Dave you are an unbelievable resource. Thanks

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?

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.

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.

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...

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.

Attachment 100795

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

They are all The Sportsman --

Attachment 100799

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.

Attachment 100801

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.

Dave,

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

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

Attachment 100802

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