WILLIAMS AND POWELL, LIVERPOOL (1870-1875), 12 bore

This shotgun was made by Williams and Powell around 1870 in Liverpool, England. It is an early transition breechloader showing the development progress that had been made at the time. And it also shows that full development had not been made. The "Simplex" action is interesting and very similar to later American guns such as Lefever and Fox. Its drawback is that the locking lug on the barrel has to force the locking bolt in the action aside during closing. It works but a smart snap is required.

The extractor is also a Williams and Powell patent, dating to 1866. It has two arms running from the portion that holds the cartridge rim alongside the underlugs and then into recess' in the forward action body. The extractor is cammed rearward as the barrels are rotated upwards. The benefit of this design is strength. It avoids the need of boring a hole through the underlugs, weakening the barrels at the point of greatest pressure. The downside of the design is it is rather complex to build or repair.