Research letter info.

[Quack me up!]

I sent off for a research letter on a 10ga hammer gun that I'm interested in buying. It is in the serial #327xx range. It is a Quality S top action with twist barrels, 13 1/2" LOP, with special instructions of no extended rib and to shoot extra close.
Chokes each patterned at 250 pellets of size 8 shot in a 24" circle at 45 yards.
First off, any idea why one would order a gun without the dolls head?
Has any one else had a gun ordered with this tight of a pattern request?
It was nice to see that it was actually ordered by an individual and not just a general store etc. I assume that was because of the short LOP and no extended rib.
I just thought this was a neat letter that I'd share.
Thank you.

[ch]

Pre dolls head? I have 22266 no dolls head. This should be in hammer gun heading.

[Quack me up!]

I wasn't sure what year dolls heads became standard. Moderator if you think this thread should be moved to the hammer gun forum, feel free to do so.

[Quack me up!]

If I'm reading this correct in The Parker Story, guns manufactured after 1882 came standard with a dolls head and this gun which was ordered and delivered in 1883 would have come with the dolls head but was ordered without one. That was why I was just curious as to why somebody would order a gun without the dolls head? Just personal preference or was there a specific reasoning behind it? I know I'll never know positively but I wondered if this was fairly common request on research letters that others have ordered.

[Bill Murphy]

"No extension" is a scarce request, all the way up into the mid hammerless period. Competition shooters sometimes prefer that the clean breech face facilitates loading. Ejector guns all have a rib extension.

[George Lang]

A DH without the rib extension just recently sold on this site, also without a safety, listed as alive bird gun. Ser # in 97000 range.

[todd allen]

Judging by the choke/pattern/shot size instructions, I'm guessing a pigeon shooter ordered that gun.
I have heard that the doll's head extension was seen by some as an unnecessary expense.

[Quack me up!]

When I did a quick Google search of the original owners name, all I came up was that he was a member of a poultry association. At least the name, city and time period match up.

[Bob Brown]

Was there a requested weight for the gun? I think the rules called for pigeon guns to be limited in weight to under 8 pounds, so usually the requested specs asked for 7 lb. 14 oz. or something similar.

[Quack me up!]

Not a requested weight but delivered weight was 10lbs 4oz.