Webley & Scott is an old and well-respected name in the shotgun world. In fact they're still in business, but in a different way these days.
They not only made their own guns, but their boxlock actions (some barreled by W-R, some not) and even complete guns were used by many smaller gunmakers in England. W&S guns were also sold with other major companies names on 'em. Two of the older British guns Eileen and I have, for instance, were at least made on W & S actions. If the gun you found is still tight, including the barrel soldering, it will work fine.
A lot of this "cottage industry" centered around the British gunmaking center of Birmingham, and is covered well in BIRMINGHAM GUNMAKERS, a very fine history with lots of great color photos, by my friend Douglas Tate. (You can see my copy in the horizontal stack of books in the photo of my bookshelf.)
One other aspect you might check out is chamber length. A lot of older British 12s had 2-1/2" chambers, but many of those chambers were later lengthened to 2-3/4". This isn't as big a deal, either way, as some people like to make out of it, but it's something to consider. In general, older guns shouldn't be used with higher-pressure modern ammo, but a lot depends on the individual gun and brand. Both our W&S action guns had their chambers already lengthened when we bought them, and work fine. There are factory loads available, if needed, and it's easy to handload for them--the subject of my upcoming Handloader article.
Last edited by Mule Deer; 08/14/21.
