J V Needham 1874 patent type self-acting ejector shotgun made by W W Greener in 1896. Royal Facile Princeps.303 double rifle made in 1899. Facile Princeps 12 bore shotgun with carved stock, made in 1904. That was largely because I really have not enough knowledge about shotguns to contribute but only a wealth of questions. Griffin & Howe Serial Number Ranges 1930-1967; Greener, WW. Batman Dark Knight Psp Iso. Mossberg did not put serial numbers on most long guns until 1968 (GCA 1968 required them). 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 edit 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 Gunsmoke.
If I remember right, top rib marked 'W W Greener and Son works Birmingham'. Barrel marked. Serial Number 185**. That number would put it at 1877 when 1,500 guns were made by Greener that year.
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. Luchshij sbornik francuzskoj estradi.
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.
Ww Greener Shotgun Serial Numbers
Greener Shotgun Models
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.