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W Richards SXS

bigstix314
first off, only gunsmiths and true experts read on, everyone else like me who THINKS they know what they are talking about, dont reply. i have a question on what i am about 98% sure is a bogus shotgun... but that's not important. my wife's grandfather who is Bob "The Candy Kid" Shan(1959 fastdraw champion in tombstone, az) gave me this old beat shotgun. it reads W. Richards on the side plate of the action and london fine twist and the top rib between the barrels. from what i have read so far this means knock off of the much finer richards. her grandfather is the grandfather i never had, literally mine had passed on before i was old enough. so i dont care if its worth 5 bucks or 5 million, its not for sale. i just want to know what i really have so i can possibly tell him its the real deal and see his eyes light up. i keep finding one person say to look for one thing on one website and another guy says no look for this on another website. one said W Richards is a knock off given, real Richards spelled the full name Westley Richards. but then another guy chimed in, NO Westley Richards did not engrave the full name until 20 something years after they first opened and a W Richards can possibly be a very very early authentic Richards. The shotgun has the mentioned above and exposed hammers and a SIDE thumb lever break. from what i have seen on gunbroker the big dollar authentics are top lever break. any and all help is appreciated, but please only gunsmiths, TRUE experts, or historians reply with information. thank you very much.
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Date Votes
  • mark christian
    Well I don't know if I dare to reply, I mean how can I be sure that I measure up to your idea of what a true expert is? Every shotgun made by the Westley Richards is marked Westley Richards, not W. Richards, not W.R. Richards, not Willie Richards, ect. Proof marks usually tell the tale and since most of the Belgian made knock offs are hammer guns, like yours, I'd say it is from Belgium. Since you felt that providing photos was not necessary, no doubt as a means of bringing out only the true experts, it is pretty tough to accept the idea that it might be a real Westley Richards.

    Unless we can get the official Westely Richards historian in here, who may measure up to a expert in your eyes, you probably won't be convinced.
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  • Bert H.
    I can answer the question... it is a Belgian knock-off. True English made guns will have the full name and the business address on the barrel rib.
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