Identification help

[sahughe]

I have an old damascus double that my father has has given me and he got from his father. I'm trying to figure out what it is but having no luck. All i can find is the #71 stamped on all parts and when you break it open i find applied for. I can make out a partial on left side CTSS something. Anyone have any clues or suggestions? Any help would be very welcome! Thanks

 

[PetahW]

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Welcome to the forum !

To properly inspect the gun for proof, date, and/or a maker's mark, the forend needs be removed & the barrels unhooked so the undersides of the barrels, and both the barrel & action flats can be examined (magnification is sometimes needed).

Pics posted here will usually help.


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[highpower3006]

There were thousands of inexpensive shotguns imported into this country in the later half of the 19th century, most of them came from Belgium. In addition, domestic manufactures made store brand guns for various hardware stores.

Without a name of some kind on it check for proof marks. There are a few sites on the internet that list proofmarks by country of origin, but without seeing it I would guess that it came from Belgium.

Just a quick precautionary note, damascus barrels are not very strong and were never designed to shoot smokeless loads. Since these guns were generally not of the highest quality, I would never shoot one, even with blackpowder. There is too much of a chance that even if the barrels look good, there may be imperfections in the metal and it may be a grenade waiting to go off.

 

[James K]

Look on the bottom of the barrels and top of the "water table" (the part the barrels come down onto) for an oval with the letters E L G. That would be the Belgian (Liege) proof mark and if present would mean the gun was imported from Belgium. Many very high quality guns were made in that country, but thousands of tons of junk originated there also, and a lot of it was sold here with double shotguns sold as utility guns around 1900 for as little as $3-5.

Jim