The Baker Gun Co. in Batavia, NY, made their Batavia models in the Batavia Special -- fluid steel barrels; Batavia Leader -- twist barrels; and Batavia Damascus -- Damascus barrels up thru about 1916. The Batavia line didn't have the draw block or the intercepting safety that blocked the hammers of the graded Baker guns. After the sale of their gun business to H&D Folsom, Folsom revived the Batavia Leader name for a fluid steel barrel gun. The H&D Folsom produced guns normally have an F before or after their serial number. In Batavia the smallest gauge was 16-gauge, but after the Folsom buy out they added the 20-gauge and a few of their ads in the late 1920s mention .410-bores. I'd rate the graded Baker hammerless guns the equal of any of the "classic" American makes, and their Batavia line is well above the Crescents and Meridens.
I've posted a Baker bibliography several times on these various sites, but I'm currently thousands of miles from my research materials.
Last edited by Researcher; 08/03/07 11:39 PM.
