Researching Your Gun

Researching Your Gun

Send us an email with the serial number of your William Evans gun and we will let you know the year of manufacture free of charge. Email our gun room by clicking here.

For a fee of £50 we will send you a colour photocopy of the original entry in our order book and a letter of authentication. This will normally show the date of manufacture, specifications, and the person for whom the gun was originally made.

Due to the time required for research, full gun histories are only conducted out of season. Quick enquiries such as manufacture dates will be replied to by email or telephone.

Gun Build Dates

Note: One ledger covering serial numbers 10,426–13,222 (1912–24) is missing. Records are held at 67A St James’s St, London. Dates indicate approximate production year.

Undated & 1885–1905

1906–1920

1921–1940

1942–1960

1961–1990+

Gun History

The dating listed above is based on the earliest serial number at the beginning of each calendar year that can be clearly identified with a date. Most will fall within the first month of the year, but some may be later where records are unclear.

Serial numbers were typically allocated when guns were ordered, often in batches. As a result, the dates shown indicate the approximate production year of the weapon and not necessarily the year of sale (which may have occurred later). For the period covered by the missing ledger, the year indicated may reflect the year of sale rather than production.

Records prior to 1885 are inconsistent; numbers jump and are not always in obvious sequence. The earliest recorded number is 335 (undated). From 1885–88, the numbers can be estimated reasonably clearly, and from 1889 onward they form a more logical sequence. In March 1903 a new numbering book was started which overlapped the existing system for a few years, hence some years show two sequences.

There are no serial numbers recorded for 1940–41 or 1944–45, likely due to wartime circumstances including possible bomb damage and constraints on supply and demand.