MINT BORE**QUALITY**C1850 Octavius Bowker Queen\\\'s Town South Africa Double Damascus Barrelled Side By Side Muzzle Loading Percussion Combination Cape Hunting Rifle (.550 Calibre Rifled Barrel & 13 Bore Smoothbore Shotgun Barrel). Sn 20852 Muzzleloader None Rifles

**MINT BORE**QUALITY**C1850 Octavius Bowker Queen's Town South Africa Double Damascus Barrelled Side By Side Muzzle Loading Percussion Combination Cape Hunting Rifle (.550 Calibre Rifled Barrel & 13 Bore Smoothbore Shotgun Barrel). Sn 20852

The British Bowker family settled in the South African Eastern Cape in 1820. Octavius Bourchier Bowker worked in Queens Town. He was an exceptionally good marksman. He served in the 6th, 7th and 8th Frontier Wars. He was a gunsmith and developed the sought-after Bowker Gun. He participated in Boer operations against the Basuto tribe in the Free State, where his skill as a marksman was valued. This is an excellent, quality made Double barrel percussion Cape rifle made C1850 by Octavius Bowker. It has 29 ¼” Damascus steel barrels and measures 47 ½” overall. The barrels, set side by side have a central flat top barrel rib which has graduated markings, fixed open fore sight and graduated 3 leaf rear sights with silvered aiming lines. The barrel rib is signed ‘Octavius Bowker Queen’s Town No. 603’. The number is repeated on the trigger guard tang. The rifle barrel is .550 calibre and the shotgun barrel is 13 Bore. Both bores are near mint clean and bright and the rifle barrel has well defined rifling. It has its original walnut stock with chequered panels at the fore stock and wrist. One side It has a steel butt plate with extended tang and trigger guard with extended tang. The top of one side of the forestock is missing a thin sliver of wood, only visible on close inspection and the fore stock is totally secure. The stock has a hinged trap. The steel lid of the trap is engraved with ‘Stag’ in the field scene. The metal work has nice tooled foliate decoration to the action plates, breach tang, Dolphin hammers, trigger guard and butt plate tang. Both action plates are signed ‘O. Bowker’. It has double triggers and the weapon cocks & dry fires crisply. The weapon has sling swivel lugs & has its brass tipped and capped ebonised wood ramrod. The brass tip unscrews to reveal a worm. The underside of the stock has a void white metal escutcheon. The price for this quality double combination Cape rifle includes UK delivery. NB As an antique percussion muzzle loading Cape rifle no licence is required to own this item in the UK if retained as part of a collection or display. Sn 20852

£1,875.00