A Grade serial## vs Barrel designation?

[sjh333]

There is an A Grade 12ga for sale in Shotgun world that the owner says , the serial ## is 31,####...which supposedly is 1926....Well , the quandry is...He says the barrels are marked Utica,NY??!!..and all the ser## match , yes ,even the barrels..........Now I have heard of "transition guns" with Philly,etc. markings , but assembled in Utica from 1930 and beyond...But never this....Anyone got any thoughts or comments on this??

Thanks
Sam

[fox-admin]

My guess is re-barreled, I have never seen a 31xxx serial number from Utica.

[sjh333]

My guess is re-barreled, I have never seen a 31xxx serial number from Utica.

OK....BUT..Re-barreled with the "same" serial numbers on the barrel??...Thats what really threw me?!

[fox-admin]

Utica factory would re-barrel a gun and serial number it the the gun, see pages 302 and 303 of McIntosh's book. Cost was $81.50 in 1957

[sjh333]

Utica factory would re-barrel a gun and serial number it the the gun, see pages 302 and 303 of McIntosh's book. Cost was $81.50 in 1957

Thanks so much...I looked it up and plain as day....as long as you returned the original barrel/forend...but you made a little error,Sterlingworth $81.50..A grade $85.00.......Hopefully , one day , I'll be familiar enough with McIntosh's book to use it as a referance...sorry to have to ask the question , when the answer was sitting on my coffee table!

Sam

[Researcher]

Back in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Twelve, Issue 4, there is an article by Dr. Paul Brown, from down in southwest Virginia, about his late Savage-era AE-Grade that his parents gave him for graduation gift. That gun is serial number 31635. Back in 1928, four XE-Grades were started in production. 31636, 7, and 8 were finished up and shipped as XE-Grades in 1928-30 time frame. But, 31635 lingered unfinished in work-in-process inventory and was finally completed as an AE-Grade, though with the rebated frame and profiled breechballs of an XE- or higher grade, and shipped July 19, 1940.

[sjh333]

Back in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Twelve, Issue 4, there is an article by Dr. Paul Brown, from down in southwest Virginia, about his late Savage-era AE-Grade that his parents gave him for graduation gift. That gun is serial number 31635. Back in 1928, four XE-Grades were started in production. 31636, 7, and 8 were finished up and shipped as XE-Grades in 1928-30 time frame. But, 31635 lingered unfinished in work-in-process inventory and was finally completed as an AE-Grade, though with the rebated frame and profiled breechballs of an XE- or higher grade, and shipped July 19, 1940.

Wow....That's really interesting stuff...Maybe I need to subscribe to "The Double Gun Journal"...I love the history stories of American Shotguns!!...Sam

[Bob Beach]

Back in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Twelve, Issue 4, there is an article by Dr. Paul Brown, from down in southwest Virginia, about his late Savage-era AE-Grade that his parents gave him for graduation gift. That gun is serial number 31635. Back in 1928, four XE-Grades were started in production. 31636, 7, and 8 were finished up and shipped as XE-Grades in 1928-30 time frame. But, 31635 lingered unfinished in work-in-process inventory and was finally completed as an AE-Grade, though with the rebated frame and profiled breechballs of an XE- or higher grade, and shipped July 19, 1940.

...and then sold at Abercrombie & Fitch on December 5, 1940 for $77.75.

And number 31637 was also sold at A&F but it took a while. The shotgun was in inventory for 12 years (1930 - 1942).

In the Fall 2011 issue of the DGJ there were no less than four shotguns described that were sold at A&F or VL&D. If you are looking into the history of a firearm for publication or just for your own satisfaction, please remember to check the serial number list on the Research page of the Griffin & Howe website to see if the gun was ever in inventory at A&F or VL&D (or VL&A but to a much lesser extent).

http://www.griffinhowe.com/research-main.cfm

Bob Beach
Records Archivist
Griffin & Howe, Inc.

[sjh333]

Thank you Bob....I am slowly but surely learning the ropes of researching Fox guns....The history and search for "facts", can be daunting and a little overwhelming...I really appreciate your insight.

Sam