She's a Beauty!

[Scott Eberle]

So a friend of mine just came to me talking about how he stumbled into a couple of classic firearms and was asking if I could get them cleaned up for him and "what are they worth?" The lesser of the two is an old S&W revolver (still a beautiful gun) and then he pulls out one of the most beautiful shotguns Ive ever seen. So this is as presented, before knocking off the little bit of surface rust on there. Checkering is pristine. Now I am just trying to figure out if I need to sell a kidney or a maybe a few dozen eggs to buy this off of him. Any information on this beauty is appreciated. What I have gathered so far....
1887 Top Lever Hammer DH Grade 3
1,352 produced
Serial # 49877

[Steiner]

Originally Posted by Scott Eberle

So a friend of mine just came to me talking about how he stumbled into a couple of classic firearms and was asking if I could get them cleaned up for him and "what are they worth?" The lesser of the two is an old S&W revolver (still a beautiful gun) and then he pulls out one of the most beautiful shotguns Ive ever seen. So this is as presented, before knocking off the little bit of surface rust on there. Checkering is pristine. Now I am just trying to figure out if I need to sell a kidney or a maybe a few dozen eggs to buy this off of him. Any information on this beauty is appreciated. What I have gathered so far....
1887 Top Lever Hammer DH Grade 3
1,352 produced
Serial # 49877

That sure looks like a beauty. More pictures please. Barrel pics showing the pattern and some of the muzzle end. You'll know more about it in short order.

[Harold Pickens]

Very nice is an understatement!

[edgarspencer]

Not DH, H is for Hammerless. Beautiful gun.

[Scott Eberle]

Here is a couple more. Will hopefully grab a couple more pics of the muzzle end this evening.

[Craig Larter]

Very nice, but why no damascus pattern shows. I would expect some nice pattern in the protected area of the barrel flats. It almost looks like it was cleaned at some point or blued and cleaned? Very strange

[Steiner]

Originally Posted by Craig Larter

Very nice, but why no damascus pattern shows. I would expect some nice pattern in the protected area of the barrel flats. It almost looks like it was cleaned at some point or blued and cleaned? Very strange

Considering the condition of the other metal parts I wondered as well.

[ArtS]

That gun looks to be in excellent condition. I do however agree that the CC looks odd. THe locks have intense blue color, whilethe protected areas have almost none remaining. Looking at the wood and checkering vs the metal, I would think an older refinish and maybe recut. Still a very desireable gun.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Arthur Shaffer

That gun looks to be in excellent condition. I do however agree that the CC looks odd. THe locks have intense blue color, whilethe protected areas have almost none remaining. Looking at the wood and checkering vs the metal, I would think an older refinish and maybe recut. Still a very desireable gun.

It is quite typical that the color retention on the lock plates is stronger than on the frame and other steel parts. I don’t know the reason for this but I have a few hammer guns where this phenomenon is very evident.





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[Scott Eberle]

Ok, many more detailed pictures now that I have it in my hands for a few days. Also I can share the story behind it now that I have finished crying about it. So a friend of mine was approached by an elderly woman in his neighborhood. She said her husband passed away in 2021 and she was wondering if he would sell his guns for her. When he said he would help her out and try to find out how much he could get for them, she said "No, they are yours, whatever money you get for them you keep." She said her sons didn't want them and she just wanted all the guns out of her house.
So here are some more pictures of the $0 1887.