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W.W. Greener 8g Grade 3 Treble Wedge Fast Wildfowl Gun

Gun #31764 made in 1887. Built on W.W. Greener’s patented Treble Wedge Fast action Patent No. 3084 of 1880 (later to be known as the Facile Princeps). The massive action is a non-ejector with two triggers and the ever-present Greener side safety. The action is beautifully shaped with the characteristic scalloped back and expertly carved serpentine shaped fences knowns as Gardner fences (named for the man in the factory who carved them). The gun is also fitted with Greener’s ubiquitous top lever cross-bolt and rib extension third bite. The third bite and the way it fits the standing breach inspired its original name, the Treble Wedge Fast, same as the name and patent engraved on the top rib of this gun.

The action is wonderfully engraved in a classic small scroll surrounding games scenes of a setter flushing ducks and accented throughout by rose bouquets. The fences remain smooth and the top of the breach balls are engraved with scroll engraved wedge patterns on the barrel breaches. High-quality engraving is a defining feature of Greener’s guns and most famously displayed on the St. George gun. While the game scenes display the naivety of the times, the engraving is still superbly layed out and cut.

In his book, The Greener Story, Graham Greener does an excellent job helping to explain how to identify the type, model and grade of a given Greener made gun or rifle. For William Wellington Greener, he breaks the grading system down into four grading systems. Most Greener enthusiast are familiar with the grades like the FH 40, FH 60 or FH 70, etc. This is the fourth system and most current system of grading used by Greener’s and by this time, the grade was marked on the guns somewhere. The letter corresponded to the action used (e.g. FH for the Facile Princeps) and the number reflected what price the gun sold for (e.g. FH45 sold for 45 guineas, FH60 for 60 guineas, etc.). According to his book and derived from the company’s archives, the first system was used from 1829 to 1889. He states that the company archives list the top grades as Best or sometimes 1 and 2. However, after 1881 the very best grades, made on a bespoke basis becomes an A and later they become known as Presentation (aka Exhibition or Special). The top of the line grades that were cataloged were the Imperial, which normally has a gold scepter and crown on the top lever is followed by the Royal grade which normally had a gold crown inlaid and engraved on its top lever. For comparison of the first grading system to the forth and most well-known system, the Presentation became the FH90, the Imperial grade became the FH70 and the Royal grade became the FH60.

This gun is from 1887 and falls inside the first grading system Graham Greener describes in his book that roughly ran from 1887 to 1889. The top two grades of that era were the Imperial and Royal model. Judging from the shape of the fences and the lack of gold crown or gold crown and scepter, I believe this 8g would probably represent a Grade 3. This was the nicest gun offered in the Middle grade range, the next step up in grade being a Royal model.

Both Greener’s are well known as experts of their time in steels and barrel construction. The firm produced some of the finest gun and rifle barrels made by any British gun maker, known particularly for well for their Damascus barrels. So it was a fitting end when in 1903, Greener’s made the last set of Damascus barrels produced in England. This 8g features 36” Best Three-Stripe Stub Damascus Barrels with a raised smooth and concave rib. The top rib is engraved: “Treble Wedge Fast Patent No. 3804” and “W.W. Greener 68 Haymarket London. Winner At The London Gun Trials 1875, 1877, 1878 & 1879” noting the accolades he won at The Field Trials for his choke boring.

The stock features a rounded pistol grip noted in the catalogs of the time as a “half pistol hand” and feature a slight diamond shaped wrist. The stock and forend are very finely checkered and carved with fancy points on the bottom of the checkering’s borders. The stock has a 15” LOP over a traditional red pad complementing the long 36” tubes. This is one of the few antique big bore shotguns I have seen that is this well proportioned. Everything, from the size of the top lever to the original stock oval, which is 2” in diameter, are appropriately sized to match the rest of the gun’s size and function.

By any standards this gun is in excellent original condition, but considering it is over 130 years old, the gun’s overall condition is truly remarkable. The action retains much of its original and vivid color hardening, the engraving remains sharp, and much of the original black remains on the trigger bow and top lever. Equally as well preserved is the bright fire blue on the safety and extractor toe on the barrel lumps.

The barrels are in just as good a shape with perfect bores, they are dent and bulge free, tight on face and showing much of the original Damascus pattern.

Same for the stock and splinter forend. Both retain much of their original hand rubbed finish, the forend being fitted with a Deeley forend latch and a horn forend tip. The butt stock shows only minor handling marks picked up over its long life and has only had a modern London Guns rubber pad fitted somewhere along the way. The installer of the pad obviously taking great care to retain as much of the gun’s original stock finish as possible. 

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