Any gun enthusiasts around to help me please?

[Cherie]

Hello all,

I'm hoping there may be some gun enthusiasts among us who could help me.

My 5 x g.grandfather, Matthew Spencer, was a gunsmith from Kings Lynn in Norfolk from about 1804 to 1853. He is listed in a dictionary of Guns & Gunmakers and it says that he made sporting guns, reservoir airguns and revolvers. I was also thrilled to discover that he made a blunderbuss that was sold at an auction at Bonhams in 2011 for £13,500!

Until I discovered the sale of the blunderbuss it never occurred to me that there might still be some of his guns around. I would love to be able to trace one, perhaps in a museum somewhere, but have absolutely no idea where to start. The googling I've done keeps pointing me to military museums.

Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

P.S. I have a long lost cousin coming over from Australia in May and would love to be able to show him a gun made by our mutual ancestor.

[JBee]

You could ask Bonhams who they sold it to and maybe ask the purchaser if you could view it. If not if they had a photograph of it.

[Cherie]

Thanks JBee - I do have a photo of it (see below) - I know nothing about guns but think it's a beauty!

I did think of contacting Bonham's but thought they probably wouldn't tell me who they sold it to in case I wanted to steal it.

Blunderbuss.jpg

[garstonite]

I would think the chances of finding a 200 yr old gun a little remote - a lot depends on how much use it has had - all the components tend to wear and tear basically - you have to oil and grease parts of the gun - where the trigger is there is a tiny spring and there is a little tiny screw that you tighten or loosen to control the trigger - hence the saying a Hair Trigger - the width of a hair to tighten or loosen makes a BIG difference .
I sincerely hope you do find one - these publishers publish 4 monthly magazines - try ordering one from your Newspaper shop for advice

http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/sporting-gun-home

[Cherie]

Thanks for your reply Garstonite. I know of two of his guns that have survived (both sold at Bonhams auctioneers) so I live in hope! I will check out the magazines, that could be very useful, thank you.