What is it? No this is not a trick question I need some help. This came to me in a beautiful old oak and leather gun case for a Jeffery .600 NE, (the gun was missing!)







The hallmarks would indicate silver but I am no expert. The brass case is a .600 NE and the lettering is Patent “ Magazine”

"W.M" represents the makers (silversmiths) mark, generally his initials.

The "anchor" to the right indicates that the item was made in Birmingham.

The "lion passant"(yep, that little squiggle is a lion) indicates that the item is silver and of sterling quality.

The "e" on the far right is a year stamp, indicating when the item was made, in this case 1904.

Hope that helps.

PS: Similar items were made to house cigars.

Thanks a lot John, now all we have to do is find out what she is, somebody went to a lot of trouble to make this.

Brass and leather in tropical climates are not best friends. So you need something else and, at that time, silver was cheap.

Well, cheap if you could afford the sort of shooting that went with a 600 DR! Even the £25 fee in Kenya in the 1920s was actually quite a lot.

The item is no more or less than a holder for spare cartridges to go in the user's pocket. Today these things would be in injection moulded plastic.

The marks are British Assay Marks. Also known as "hallmarks".

The anchor informs that it was assayed at Birmingham.

The lion is a "lion passant" and is called a "standard" mark. It tells us the purity of the silver. In this case .925 pure silver or "sterling" silver.

The "C" is a date code for the year 1902 and specific to items assayed in Birmimgham.

The "W.M" is the "maker's mark" of William Manton of Vyse Street in Birmingham a company that some sources say registered this "W.M" as their "maker's mark" in 1895.

The patent I can't read. But you can go online and check British patents so I'll leave that pleasure to you!

Hope it all has helped?

quote:

Originally posted by John Hipwell:
Thanks a lot John, now all we have to do is find out what she is, somebody went to a lot of trouble to make this.

Happy to help Mate, my guess is that is indeed a cigar holder.

A Kynoch 600 Nitro display pack ?


I can see the cases are cut away but is what is inside loose or fixed ?

I t looks like it is simulating powder but in 1904 it would have been Cordite which is long thin strings.

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

When I looked again I also saw an "e". So the year is 1904.

The cutaway are so that you can get the cartridges out of it! It is where you put your finger and thumb!

If you took a cigar out like that you would crush it! It is for cartridges.

Cigars were either in sealed tubes or in a leather case like you see Edward G Robinson using in that famous film with Paul Newman about poker.

I am not trying to dispute a previous posters assessment, but I think you will find that "W.M" stands for "William Maguires" who first registered his mark in 1887 and was noted for his novelty cigarette cases, hence my reasoning that it is a cigar holder.

I don't think that William Manton had a "dot" between the W and the M.

There was/is a William "H" Manton who did use the dot, but didn't register until 1974, therefore he is out of the equation, as the date stamp is much earlier.

Maguires - registered 1887




Manton - registered 1895

So after looking again I'd agree that it is Maguires and not Manton.

It is late at night here in England!

Thanks "enfieldspares" you have confirmed my thoughts, I wasn't sure as the rds are a loose fit, they would almost rattle, that would be a no no. Now all I have to do is find the rifle that goes with this.