Lincoln Jeffries Steelhouse No.1Mk.3

[Alan de Enfield]

Lincoln Jefferies was an 'assembler' of gun components (and a retailer). His shotguns has a very 'good' name.

There was a similar question in 'Shooting Times' in 2012 - but it was regardimg a shotgun, not a sporterised SMLE.

The answer being :

Lincoln Jeffries (1847? 1932) was a prominent Birmingham gunmaker best known for designing the tap loading underlever air rifle subsequently built by BSA.

He occupied various premises in Whittall Street and Steelhouse Lane in the heart of the city?s gun quarter.

Less memorably, he was also involved in litigation with William Ford over a patent, and was forced to concede that Ford had bored his guns that won a gold medal in The Field trials of 1879.

Jeffries was something of an inventor, with a dozen patents to his name.

Though he was a gunmaker in the true sense of the word, your gun will have passed through many pairs of hands, as he would have had all the specialised functions of manufacture performed by outworkers.

[jonh172]

When you say it is a “standard sporterized No.1 “, what does that mean? Is it an ex-service rifle (with government markings and date) that has been converted to a sporter? Or was it built as a sporter (with commercial markings)?

If the former, it might have been fitted with a barrel by/from Lincoln Jeffries. If the latter (which is more likely), it was a BSA commercial sporter retailed by Lincoln Jeffries.

A few pics of the markings will tell us. Or if you can describe the markings.

Would love to know. To those of us who study the British gun trade and its history, the Jeffries connection is a plus. It’s a piece of history. Jeffries (the company) is best known for air guns (and their connection to BSA) but they produced shotguns and rifles too, having been in Birmingham since at least the 1870s. Lincoln Jeffries’ great-grandsons carry on the business today.

Excellent points and info thank you!
The owner is an 85 yr old gunsmith who is not savvy with computers so getting pictures will be a challenge but I’ll see what I can get!

Jon

---------- Post added at 12:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:15 PM ----------

Lincoln Jefferies was an 'assembler' of gun components (and a retailer). His shotguns has a very 'good' name.

There was a similar question in 'Shooting Times' in 2012 - but it was regardimg a shotgun, not a sporterised SMLE.

The answer being :

Lincoln Jeffries (1847? 1932) was a prominent Birmingham gunmaker best known for designing the tap loading underlever air rifle subsequently built by BSA.

He occupied various premises in Whittall Street and Steelhouse Lane in the heart of the city?s gun quarter.

Less memorably, he was also involved in litigation with William Ford over a patent, and was forced to concede that Ford had bored his guns that won a gold medal in The Field trials of 1879.

Jeffries was something of an inventor, with a dozen patents to his name.

Though he was a gunmaker in the true sense of the word, your gun will have passed through many pairs of hands, as he would have had all the specialised functions of manufacture performed by outworkers.

Fantastic thanks so much for this!