Yeah, `It`s a London gun ( only it`s mostly made in Birmingham ).` 500Nitro, you`re a man of rare discernment !
The firm of Joseph Brazier Ashes are heroes of gunmaking as far as I`m concerned - they had the very naughty habit of signing their work ( even when they were not supposed to. ) In the last year I`ve seen three H&H Royales and one Purdey with the locks signed by Joseph Brazier. In `hammerless` guns you often have look very closely for the signature - sometimes it appears on the back of the hammers.
.....All those London, Birmingham ( and provincial ) gunmakers producing hand built best sidelocks and ALL of them using one of two different action forgings ! ( - And the `Big Three` London makers all adopted the `stocked to the fences` design in the 1890s. ) Parallel development ? Coincidence ? I think not.
Thanks for your ongoing research into the Cowles and Dunn - I`m getting nowhere with my efforts.