Jerry,
you know your can edit your post- it will be confusing to folks that only read the first part! JMHO.

Bruce,
Yes, it is a "q"; and 1927 or 26 or 28 is a good guess.

Many thanks for that, just wanted to check I read the info on this site correctly. For anyone interested, I have been all over the gun but can't find any sign of who the engraver might be. Also been through a couple of books on engraving trying to identify the style without any luck either, but I will keep trying to track down anything I can to get any history I can on the gun.
Cheers Bruce

Bruce,
I've been hesitant to say it, but the engraving is pretty much an amateur job; I doubt very much you will find anything else in the style or written about it.

The lines are not clean or even, and stippling is just not found along with quality engraving, JMHO.

Hi Don,
Thanks for your response and I feel your right re the engraving. It seems to be a style on its own. Just hoping it was someone's first attempt that has gone on the bigger and better jobs. Maybe, maybe not, either way someone has put in a lot of work. I don't think I'd have the patience.
Once again thanks for your help.
Cheers Bruce

Regardless of lineage of the engraving, you'll still get lots of "oooohhhs" and "aaaahhhhh"s when you whip that one out at the range...
Enjoy.
dju