I'm thinking it is becoming pretty safe to say that from the introduction of steel barrels in the latter 1890s to maybe sometime in the 1905 to 07 time frame K for Titanic Steel or a few Acme Steel and the Kf for Vulcan Steel barrels are the barrel steel markings.

And, the idea that the Kf was CAK's mark is debunked. If it was his mark, why would it only appear on Vulcan Steel barrels?

Quality VH 12-gauge serial number 95553 is presently being offered for sale on GI, but the seller doesn't include a picture of the barrel flats!!

David please clarify, 1905 to about 1907 K was used for Titanic steel and Kf for Vulcan? My 1907 VH is stamped K not Kf. But it does have the V in a ⭕️!

127534 has K stamp. 132430 has K stamp and wk circled. Both are C grade guns with Titanic barrels.

I didn't say "1905 to about 1907." I said "from the introduction of steel barrels in the latter 1890s to maybe sometime in the 1905 to 07 time frame"

Where is it stamped K?

Just a guess, but how about using up old stock barrel tubes as they changed to a new supplier? Transitional.

The meaning and significance of this term has been debated over the years. When I asked Bob Runge years ago in Del Grego's shop what he thought it represented, he said he believed it signified that all work on the barrel had been completed and that the barrel was ready to advance into the next phase of gun building.

His take on the 'K' was that it was definitely a reference to King - Walter or Charles, and that the f was in effect a final inspector's approval mark, most likely taken from the German word "fertig", meaning finished or completed.

During the era Dave cites, many of the employees of the barrel and action shop were German immigrants who had a minimal passing knowledge of English, but communicated in their own craftsman's orbit using symbols and terms that came to be used in-house as definitive codes of approval.

Personally I subscribe to Bob's interpretation of both the terms of the mark; I do not believe the 'K" has any significant distinction whatsoever as to barrel steel type, only the production era management persona (e.g., Charles v. Walter), and the adaptation of the f as as a term of significance in the vernacular of the native language of craftsmen in the barrel shop at the time makes eminent sense to me.

And then there was also the stamp W.K. In an oval which, I don’t think it can be argued, must have indicated Walter Kink, who took over as superintendent of the gun plant in 1910 from his father Charles Alonzo King. Charles Kink’s stamp was K and the years during which Kf appeared on the left barrel flat will most likely identify which King it represented.





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Stamped on the lug next to the frame size. Still very interesting topic!

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Bob Runge hadn't even been born by the years the K and the Kf were appearing in the barrel steel location.

Attachment 90435

Attachment 90434

The Walter King WK in an oval begins appearing in the 131xxx range. Here is a Titanic Steel barrel gun in the 131xxx range with the K in the barrel steel location and the WK in an oval --

Attachment 90436

Here is a 1906 vintage Vulcan Steel gun in the 138xxx range that has the V in a circle barrel steel marking. It doesn't have the Walter King WK in an oval, but it does have a tiny K on the barrel lug.

Attachment 90437

By the 151xxx range we see the James Geary JG in an oval marking

[QUOTE=Dave Noreen;317157]Not to put too fine a point on it, but Bob Runge hadn't even been born by the years the K and the Kf were appearing in the barrel steel location.

Correct, but his grandfather, Richard R. Runge, was foreman of the barrel finishing room immediately after the turn of the century (I never found out the exact date(s) he worked there - but he certainly would have had a hand in developing identifying marks of production in his shop.

1906 CHE with Titanic steel barrels. WK in oval on left barrel flat. #134260