Lot Essay
The Field patent falling-block action is most commonly found on rifles and W.W. Greener, in 'The Gun and its Development' observed that 'the mechanism has proved efficient in arms of all sizes from .320 to .577 Express. Unlike most other falling-block actions, the lever is pushed forward to depress the breech-block and cock the hammer. It is not known how many smooth-bore guns were built with this action, but it is most unusual to encounter a wildfowling gun built in this way.
Hugh Falkus has the following comments to make regarding the use of this gun:-
'I have owned the gun for 45 years and have done a great deal of shooting with it - mainly on the marshes of the East Coast, but also in Cumbria. It is a splendid weapon and has made me some dramatic shots - perhaps the most notable was the bagging of 17 teal in flight (the entire flock) shot from the shoulder. I often used it when setting to flocks of mallard, widgeon or geese, in creeks among the saltings, on a rising tide, by mounting the gun on an improvised raft, taking all my clothes off and lurking low down in the water behind it - gradually creeping nearer and nearer ... I made some good shots using this technique, but must stress that in the winter time, the limit I could endure was only fifteen to twenty minutes. But it was very exciting. Besides using the gun from the shoulder at flighting birds, I also used it to good effect from a single-handed duck punt. Altogether, a gun of great character and very hard hitting.
Note I shall be writing up a story or two about its use in the shooting chapters of my forthcoming autobiography. My only reason for selling it is old age. Alas I have fired my last shot from it (that shot, incidentally, brought down a pink footed goose at flighting time).'
The contemporary engraved motifs were executed, on the instructions of Hugh Falkus's card-playing and drinking companions Fred Buller and Frank Plum, on the occasion of his 50th birthday.
Hugh Falkus is known to a wide public as an outstanding sportsman, film director, writer and broadcaster, and his films on wildlife, many of them made for the B.B.C. Natural History Unit, have been acclaimed world-wide. To many he will be best known as an angler and his classic books 'Sea Trout Fishing' and 'Salmon Fishing' are regarded as standard works. His book 'Freshwater Fishing', written in partnership with Fred Buller, was published in 1975 and had gone to nine editions by 1987. Shooting and sailing are his other great sporting enthusiasms and his book 'The Stolen Years' gives an attractive and amusing account of his introduction to his three favourite sports
Hugh Falkus has the following comments to make regarding the use of this gun:-
'I have owned the gun for 45 years and have done a great deal of shooting with it - mainly on the marshes of the East Coast, but also in Cumbria. It is a splendid weapon and has made me some dramatic shots - perhaps the most notable was the bagging of 17 teal in flight (the entire flock) shot from the shoulder. I often used it when setting to flocks of mallard, widgeon or geese, in creeks among the saltings, on a rising tide, by mounting the gun on an improvised raft, taking all my clothes off and lurking low down in the water behind it - gradually creeping nearer and nearer ... I made some good shots using this technique, but must stress that in the winter time, the limit I could endure was only fifteen to twenty minutes. But it was very exciting. Besides using the gun from the shoulder at flighting birds, I also used it to good effect from a single-handed duck punt. Altogether, a gun of great character and very hard hitting.
Note I shall be writing up a story or two about its use in the shooting chapters of my forthcoming autobiography. My only reason for selling it is old age. Alas I have fired my last shot from it (that shot, incidentally, brought down a pink footed goose at flighting time).'
The contemporary engraved motifs were executed, on the instructions of Hugh Falkus's card-playing and drinking companions Fred Buller and Frank Plum, on the occasion of his 50th birthday.
Hugh Falkus is known to a wide public as an outstanding sportsman, film director, writer and broadcaster, and his films on wildlife, many of them made for the B.B.C. Natural History Unit, have been acclaimed world-wide. To many he will be best known as an angler and his classic books 'Sea Trout Fishing' and 'Salmon Fishing' are regarded as standard works. His book 'Freshwater Fishing', written in partnership with Fred Buller, was published in 1975 and had gone to nine editions by 1987. Shooting and sailing are his other great sporting enthusiasms and his book 'The Stolen Years' gives an attractive and amusing account of his introduction to his three favourite sports