Unusual Engraving, and Markings
 

I immediately noticed and unusual dog engraving on a recent purchase. The gun is a grade three 20ga.
The setter, on the right side appears to be stepping off a rock, and is heading downhill. The setter an all my other guns, grade 3 and higher, is pefectly horizontal. One exception is on a grade five, where one dog is horizontal, and the dog behind is heading downhill.

The other thing I found is a bit of a mystery. There is a tiny font ampersand, followed by two dots, on the left barrel flat, just forward of James Geary's mark.
The gun was purchased new in 1915, and in the possession of the original owner when he died, in 1960. It was retained by his family until I purchased it.
There is no evidence that it was ever refinished, or otherwise worked on. All screws are polarized, with perfect slots. The barrel bluing is about 75-80%, and, in my opinion, original. It is possible the stock may have had finish applied, but the checkering is quite clearly original also. My suspicion is, it is the mark of a gunsmith. Has anyone ever observed this mark?

"POLARIZED"???

Edgar, we’ve seen that “ampersand” stamp before but we don’t understand it’s meaning.

That last picture of the “setter” done during the tenure of Frederick Anschutz as chief engraver and may even have been engraved by Anschutz himself. In TPS his dogs engravings are describes as sometimes “decidedly male”.





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Please provide me with pictures. I do not recall ever seeing it before.

Who are these "We" you speak of so often. Are you in some Mensa society. I never hear any of them speak up.
The last picture has nothing to do with my comment re the dog decidedly walking off a rock, nor was in made during Fred's tenure. It predates him by 15 years.

A term used by machinists and other obsessive-compulsive individuals who insist on a particular orientation. Or maybe they're magnetized.

I don't see so much as an ampersand character as I do that of the Greek letter Omega with crossed ankles or tangled feet as viewed upside down. The two dots also escape me.

To me there is no mystery as to the setter sliding down a rock or landscape slope; in my experience setters love to swim if properly introduced to water, particularly as puppies in an exercise mode. My great setter "Smoke" would willingly retrieve birds I shot that landed in water, provided he saw them fall. There was no such thing as handling him on a blind retrieve like a Lab. The engraving image probably depicts him entering the water or a steep ravine, while the other dog eyes his vectors for a more level land retrieve.

Thanks Edgar - I was confused as to where to ground the test light while contacting the screw heads to determine polarity. Maybe the top lever or better the trigger guard?

Well whyinell did you post the pic if you didn’t expect comments.

And Edgar, I don’t believe I have saved a pic of the “ampersand” stamp expecting I would someday need to show it to prove “we’ve” seen it before. Nobody ever asks you to prove some of the things you expect us to take as gospel.

Why are you always so contentious Edgar. It really doesn’t become you.





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Edgar, this from eleven years ago…


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I posted the 'horizontal' setter picture to add clarity to my observation of the downhill setter. And to wind you up like a cheap watch.

I must agree, nobody brings out the ire in me the way you do.

So, who are the We guys?

edit: So the next question is who applied the "&" ? do you suppose it originated in Meriden, or possibly, by a gunsmith who worked on both guns? It has to be a rare mark. Check with your group, and get back to me. Please don't take another eleven years though.