Ser. # 178062

[Bill Murphy]

Steve, Chuck has sent me a letter on 178,062. The gun was made as a 34" SC grade, no extra barrel, and the assumption is that the extra barrel is either a different choke or different barrel length, or both. The barrel in my possession was made for J.P. Dannefleser (PGCA spelling) or Dannefelser (ATA and Interstate Association spelling). The average books list J.A. and J.P. Dannefelser in East Orange, N.J. and New York, one reference to J.A. on Warren Street in New York. The best part of the story is that this 34" barrel snaps right on to Frank Halsey's SC grade 34" 20 gauge SC and is only 12 numbers higher than Frank's 178.050, which he wrote about in the Winter 2016 Parker Pages. I now own Frank's 20 gauge and the extra barrel. Both the gun and the extra barrel have matching forends and are in excellent plus condition. Frank and I met a few years ago at the Fall Southern and discussed the gun and trap guns in general. I had quite a bit of early and later provenance on the 20 gauge gun and its owners and forwarded this information to Frank when I discovered that he had purchased the gun. I purchased the gun the second time it was listed in a Rock Island auction. I am now on the hunt for the rest of gun number 178,062, which is still out there. Chuck, thanks for the great work.