July 30th 2016 Premier Firearms Sale (20)
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/30/2016
George Edward Lewis was a gun maker and merchant in Birmingham, London from 1852 to 1908 and partnered with Francis Tomes. This fine condition market gun probably dates to the late 1880s-90s as it is built with a fluid steel barrel and takes a cartridge case. It is a single shot under lever release, tip down 8 bore that features a heavy 35-1/2” barrel with finely checkered for-end attached with barrel wedge and a horn inset. The stock is a straight English style checkered with right side-plate and hammer. Has the original solid red recoil pad. Excellent clean bore with a couple of minor spots. Sports a single bead sight. Stamped on top flat “G.E. Lewis 32 & 35 Lower Loveday St. Birmingham 8540”. Barrel flats stamped “Choke, 8 10/2” with Birmingham proofs. Barrel retains 95% of the period re-applied rust blue. Serial number stamped under barrel. Checkered walnut stocks are in excellent to near mint condition with sharp checkering, no cracks, and a perfectly fitting side-plate. The frame retains approximately 95% of the period reapplied bone case colors. The side-plate is stamped “G.E. Lewis”. Gun has an under lever release mechanism that swivels to the right to allow loading. Has a 13-3/4” LOP to a single trigger. Lock up is tight as a drum. Comes in a handmade wooden carry case with cleaning rod and brushes. Case has a G.E. Lewis label that reads “8 Gauge G.E. Lewis 7 Drams, 2F, 2-1/4 oz. 190 gr. 7D=190 gr. 60=164 gr.”. These market guns are rarely seen today with any condition. The era of the market hunter died at the end of the 19th century when market hunting was outlawed in both England and America. These guns generally saw very hard use and few have survived in any condition. They are now a very scarce and popular collectible amongst decoy collectors. One can travel to dozens of high end gun shows and never see a single example.