Went shooting this weekend and one of the guys had this in his safe. Said it was his grand dad's gun purchased for his father when his dad was a child. Can anyone give an educated guess as to the year of manufacture? Serial number 319 leads me to believe it was the first year of production. Any Cresent collectors care to take a stab?

Utah,

The .410 was not readily available in the states until 1915. The 1st American gun chambered for it was the Stevens single shot, as far as I can tell. It was chambered for the 2" inch 410. There were a host of single shots that followed. The 1st American sxs was Parker in 1921 or there abouts.

Is there a model name like Peerless on the gun? Have checked the chamber length?

Pete

I believe it had "Quail" something or other on the sideplates. Does that help at all?

That would be a Quail Hammerless. This will have 3 inch chambers. They are very neat and of much better workmanship than the "lower grades". The wood on mine is quite nice.
They are bringing around $1200 if in high condition and around $700/900 if less.
If I remember correctly, Russ (the Crescent guru) said that circa 1925 was their start date. But like that wonderful man would add, I could be wrong.
Best,
John

Are the screws for these guns available? If so where or who? Thanks.

John,

I am a bit hazy on the exact dating and too lazy to look it up... But I believe the 3" chambering was not common until a few years later circa 1930 if memory serves. The .410 cartridge went through an evolution. There are early examples, Eley, of shells under 2". It never seemed to "take off" in England as a sporting round. While a few makers produced sxs guns for it in England, it was more popular as a handgun defensive round.

Once the tariffs fell, 1915, makers started to chamber for it here. It went through an evolution. So, a Crescent 410 with original 3" chambers would be dated a bit later. But of course, I could be very mistaken about the dating. I was hoping Rockdoc would chime in on this. He wrote some nice articles about the 410 a while back.

Utah, you can try http://www.e-gunparts.com They might have something. Call them up to be sure.

Pete

PeteM
I am also too lazy to search this out.:}
Crescent was merged with Davis in either 1929 or 1930 and the guns that were built by them were marked Crescent-Davis. They were sold to Stevens a year or so later and that name was no longer used. The former Crescent-Davis leftovers were marked Stevens.
I think all this is correct and will look it up later and edit if in error.
Therefore, the building of the 3 inch Quail Hammerless had to be before 1929. They are marked Crescent.
Where are the 410 gurus???
Best,
John

John--You're correct, from the info I have. Davis bought out Crescent in 1929, then Stevens bought it in 1931. Stevens only finished those guns that had already been made but not assembled; they then abandoned the Crescent plant in Norwich, which the town took over for back taxes in 1932.

Anyone notice the similarity between the rib on that gun and a Parker rib? Looking at the barrels from the top (and ignoring the rib extension, which is not the Parker doll's head), they look very Parker-like.

John,

I'll concede the point. I should have left it alone.

Pete

PeteM:
No argument here.:} Just the sharing of info. For a fact, I do not know when the 3 inch shells came to be. Perhaps it was Crescent's last ditch effort to stay alive, bringing out a specific gun with a marketing ploy. Much like the Fox/Olin collaboration on the 3 inch magnum.
Best,
John