I know very little about shotguns. My friend knows even less. He acquired a side by side Cogswell and Harrison. The barrels are ringed and are probably out of proof.
As a 'Stock Action and Forend it might be worth £25. We have found another one 100s of miles away where the action is at fault and the stock damaged.
What are the chances of being able to us the barrels from it in the first one? I had heard that Cogswell used machine tools in their production which is why I am asking if it's worth a £50 gamble to get the barrels.
Swapping Shotgun Barrels
Moderator: dromia
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saddler
Re: Swapping Shotgun Barrels
Worst case scenario. ...he'll possibly have a deactivated shotgun to sell in the near future.
Best case scenario. ....he has a functioning gun with mis-matched numbers (that's IF the barrels are serial numbered)
Best case scenario. ....he has a functioning gun with mis-matched numbers (that's IF the barrels are serial numbered)
Re: Swapping Shotgun Barrels
Cogswell & Harrison made many many thousands of shotguns over about 150 years. Probably many hundreds of thousands.
Whilst as you say they made use of many machine-made parts (and were looked down on by the 'Best London as a result), these were made to a pattern but fitted by hand. Barrels would have been individually fitted to their actions.
In addition there is considerable variation between models and even within a model series . . . I was looking at two Coggies in a recent auction, both described as 'Avant Tout' boxlocks. One had conventional flat-faced barrels while the other included a 'dolls head' protrusion from the top of the barrels that locks into a cut-out in the action. There is also the issue of the fore-end, which houses part of the ejector mechanism and must fit to both barrel and action.
So personally I think you'd be lucky if you found the barrels to be anything like a match, and if you were that lucky, they would need the attention of a gunsmith in order for them to fit properly. And possibly a re-proof.
Triffid
Whilst as you say they made use of many machine-made parts (and were looked down on by the 'Best London as a result), these were made to a pattern but fitted by hand. Barrels would have been individually fitted to their actions.
In addition there is considerable variation between models and even within a model series . . . I was looking at two Coggies in a recent auction, both described as 'Avant Tout' boxlocks. One had conventional flat-faced barrels while the other included a 'dolls head' protrusion from the top of the barrels that locks into a cut-out in the action. There is also the issue of the fore-end, which houses part of the ejector mechanism and must fit to both barrel and action.
So personally I think you'd be lucky if you found the barrels to be anything like a match, and if you were that lucky, they would need the attention of a gunsmith in order for them to fit properly. And possibly a re-proof.
Triffid
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Robert303
Re: Swapping Shotgun Barrels
Thanks for that. I had a feeling it would be a LONG shot. If I could get to the auction with the action we have at least I'd have been able to try it. As it is I think I'll leave it
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