Barrel length 76 cm (30"), stock length 36.5 cm (14.25"), overall length 118 cm (46.5"), choke cyl & 1/2 (cyl. & M), weight 3.0 kg, manufactured after 1904, British nitro proof, condition 3
Fine browned horseshoe damascus, concave rib, signed with New Bond Street address, ejectors, bright bascule, inscribed "Charles Lancaster - Colonial Quality", Anson & Deeley box lock, self opener, automatic sliding tang safety, double trigger, walnut stock, straight grip, blank silver stock monogram plate, cut end of stock, tear-off forend, bascule discolored from hand perspiration, system slightly wobbly when forend removed.
Company founder Charles Lancaster worked for Joseph Manton as a barrel manufacturer at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1826, he finally decided to go into business for himself, manufacturing not only components but complete rifles and shotguns. After his death, his sons Charles William Lancaster and Alfred Lancaster took over the manufacturing. Alfred left the family business after a few years to establish an entirely separate one - A. Lancaster Gun & Rifle Manufacturer. It was not until after their deaths that the companies were reunited as one. Henry Alfred Alexander Thorn, trained by Charles, took over the business after his death in 1878. In the late 1990s, he purchased that of Alfred, now also deceased, thus forming Charles Lancaster & Co. A number of other prominent shotgun makers were involved in the company's history, including W.J. Jeffery, Grant & Lang, and even Ronald Wharton. Some three dozen patents can be traced back to the inventiveness of the Lancaster group. Creativity was also a key driving characteristic, symbolized by the shotgun quad. The most prominent development, however, was the so-called "Twenty-Twelve", a 12-gauge shotgun so optimized in technology and weight that it equaled the weight and nimble handling of a 20-gauge. Challenges of this kind have always driven gunsmiths around the world to strive for new innovations and technical masterpieces.

Category: Shotguns