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I saw a 12g SxS yesterday that was marked "Warner arms Brooklyn New York".It appeared to be an Ithaca nitro special.Was the N.S sold as a "hardware store gun"?

I have a Ward's Westernfield that is a Nitro Special. Don't know though if Ithaca made them for other store brands but I don't see why not.

Thank you.

I too have a 20 ga. Nitro Special marked Wards Wester Field. Mine was made in 1926, and in reviewing old Wards reprints I see the gun so marked at around 30$. Chops

I too have a 20 ga. Nitro Special marked Wards Western Field. Mine was made in 1926, and in reviewing old Wards reprints I see the gun so marked at around 30$. Chops

There are several possibilities here --

N.R. Davis & Sons of Assonet, Mass., was one of the first U.S. manufacturers of breech loading double barrel shotguns. N.R. Davis was taken over by Warner Arms Corp. around WW-I. Warner moved the assets from the original factory in Assonet, Mass. to their plant in Norwich, Conn. in 1919, and became Davis-Warner Arms Corp. They continued to manufacture Davis doubles until about 1926 when they closed the plant and tried their hand at importing guns from Belgium. So, there may be some Davis doubles marked Warner, and yes Ithaca did "trade brand" there Lefever Nitro Special, their Western Arms Long Range Double, and even a few of their Flues Model Ithacas. Ithaca Gun Co. quit "trade branding" their guns about 1932.

And to further confuse things, absent a pic of said gun, I have a listing for an Aubrey/Meriden tradename gun named Utica Special and Warner Arms Corp Brooklyn, NY Utica Special.



N.R. Davis & Sons boxlock

I had a 20 gauge Nitro Special marked not Nitro Special but rather with a hardware store name, but I can't remember what. I'll probably wake up at 3:00am with the hardware store name on my lips, damned CRS!
Well I remembered, it was called a "Gambles Ace" for Gambles Hardware and it's only 9:20pm and thankfully not 3:00am.
Steve

Very common in those days for guns like the Nitro Special to show up with hardware/department store (back when the latter still sold guns) brand names. The Hunter Fulton was sold by Sears, marked Ranger. So was the Marlin Model 90.

Since we've wandered into Tradename guns
The 1912 Schoverling, Daly & Gales catalogue shows a gun that resembles the Fulton, but is named "Manhatten Arms Co." with the barrels marked "Superior Quality" and "For Nitro Powder".

Courtesy of Researcher



Hunter Arms is also reported to have made a Fulton gun named "Enders Oak Leaf" or "Enders Royal Service" for Shapleigh Hardware Co., St. Louis, although the "Enders" trade name is usually associated with H.&D. Folsom Crescent guns. The E.K. Tryon Co., Philadelphia may have had a Fulton "Keystone" shotgun, along with Folsom guns. Tryon and Great Western Gun Works of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania both used the "New Haven Fire Arms Co." name, and Fulton guns so marked have been reported. "Delphia Arms Co." was a trade name of Supplee Biddle Hardware Co., also of Philadelphia and a Fulton gun has been identified so marked. The "Hackett Special" was made for Hacketts Hardware in upstate New York and HibSpeBar for Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co., Chicago. Other trade name guns include "Comstock Arms Co. Duluth", "Miller-Morse Special" for Miller Morse Hardware in Winnipeg, "Sterling", "Hudson Arms", "Royal Arms Co.", "Marks", and "Montgomery Ward & Co."
See http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/17126039

The W.H. DAVENPORT FIREARMS CO. made a tradename boxlock marked "The Fulton" and "Fulton Arms Co., Fulton, N.Y."

The Fall, 1918 Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog listed the Gladiator Field (Fulton), Gladiator Tournament (Engraved Fulton), Gladiator Diamond (Engraved Fulton), Gladiator Field Hammer (Smith), and Gladiator Ideal Hammer (Smith).