AAHE 20 Gauge

[Dean Romig]

As I said in an earlier post, the Fleur De Lis 'drop points' appear to be worn and unaltered originals. The rib inscription ("roll stamp") and matting in my opinion are unaltered original. Enlarge it and look closely at every detail, including the single line overrun of the matting at the breech end of the clear space of the rib just beyond the arrow.

And I believe the engraving is original Meriden engraving as well. Look at the engraving on the forend irons and latches. The forend checkering patterns are of the original style as well.... just very poorly recut.





.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

And I believe the engraving is original Meriden engraving as well.

The chain engraving on all the borders is most definitely Meriden era engraving.

It seems odd that the barrel marked "1" has the late reinforced fore end lug, and barrel "2" does not. (picture #22)

Picture #17 shows the grade number (7) was stamped with the same stamp as the '7' in the serial number. Had this been a lower grade gun and then upgraded, it would have been necessary to remove, by grinding, the grade lettering(now AAH), and number ( now7) and weld the excavated area back up, then blend the weld back down to the water table. The colors from re-hardening most definitely would not be uniform across this area, simply because filler material is never exactly the same chemistry as the base metal. I'm only saying this after looking at literally thousands of photo micrographs in the met lab at my company.

Dean previously indicated the comb's nose looks to be altered, and it certainly is more 'Illion-esque', than Meriden styled stock work. This would require the entire checkered portion of the wrist be redone. I just can't get over the hideous treatment inside the cheek panels and on the checkered butt.
I don't think the gun started any lower than a grade seven, but I couldn't even hazard a guess as to the originality of any of the wood.