Latest News

US Import Tariff Removal

Some good news for anyone looking to import a vintage gun from the UK into the USA as the import tariff has now been lifted on guns made before 1925.  

Antique firearms classified under HTS 9706 are now exempt from the new U.S. Section 301 tariffs, and the temporary Section 122 tariff has also expired. To qualify under HTS 9706, a firearm must be more than 100 years old and meet the relevant customs classification requirements. This means qualifying antique firearms will not currently be subject to the additional Section 301 tariff which is currently 10% of the invoice value of the firearm being imported.

Final call for a Service

With the season upon us, all guns being pressed into action should hopefully have been serviced and repaired. However, we understand that this is not always the case and encourage all owners to have their guns inspected and serviced so that they hold up to the rigours of the upcoming season. Servicing is rewarded with reliability, protecting your investment and avoids a disastrous day in the field.

Arrange your service

Vintage Gun Inventory Update

John Dickson & Son holds the largest collection of pre-owned Dickson Round-Action guns, including rare models from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Each piece in our collection has been sympathetically restored by our expert craftsmen, ensuring that these historic firearms perform as beautifully as the day they were first created. 

Whether you are looking to grow your collection or upgrade your current sporting gun, John Dickson & Son also has a superb range of pre-owned vintage guns from other Scottish gun and rifle makers.  All guns have been prepared through our workshop making them available for immediate sale and delivery, and working with our export partners we can facilitate sending your purchase to a nominated firearms dealer in your country. 

We have consignments leaving for the USA on a monthly basis.  

Recently added to our online inventory:

• John Dickson & Son Round-Action Pair - 1902, 12 gauge, 29in damascus barrels, bold acanthus
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• John Dickson & Son Round-Action - 1891, 12 gauge, 29in steel barrels, beautiful stock
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• John Dickson & Son Round-Action - 1904, 12 gauge, beautiful 29in damascus barrels
  

We also have some distinguished Scottish guns currently going through the workshop being prepared for sale:

• John Dickson & Son Round-Action - 1890, 12 gauge, 29in damascus barrels, 2 3/4in chambers
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• John Dickson & Son Round-Action - 1895, 12 gauge, 27in sleeved barrels, dandelion detonators
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• John Dickson & Son Round-Action - 1896, 12 gauge, 29in damascus barrels, oak leaf detonators
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• John Dickson & Son Sidelock - 1919, 12 gauge, 29in steel barrels, London Pattern gun
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• James MacNaughton Edinburgh gun - 1898, 12 gauge, 30in steel barrels, 2 3/4in chambers
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• James MacNaughton Edinburgh gun - 1899, 12 gauge, 28in steel barrels, immaculate example
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• James MacNaughton Edinburgh gun - 1923, 12 gauge, 29in steel barrels, beautiful late example
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• Alexander Henry boxlock - 1934, 28 gauge, 26in steel barrels, lightweight quail gun

For comprehensive information on our current inventory, including detailed specifications, provenance, and pricing, please get in touch using our contact form Here

Montana Bill and his visit to MacNaughton's

Whilst researching a shotgun in the MacNaughton records we came across an unusual name against the purchase of a rifle in 1899. MacNaughton customers were typically British so who was 'Montana Bill' and why was he in Perth?

Robert Bailey Robeson, otherwise known as “Montana Bill,” was a U.S. citizen who had emigrated to Scotland. During this sojourn, he achieved a modest notoriety with a trick-shooting act. He was also a cowboy actor, and there is evidence that, on occasion, he even managed to mobilize a small-scale Wild West show of his own. According to one story passed along, he used to ride his horse down the Garscube Road, just north of the Glasgow city center. How, when and why he first came to Scotland remains a little mysterious, claiming to have travelled over with Buffalo Bills Wild West Show and then stayed on.However, one of the very first documented encounters with “‘Montana Bill,’ the Indian sharpshooter” is recorded in the Dundee Courier & Argus, January 4, 1897, in connection with the New Year Fair at the Greenmarket in Dundee:

“Montana Bill” was quite a picturesque object. He wore a red shirt trimmed with barbaric ornaments, and his long, dark locks hung down his back like a school girl. He had on his war paint, and he showed some good shooting with a Colt rifle. He finished his target practice by firing at a pipe head set on the head of the lady who acted as his marker—the William Tell feat modernized. I had a quiet talk with Bill…He had an Indian cast of features, and he informed me he was what was called a “half-breed.” His father was a French Canadian, and his mother a squaw of the famous Sioux tribe of American Indians. He was born in the “Wild West,” and learned to shoot when a child to save his life. Six or seven years ago he came over with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Since then he had performed in music halls in England and Scotland, and fulfilled engagements at from £12 to £20 a week. He seemed an intelligent, good-natured fellow, and I could not help thinking as I shook hands at parting what strange experiences some men have who are thrown on the world to live by their wits.

James MacNaughton opened a small shop in the city of Perth in 1894, aimed at looking after the sportsmen who typically travelled to Perth for a season of sport in the highlands. This shop was managed by Alan MacNaughton, James' second son, the shop being more of a retail outlet to support the main shop in Edinburgh, where guns and rifles were produced.

Montana Bill's travelling show performed at the Perth Theatre on a number of occasions, documented by ad's he placed in the Perthshire Advertiser. This would have brought him into contact with MacNaughton's shop and Montana Bill appears to have purchased a .22 Rim Fire Winchester rifle, which would have been an ideal rifle for his trick shooting stage show. 

Could this be the rifle in this photograph of Montana Bill?