Product Details
HOLLAND & HOLLAND
A 12-BORE 1874 NEEDHAM PATENT PUSH-FORWARD UNDERLEVER BARREL-COCKING HAMMERLESS TRIGGERPLATE-ACTION EJECTOR, serial no. 8966, with two sets of barrels,
original 30in. black powder only damascus barrels, the rib engraved 'HOLLAND & HOLLAND. 98 NEW BOND STREET. LONDON. WINNER OF ALL THE "FIELD" RIFLE TRIALS. LONDON. 1887.', 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. true cyl. and imp. cyl.;
extra 30in. nitro barrels, 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. 1/4 and 3/4 choke;
Needham patent action, patent no. 1205 of 7th April 1874, use number 244, slender carved serpentine fences, the action flats engraved 'PATENT SELF EXTRACTOR', manual side safety with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' detail, fine bouquet and scroll engraving, 14in. figured stock (cracked and repaired at head) including 1/4in. extension, weight 6lb. 11oz. (original barrels) 6lb. 15oz. (extra barrels), in a canvas and leather case with provision for one set of barrels
Provenance: The makers have kindly confirmed that this gun was completed in 1886 for a J. Baines Esq.
Other Notes: The Needham 1874 patent action was tremendously influential in the development of the modern sporting shotgun. Not only was it the first gun to utilise a barrel-cocking mechanism but it was also the first to have an integral ejector mechanism. The split stem extractor used in the gun was patented by Needham and was one of his most important and lucrative inventions (being licensed out to many contemporary gunmakers for the full extent of its patent life of 14 years, the royalties for which made as much as £1000 a year - more than twenty times the cost of a Best London Gun)
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Estimate £800-1,200
S2