American & British 410 Shotguns. Ronald Gabriel

addition, the aesthetics were compelling with a diminutive action body covered in wood [16].

      No other British company used this action, and records of both Scottish companies reveal that the 410 bore was never built or attempted to be built until recently. Dickson attempted a single 410 round-action double in the 1990s, unsuccessfully, for they were unable to build a scaled-down 410 action. More recently, McKay Brown has built a 410 round-action double (see Dickson chapter).

      In America, a variation of the action has been used in the Winchester 101 and the Remington 3200 in all bores. In Germany, where it is called the “Blitz,” Merkel uses the action. In Italy, Perazzi uses this action for its over/under because of its great frame strength. The Franchi 2000 series uses a variation. For decorative, stylistic, and engraving purposes, sideplates may be added as illustrated by a 1910 Dickson gun [8].

       B. Bolt Action

      This action, patented by Joseph Needham in 1852, with a later variation by Francis Bacon in 1870, was popularized in rifles and shotguns built by Rigby of Dublin and later London. There are no known double bolt-action 410s. However, the single-barrel bolt 410 became a popular gun for the gardener, taxidermist, and youth by 1900 with a high volume manufactured up to and after World War II.

      Companies making them in England included Webley &Scott, BSA, and Midland. Webley & Scott’s single-barrel 410 bolt action, of which many thousands were built, was manufactured in lots of up to several hundred. With every lot or so, they would make a single “Deluxe” version. Today a “Deluxe” 410 is extremely rare and commands admiration and a handsome price (see Photo 1 in Webley & Scott chapter). In America, Mossberg, Stevens, and Marlin built many such guns.

       C. Lever Action

      This action became famous for its use in the preeminent rifles on the American frontier. My father used a 300-caliber lever-action Savage to hunt big game in the western United States for four decades from 1925 to 1965, as did many of his generation. Before that, it was used for sustenance and protection to survive and tame the American frontier. John Browning, the American firearms inventive genius, appears to have developed the first successful lever-action repeating shotgun, brought out by Winchester in 1887, in the 10 and 12 bore. The revised 1901 model was made until 1920 in the 10 bore. Kessler built a lever-action shotgun after World War II. Winchester, in the Model 89, and Remington built a single shot “falling (rolling) block” action shotgun, a version of the lever action [17].

      The first lever-action 410-bore shotgun was built by Marlin from 1929 to 1932 and is described in detail in Chapter 10.

       D. Sliding Barrel or Sliding/Rotatory Breech Action

      This action has a most distinguished pedigree. Starting with Pauly’s 1812 hinged-breech fixed-barrel ensemble, a number of great names in mid-19th century gunmaking are associated with this action type. Its development continued in Europe and in England with the names of W.J. Harvey (1860), Joseph Needham (1862), Jeffery (1862), and James Purdey (1865) dotting the landscape [3]. Purdey built such an action for a 32-bore rifle in the mid-19th century.

      It is clear that this action was developed earlier in Europe, and it appears that France was the only country where it was able to sustain a commercial life. Darne, the great gunmaking company of St. Etienne and considered the gunmaker’s “Birmingham” of France, produced such guns from 1881 to 1980. They first started with a rotary breech and then converted to a sliding breech with its long tapered look. They built all gauges with the exception of the 410 bore, according to available records. In 1984, Paul Bruchet, a former Darne production manager, resumed production and now will build a 410 bore in any grade on a custom basis. The gun is eccentric, elegant, highly functional, and recommended for the adventurous shotgunner.

       E. Miscellaneous Actions

      These are best illustrated by the various cane and walking stick guns made in Europe and England beginning before the turn of the century [18] (see Interesting Types of Smoothbore 410s chapter).

       Commentary Applicable to the 410 bore

      In England, the sidelock started its evolution long before the 18th century. Both the bar- and back-action guns slowly emerged towards greater refinement until the end of the 19th century with the final development of the Beesley bar-action ejector hammerless sidelock made by Purdey under patent. Apart from the possibility of a John Wilkes back-action 410 of 1876, there are no 410s recorded with either action until the 1880s. For example, Purdey produced at least one 410 with each the bar- and the back-action sidelock at that time (see Purdey chapter). There are few recorded best quality sidelock bar-action 410s from any of the great British gunmakers until the 1930s. It was in the late 1920s when Harry Lawrence built Purdey’s first bar-action hammerless 410.

      The 1920s was the decade when the great American gunmakers began to build the 410 bore in their side-by-side configuration. Other British quality gunmakers did not begin their bar-action hammerless 410s until later. Boss built its first bar-action hammerless in the 1930s while Holland & Holland as well as Westley Richards waited until after World War II to do so.

      After the Anson & Deeley revolution in 1875, the 410 with the hammerless boxlock action was made with increasing frequency by high-volume firms such as Webley & Scott and by local artisans and provincial gunmakers for the general public and young shooter. Often these firms and individual makers would send their product to one of the quality London gunmakers such as Holland & Holland, Churchill, Evans, Jeffery, and Cogswell & Harrison to be “shot and regulated” and sold under the firm’s name. There is no record of an in-house production of a boxlock 410 by such firms as Purdey, Boss, and Holland & Holland. Firms such as Greener, Watson, Beesley, Westley Richards, and Webley & Scott had their own in-house production of the 410 boxlock action, although even these firms often used components such as actions and barrels produced by “out workers” or local parts makers. Boxlock 410s manufactured by local artisans or high-volume firms—to be then precisioned and refined by the quality firm under whose name the gun would be sold—usually would have the inscription “Made for ... ” on the barrel rib.

      In 1897, Westley Richards developed a refined variation of their boxlock, the droplock, of which there are six recorded in the 410 bore prior to 1990. They have resumed production of the 410 droplock within the past few years (see Westley Richards chapter).

      In America, the 410 bore was made by the best quality firms from the mid-1920s onwards. Hence, this bore enjoyed the most advanced lock design of each manufacturer. For example, Ithaca did not begin 410 production until their latest and last configuration had started in 1926, the NID model. All quality companies except L.C. Smith made the 410 with their most advanced boxlock. The Smith 410 was a back-action sidelock with a coiled mainspring.

      L.C. Smith, the only sidelock firm in America of any volume, did not start to manufacture the 410 until 1926 when its back-action hammerless sidelock was at its peak. Interestingly, L.C. Smith did build a number of bar-action sidelocks before the 20th century. However, they converted entirely to the back-action hammerless sidelock by 1900 because this type appeared to be stronger and simpler to build (see L.C. Smith chapter).

      The more cheaply made 410s in America, such as those by Iver Johnson or Winchester, were started in or just after the 20th century’s second decade and were invariably hammer or hammerless boxlock actions. They were made in some volume. For example, the Iver Johnson single-barrel hammer 410, the Champion, started in 1916 and had a production run of over 5000, of which very few are now in existence. By today’s standards, it was a well-made gun, but in that day, it was treated as a barnyard tool and most did not survive the ravages of time, use, and abuse. The Winchester Model 20 was made from 1919 to 1924 with a total production of at least 23,616. This was an especially well-made