Last John Wilkes guns come to auction 23 years after the firm closed

Two of the last guns completed by London gunmaker John Wilkes before the firm’s closure in 2003 will be offered at Gavin Gardiner Ltd’s live and online auction of modern and vintage sporting guns on Wednesday, 18 November. The sale of almost 200 lots carries several Wilkes guns in all, a rare chance at the final work of a house whose Beak Street shop still carries its name.

Which Wilkes guns are in the sale?

The firm’s final .410 boxlock ejector, estimated at £2,400 – £2,800, was not finished until 2010, some seven years after the celebrated premises at 79 Beak Street closed. The Grade I-listed shop retains its original John Wilkes identity and is currently occupied by the French fashion brand Officine Generale. The final 12-bore completed by the firm, in 2003, is expected to fetch £5,000 – £7,000, and a rare pair of Greener 28-bore hammer guns, completed by Wilkes in the 1980s for the Tulchan collection, carries an estimate of £8,000 – £12,000.

Auctioneer and expert in charge Gavin Gardiner said: “The maker confirms that the gun was among the last guns completed after the firm’s departure from Beak Street in July 2003. Three guns are noted as awaiting final finishing and delivery when the firm closed, this gun and a pair of 20-bore.” He added: “Confusingly the final sidelock gun, a .410 also bearing the serial number 15502, was completed for and engraved by Malcolm Appleby, now better known as the ‘Dragonfly’ gun.”

What else leads the November sale?

A fine 12-bore sidelock ejector over and under by James Purdey & Sons heads the catalogue at £40,000 – £60,000. Built on the classic Purdey/Woodward action and completed in 1991, it remains in very little used condition, cased with all of its accessories, and carries rose and scroll engraving by Martin Bublik. The balance of the sale runs to a good selection of gun cases and shooting accessories, and estimates across the Wilkes lots span from under £3,000 to five figures, putting the firm’s final work within reach of working collections as well as serious collectors.

What happens next

The sale takes place on Wednesday, 18 November 2026 at Pulborough, West Sussex, with live online bidding alongside the room. For collectors of the London trade the Wilkes lots are the draw: the firm never reopened, so what was on the bench in 2003 is all there will ever be. Gavin Gardiner’s following sales are set for 28 April and 24 November 2027, both at Pulborough.