I figured someone had messed up the inlet area, probably trying to gouge out the sidelplate. The main spring appears to be of the same era at the very least.
I have the shotgun in my posession and the owner is wants to sell it. I told him that this shotgun was beyond my perview and that I would do everything in my power to gather information about his shotgun. I've talked to a couple of historians and a few traders that deal with hoffmans, and noone has been able to even guess at the history and value. (beyond that it appears to be a hoffman.) The closest i've come is a picture of an old hoffman flyer that has a 20 gauge single barrel shotgun on it. You guys are my last hope before I have to tell the owner that I have no clue!!
Thank you all for the comments thus far. Ivan
