Gavin Gardiner Ltd’s sale of modern and vintage sporting guns at Pulborough on Wednesday, 18 November carries the final work of John Wilkes, the London maker that left 79 Beak Street in July 2003 and never reopened. For the secondhand and vintage trade the sale of almost 200 lots is more than a footnote to a closure: the estimates on the Wilkes guns, and on the Purdey over and under that heads the catalogue, are the clearest public read on what the market will pay for London names this winter.

What did the closure leave unfinished?

Three guns were awaiting final finishing and delivery when the firm closed, the auctioneer has confirmed from the maker’s own records: a .410 boxlock ejector and a pair of 20-bore. The .410 was not finished until 2010 and is estimated at £2,400 – £2,800, while the final 12-bore completed by the firm in 2003 is expected to make £5,000 – £7,000. 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.” He added a note the trade will recognise from any house with a long serial run: “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.”

A 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, and the Wilkes lots as a whole span from under £3,000 to five figures.

The catalogue as a market benchmark

The headline lot is a 12-bore sidelock ejector over and under by James Purdey & Sons, built on the Purdey/Woodward action and completed in 1991, in very little used condition and cased with its accessories, with rose and scroll engraving by Martin Bublik. Its £40,000 – £60,000 estimate puts a recent, lightly used London over and under at a fraction of a new order, which is the comparison every retailer with a secondhand rack is asked to make. Below it, the spread of Wilkes estimates shows where a closed house with a good name but no living order book sits: collectors will pay for provenance and for the last of a line, but the small-bore boxlock and the 12-bore are priced as guns to be shot, not museum pieces. The balance of the sale is gun cases and shooting accessories.

Why does the Beak Street name still matter?

The Grade I-listed shop retains its original John Wilkes identity and is occupied today by the French fashion brand Officine Generale. A listed frontage keeps a maker’s name in public view long after the ledgers close, and the sale is a reminder that goodwill in the London trade outlives the firm that built it: a name on a top rib still sells, and the auction rooms rather than the shops are now where most of that value changes hands.

What happens next

The sale takes place on Wednesday, 18 November 2026 at Pulborough, West Sussex, live and online. Gavin Gardiner’s following sales are set for 28 April and 24 November 2027, both at Pulborough, which gives the trade two further fixed points for the vintage market in the coming year. Prices realised on the Wilkes and Purdey lots will be the figures to note.

Useful links

Gavin Gardiner Ltd – the auctioneer holding the 18 November sale and the 2027 dates

Frequently asked questions

When did John Wilkes close?

The firm left 79 Beak Street, Soho, in July 2003 and never reopened; three guns awaiting finishing were completed afterwards, the last in 2010.

What are the last John Wilkes guns estimated at?

The final .410 boxlock ejector at £2,400 – £2,800, the final 12-bore at £5,000 – £7,000 and a pair of Wilkes-completed Greener 28-bore hammer guns at £8,000 – £12,000.

When are Gavin Gardiner’s 2027 sales?

28 April and 24 November 2027, both at Pulborough, West Sussex.

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