GOLD BAND & Engraved LEWIS & TOMES Retail Marked Antique PERCUSSION Shotgun Mid-1800s Self Defense HOMESTEAD/HUNTING Gun

Product Description

GOLD BAND & Engraved LEWIS & TOMES Retail Marked Antique PERCUSSION Shotgun

Mid-1800s Self Defense HOMESTEAD/HUNTING Gun

Here we present an antique Gold Banded and Engraved Lewis & Tomes Marked Percussion Shotgun, made circa the 1830s to the early 1850s. Lewis & Tomes was a Birmingham / New York retail house, with Edward Lewis remaining in England and Francis Tomes arriving in New York in 1819. The firm imported all manner of military goods, including guns, swords, accoutrements, and buttons. According to the New York city directories, the firm broke up in the late 1830s, but at least one pair of post-1850 revolvers has been noted with the Lewis & Tomes mark, indicating that they still served an import trade. The successor firm in the United States was Miller & Tomes, and later Tomes, Melvain & Co., which carried the house through the Civil War. They went bankrupt in 1883.

Rifle and shotgun manufacture during this era was rapidly changing over from thousands of craftsmen all over the United States and on the Frontier making and selling their wares, to the large factories with standardized assembly lines and modern manufacturing techniques. Many makers’ names of these percussion firearms have been lost over time. In the earlier years of the United States, a shotgun such as this would have been a necessary tool to have in all households. A shotgun like this would have been hanging over every fireplace in frontier American, and necessary to have if you wanted to eat, along with protection when ne’er do wells came around. This would have been primarily a firearm designed for hunting both big and small game, along with a bird or two sitting on the pond.

The overall condition is good. Strong action. The bore is in good shape for its age. A stable crack is present to the right of the trigger guard on the otherwise solid stock. Smooth checkered wrist. Some metal parts contain traditional floral engravings. Legible markings.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 30-1/4 inches.

Caliber: 20 Gauge Percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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$900
#230751