another old gun

[dozer dan]

i got this from a man in his 80's who told me his dad bought it when it was new
as a way to feed his family.

the only writing on it, are what you see on the side of the receiver.

the only numbers on it, are stamped behind the trigger guard on the underside. number 350

it was browned not blued.

its not marked, but it is a 12 ga.

any guesses?

 

[Drache]

Patented December 11, 1900

And I thought they started to be made in the 20's?

After further looking online though it's certainly hard to pinpoint a date. More than one site has people saying that it's BEFORE 1930 and not after.

On one site a guy who has one with a serial number of 733 said that it was his great grandfather got it on his 20th birthday in 1924.

And yet another person states that the company wasn't in Chicopee until the 1930's.

 

[d2]

It is a Stevens and was blue when it was new. Age and use has faded the blueing and it has now or was brown from age. A great find. I am sure it's still tight enough to use but with heavy loads I bet it kills on one end and cripples on the other...d2

 

[lonesomebob]

nothing kicks harder than these old single twelves, trust me. except maybe the day my 10 gauge double perc shotgun tripped bout barrels at once. All I could do was sit there and admire my pheasant disintegrating in mid air. Bob

 

[Monty]

My first shotgun was a Stevens 12 ga. single shot with a 32" full choke. I learned to let game get way way out there to keep from blowing them up! I killed a rabbit at over a hundred yards with it once. I couldn't believe it and when I cleanded it , it had one #4 shot in its head! Monty

 

[stefen]

The older 12 GA shotguns used low base shells...using high base or mags could explode the breach in the shooters face. Some of the older guns also had damascus steel barrels...that got a little testy when using high powered shells...

 

[d2]

The old single bbl's, like the one in the picture could and do shoot 2 3/4'' shells, lite and heavy loads. Damascus bbl's by the time the one pictured was made were a thing of the past except on special order. If the gun is tight I would shoot heavy loads in it, if I had to...d2