doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Importer E. C. Schmidt, of Boston, MA

My guess is that the "serial number" quoted on this gun is actually the smaller working number ahead of the barrel flats. I own an E.C. Schmidt gun similar to this one and it is devoid of a "normal" serial number - i.e., a number behind the trigger guard or otherwise externally visible.

Based on that, I would put this gun in the circa-1903/4 range. The mechanics of the gun - shape of the action, steel barrels, sideclips, etc. - would all correspond to a date in that area.

Best,
Ken

Raimey & Ken, thank you very much for your historical cites, references and informed comments. It is a welcome learning experience to read your posts anent the E. C. Schmidt-marked 10-bore gun, as well as an opportunity to learn more about Lindner-sourced guns.

I only wish that I had more questions to ask at this time to learn even more. After I have spoken to the seller this workweek and discussed the several points raised here, there may be more questions to ask.

After consideration of the content of your posts, I am now persuaded that this particular gun must be of 1903 / 04 vintage. The sideclips seem to be a key indicator of that suggested range, especially when combined with other equally suggestive indicators, such as the presence of Krupp steel barrels, etc. Therefore, this gun cannot be classified as an antique firearm.

The lack of a serial number, other than a "working number" located ahead of another E. C. Schmidt gun's the barrel flats, is an interesting observation. I wonder if this dearth is characteristic of Schmidt guns generally? After speaking with the seller, I will report on what was learned in that discussion. If nothing else, the information obtained may be a useful addition to the information data base, and perhaps help answer future inquiries on the subject.

Again, my thanks to all for your very informative and helpful responses. With my


Best regards,

Edwardian

Considering the above, my 1st thoughts were that E.C. Schmidt being an employee of Schaefer(I wonder if Richard Schaefer & E.C. Schmidt were related, brother-in-laws or something????) had access to the stockpile of Schaefer. But the addition of thet sideclips would point to later sourcing, which I'm sure had to go thru Schoverling, Daly & Gales as I don't think Schaefer had a direct line to H.A. Lindner in Suhl. Remember this was during the tariff phase. So how would it be devoid of a serial number & be sourced thru Schoverling, Daly & Gales? Boy a peek at their ledger would be most informative.




1883 Advert/Article

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

I do not mean to hijack your thread, but I have a hammer gun marked R F Schaefer,with R F Schaefer Boston on the rib. It has some design details similar to the Schmidt, Jakob, Thomas Golcher, and the Daly guns sourced from Germany by Lindner. This gun has a pinned forend, so maybe that means made prior to the Deeley and Edge forend design or the Anson for that matter. I don't know who R F Schaefer may have been , or if he, as I suspect, was related to the other Schaefers.

Nice addition Mr. Hallquist. R.F. was W.R.'s son. Looks like a mix of Belgian marks on sourced tubes & voluntary German process marks.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey, can you hazard a guess as to when this gun fits into the Schaefer time line ? In some ways the R F Schaefer guns reminds me of the Euterbrouk of Boston guns, although I'm not convinced they match time periods.

Is R F Schaefer the same person mentioned in the suicide announcement of 1909 ?

I don't think so. W.R. Schaefer had 2 sons, J.R.F. & Richard, who I think was not a critical component of W.R. Schaefer & Sons, which began as a successor to John P. Schenkl.

I've seen the Crown over script A prior & I think it was on something of Dr. McPhail's??

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

I knew I had seen the Crown over Script A & it was on a Schaefer. Seems several upper rung mechanics like Doell & Schmidt passed thru Schaefer's shop.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...true#Post306086




1871 The Daly Gun Advert noting W.R. Schaefer & Thos. L. Golcher


Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Cornhill Street in Boston was on what's now the uphill side of the City Hall Plaza along the several-block-long curve of Cambridge Street near its junction with Court Street and Tremont Street, just downhill from the Government Center "T" station. It's an area that lost its landmarks when it was flattened in urban renewal about 40 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornhill,_Boston

I'm confident the S under crossed rifles surmounted by the VC denotes effort by V.C. Schilling of Suhl & I wonder if those O/0 below that accompany it. Then I'd guess the H.S. to be for Heinrich Schilling so now I'm puzzled if the Crown over script A is a Belgian and what effort was applied. V.C. Schilling of Suhl order a gesteck or something similar in the white & finished it for W.R. Schaefer with Daly being middle-man I'd guess.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse