W Allport Flintlock

[hw bowles]

I have a beautiful but neglected old flintlock fowling piece with a barrel marked "LONDON" on one of the flats (octagonal barrel transitioning to round) and a lock marked "W ALLPORT" on the outside and stamped "WA" on the inside. Style of the gun (stock, butplate, etc) appears to be from the period of early 1800s or late 1700s. Does anyone have any information on when W Allport may have been actively making locks?

 

[JV Puleo]

William Allport was a Brimingham, England, lock maker, a member of a family that made many locks for the American market. Bailey & Nie give him dates of 1807-1823 and I have seen locks marked "Allport, late of Ketland & Co." so he was, as some time associated with the better known Ketlands. Without seeing your gun I would guess it is British, almost certainly Birmingham made for the export (i.e. American) market. The "London" marking is inconsequential as Birmingham makers often used this, the London trade having a superior reputation. The barrel should have Birmingham proof marks though they may be on the bottom.
Joe Puleo

 

[hw bowles]

Thanks very much for this information. The barrel has two proof marks on one of the flats in the octagonal (breech) section. One is the crown symbol with a V beneath. The second is the crown symbol with what appears to be a CP symbol with the bottom of the C forming part of the P.

I know these are English proof marks, but do you know the significance of the V and the CP?

Thanks again, hwb

 

[JV Puleo]

What you describe are true London proof marks. The "V" is the viewing mark, the result of a visual inspection of the barrel. The other mark is "GP", what is known as the definitive proof...the mark placed on the barrel as a result of test firing. London proofs are generally a good thing, by the time Allport was around most barrels were made in Birmingham. Unfortunately, they tell us nothing about the date because the marks go back to the 17th century.
That is, if they are real. Forgeries existed at the time and because of a quirk in British law, as long as the gun was exported it did not actually need to be profed. Still, I suspect the barrel at least is from a good quality gun. The lock is also probably of reasonable quality (I have seen and owned several guns with Allport locks and all of them were better than average) so the most likely scenario is that you have a better-than-usual English fowler made for the export (i.e. American) market.

Joe Puleo

 

[hw bowles]

Thank you again, this is great information. I will try to get some pictures of good quality of this gun up on the forum shortly. ---hwb