I really want to know more about that Davis gun.
A lot about The basic mechanics of the gun appear to be Parker. The breech, lockup, hammers and opening is operated by the side lever vs. a lifter button. And the ad even shows the Parker hinge pin.

There is an article by Cdr Gunther on N.R. Davis in the April 1990 issue of The Gun Report, Volume 35, Number 11. There is a little article by Charles E. Carder on the N.R. Davis sliding breech pin-fire in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Three, Issue 2, page 88.

Brian,
The following link in an old auction that has a lot of pictures. 14 ga. The unique feature I notice is the two piece frame..

https://www.gunauction.com/buy/8679120


John

John, do you know the dates of your Davis catalog cuts ? They must not have made many as the two I have in my files are 20 and 35 serial numbers.

Double Barrel, yes, your gun is very ugly. It looks to be in fine condition.

Daryl,
I do not have the dates from the catalog cuts. A lot of my pictures are lifted off the internet and have little data with them. J. S. Conant & Co was an engraving company in Boston but I was not able to find any dates of business so far. The cut of the side lever model shows N.R. DAVIS & CO, MAKERS which would date the gun as pre-1883. The Top Lever Model cut is N.R. DAVIS & SONS and thus 1883 or after.

As to low serial numbers: Early DAVIS guns used Batch numbers and I have yet to find a pre 1910 model with other than a two digit number.

John

How did a thread on ugly guns make it to 7 pages?

This one I save pictures of is listed as serial number 19, but perhaps that is a batch number --

Attachment 99853

Here are a couple of pages from Cdr. Gunther's article --

Attachment 99854

Attachment 99855

Mills, It would appear that the ugly girls do indeed get loving too. If not for the early attempts at the breech loading designs the later lasses would have never been. There is something quite charming about that 8 bore Davenport. It is built around pure function. Sculpted to put metal where it is needed for strength and removed to maintain a manageable weight. Yes, quite charming indeed.

It must be getting near closing time somewhere