Looking for 8 gauge info

[Autumn Daze]

Interesting...I checked the 1895 salesman's catalog last night and the hammergun designate's 10 gauge and 8 gauge guns as EH and NH. They only list hammerless guns in 10 gauge as EH and NH. Investigation continues..

[Mills]

I wonder why the special designation for 10 gauges, but not for 8 gauges? As Dave says, investigation continues . . . .

[Bill Murphy]

Good work, Dave.

[Daryl Middlebrook]

I have two 8ga. guns that fall into the catagory that Chuck is requesting information on. Both are 6 frame.

One is S/N 102592. Stamped on the water table is 2 over the serial number and G under the serial number. This gun is not listed in TPS page 1003 8ga. production records but is listed in the serialization book. This gun is accompanied by a PGCA research letter dated May 6,2006 stating that it was completed July 1, 1901. According to stock book #36 it was a GH hammerless 8 ga.

The other gun is S/N 107229. Stamped on the water table is 2 over the serial number and G under the serial number.The engraving is standard G engraving with two birds on both sides and the bottom of the receiver. This is a 1901 gun according to page 1000 of TPS. It has 40" damascus barrels.-----BUT, this gun is listed on page 1003 of TPS, and in the serialization book as being a D grade 40" gun. At this writing I do not have a research letter. I can't explain why it is listed as a D grade.---Daryl Middlebrook

[Pa SxS]

Attached is a scan of the 1897 price list. Note that the GH is only available in 12 through 20 gauge. The EH is available in 10 gauge at $85, an increase of $5 over the GH. If you read the bottom of the price list, you'll see that an 8 gauge could be made on the EH receiver for an additonal charge of $35. Same with the PH/NH guns but at a lower price. The total price for an 8 gauge Grade 2 (EH) would be $120 which is what the order book specifies for the letter I just wrote for a PGCA member. The problem is he says the watertable clearly has either a G or GH on it. This gun had 40" barrels so the frame size must have been big and the weight 13lbs or over.

I just want to be accurate when I do these letters. If I say it's a EH and the guy's gun is marked GH, he's going to be confused as to why.

Dave N: I looked up your gun in the Order book and reviewed the research letter you have. The only thing I can think of is that your GH 12ga was a heavy gun @ 9 1/2 pounds. They may have had to use the EH frame instead of the GH to accommodate the weight. What is your frame size?

[Mills]

This price list says Eight bores made to special order and to correspond to any of the grades at $35 above the price for ten bores. This indicates that 8 gauges could be E, G, N or P or any of the letter grades and that they were special order only. This is only an observation and I am no expert by a long shot.

My project 8 gauge was ordered by E. T. Allen who was a semi famous knife maker and who ran a sporting goods (or hardware) shop in San Francisco. I would love to find out if he ordered it for himself or for a customer, but this may really remain a mystery.