Not a fine double but an American Classic

[Big D]

Dave you are an unbelievable resource. Thanks

[Stan Hillis]

Originally Posted by John Dallas

Try corsonsbarrels.com. Looks like they have a lot of barrels for sale

Thanks, John. I've been checking with Corson's, and with BarrelExchange.com, for years. I've never yet seen one offered. I will keep trying, though. BTW, is there a resource available whereby I could check the serial number of Grandad's gun for date of manufacture?

[B. Dudley]

Originally Posted by Stan Hillis

I've been looking for a 30" full choke ribbed barrel for my Grandad's 16 ga. for so many years I can't recall when I started. I inherited it after he died. It's exactly the way it was the last time he hunted it. I don't have the heart to restore it. Functions perfectly.

I may take it out and try it on doves later this season. I haven't shot it since he died in 1975.

Cruse Ebay for model 11 barrels every few weeks. You never know what may pop up. In the last year or two I have gotten a few pretty nice and rare 11 barrels off there.

[Researcher]

BTW, is there a resource available whereby I could check the serial number of Grandad's gun for date of manufacture?

The 16-gauge was introduced in 1931. Model 11 16-gauge serial numbers began at 1500000, and 16-gauge The Sportsman serial numbers began at S200000. After a while they dropped the S and on September 28, 1937, they dropped the separate serial number sequence for the 16-gauge The Sportsman and from then to 1948 they were numbered together in the Model 11 serial numbers. I have always suspected dropping the separate serial number sequences for The Sportsman was the result of DuPont efficiency experts getting to Ilion.

If it was made before WW-II, we have the old factory ledger which would give the month the receiver with that serial number was put in work, and there should also be a date code on the barrel.

[Phil Yearout]

My late FIL shot a 12ga Model 11; he bought it from the estate of an uncle who was a very small man and he'd had the stock cut down to fit him. Jess never bothered to change it, but man, could he shoot it! I know what they say about the importance of gun fit, but...

[Researcher]

My Father bought a 12-gauge 30-inch full The Sportsman for $35 in 1938 with his employee discount at Seattle Hardware. He always lamented the Parker in their window display which he said he could have bought for $100!! The Sportsman was his waterfowl gun until the early 1960s when he succumbed to Jack O'Connor's short barrel writings and had it whacked to 26-inch with a Poly-Choke. Within a year or two The Sportsman was gone and he had a 2-frame 30-inch VH 12-gauge as his waterfowl gun, which still resides in my gunroom.

In 2002 after I retired and was cleaning out our house in Seattle getting it ready to sell, I found the leather takedown case he made for The Sportsman, so I had to buy one to go in it!! Of course once I had the 12-gauge, I needed a 16- and 20-gauge.

Six Hundred Dollor Collection 02.jpg

[charlie cleveland]

good storey and some really nice model 11 s....charlie

[Researcher]

They are all The Sportsman --

Six Hundred Dollor Collection 01.jpg

While 99% of the time I hunt with a double, on 27 October 2006 I took my 16-gauge, 26-inch, solid rib, improved cylinder, The Sportsman out and was presented with the perfect opportunity for a triple.

27 Oct 06 01.jpg

Full disclosure, earlier that day I poked holes in the air three times around a single rooster!!

My 20-gauge is a 28-inch plain barrel modified. I got a 26-inch vent ribbed SKEET barrel for it from Destry. I consider it my Bob Stack memorial gun.

[Double Lab]

Dave,

Is that the late, great Skitso? Looking pretty protective over those birds.

[Researcher]

Yes, that is her. Here she is watching me fish in Alaska in 2013 --

DSCN0362.jpg

Unfortunately, she felt obligated to get in the water and help land fish!!