Description
Item number : UK BAR BC Experimental
Origin : United Kingdom
Style : English Style
Gauge : 12
Suitable for pinfire : Yes
Stabilizer : No
Cartridge pusher : Yes
Maker : WILLIAM BARTRAM, Nimrod Works, Eldon Street, Sheffield
Markings : “12, BARTRAM PATENT” on the press lever
Biggest length : 280 mm
Weight : 547 grams
Press lever : Blued steel lever no. 6 (Webley’s style)) with ebony handle
Turning lever : Straight brass with ebony handle
Closing cup : In between brass
Barrel : Half barrel
Materials body : Upper part is brass, rest is steel
Paint : I don’t believe that this tool is ever been painted.
Table clamp : Steel screw has huge crank and no top
Steel top is rectangular flat.
Condition : Reasonable ( I don’t know if it is good or not)
Repairs : None
Remarks :
This is a weird tool. Is it factory made or is it a homemade. If it has been factory made, it is a kind of prototype. If it is homemade its done by a very skilled person.
Most of these brass Bartram tools there is none or at least not much paint left. Apparently the quality of the paint for brass was not very good. This applies not only to Bartram but also to the same tools from that time.
Ther problem with listing Bartram tools on this website is that I don’t have a Bartram catalogue. I have never seen one. With a catalogue it is easier to determine an order. At Dixon, for example, I relied purely on catalogue numbers. With Bartram I have to be creative. There is a certain standard shape with a more or less oval, squared top of the table clamp and a straight turning lever. Those tools begin with “ST”(andard) in the name. Followed with the number of the press lever (Dixon’s catalogue) or a “W” if it is a Webley press lever.