Latest News

A Scottish Hound & Hare Adventure

Our dear friends at Hound & Hare made a fantastic trip to Scotland to hunt grouse with a vintage Dickson Round-Action built in 1924. It was a great opportunity to showcase Hound & Hare's versatile British-styled country clothing in the extremes of the Scottish wilds. You can read all about Amy's and Eric's adventure in the August-September 2024 Issue of Covey Rise magazine. 

Do you have a special hunt coming up? 

Do you want to use the epitome of a Scottish bespoke gun?

Get in touch Here to discuss how we make this happen for you

Vintage Gun Inventory Update

Whether you are looking to grow your collection or upgrade your current sporting gun, John Dickson & Son has a superb range of pre-owned vintage guns from Scotland's 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 just added a few interesting and rare Scottish guns to our inventory, including:

• John Dickson & Son Pair 12 gauge Sidelocks - Classic 'London Pattern' guns from 1919, Kell Engraved, 2 3/4in chambered new barrels fitted
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• John Dickson & Son 12 gauge Round-Action - Built 1907, recently re-manufactured to 'New Gun' specification
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• James MacNaughton 12 gauge Sidelock - One of the last guns built in the Edinburgh workshop in 1998
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We also have a few interesting Scottish guns currently going through the workshop being prepared for sale:

• Daniel Fraser 12 gauge boxlock ejector - Rare Fraser shotgun with chopper-lump steel barrels, made in 1895
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• Francis Davie 12 gauge boxlock ejector - High grade sideplated boxlock with a gorgeous stock, made 1892
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• John Dickson & Son 12 gauge Round-Action - Built 1894, 29in steel barrels, beautiful stock

If we can assist with any further information on the guns above, please get in touch using our contact form Here 

Please note that the vast majority of our guns find new homes before they even make it to our website so get in touch if you are looking for something specific.

October Featured Guns

We are delighted to be able to offer a beautiful pair of Kell engraved London Pattern sidelock guns, made in 1919. With only 269 best sidelock ejector shotguns built by John Dickson & Son, they can be considered a rarity, and Dickson records suggest that Harry Kell engraved only 12 of these. The guns are in superb condition and benefit from new barrels and new stocks, all fitted at considerable cost.

You can find more details of this rare pair of guns  Here 

The Wagstaffs of Long Island

Every month we receive many enquiries from around the world regarding Dickson guns and the current custodians looking to find out more about their gun - when was it made? who was it made for? We are very fortunate that the Dickson records are fairly comprehensive and can usually answer these questions.

We recently received an enquiry for the details on a Dickson Round-Action gun made in 1883, and the gun still residing in Scotland. This was a very interesting enquiry - a Dickson Round-Action ‘Skeleton’ gun, one of only 16 ever made, and ordered by a gentleman who lived on Long Island, New York, USA.

C. De Bois Wagstaff ordered the gun from Dickson’s in January 1883 and took delivery of the gun in August 1883, just in time for the start of the grouse season. The gun was a best Round-Action hammerless gun, Patent Use Number 70, and fitted with 30 inch damascus barrels, which were choked in both barrels. Both the order and delivery ledger entries makes no mention of this being a Skeleton action gun.

However, less than a year later, in July 1884, Wagstaff ordered a 12 gauge hammer gun and part-exchanged the Skeleton Round-Action against this new gun, taking delivery in March 1885. Dickson’s quickly refurbished the Skeleton Round-Action and it was resold in September 1884 to a customer living in Fife, Scotland.

The mystery will remain in why an American business man from a wealthy New York family decided to order a Round-Action gun from Dickson’s, and did he even pay a visit to Scotland? We have the additional conundrum of why Wagstaff would have it for less than a year and then ‘downgrade’ to a hammer action from a flagship hammerless skeleton gun.

Cornelius DuBois Wagstaff was born on the 17th November 1845 in New York City, USA. He was the son of Dr. Alfred Wagstaff, a renowned physician to the rich and famous who practised in Manhattan and the personal physician to the Vanderbilt family, and Sarah Platt Dubois. He was the grandson of David Wagstaff, an English immigrant who made a massive fortune as a notable merchant, trading out of New York. Cornelius was named after Cornelius Vanderbilt, the railroad and shipping magnate, his fathers friend and longstanding private client.

Tahlulah the summer residence of Dr. Alfred Wagstaff

The Wagstaff’s immense wealth and fortunate relationships allowed them acquire land and become the largest landowner on Long Island for two decades. By 1859, Dr. Alfred Wagstaff had purchased a large portion of West Islip land on both sides of what is now Montauk Highway. The land was alongside a pond, so when he built his summer estate he named it Tahlulah, an Indian word for "leaping water." He moved to West Islip permanently in 1870 and spent his days fishing with his family, riding one of his horses or at the newly opened South Side Sportsmen's Club in Islip until his death in 1878. Eventually, all of the children had homes built on the Wagstaff land.

Cornelius married Amy Colt, daughter of South Side Railroad President Robert Oliver Colt, on the 21^st January 1880 in Manhattan, New York, USA. They settled in Babylon, Long Island, building a grand house and raising a family. Cornelius died on the 2^nd October 1921, aged 75.

Today, all the grand Wagstaff houses are gone, demolished to make way for new developments, but Wagstaff Lane and Tahlulah Lane are reminders of the Wagstaff family's early contribution to West Islip and New York State's history.