To definitely determine the model designation of Daly hammerless SxS gun you have in hand, you need to note 6 items -
1. Whether the gun has ejectors or extractors
2. What locking design it uses (dollshead vs, crossbolt)
3. The gauge of the gun
4. What the rib inscription says
5. The engraving on the gun
6. WHEN THE GUN WAS MADE
#1 - This is usually the easiest to determine via photo. Just look for "steel eyes" on the side of the forend indicating the presence of ejectors. All other things being equal, ejector guns were utilized in higher model numbers (until they became standard in all but the base model at the tail end of the Daly production).
#2 - Dollshead fasteners were initially used on all the hammerless SxS model until the introduction of the crossbolt in the early 1890s. After that, (almost) all higher number models were made with the crossbolt with the exception of many big bore (i.e., 8 gauge guns).
#3 - The gauge is important to note as some guns (i.e., the big bore guns) usually retained the dollshead lock-up while an identical model used the crossbolt (confusing, huh?)
#4 - The rib inscription is important as you can often glean thee important pieces of information:
a. The quality designation (e.g., diamond quality, regent diamond quality)
b. The barrel steel composition (fluid steel vs, damascus steel)
c, Whether the gun has a special designation (i.e., a featherweight gun)
Each of the three items above, DEPENDING ON WHEN THE GUN WAS PRODUCED, is very helpful to lock onto a model number
#5 - Engraving is a very useful and often the quickest way to determine a Daly model number but MUST be taken into consideration with the other items. For example, in 1902, models 225, 255, and 275 were all identically engraved diamond quality guns except that the 225 had extractors (vice ejectors), the 255 had ejectors but damascus steel barrels, and the 275 had ejectors and fluid steel barrels. That said, when you see a gold crown engraved on the underside of action and shell motifs carved on the fences, for example, you can be pretty certain you are looking at the regent diamond quality version of the gun (i.e., a model 500)
#6 - The date the gun was made is essential to determine what model Daly you have. This is, by far, the most confusing aspect of Daly models. The reality is that Daly model designation came and went over the 60+ year run of the Prussian Daly SxS. What was a totally different model one year was just a feature option in other years. For example, during some periods, damascus guns received a different model number than their steel barrel counterparts. In other production periods, the barrel construction was just an option within a single Daly model. And while #1-5 can be quickly determined with the gun in your hand, the year of production is harder to determine and usually relies on a combination of things (e.g., proof marks, stylistic features (e.g., sideclips), serial number range, etc.)
The six items, taken together, will usually quickly get you to a model number. That said, even as I wrote the verbiage above, exceptions kept popping into my head. Schoverling, Dale, and Gales would honor customer requests so some guns don't fit neatly into the catalog descriptions of the day. But, for 98% of the guns, the above holds true. So bottomline, you really need a lot of information to determine the model during some production periods. I wish it were simpler, but it is not.
Hopefully this is helpful
Ken
- One final note, the "empire" and "superior" quality terms referenced by the Blue Book are only applicable only to the very last years of the Prussian Daly production. 20 years ago, the only Prussian Daly catalog reproduction readily available was a circa-1930 catalog that used these terms and they have unfortunately stuck around - and again, are not applicable to most of the Prussian Daly production.
Last edited by Ken Georgi; 01/31/23 08:46 AM.
