'll still put my money on it being belgian. Keep in mind that not all belgian guns are crap, just the knock offs.

Interesting shotgun...nice condition with the origianl Damacus Browning...

Surprised there is no makers marks?

Many of the American makers would buy their barrels from the Brits..and would say ENGLISH TWIST...

This gun is circa 1870...plus or minus 10 years...

When damascus barrels were being made they were several grades. This gun has the absoute lowest grade of damascus available on it, called stub damascus. Labor was exceedingly cheap in those days so the kind of handwork required to make damascus was the least expensive componet in barrel manufacturing.

see my link above on grades of twist.

You want names of belgian makers??/ here ya go ...
http://damascus-barrels.com/Belgian_Trade_Marks.html

More than anybody needs to know about damascus barrels...

Damascus-Barrels Forge Welded Barrels Research & Information

this one kills me..

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