BASC has preserved a piece of wildfowling and English shooting history with the purchase of a gun handled by the association’s founder Stanley Duncan.
The association has bought a 12-bore shotgun made in 1935 and inscribed with the words ‘Stanley Duncan and Sons Gun Makers’.
Bill Harriman, BASC’s director of firearms, said: “We bought it because we are trying to preserve wildfowling and English shooting heritage and I think it’s important to have a gun that we know has a very strong association with our founder.
“Even though it wasn’t his personal gun, it was sold by his shop and I am absolutely certain he would have handled it.
“It’s a big, meaty gun. It would be wonderful for firing a few shots on the marsh. On the top rib it says ‘Stanley Duncan and Sons Gun Makers’. He wasn’t that; he was a retailer of Birmingham-made guns in Hull. It’s interesting that his business is often called CV Duncan – you don’t often see the business name ‘Stanley Duncan and Sons’.”
Mr Harriman added that the shotgun, bought at auction at Bonhams, was in “pretty good nick”.
He added: “It hasn’t been used much. It’s not very worn. The barrels have been re-blacked and I think it was re-proofed in the 1980s.
“It’s chambered for old three-inch cartridges, which were the heaviest 12-bore cartridge you could get at the time. It’s a wildfowling gun with a boxlock ejector. It’s a very ordinary Birmingham gun, but it has that link to BASC’s founder which is why we thought it was so important to acquire it.”
BASC chairman Peter Glenser said: “We are absolutely delighted to have acquired this piece of wildfowling history with such a strong link to our founder. Wildfowling is at the core of who we are and what we do and we could not pass up the opportunity to acquire this heritage piece.”