Contents. History The history of W.W. Greener begins in 1829, when, who had been working in for, a prominent gun maker, returned to his hometown of and founded the W. Greener company. In November 1844, he determined that most of the materials and components he used for gun making came from, and his business was being hampered by the distance between the two towns.
Hence, he moved his business from Newcastle to Birmingham. During the period of 1845-58, W. Greener was appointed to make guns for.
Money obtained from supplying with two-groove rifles enabled the company to erect a factory on 'Rifle Hill', in 1859. It was around this time that the company began to really prosper. Greener was a firm believer in the concept of and refused to make any.
Hence, his son, struck out a line of his own (the W.W. Greener company) and produced his first breechloader in 1864.
When William Greener died in 1869, the two companies were amalgamated together as the W.W. Greener Company, and carried on by William Wellington Greener. William Wellington Greener was responsible for several innovations, as described in the sections below, and it was on the strength of his inventions that the company became famous. Greener, the company established offices in Birmingham, London, and. William Wellington Greener was succeeded by two of his sons, Harry Greener and Charles Greener. Leyton Greener, Harry's son and fourth generation took over as Chairman in 1951 and today the company has a fifth generation, Graham Greener, as one of its directors.
Production Production of Greener weapons started in 1829, when W. Greener began manufacturing his muzzleloaders. Greener was the first to discard vent holes in breeches. He was also instrumental in improving the hardness and quality of barrels, by using more steel in their manufacture. He also improved the and his model was the one adopted by the Scottish Fisheries, and is still in use today. His greatest innovation was the invention of the expanding rifle bullet. In 1845-59, W.
Greener was appointed to make sporting guns for the Prince Consort. In the 1851 London Exhibition, the company received the highest award 'for guns and barrels perfectly forged and finished'.
In 1853 and 1855, the company received Silver medals at the and Exhibitions. The company's products were also sold for as much as 75 pounds, in the Southern states of America, before the Civil War. Greener did not believe in breechloaders, his son, W.W. Greener started his own factory. In 1864, he produced his first patent, an under-lever pin-fire half-cocking breechloader with a top bolt entering the barrel underneath the top rib.
Greener died in 1869, his son W.W. Greener merged the two companies into one. His next patent was the self-acting striker, followed by a famous cross-bolt mechanism produced as a single top bolt, in 1865. In 1873, this cross-bolt mechanism was combined with the bottom holding down bolts to produce the 'Treble Wedge-Fast' breech action. The treble wedge-fast was one of the strongest breech actions ever invented and was widely copied by other manufacturers, after the patent rights expired.
The introduction of in 1874 is regarded as W.W. Greener's greatest achievement.
It was this invention that made the firm's name famous. A discussion about this is in the section below.
In 1876, the firm introduced the Treble Wedge-Fast Hammerless Gun, otherwise known as the 'Facile Princeps'. This gun was cocked by the dropping of the barrels. This action was one of the strongest ever produced.
Greener company restarted production of Facile Princeps guns in 1998. In 1880, the firm produced a self-acting ejector for its guns, followed by the 'Unique' ejector gun. These guns were designed to eject the spent cartridges when the gun was opened.
Manufacture of the 'Unique' ejectors stopped during the Second World War, and the company has recently begun to manufacture them again. In 1895, W.W. Greener invented the world's first Humane Killer, a gun designed to kill cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, quickly and easily. This instrument was adopted by the War Office, for use in the Veterinary, Remount and Butchering Departments, and by the Admiralty for its Victualling yards. The instrument was also modified to use.310 caliber cartridges. After several years, the models became obsolete in the 1960s and ammunition for the older models was impossible to obtain.
Recently though, the company was asked to manufacture another model and hence, the Humane Killer Mk II was introduced. This new gun fires a round. Choke bores The introduction of choke bores was largely responsible for the fame of the W.W. Greener name. The invention of choke boring is usually attributed to American gunsmiths. The first known patents for choke boring were granted to a Mr., an American inventor and gunsmith, (, Improvement In Revolving Fire-Arms, April 10, 1866; and, Improvements In Detachable Muzzle For Shot-Guns, dated July 14, 1868.) This was followed by a patent claim in London by Mr.
Pape, an English Gun maker, whose patent application was six weeks too late to the 1866 Roper patent. Long, in his book 'American Wildfowling', credits a Mr. Jeremiah Smith of Southfield, as the gunsmith who first discovered the concept, as far back as 1827. While American gunsmiths were the pioneers of the choke boring system, they had not really progressed beyond the elementary stage and their guns would lead, throw irregular patterns and not shoot straight. Greener's first intimation of the choke formation was derived from instructions given in a customer's letter, in early 1874. The customer's instructions described a choke, but did not give any details on the size or shape, or how it was to be obtained. Greener had to conduct many experiments to determine the perfect shape and size of a choke for a given bore.
After that, he developed tools to produce the choke bore profile correctly and smoothly. The system of choke boring that he pioneered was so successful that it was later adopted by other manufacturers and hence, some authorities give him the credit for inventing the concept. In December 1874, the first mention of Greener's choke bore appeared in an article by J.H. Walsh, the Editor of Field magazine. The article mentioned the extraordinary shot pattern that the Greener shotgun could produce. The next issue came with an advertisement from W.W.
Greener, stating that the firm would guarantee that their new guns would shoot a closer pattern than any other manufacturer. The advertisement claimed that Greener 12 bores were warranted to shoot an average pattern of 210, when the best 12 bore gun in the London Gun Trial of 1866 could only average 127. Naturally, the advertisement generated considerable controversy, especially from rival manufacturers of cylinder guns, who refused to believe the numbers quoted in the advertisement.
In order to resolve the controversy, the Editors of Field magazine decided to conduct a public trial in 1875. The London Trial of 1875 pitted choke bores and cylinder guns of various manufacturers in four categories—Class 1 (large bores, any boring), Class 2 (Choke bores, 12 gauge), Class 3 (Guns of English boring or Cylinders) and Class 4 (Small gauges, any boring). The choke bored guns performed better than the cylinder guns in all these tests, and W.W. Greener choke bore guns won the class 1, class 2 and class 4 categories. Greener Choke bores also won at the London Gun Trials of 1877 and 1879, and the Chicago Field Gun Trial of 1879.
The results of these trials were responsible for making the W.W. Greener name famous. Fake Greener guns During the 1880s, as the company became well known, several small manufacturers in and attempted to manufacture copies of Greener weapons. In several cases, the name was misleadingly similar: Greenen, Horace Greener, Albert Greener, A.
Greener, W.H. Greener, A.H.
Are several examples of names of spurious weapons. Note that J.H. Greener and Albert Greener were two brothers of W W Greener and both brothers also made guns. Most J H Greener and a few Albert Greener guns are genuine. In other cases, the maker would print 'Greener' in bold gilt letters on the top rib and their own name in small characters, elsewhere on the gun. When one of these makers was challenged in Belgian courts, the defence advanced the theory that the weapons were using the Greener cross-bolt system and hence, the larger letters were intended to refer to the system, and not the maker of the weapon.
Due to the large number of forgeries, the W.W. Greener company offers to authenticate genuine Greener weapons for a small fee. In popular culture Wilbur Jonas, the general store owner, offers to sell Matt Dillon four Greener shotguns at an attractive price, in 'Renegade White', episode 4.30 of. Episode S5E1 of (1959), Earp is confront by 'Shotgun Gibbs' who is armed with a Greener loaded with a rifled slug.
In the film, John Wayne's character asks his ex-wife, Martha (played by ), if she brought his 'Greeners, the double-barrels'. Malayalam album moham kudajadriyil mp3 download. Wayne then proceeds to open a gun case revealing matching shotguns and his favorite derringer, 'Betsy'. There is also a reference in the 1973 film where Wayne is in a box car with several prisoners and one says, 'You're not going to leave that old Greener on cock are you?' In the Blood Bond book series by, most shotguns and sporting guns are referred to as greeners.
In the 1975 classic, Robert Shaw's Quint character uses a modified. Bibliography Teasdale-Buckle, G.T., Experts on Guns and Shooting, Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Greener, William Wellington, The Gun and Its Development, Ninth Edition, Bonanza Books NY, 1910 Greener, Graham N., The Greener Story, Quiller Press, 2000 See also. References.
I sent a letter off to WW Greener and got back this response. Kind of interesting. Records are kept of every gun they make since 1829. Dear Mr Abissi, You have an unusual W W Greener shotgun serial number 30492. The barrelled action 'in the white’ was bought in from Bentley & Plairfair, another Birmingham gunmaker, in October 1888, however, it was stocked and finished by our company on 1 st January 1889.
It has an Anson & Deeley type action and is a 12 bore with 30 inch Damascus barrels. The shape of the action is unlike the A & D type we made in house since it has a narrow fence and a large distance between the fences and head of the stock.
The gun weighed 7 lbs and had modified chokes. It was ordered by a Mr Garlside. It was unusual for our company to buy in partially made guns from another gunmaker although I have noted a couple of other instances at different times and there may be more in our voluminous archives bearing in mind we made hundreds of thousands of guns between 1829 and the present day.
The gun is old and has been refinished by another at some time between being made and today since we have no record of the gun having been returned to the company for any subsequent repairs/servicing since it left the factory in 1889. I attach some notes on condition which I hope will be helpful. If you want to know more about the history of our company or the guns we made there are two books available on line at Kind regards Graham N Greener Director W W Greener (Sporting Guns) Limited The Mews, Hagley Hall, Hagley, Stourbridge, DY9 9LG, United Kingdom.
Description A strong, 30″ barreled hammer gun by Greener, with bar action locks, plenty of original finish and fully serviced. Nicely shaped hammers and Greener ‘wedge-fast’ third grip. This is a classic Greener hammer gun as advocated in style by Greener in ‘The Gun and its Development’. At the time of manufacture, it embodied all Greener’s ideas of how a breech-loader should be made. Strength, weight, balance, proportion and quality of materials and craftsmanship were all matters on which Greener wrote passionately and his guns reflected his wonderful attention to detail and pragmatic engineering considerations. LOCATED IN USA. Details. Maker.
Stock Number CA72. Type Hammer Guns. Gauge 12.
Weight Stock. Grip Straight Hand. Length to centre. Length to heel.
Length to toe Forend. Catch Deeley & Edge. Ejectors None Barrels. Type Damascus. Length 30'. Rib. Chambers 2 3/4'.
Choke Right: Left: 1/4. Bores Right: 1/2. Serial Number 43010.
Greener, GP, martini antion shotgun W.W.Greener's Martini-actioned GP shotgun. General notes, Before you start. Take care when working on any firearm.
Only repair your own guns if you know what you are doing. Otherwise take them to a competent gunsmith for repairs to be carried out. I will on no account be liable for your actions, this information is supplied for Information only.
And is copyright (c) 2006-2016 S.Bluck. First get yourself a good space to work in, free from children and pets. Find some good parallel sided turnscrews, a brass or soft-faced drift/punch of about 3/16 of an inch Dia, some oil, a small hammer, and lint-free rag.
I usually make sure I have some de-greaser handy too. I use isopropol alcohol, although methylated spirits can be used. Sometimes an old toothbrush is handy for reaching in-accessable parts of the action body. If you find any worn/damaged parts, don't re-use them. Replace them.
Greener Shotguns History
When replacing screws, Make sure the threading is clean, and do not over tighten. Finding replacement screws can be a problem, so feel the screw in rather than just grinding it in with an armfull of muscle! The above is a greener GP gun, with a full-choke barrel fitted. The barrel below is Improved Cylinder choked, and has the same serial number as the gun and the full-choke barrel. Below that, is my greener EG police gun The martini action used for this series of shotguns is solid and generally very reliable.
This one had a slight fault with the firing pin. Occasionally it would jam causing a mis-fire. The martini action can be a bit tricky to strip and re-assemble if you've not done it before, so here are a few notes and pictures to help you out. These notes are primarily for the GP, but the EG and Police Gun have the same type of action so these instructions apply to them too. To strip, clean and re-build the action Pull the lever down to open the action, Make sure the gun is empty!
Loosen the barrel locking screw, then un-screw the barrel. I take the barrel locking screw out only about half a turn, this keeps the action-body still pinched together, but allows the barrel to be un- screwed from the action easily. Keeping the action slightly pinched together at this stage can make the removal of the trigger/extractor screw easier. Make a small paint mark on the tumbler pivot pin's head. It will fit back in better if it goes back the same way as it came out! The GP doesn't have an action-cocked indicator to show you this position. Tap out the split-pin at the breech-block's pivot-point using the brass drift, and remove the breech-block through the top of the action body usually back-end-first.
Remove the trigger/extractor screw, and turn the tumbler pivot pin locking screw to the free position. Tap out the pivot-pin using a brass drift, the rest of the 'guts' with the exception of the safety lever should now be removable. To remove the safety lever, turn the locking screw to it's free position and remove the safety lever from the action body. Be careful not to loose the detent spring and it's plunger.
The action at first looks fairly complex. It's certainly more complex than many break-action guns. This picture shows the trigger group, and the breech block group assembled, Further down there are pictures of them apart.
Below are a couple of pictures of the empty action. Remove any rust, clean out any dirt and give the inside a light coat of oil.
I tend to dip my finger in oil and rub/dab it onto the corners and other hard to get to places. It's a bit messier than using a rag, or squirting it on with an oil-can but it does a better job, and doesn't waste oil. Too much oil will attract the dirt, too little will allow rust and wear to take hold. Don't forget to clean the holes for the screws and pins, including the hole for the spring and plunger for the safety lever. When the empty action is cleaned and ready lay it on a clean cloth on the bench and take a look at the other bits and pieces. Trigger group. Remove the small screw holding the trigger spring in place, and remove the spring.
Notice that the spring has a small lip on the end. This lip faces upwards where it presses against the trigger. Remove the trigger pin (a long fine-pitched screw) and remove the trigger.
Clean these parts as required, then re-assemble them to keep them as a group (it's harder to loose a trigger group than a tiny screw). I usually re-assemble then dry, then oil them as a group, it's far less messy that way! Pop the re-assembled unit with the action in the 'cleaned and oiled' section of the bench! Breech Block. Give it a good wipe-over with a lint-free rag to get any dirt and old oil off. You'll need a large turnscrew to remove the stop screw from the back of the block.
I have a special tool for this. Clean as required, and lay the parts on the bench as in the picture below. Let's take a look at them one by one and check them for wear.
She spring should be intact and in good clean condition, the block thould be clean, no signs of rust, and have a smooth face. Take a look at the striker. Make sure that the firing pin is straight, and in good condition. Replace it if it is bent, chipped or damaged in any other way. Notice that the slot through the side of the striker is slightly tapered. This will become important when the block is re-assembled.
Fit the striker into the block, and make sure it is a good free fit. If it is tight or binding-up gently take off any rough edges from the block, then try again. Sometimes the hole that the striker fits into develops a lip which must be carefully removed to allow the striker to move freely. The striker can now be tested in the stop-screw. Again it should be a good fit with no binding-up This GP had a small burr at the edge of the slot in the striker, This was removed easily with a fine needle file. Re-assemble the block, test for free movement of the striker and lubricate.
Make sure the shorter slot is visible, this is where the tumbler fits. The striker can be turned using a screwdriver through the hole in the head of the stop screw. When you're happy with it, it can join the action-body, and trigger group on the clean cloth. Re-fit the safety lever locking screw, and the tumbler's pivot-pin locking screw into their recessed holes with a dab of oil and leave them aligned to allow the safety lever, and tumbler-pin to be fitted.
Give the detent spring a dab of oil, and another on the outside of the plunger, before re-fitting them into the action-body. Make sure the plunger moves freely in the hole. Fit the safety-lever, and whilst holding it in place turn the locking screw (arrowed on the picture below) anti-clockwise half a turn. Make sure the safety-lever clicks positively between it's two positions. Leave it in the up (fire) position. (see picture below).
Re-fit the block group to the action-body. You can do this from the top or the bottom. I slot it in from the bottom, as I've usually got the gun up-side down on the bench at this point. Make sure that the pivot hole is aligned with the hole on the action, (arrowed in picture below). Then with the block in it's up position re-fit the split pin. This will need to be tapped in with a hammer. If the split pin is not a tap-fit, or allows excessive movement of the breech block replace it.
Clean the extractor, and after giving it a thin layer of oil drop it back into position. It should be clearly visible when you look at the breech face through the threaded barrel opening, and not lodged part-way in. Test the tumbler on it's pivot-pin so you are happy with the position of the mark you painted on it before dis-assembly, then with a thin layer of oil, place the tumbler in position. Small rounded arm into the slot of the striker Rear leg of the tumbler 'hook-upwards' towards the back, and the larger lump (which engages with the sear) resting on the extractor. See picture below. Next, place the lever in position over the tumbler, lift the front leg of the tumbler to align the holes in it, the lever, and the body.
Then pin it into position using a punch, pin, or as shown below, with a turnscrew. Fitting the trigger group is next, and you'll need to be careful not to loose alignment of the tumbler when you do this. Gently remove the pin or whatever you've used to align the lever and tumbler. Holding the trigger back, slot the rear lugs of the trigger housing into the gap between the lever and the action- body. When you are sure that it's in alignment with the lever and tumbler put your temporary pin back in, then release the pressure on the trigger. Fit the trigger/extractor screw, making sure first that the extractor is properly aligned with the trigger housing and the hole in the action, but do not tighten it yet.
Then fit the tumbler pivot-pin carefully noting the position of the mark you made before dis assembly. As you insert the pin, remove your temporary pin and lock it in place with the lock screw. Last, nip-up the trigger/extractor screw.
Why do I leave this screw loose until last? Because it's not un-common to have to take the trigger group out once or twice to get the tumbler re-aligned when you are re-fitting it's pivot-pin. It should look like this now, All together with no bits left over! Check the action, cock it, use the safety, make sure it works. After re-fitting the barrel, and tightning the locking screw, check again. I use a snap-cap to check the trigger feel and pull-weight. Make sure you are happy with the operation of the action/gun before attempting to use the gun with live cartridges.
The 'mark' variations are to do with the way that the pins through the cation are secured. On an original GP they are held by retaining screws that have to be undone. In a 'Mark II' by circlips. There are also Webley assembled GPs after they took over Greener. Some will have used Greener barrels with a 'knox form' others a standard shot gun barrel with no 'knox form'. These can be found with and without the circlips.Circlips was an abomination added by Webley's when they took over the manufacture of the guns in 1965. MK I was a police gun in 13 bore MK II was a police gun in special 14 bore-restricted chamber MKIII was a police gun with a three prong striker.
Now while researching this I came across this bit of info on the GP. GP is is for Gaffer or General purpose shotgun. According to Greeners book the exact number of GP shotguns made is impossible to be determined as the serial numbers of these shotguns were not recorded untill 1968.
If your gun is a Police gun then the serial number look up I did for you is correct. If your gun is a GP then it's not possible to determine the date made by serial number. Two models of GP are referenced.
Standard model has no checkering and a barrel band. The second model had a better finish, checkering and looked more like a sporting weapon, The Greener Story by Graham Greener has a lot more on this gun and other Greener arms. The book is a bit spendy but I have found it quite useful in my Martini hobby. There are contradictions in the book. The text makes no mention of a MK designation in GP's. It refers to the checkerd version as Model number 2.
A picture directly below the text of a checkered stock model is titled The Greener GP Mk I You should be able to look at the side of the action and see what it says to determine if you have GP or a police gun. The date that the gun was sent to British Proof Test can be found out.
Look on the side of the barrel and there will be a code. It will have been so marked within a few weeks, certainly the same year, it was finished. It may have remained in stock with Greener (or Webley) but that will date its year of manufacture. If you visit Greener GP Mk II does exist as a Webley made version, with circlips, of the standard civilian GP. They are quite awful but also quite rare. However that does not automatically confer value! Yours if it is a GP and not an 'EG' or 'Police Gun' will be the standard GP that wasn't in its civilian version given a 'Mark' number.
Only in civilian guise the 'Mark II'. Here is a picture of one with those typical Webley features of no knox form on the barrel. Also if the image I've copied from elsewhere has come through the Mk II impression on the action. In the UK apparently have or had one for sale. Mscomct2 cab installed. In thirty years I'll admit to only ever seeing two of these GP Mk IIs! One last year and one about twenty years ago or more.
Last edited by enfieldspares; at 06:28 PM. Here's something I found on the internet.how much is 100% correct I don't know but it is an interesting read: 'This futuristic weapon was built for riot control in Egypt during the early 1940's (serial number 417XX) by W. Greener of England. The shotgun was based on an improved Martini action, and was specifically designed to equip the Egyptian Ghafir police force with a weapon that would become useless if it fell into the wrong hands! Production of the earlier Mk. II Egyptian shotguns (13 and 14 gauge, respectively) began in 1922, with the intent that a criminal who bribed a police officer for his weapon would quickly run out of ammunition in these two obscure calibers.
This worked reasonably well until the early 1930's, when enterprising bandits realized they could wrap a standard 16 gauge shell in tape and get it to fire. This practice was somewhat hazardous to the shooter, and one murderer was injured by the resulting blowback of his improvised cartridge which revealed the trick to the Egyptian authorities. III was the result of further design changes designed to remedy this situation. First, the Mk. III chamber and Mk.
III cartridge were bottlenecked, making the tape-wrapping work-around much more difficult. But that wasn't the most interesting design change: the firing pin of the Mk. III is shaped like a fork with three prongs, the outer two being longer than the center prong which contacts the primer. To complement this arrangement, the face of the Mk. III round has an annular groove encircling the primer, such that the two outer prongs of the firing pin are accomodated and the center prong may then strike the primer. Barring accomodation of the outer prongs of the firing pin, the shotgun will not even close on the round.
What Is A Greener Shotgun
Even if a conventional shotgun round was somehow forced to chamber, the contact surface of the firing pin would never be able to reach the primer, thus rendering the weapon useless. According to the book The Greener Story, just under 60,000 total Mark I, II, and III shotguns were made 1922 through 1964. 44,000 of these went to Egypt (serial numbers 1001 through 45000), and the subsequent 15,846 went to colonial police forces and prison services in such far-flung places as the Bahamas, Bechuanaland, British Guiana, Brunei, Ceylon, Cyprus, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaya, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Penang, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somaliland, Southern Rhodesia, Sudan, Tanganyika, Tanzania, Turks & Caicos, Uganda, Zambia, and Zanzibar.
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