Does anyone know about the Philadelphia Single Trigger Company ?

It's a new one on me.

No, but while everyone is looking at this please help me with identification of this trigger on my Ithaca # 6 Crass of 1903-4

Stallones,
That is similar to my Syracuse Arms trigger. Can you post some more pics?

Daryl,
What is the trigger on?

O.W.Brenizer c1907 (867,697).... and T.M.Thorson c1906 (pat. 815,879) were both from Philadelphia and both held single trigger patents...those could be likely candidates....and I know that you already know, that we know next to nothing about Alfred Worrest's early career and very little about the Fox skilled laborers.....
Is there a trigger or just a printed reference?

There's a Philadelphia Single Trigger Co brochure or catalog on ebay. It seemed too pricey for me.

The Philadelphia Single Trigger Co. ads begin appearing in The American Field in December 1906. Here is their ad from December 15, 1906 --



by early 1907 they were using this ad, this one from February 9, 1907 --



By June 1907 their ads got smaller and were only in every other week.

Sure smacks of Albert Worrest's sense of advertising, but maybe that was the flavor of the era...

Damn...I've already got several hours of comparing Reb's and stallones' triggers to numerous patent drawings....I guess I'll start over...

I assume stallones' ....wait....I was about to say that stallones' trigger has an inertia block....which would date the trigger as being post 1901, when Thorneley invented the inertia block.

Soon after Thorneley invented the inertia blocking device, most following trigger designs employed some variation of this device,
but what about the period covered by the patent?

How do we know when stallones' gun had the trigger put in? Was it at the time of manufacture? Probably not if there is an inertia blocking device as Thornely's patent wouldn't have been violated by Ithaca, would it? They did screw EE Miller and EF Flues, so I can't say say if stallones' trigger is factory or not.

Anyone who wants a list of single patents can say so and I list them. There are several hundred single trigger patents in several threads, so pick a decade to start...after you've compared them to your trigger carefully (it can take a few hours), if you're unsuccessful, I will list another decade. The worst that could happen is you'll get a crash course in single triggers.

656,822 W.M.Levy,St.Louis,Mo.-Aug.28,1900

668,526 A.E.Lard,St.Joseph,Mo.-Feb.19,1901

670,100 C.E.De Long,Hot Springs,Ar.-March 19,1901

673,803 E.H.Thorneley,Ilion,N.Y.-May 7,1901

674,508 A.E.Lard,St.Joseph,Mo.-May 21,1901

674,843 F.E.Jaeger,New York,N.Y.-May 21,1901

690,243 C.E.De Long,Hot Springs,Ar

697,061 G.E.Witherell,Hartford,Ct.-Apr.8,1902

699,291 C.E.De Long,Hot Springs,Ar

704,024 E.D.Fulford,Utica,N.Y

704,025 E.D.Fulford,Utica,N.Y.-July 8,1902

713,535 M.A.Tighe,Prince’s Risborough,England-Nov.11,1902

715,490 C.F.Lefever,Syracuse,N.Y.-Dec.9,1902

719,331 L.Henry,London,England-Jan.27,1903

722,706 J.J.Hewson,Macleod,Canada-March 17,1903

732,531 J.A.R.Elliott,Kansas City,Mo.-June 30,1903

745,657 O.H.Peak,Parsons,Ks.-Dec.1,1903

747,191 A.E.Lard,St.Joseph,Mo.-Dec.15,1903

748,263 G.C.Cline,Batavia,N.Y.-Dec.29,1903

749,687 E.D.Fulford,Utica,N.Y.-Jan.12,1904

751,979 E.D.Fulford,Utica,N.Y.-Feb.9,1904

756,896 J.Robertson,London,England-April 12,1904

767,537 G.E,Witherell,Hartford,Ct.-Aug.16,1904

769,524 H.E.Winans,Poughkeepsie,N.Y.-Sept.6,1904

770,404 H.A.A,Thorn,London,England-Sept.20,1904

772,809 S.S.Leach,Everett,Pa.-Oct.18,1904

777,688 J.J.Murphy,Norwich,Ct.-Dec.20,1904

778,629 J.C.Broyles,Birmingham,Al.-Dec.27,1904

Well here is a half decade...all you have to do is copy and paste these numbers at this url

http://www.google.com/ptshp?tab=wt

My Crass # 6 was made in 1903 per W. Snyder, but it has Crown Steel bbls and coded on the stock that it was sent back for "Repairs" which I believe included the Crown Steel bbls which I have been told were not available until after 1913,so the Inertia block triggers were probably installed at the same time ?

This whole thread makes me suspect that Alfred Worrest is responsible for the Philadelphia Single Trigger ads...but Lancaster Pa, where Worrest was from, is about 70mi. from Philladelphia. The part that doesn't make sense with this theory, is #1. There is (so far) no registered design at the US Patent Office that matches the detailed pics that Researcher has posted. and #2. Worrest had already been issued patent numbers 829,453 and 871,550 by 1907 and niether look like the ad photo.

Did Worrest also have patents that were applied for but were never granted (perhaps because of Thorneley's design)? Whatever the case, this is a very interesting chapter of doublegun history in America. What year did Fox move from Baltimore to Philadelphia, 1902.? I assume the skilled human resources were already in Philadelphia when Ansley relocated there, but who? Where they old timers left from the previous generation of gunmakers in Philadelphia (muzzleloading era)? Maybe Heysinger, Skerl, Rupertus, or Clark? Was Genez from Philadelphia?

Ansley moved to Philadelphia in 1902 while he was a professional shooter for Winchester. On November 5, 1902, he incorporated Philadelphia Arms Co. August 1903 contracts were let for construction of the factory at North 18th Street and Windrim Avenue. By mid-1904 they were showing guns to the trade. December 1904 Ansley resigned from Philadelphia Arms Co., bought a lot of machinery and jigs at the receivers sale of Baltimore Arms Co., and set up the A.H. Fox Gun Co. a few blocks away from Philadelphia Arms Co. at the corner of Wayne and Bristol. All the magazine ads I've ever found for Philadelphia Arms Co. were from January to July 1905. A.H. Fox Gun Co. began advertising in mid-December 1905. About November 1906 the A.H. Fox Gun Co. bought out Philadelphia Arms Co. and moved into the factory at North 18th and Windrim. That area of Philadelphia where these Gun Companies were was known as Germantown. Didn't see any folks that looked to be of German descent when I visited the area and took pictures of the old factory building and Ansley's house in 1986.

Here are the Philadelphia Single Trigger ads lost to the Photobucket hostage taking of our pics.

December 15, 1906 --



February 9, 1907 --

Looks nice but unfortunately it's not the same as mine. It may be a variation, but this trigger assembly works with a safety switch whereas mine is a pigeon gun...no safety. Thanks researcher.
Carl