Thomas Turner, born in 1805, started his career
as a barrelmaker, which may explain why his guns
did well at the Field Trials. He was a Birmingham
gunmaker, whose business closed in 1912 and
was not related to the Reading gunmaker of the
same name. He also had premises in London
from 1884 to 1893.
The gun itself is quite unremarkable, but it
reminds us of the frenzy of development that took
place during the 19th century and Mr Walsh’s
attempts to record, encourage and verify the
benefits each major improvement achieved, as it
became a point for discussion among sportsmen.
The letters pages of The Field at this time
reminds me somewhat of modern internet forums;
the egos are apparent and no holds barred in
renouncing opponents and rubbishing their
claims, in the strongest possible terms.
CLASSIC GUNS
‘A trial in 1875 confirmed
that choke-bored barrels
suffered no appreciable
wear or change in pattern
over prolonged use’
The gun is plain, which is not surprising as it was made to test
the quality of the patterns it delivered, rather than to sellThe engraving must have been added later, when the
gun had been colour-hardened, which isn’t ideal!