Research Letter validation

[ArtS]

T is not a grade, it is a quality. The P is stamped on the water tables. The hats top and bottom on the T indicate a plain twist barrel if I remember correctly. I too believe the barrel weight is much too light for a 10 gauge, as is the overall gun length. A 26" 10 would be a real oddity. Since this is obviously not a hammer gun, my best guess is that there was an error in the work orders and the gun was a hammerless 12 ga. Just my guess. I would also tell you that 26" barrels would be not common in a 12 and even less common in 10. If I were buying the gun, I would presume that it was a 28" or 30" 12 ga with light barrels that was cut off to 26".

Also, try the obvious. If any place has a shell, it will have a 12 g. Buy or borrow one and see if the 12 ga fits tigntly in the chamber. I would bet it will.

It is a pretty nice example. However, if the barrels are cut, it's value is greatly diminished, from both a collector or user point. Post a picture of the top of the rib around the bead and the front of the muzzles.Many people here will be able to make a judgement from that.

[Scowl]

Originally Posted by Arthur Shaffer

T is not a grade, it is a quality. The P is stamped on the water tables. The hats top and bottom on the T indicate a plain twist barrel if I remember correctly. I too believe the barrel weight is much too light for a 10 gauge, as is the overall gun length. A 26" 10 would be a real oddity. Since this is obviously not a hammer gun, my best guess is that there was an error in the work orders and the gun was a hammerless 12 ga. Just my guess. I would also tell you that 26" barrels would be not common in a 12 and even less common in 10. If I were buying the gun, I would presume that it was a 28" or 30" 12 ga with light barrels that was cut off to 26".

Also, try the obvious. If any place has a shell, it will have a 12 g. Buy or borrow one and see if the 12 ga fits tigntly in the chamber. I would bet it will.

It is a pretty nice example. However, if the barrels are cut, it's value is greatly diminished, from both a collector or user point. Post a picture of the top of the rib around the bead and the front of the muzzles. Many people here will be able to make a judgement from that.

Thanks a lot. I'll post some more pictures. 12gauge shell fits, but hard for me to tell if the slop is too much or not. I'll try to locate a 10Ga shell. If the research letter is based on data then I may never know for sure if it's original or not.

[Scowl]

Originally Posted by Arthur Shaffer

T is not a grade, it is a quality. The P is stamped on the water tables.

Thanks, so I am familiar with Grading and have read up on that, but this attribute of Quality is new to me. Where can I read up on "Quality" as opposed to Grades. Tried some search terms here and Google and didn't see anything specific to Quality.

[Scowl]

Originally Posted by Arthur Shaffer

It is a pretty nice example. However, if the barrels are cut, it's value is greatly diminished, from both a collector or user point. Post a picture of the top of the rib around the bead and the front of the muzzles.Many people here will be able to make a judgement from that.

Here are some different camera and light angles of the muzzle and bead