Colt Model 1883
 

12 ga 1897 game gun, original condition. Fully documented including initials. This came from Westchester NY and was presented upon the graduation of Watson Beach Day from Yale University.

It will be used on wild birds again.

The 12 ga 28” bores are interesting.
Chambers 2 3/4”. 4” forcing cones.
Right: .721 , constrict to .710, choke .011
Left : .725, constrict to .704, choke ..021
4” choke tapers.

7lb2oz total wt.


WBD

That is certainly a very nice shotgun. I hope that you have many enjoyable hunts with it. Please correct me if I am wrong, if memory serves me, I believe that the Colt shotguns were actually made for a period of years by the English firm of C.G. Bonehill of Birmingham to Colt's specifications and exported into the U.S. until the McKinley Tariff was introduced in 1890 which over a period of years ended the association with Colt. It certainly appears to be a quality shotgun.

Bruce,

Thanks for posting this one. I have never seen a Colt hammerless shotgun. Howis W.B. Day related to you?

Ken

Very nice! Thanks for sharing

Just the same initials, that’s all. No known relation. A friend found the gun, called me and told me I needed to have it. He picked it up and sent it to me.

I understand that these guns were made in New Haven on special order only and that fewer than 8,000 were made. I’ve only seen one other Colt Mod 1883.

Here is another documented 1883 Colt 12 gauge shipped to J.P. Lovell Arms Company in Boston Mass. It was shipped June 7, 1892. Bores are .734 R, .732 L, chokes are .014R, .027 L. The gun weighs 8lbs 0oz. 30" barrels.

Great gun. Great photography.

Many thanks.

Thanks for showing the beautiful guns.


Here is a page from my reprint of the 1890 John P. Lovell Arms Co. catalogue depicting both the Colt hammerless and the top lever exposed hammer gun.

.

Bruce - fantastic gun and story. Original gold inlaid 1883’s are incredibly rare - I think this is the 3rd I have seen. I searched the past auctions and only two others have been sold publicly in the last 20 years. Oddly enough both of them had been offered publicly a couple of times each at different auctions.

If anyone sees a vintage gun that is gold inlaid “J.S. Loewensteiner “ please let me know! :rotf:

So Bruce, if we are hunting with you and you are using that gun, do we address you as Watson? :) BTW that is one very nice shotgun!

Bruce owes you bigtime Josh!

That isn't mentioned in any Colt doubles article I've ever read from Wallace Labisky's in the June 1966 issue of Shooting Times onward.

A fairly early Colt flyer on their hammerless double --

Attachment 73246

Attachment 73247

and a page from the 1900 J. H. Johnston catalog about the time they were being closed out --

Attachment 73245

Beautiful gun Bruce and great coincidence.

“My dear Watson” will be sufficient.

Jerry: are you thinking of Winchester? The first two orders of guns Winchester imported were made by C.G. Bonehill, and were in five grades from Match Gun down to D-quality. In 1882 a third order was acquired from Richard Redman. Winchester also imported guns from W.C. McAntree & Co. and W.&C. Scott & Sons.

Beautiful Parker D4 "Turkish" Bruce
Colt used high quality damascus from Plunger-Riga & Heuse-Riga Fils., Nessonvaux.
http://heuse.spahistoire.info/henriheuse.html
More Colt damascus examples here
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/17067005

Ah yes, now I remember, Winchester it was. Thank you for correcting me Drew.

Funny how the bores are a 20th Century European size of .721 on a gun made in the time of extruded brass shells with 11 gauge wads of .751.

OOPS! I was thinking 1883 versus 1897.

ithis colt is a nice one...i had a colt 1883 model 10 ga it was so nice i just could not enjoy it....charlie

The bores of my Model 1883, shipped to Wm. Read & Sons, Boston, MA, February 4, 1892, measure .734" right and .733" left with .029" choke in both barrels. My gun has a flat rib which is mentioned in the letter from Colt, while I see Bruce's gun has a concave (hollow) rib. My gun has 30-inch barrels and weighs in at 7 pounds 7.2 ounces.

Attachment 73267

Attachment 73268

Thats a beautiful gun Dave. Many of my 12 gauge Parkers are bored in the vicinity of .734. Do you recall when paper shotgun shells came out? It must have been in the early 1880's.

I'm not sure when the paper shells first came out, but for sure UMC was offering paper shot shell cases on their May 1880 price list --

Attachment 73279

Dave, what is a shot concentrator ?

Other question , do you have any understanding of why a bore would be tighter than nominal for the gauge ? I understand choke constrictions , I understand barrels that are tapered through much of their length , but I don’t get a tight bore ending in a low degree of choke .

I’ve not read any learned discussions on the bore diameter issue .

Colts
 

Just outstanding Bruce !!

According to the book, Early Shotgun Concentrators and Spreaders by Gary B. Muckel, 6531 Carlsbad Dr., Lincoln, NE 68510, $55 plus $3 shipping, the UMC shot concentrators were of the Lancaster design. See U.S. Patent No. 97,653 granted Dec. 7, 1869.

Century earlier attempts to do what the Winchester/Western Mark 5 and modern plastic wads have done.

there is a concentrator on the wards auction site....charlie