Product Details
JOSEPH LANG & SON
A RARE 12-BORE PHILLIPS 1893 PATENT 'VENA CONTRACTA' BOXLOCK EJECTOR, serial no. 8605,
30in. nitro reproved barrels, rib engraved 'JOSEPH LANG & SON. 10 PALL MALL. LONDON.', and gold-inlaid '2', 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. 3/4 and 1/2 choke, wall thicknesses at 18 and 19, incorporating Horatio Phillips 'contracted vein' patent diminishing internal bore diameter, patent no. 11828 of June 15th 1893, treble-grip action, automatic safety, border and acanthus scroll engraving, brushed bright and reblued finish overall, 14 1/4in. figured stock including buttplate, weight 6lb. 2oz.
Other Notes: The principle behind Phillips idea to utilise an exaggerated diminishing bore diameter, giving the gun a 12-bore chamber which tapers to 20-bore dimensions at the muzzle was to distribute weight more effectively, allowing a heavier action and a lighter stock in order to make a lightweight gun that was, in Phillips' own words "extremely handy in consequence of the greater portion of the weight being concentrated near the middle of the length". In the January 1894 edition of 'The Field', an article on the design explained it as follows:
"Practically speaking, the recoil and the pressure in the chamber are exactly the same as obtains in an ordinary 12-bore gun firing the same shot charge; but the vibration set up in the stock of an ordinary gun, and which is the chief factor in producing gun-headache, is almost entirely absent, the vibration being absorbed by the mass of metal surrounding the breech of the gun".
The design was not a popular one, and many examples were returned to the makers to have conventional barrels fitted.
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Estimate £800-1,200
S2