Research letter info.
 

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.

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

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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