A GAME GUN FOR AFRICA JOHAN VAN WYK
Restoring a century-old stalwart to its former glory.
About two years ago, I acquired a nice old 1914-vintage 12-bore shotgun by William Evans, a respected London maker. The gun was not in the best condition externally, but it was made on what is commonly known as a Webley screw-grip, box-lock action. As William Evans did very little practical gunmaking of their own, almost all of the guns and rifles sold prior to 1939 and bearing that firm’s name, were made for them by Webley & Scott, one of the largest gunmaking concerns in Britain before World War II. Webley & Scott also produced guns for many of the other British makers and retailers of the time.
Screw-grip, box-lock actions have not been in production since the early 1940s but as they are renowned for strength and reliability, I bought the old gun, notwithstanding its sub-standard condition. The fact that it fitted me well enough and that the gun, with its 30-inch barrels swung like a dream were important deciding factors. After shooting it a few times, I decided to have it restored to a semblance of its former glory.
ASSESSING THE DAMAGE
The damage (for lack of a better term) to the gun was serious but luckily not terminal. I suspect the Evans must have picked up some surface corrosion at some point and was then taken to a gunsmith to have it removed. Unfortunately, that gentleman decided to use an electric buffing wheel to remove the corrosion, and this is where the troubles started.
On the debit side, the engraving on the bottom plate, toplever and one or two other parts was shallow and washed-out, and the lettering on the game rib between the barrels almost unreadable. Oh, the joys of a buffing wheel! The cherry on the cake was that all these parts were then hot-blued, removing any resemblance of the gun’s original finish.
NOT ALL IS LOST
On the credit side, the wood, which was also badly refinished, was easily salvageable and the flat-top chequering was dirty, but thankfully untouched. The stock was also free of any cracks or oil soak and, save for being slightly short for me – the length of pull is 14¼” – was generally in good condition. The barrels were blackened at some point, and notwithstanding the embrace of the buffing wheel to the rib, was in very good condition. Barrel wall thickness was excellent and at .730”, bore diameter was right on the money as well. The ribs are still firmly attached and the Webley action, not surprisingly, is still as tight as a drum after more than a century of use.
Thankfully, when stripping the gun to individual parts, I discovered that the internals were in very good condition with no corrosion to be seen anywhere. The friction-bearing pins (called “wire” by the British) running through the action body on which the lock-work is mounted had probably never been removed since the day the gun left the Webley factory. So,
all that was required to clean up the interior of the gun, was a thorough cleaning and lube job with a good synthetic grease.
Even though the gun is a nonejector and therefore not worth a lot of money, it still sports a London address and the name of a famous maker. Also, the generally good mechanical condition of the gun certainly makes it a good shooter. Thanks to a replacement Silver’s recoil pad (fitted by Faan de Vos), the gun fits me like a glove now and at improved cylinder/modified, the choke combination is just about perfect for guinea-fowl and francolin.
With all these factors in the back of my mind, I decided to forge ahead with the restoration process. After all, they don’t make screw-grip actions anymore and after more than a century, the old Evans deserved a new lease on life.
THE RESTORATION STARTS
As the metalwork was most in need of restoration, the first port of call was at the shop of engraver Jonathan Knoesen. Jonathan had a long, hard look at the damage through his magnifying glass and concluded that most of it was reversible. He stripped the gun down to individual parts and gave everything a proper cleaning to remove grease and other grime. Hereafter, the action body was boiled in an acid solution to remove a century’s worth of ingrained dirt, old grease and oil. This process is very effective but removes all forms of lubrication as well, so a thorough application of lubricant afterwards is essential.
As the action body was casehardened to begin with, it was left for last, but the top-lever, bottom plate, trigger guard, screw-heads, and other affected parts were stripped of all blueing by means of fine steel wool and the process of lifting the engraving commenced. As the outlines of the original engraving pattern were still visible, Jonathan recut the delicate scroll applied by some unknown engraver in Webley & Scott’s factory in Weaman Street, Birmingham. It was amazing to see the engraving coming to life again and the metalwork seemed to regain its former glow almost immediately after Jonathan’s careful restoration work.
Jonathan’s tender application of hammer and chisel did not make the action body and other engraved areas look brand new, but rather as if they have endured a century’s usage with pride and good care. I can only describe Jonathan’s work as simply amazing, as the accompanying photographs show.
TURNING TO THE STOCK
The next order of business was the wood. The existing finish was stripped, and the open pores filled. Thanks to successive layers of hand-rubbed finishing oil and dryers, the wood slowly came to life again and was eventually restored to its former glory. Whoever had a previous go at restoring the gun thankfully had the good sense to leave the chequering alone, so there was no need for drastic measures with the wood other than replacing the recoil pad and refinishing it.
After braving the humid December weather, the refinishing of the stock was finally done by February this year after which I carefully reassembled the gun, this time not cringing at the damage but rather admiring the work that has been done on it!
A STEP BACK IN HISTORY
I have previously mentioned that the gun is a box-lock, nonejector and therefore not necessarily a rarity as the Brits turned them out by the bundle during earlier times. A few years previously, however, I owned another, virtually similar, William Evans 12-bore. It had 28” steel barrels and the most beautiful wood on any firearm I have ever owned. Its stock dimensions were slightly quirky, however, so I sold it to finance something else.
With the previous Evans 12-bore, I went to the trouble of writing to William Evans (still in business at 67 St James Street, London), regarding the gun’s history. To my surprise, they sent me a very comprehensive reply about the history, indicating that it was ordered in 1911 as one of a batch of six guns. It was sold to a Mr JH Bennett, a corn merchant from Ballinacurra, County Cork, Ireland. It was described in the Evans Day Book as follows: An Evans twelve bore centre fire top snap, Anson & Deeley hammerless non-ejector gun with twentyeight-inch steel barrels. Boring both barrels improved cylinder.
Mr Bennett was charged £22.17.6 which included a fitting session at the Evans shooting grounds at Bexley Heath in Kent, and the gun was delivered to the London docks on 25 September 1913 for shipment to Ireland.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
As my current Evans 12-bore »
» dates from 1914 (I looked up the gun’s serial number in the first volume of Nigel Brown’s excellent book British Gunmakers), I suspect that it may have a similar history, but I haven’t had the heart to fork out the £50 that Evans requires for looking up a gun’s history in their ledgers. In any event, the gun is once more ready for many years of faithful service, so I’d rather spend money on cartridges than expensive letters!
With the restoration process completed, it was perhaps time to tally up the positives and the negatives of the project. On the negative side, I probably overspent on the gun, even though it wasn’t all that expensive to begin with. The lack of ejectors also means that it will never be worth a small fortune, as the market has been very much in favour of ejector guns for decades.
On the plus side, however, restoring the Evans gave life back to a gun that hasn’t been in production since the early days of World War II. It is made on an action that is considered to be one of the best of its type ever made, and with flawless 30” barrels, nicely figured wood and superb stock dimensions, it fits in perfectly with a cold Free State morning, just before the first guinea-fowl drive commences.
GAME GUN IN AFRICA
In my humble opinion there is much to be said for using a nonejector gun in the field. I have owned numerous ejector guns over the years, and it was always a bit of a pain to bend down and pick up empties during the thick of the action. It is actually so much easier to simply stuff empty shells into a pocket to be disposed of later, and I make a habit of carrying a rubbish bag in the truck during bird shoots for this very reason.
Another point to be considered is that my Evans is not a priceless Purdey or bespoke O/U by one of the high-end European manufacturers. I’m not implying for one minute that my gun is inferior in any way but being afield with a gun that is treasured and not necessarily a treasure has its advantages. This is simply because it is a given that your favourite scattergun will, over time, pick up a few dings and scratches from continuous use. With a moderately-priced yet dependable and quality gun such as the Evans, the dry heaves or muffled curses after a scratch or ding appears in the walnut stock is luckily slightly less painful!
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, seeing the old Evans being transformed from an ugly duckling into an exquisite object of beauty has given me a lot of personal satisfaction. Notwithstanding overspending, it is just plain nice to know that a fine gun has been given a new lease on life.
It is even better to swing those 30” barrels ahead of a speeding francolin or guinea-fowl, pull the front trigger and see the bird plummet to earth in a cloud of feathers. And at that exact moment, the waiting and all the money spent suddenly seems very much worth it!