Jeff
That serial number would indicate that your gun was produced before the sliding cocking hook went into production (early 1902 to mid-1903); this means that the barrel lug has fixed, "C" shaped cocking hooks milled into each side. To attach/remove the barrels, one must place enouch upwards/downwards pressure on same to force the cocking rods protruding thru the frame cut backwards. Once the cocking rods clear the cocking hooks on the lug, the hammer springs force them forward into the cocking hook slot so the hammers can be cocked when the forearm is reattached. This is the cocking method employeed on SAC guns with the first and second model frames; and in my opinion, was not the best design because the process of removing/attaching barrels caused friction and wear to the ends of the cocking rods and milled cocking hooks (I've seen a number of SAC guns having this early feature that will no longer cock because friction has worn the rod ends down so that they can no longer engage the cocking hook; but this wear can be resolved with judicous tigging and refitting). I also suspect that there were many instances of broken/bent cocing rods resulting from attempts to assemble/disassembley SAC guns. The third and last model frame incorporated a redesigned lug with a sliding cocking plate very similar in operation to those on A H Fox guns in that the cocking plate engages the cocking rods only when the foreiron is attached; this re-design completely eliminated that problem. George Horne is credited with patenting this new device; but in my research I saw an early patent by Hollenbeck that was very similar in concept to what Horne placed into production, and could be where Horne got the idea. In my humble opinion, these later SAC guns are the most desireable solely for that feature; as that model incorporates all the best features of earlier SAC guns, and is the only model one can disassemble without fear of breaking something!
