Early 1900s Double Barrel Shotgun & 22 Bolt Action?

[tfreeman]

Like similar stories here, I recently was given my grandfathers old guns. I've tried to register on shotgunworld.com for 2 days and it never works but eats my email address in the system so I can't register. This forum and ar15.com are the only ones I frequent, so figured I'd try here. I would be interested to know if these have value, but these will not be sold. I would love to restore these to shoot, but fear cost will be prohibitive. All I know is these were my grandfathers when he was a kid. If I estimate correctly, that would be somewhere in the 1920s or 1930s.

The shotgun is a side by side 12 gauge. On the metal side, there is engravings of a fly duck over grass behind the hammer. In front of the hammer is the word Constitution. The only identification I can find is under the barrel. The numbers 16197 are stamped on the right side and the letters JB are stamped in the center by the barrel release. There is a hole in the right barrel. I don't know if this can be repaired or not.

The 22 has no markings except for 22 S L & LR which doesn't help. It's a bolt action with magazine. This gun seems to be in really good shape, so I'm guessing it could be shot with just a good cleaning. I'd still like to restore the finish which seems very possible.


I've put pictures up if they help any.

 

[Gunhacker]

Regardless of who made it, in the bad shape that shotgun is in, and most likely being a black power era gun with Damascus barrels, the only thing that shotgun is good for is a wall decoration... it is a dangerous gun, do not attempt to shoot it.

The .22 rifle looks familiar, but I can't come up with a brand. What you'd spend in restoring it could easily be substantially more than what the gun is worth, its main intrinsic value is more from it being from your Grandfather, than any value in the gun itself. A cleaning and thorough inspection, preferably by a gunsmith, would be the first order of business for the .22 rifle.

 

[tfreeman]

My assumptions with the shotgun was the same in that it's probably unshootable. While I'd love that to be different, I'm really looking for what it is and any information I can find about them. The 22 is actually in great shape. My guess is it would shoot after a good cleaning, but will take it to a gunsmith to verify.

 

[30-30remchester]

I preach a lot about not restoring antique items. There is true beauty in a well used item. The world is full to overflowing with guns that have never left the gun safe. Your grandpa's 22 sounds like it has character. When a gun is refinished, all history is forever removed. Your grandpa's sweat is still in the pores of the wood. The dents and dings are his history. They tell a story of his use of the gun. This you are wanting to throw away. Take the time and money you were planning on spending and buy a new gun and leave grandpa's just the way he left it to you. Just my 2 cents.

 

[gregintenn]

Don't pour a bunch of money in them. Clean and preserve them. I also suspect the 22 would be fine to shoot, but would need to see it in person to verify that. The shotgun is a wallhanger.

 

[jimmyj]

The .22 could be a Savage/Stevens Arms
The Shotgun most likely is a trade name manufactured by several different small arms factories for mail order houses.

Clean both and keep them "AS IS" for family memories

 

[BigBill]

Your grandfather may have received the shotgun from your great grandfather. He probably fed the family with it. The school boys took there 22's to school and shot dinner on the way home. You have some family history there.

 

[tfreeman]

Thanks everyone for the help. Hopefully I can find a local gunsmith to look at the 22.

There seems to be some confusion and it's probably my fault. My main purpose was looking for information on the guns. These are a part of my history, but should also have some type of general history and information on what they are. I'll keep digging, but it's hard to search google for "shotgun" and "constitution" as you can imagine.

The secondary reason was cleaning or restore. When I say restore, I really mean an extreme cleaning. I'm not interested in removing scuffs or such. I'm really just looking to remove the rust and pitting on the barrel to prevent more decay and possibly striping the varnish (?) or whatever is causing the discoloration of the wood. Basically making it look nice without removing character. For the shotgun, my assumption was this will never be shot again, but I want to keep it from getting any worse and possibly displaying it. The 22 is similar, but also making sure it can be shot so my boys can shoot the same gun their great grandfather did when he was their age.

 

[tfreeman]

So I pulled the guns out today to take to the gunsmith. I must be completely blind. I looked these guns over for a couple hours the first time, but I missed the 22 clearly stating on the top of the barrel, "Model 80E The Marlin Firearms Corporation". With that it puts it in the 1930's range.