Researching Your Gun

Researching your Gun

Send us an e-mail with the serial number of your William Evans gun and we will let you know the year of manufacture no charge. Email our gun room by clicking here.

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

Due to time consuming nature of the research required, full gun histories will only be conducted out of season. Quick enquiries such as dates of manufacture etc will be replied to by e-mail or telephone.

Please see below a list of dates.

Gun Build Dates

Serial Number	Year	Serial Number	Year	Serial Number	Year	Serial Number	Year
335 earliest rec.no	undated	4,553	1899	15,775	1929	18,397	1961
		4,837	1900	16,190	1930	18,425	1962
1,274	1899	5,013	1901	16,324	1931	18,447	1963
1,353	1898	5,812	1902	16,892	1932	18,478	1964
1,361	1885	6,116/8,078	1903	16,959	1933	18,479	1965
		6,887/8,106	1904	17,101	1934	18,500	1966
1,442/1,482	Gap	7,190/8,148	1905	17,240	1935	18,509	1967
		7,499/8,150	1906	17,320	1936	18,531	1968
1,500	1886	8,158	1907	17,660	1937	18,540	1969
1,685	1904	8,174	1908	17,900	1938	18,545	1970
1,691	1904	9,546	1909	17,935	1939	18,550	1971
1,731	1900	9,700	1910	No serial nos	1940-41	18,556	1972
1,767	1900	10,000	1911	17,964	1942	18,562	1973
1,788	1901	10,458	1912	17,968	1942	18,573	1974
1,805	1900	10,539	1913	No serial nos	1944-45	18,584	1975
1,911	1897	10,852	1914	18,000	1946	18,586	1976
1,361	1885	11,000	1915	18,052	1947	18,588	1977
1,500	1886	11,436	1916	18,056	1948	18,591	1978
1,650	1887	11,600	1917	18,070	1949	18,601	1979
1,800	1888	11,779	1918	18,080	1950	18,602	1980
1,942	1889	12,064	1919	18,090	1951	-	1981
2,126	1890	12,415	1920	18,100	1952	18,603	1982
2,202	1891	12,607	1921	18,104	1953	18,605	1983
2,436	1892	12,750	1922	18,120	1954	18,607	1984
2,586	1893	12,900	1923	18,142	1955	18,610	1985
2,719	1894	13,271	1924	18,152	1956	18,612	1986
3,000	1895	13,665	1925	18,164	1957	18,621	1987
3,288	1896	14,343	1926	18,204	1958	18,626	1988
3,490	1897	14,980	1927	18,320	1959	20,000	1990
3,741	1898	15,445	1928	18,347	1960	New numbers started

Please note that one such book dealing with serial numbers 10,426-13,222 is missing covering the years 1912-24.
The records of William Evans guns are kept at 67a St James’s St, London.

Gun History

The dating of all the guns listed, working from the ledger books is the earliest number at the beginning of each calendar year which can be clearly identified with a date. For the most part these will come within the first month or so of the year, but on occasions may be later where for some reason the records are unclear.

The system of recording numbers in the ledgers was apparently that the serial numbers would be allocated when guns were ordered, usually in batches. Generally, therefore the dates listed will be the approximate dates of production of the individual weapons, not necessarily the year of sale (which, in some cases, might be an appreciable period of time later). Only in the case of the serial numbers for the missing book will it indicate the year of sale, as the year of production is lost. To be absolutely sure of the details, it is therefore necessary to look up individual weapons. However the listings below should give a fairly accurate broad indication of the date of production, which may of course be additionally verified by other details such as proof marks, etc.

The records prior to 1885 are somewhat confused and the numbers jump around not always in obvious sequence. The earliest recorded number is 335 but it is undated and the subsequent numbers until those of 1885 are put in the sequence in which they appear in the records, although this might appear to be misleading. The serial numbers for the years 1885-88 can be estimated reasonably clearly and from 1889 onwards they form a reasonably logical sequence.
In March 1903 a new number book was started, which for a few years overlapped with the existing numbering system which still appears to have been continued during that period. Two numbers for each year will, therefore, be found whilst that overlap continued, the second being the later numbering system.

There are no serial numbers recorded for the years 1940-1 or 1944-45, the former may have been as the result of the bombing of the premises (possibly also the later) or just the constrictions of available supply and demand during those difficult times.

Contact our London Gun Room for more information

Phone: +44 (0)20 7493 0415

Email: gunroom@williamevans.com